Open For Business – Sturtevant Camp

What Open Feels Like

Honestly? Awesome. Rewarding, satisfying, gratifying, and “Finally!” After the Eaton Fire delayed opening in early January, guests are now finally hiking up and staying in Camp, enjoying some exceptionally gorgeous “California winter” weather.

Serious family badminton competition on a cool, bright, winter day.

Confusion about road and trail access after the Fire muted early bookings, but now the road IS open and it’s clear most trails ARE open, so the number of bookings is rising alongside the number of weekend day hikers. In the Lodge and cabins, it’s been a nice mix of families and friend groups, with several large all-Camp organized groups scheduled in May.

The old saying is proving true: “A pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled.” Having people relaxing, laughing, cooking and playing in Camp is transforming the last four years of work into a real pleasure. See you in Camp!

Kids with dads prove even the smallest boots can make the hike to Camp.

Board Ponders Settlement

Like clockwork, the trail runners and speed-hikers arrive soon after sunrise; it means they were first at the Chantry gate, got parking, and started in the dark.

Unfortunately, California wildfires are now a regular news feature, and with that, questions of cause, blame, and recuperative lawsuits. The Bobcat Fire, which destroyed one cabin at Camp and two water tanks, was determined to have been caused by Southern California Edison: Now, five years later, the Sturtevant Conservancy has reached a mediated settlement with Edison for damages and lost revenue.

Thanks go to founding Conservancy Board President Deb Burgess, who, as CEO at the time, added the Conservancy to the Canyon’s suite of claims brought against Edison after the fire (Deb also lost her own private cabin in the Canyon to the fire.) The lengthy litigation that followed was mostly mechanical: fires and Edison and claims have become so frequent that settlement was not so much a question of IF but When.

Day-hikers take a break in Camp on their way up the original Sturtevant Trail to Mt. Wilson.

But explaining the Camp’s unique circumstances and its losses was complicated: one cost was the “removal of all hazardous burn debris” required by LA County. Explaining that burros had to pack out that debris, what a burro pack train is, and that they require a passable trail, which was not passable for nearly three years, meant that a specific dollar number was not yet possible for the claim: all that took some ‘splainin’.

With the main trail now cleared and stabilized, the Adams Pack Train is making the ‘run’ to Camp weekly.

The Board agreed to the settlement based on the advice of its legal counsel. Once it was confirmed, the Directors met to explore the implications, and to consider effective stewardship of the settlement funds. In general, a dual focus seemed clear: the Camp itself (buildings and infrastructure), and the mission of the Conservancy, which is to develop the general public’s use of the Camp.

Different guest groups share the main kitchen hostal-style, and end up sampling and swapping foods (some discovered the tastiness of fried Spam for the first time). Photo by Judy Reid.

Takeaways from the meeting included practical matters to research, and building a wish-list for the Camp and its use. And for the first time after four years in survival mode, the Directors took a big breath and said, “Seems like the right time for some strategic planning!” Luckily, the Board has dibs on a wonderful place in the mountains for just that kind of retreat. Stay tuned!

Guests catch the first rays of a full moonrise. Photo by Todd Pelkey

La Bella Luna

Camp guests gathered after dinner on the heliport Saturday, April 12 to watch the full “Pink” moonrise. It was a calm, clear, cool evening as the initial glow on the eastern edge of the Canyon finally emerged with a nearly piercing light—enough to cast everyone’s shadows and causing everyone to exclaim with awe and delight. As sunset and dusk turned to full darkness, multiple cell phones with apps for identifying stars, planets and constellations were held in the air. The mini-field trip concluded with a collective howling at La Bella Luna.

Antique Camp sign in the 1903 Ranger Cabin

Mainstream Maintenance

The trails are open, the Camp is open, water is safely in the new tanks and guests are enjoying their hot showers: what else is there to do? Plenty.

