Ken Burton Trail restoration, etc.

I just got back from China where I ran quite  a bit on a treadmill.  Great to be back in Pasadena.

On Sunday I ran up Brown Mt  to join  the Ken Burton Trail restoration work again.  This great trail, build in the early 1990s by the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association (MWBA), links the end of the Mt. Brown fireroad with the Gabrielino trail just upstream from Oakwild.  It was an old favorite of mine, but was damaged in the 2009 Station Fire and has been closed off since.  Local mountain bikers (MWBA, CORBA) are rebuilding the trail.  Here is a CORBA status update written after the last trail work day in November:

http://corbamtb.com/news/2015/11/25/ken-burton-trail-restoration-continues-december-13/

The mountain bikers are a great group-  I had no idea they put so much into trail work in the local mountains. I met three bikers who, it turns out, also served as (bike-mounted) trail sweeps at the AC100 last year.  These are the same folks that did last minute trail clearing for the race after storms during race week brought down deadfall in certain sections of the race course.   I've been sharing the trail work dates on local trail running FB pages but so far no other trail runners have shown up.

Its been fun to work with these folks:  Load up a pack with work boots and work clothes, a bow saw and water, then run up to the KBT trailhead (7 miles, 2000 ft), trot in on the KB trail  to the worksite, change into work clothes and spend the day clearing trail and grading with a MacLeod, carted up by the bikers on a trailer.   Then change back into running shoes and run down.  Good for a 17 miler  (plus a solid upper body workout!)