If you have fond memories of the rustic running in Shortcut Canyon during last year’s Mt. Disappointment 50K, hold on to those memories because this year you’re going to be running on a bona fide, genuine trail.

Under the direction of trail maintenance guru Gary Hilliard, R.D. of the Angeles National Forest Trail Race (formerly Mt. Disappointment), 19 hard-working volunteers closed the final gap in this badly overgrown and damaged section of the Silver Moccasin Trail. Burned in the 2009 Station Fire, floods ravaged the canyon, and then soil conditions and above average rainfall combined to produce teeming plant growth.

Volunteers recovered most of the original trail, removing fallen limbs and trees, clearing overgrowth and debris, and restoring sections damaged by erosion and flooding. Large patches of stinging nettle, and some turricula (Poodle-dog bush) and poison oak were also removed from the trail.

See the  trail work schedule on the Angeles National Forest Trail Race web site for the remaining trail work dates.

Here are a few additional photographs:

Road Maintenance Mt Disappointment 50K Volunteers Turricula Along Restored Trail

Silver Moccasin Trail Done for the Day Tools of the Trade

Related post: Trail Work and Tree Rings