Layers and layers of deferred maintenance and repairs have accumulated over the four years of the Bobcat closure. After September 2020, all work was invested in getting the trail open (and keeping it open), and at the same time urgent repairs from bear and weather damage had to be addressed, all while rebuilding a new and more durable water system.

The interior of the Honeymoon Cottage is being improved, but the exterior will be a bigger project.

Now the work is becoming mundane, yet still crucial: top of the list is nearly all buildings’ roofs need to be re-shingled; replacement doors on several building can’t be installed until the door frames are significantly rebuilt from the combined effects of bears, termites, and decades of use. Many cabins desperately need the windows to be completely reglazed, and most need entirely new screens. And everything could use a good coat of fresh paint.

Campers test a new footbridge over a gully on the heliport trail.

So… would you like to leave your mark, make a difference, practice a skill, or learn one? Sign up here to get in on the action. Note: some hiking required.

Downed trees are just part of safety closure on the Mt. Zion trail. Here a volunteer pauses on one soon to be cleared, chainsaw-style.

TRAILS UPDATE

All trails in and out of the Big Santa Anita Canyon are now OPEN, with the practical exception of the Mt. Zion trail. Although technically “passable”, it is not the pleasant, rewarding hike it was and will be after reconstruction work is completed later this spring. More than unpleasant, some of it remains quite risky.

Day hikers can have good up-and-back from Camp to the Zion saddle; however the Winter Creek approach remains very sketchy. For the latest trail updates, check Wilbur Sturtevant’s Facebook page: we are monitoring progress almost daily and will post updates starting there.

The character, work, wit and life of legendary mountain volunteer Dave Baumgartner was celebrated at Adams Pack Station Easter weekend. With his wife Jane, Dave was a regular Host at Camp. Especially after the Bobcat Fire, he was a big part of the initial work to rebuild the Camp’s water system; then as co-leader of Restoration Legacy Crew, left his enduring mark on the pack trail with numerous artful stone retention walls. Thanks Dave!

Coming this summer: new schwag in Camp, events for autumn, and whatever stories guests and hikers generate on their visits to Sturtevant Camp.

Toasting the perfect marshmallow for s’mores: golden or charred?

S’mores not just with chocolate, but thin Reeses candy

Spring break sunny weather brought out an abundance of fragrant ceanothus (mountain or California lilac, also ‘soap bush’) along the trails.

Five TV Crews – Enough?

Wednesday 6am, October 2, 2024, and the fire gate at the top of Santa Anita Avenue finally swung open to the public, and the media. With the burros honking in the background, Maggie Moran at Adams Pack Station was soon overrun with microphones in the face and plenty of questions about, well, EVERYTHING. In the end, all she could say was what said everything: “We’re open, we’re open, we’re open!”

The Chantry Road fire gate finally swings open to all.

The same was true up at Camp, but no media and a little bit longer for the first two people to arrive: Camp volunteer Connor Jackson and pal Brian Bender, trail runners (of course.) They signed the new Hikers’ Register and were soon followed by others, a total of 18 the first day. The first weekend was similar, then the next – BOOM, over 100, mostly because of two large hiking groups.

Coming into November, the patterns have taken shape: 20-30 each weekend day, typically folks who were frequent hikers before the fire and eager to get back in to see everything post-fire. Most are from within 25 miles of Chantry, with a typically strong showing from the South Bay (Long Beach, etc.) So far only a few who’ve been blocked out of the trails closed by the Bridge Fire – we empathize!

Early morning trail runners celebrate with a group selfie at their turn-around point.

Speaking of closed trails, the most common points of conversation are the Zion and Wilson loops: disbelief and disappointment they are still closed and “When will they be opened?” All have volunteer trail crews actively working on them, so it’s only a matter of time—and weather.

Now through the end of the year holidays the Camp will be open to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays. C’mon up and sign the register, grab a cookie, and get back on the Big Swing: we’re OPEN!

Click, Hike, Stay the Night

Starting January 2025, Sturtevant Camp will be open to overnight guests by reservations only. The on-line reservation system is available here, with all the detailed background information updated on the Camp’s website.

Sample splash page of the new on-line reservation system.

Although the Camp is entirely analog and off-line, to be in business means to be on-line; the new system is based on a national service that aggregates camping opportunities mostly for RV’ers, customized to the Camp’s very “unique” lodging and amenities.

The Conservancy Board expects the usual start-up glitches and welcomes user feedback. All of it will be worthwhile, because it should streamline most of the nuts & bolts of reservations, taking a load off both the guest booking the reservation, and the volunteers managing the Camp’s use.

Ideally, the system will also help guests to connect with their volunteer hosts: that’s the relationship that matters when you’re all up in the mountains together, four miles by boots from everything!

WMS Birthday Party @ Camp

Saturday November 23^rd is Wilbur M. Sturtevant’s 163^rd birthday, and everyone is invited to bring their lunch up to Camp to celebrate with frosting, fire and a hearty round of Happy Birthday. Wilbur’s story will be told, original family photos will be on display, and never before seen heirlooms revealed. Easy-peasy, just gotta hike the beautiful Canyon and restored trail. See you there!

Giving Tuesday and Holiday Giving

Both the Camp and its Conservancy run on all-volunteer hours, sweat, boots, ideas, skills— and a deep love for the Camp and Canyon. Yet there’s still money involved, because there is stuff to be bought: a replacement mini-fridge for the Retreat Cabin, new shingles for all the roofs, and whatever else will finally wear out or a bear will tear up and need to be fixed.

Guest revenue is currently budgeted to cover utilities, packing and “regular” maintenance and repairs. But major damages or breakdowns, and any capital improvements or upgraded guest amenities depends on charitable contributions directly to the bottom line.

December 3^rd is national “Giving Tuesday” and the Conservancy is eligible for donations as a public 501(3)c non-profit. But really the whole month of December is about gratitude and giving, so we’re inviting everyone who is grateful for the Camp to support its future by giving now.

For inspiration to give, here’s a sample from “Wilbur’s Holiday Wish List for 2025”

Three new doors with windows to replace doors on the Lodge, Retreat, and Managers’ cabins.
Funds to upgrade of Cabin-4 to “Family Cabin” status, with a kitchenette similar to the Retreat Cabin’s; including sink, stove, mini-fridge, plumbing, tables & chairs for 5, etc.
Four sliding glass window sets for the front of the Lodge to match the rest of the Dining Hall windows (and finally keep the winter woodstove heat IN.)
An “angel sponsor” or sponsors for the Honeymoon Cottage: the Cottage is the third truly historic building in Camp (after the Lodge and Ranger Cabin), and needs both dollars and skilled attention for a careful restoration.

The historic Honeymoon Cottage after a another bear “attack”.

USFS-grade picnic tables, 2-3: there are two of these heavy-duty beasts heavily used in Camp, and a few more would be a big plus for welcoming both guests and day hikers. The cost is both in the heavy lumber and (heavy) packing.
A new clothes drier for dealing with the guest linen service (sheets / pillowcases)—and a few strong bodies to pull it up to Camp on a hand truck!

These are big-ticket items, but every gift moves us closer to making these repairs and improvements: thank you!

Dirt 411

As we go to press, a hiker missing for two weeks somewhere in/around the Big Santa Anita Canyon remains unfound. Multiple search and rescue teams from LA, Orange and San Bernardino Counties, China Lake and our local Sierra Madre crews have been tromping the trails and drainages. Talk has shifted from discovery to recovery.

Any hiker of any skill level can make a mistake and go off the slide of our steep, loose trails. It’s more on the hiker if they bypass posted closure signs. In Camp, we’ve been turning people back, and catching many trying to start up closed trails despite multiple signs. Mentioning the lost hiker barely dents some of their awareness and persistence.

It has been rewarding to help the S&R crews with our intimate, current, on the ground / in the dirt knowledge of the trails and their status, especially for teams coming from outside our area.

But it all still comes down to Respect the signs, and Hike within your ability!