Here it is the middle of the summer and we have dodged a number of catastrophes like big rock slides.  In the past we have had some serious slides on Redbox Road when everything heats up.

  While good luck has been with us so far, safety needs to be on our minds at all times.  A biologist was involved in a single-vehicle accident about 3/4 of a mile up Redbox Road.  His or her truck ran into the side of the mountain, the truck was totaled but fortunately no serious injuries were reported.  Just hours before that, another biologist was found dead in a ravine deep in the Angeles National Forest.  You can read about that incident at the first URL below.

  Unfortunately, there is a great deal of irresponsible driving by Edison Contractor PAR.  This ranges from speeding to continuously driving half way into the oncoming traffic lanes, even on blind corners.  So, we need to drive a little slower and not be surprised when a big truck is in our lane.  It is really a bad situation from 4 to 8 AM and from 3 to 6 PM.  Last Friday and Saturday I found a number of PAR trucks in my lane headed down when I was on my way up to Mt. Wilson at 3 PM.  PAR's dangerous driving is found both on Redbox and Upper Big T roads.

  The next safety-related issues is brush clearance.  There is a lot of brush shooting up on Mt. Wilson (and Mt. Harvard) making ideal conditions for a fast moving brush fire.  Everything is drying out quickly and brush clearance needs to be done now.

  A few of the campgrounds have reopened so we are seeing more of the general public on the hill.  Please keep in mind that a number of people get lost because State Route 2 is still closed to La Canada, and some of those folks are almost out of gas.  I hand out copies of the Observatory's road map (see the second URL) to people needing directions and they appreciate the gesture.

  Work continues on the reconstruction of the backup power line feeding Mt. Wilson and I hope to have an updated report next month.

  Have a safe summer.  See you next month.

  http://tinyurl.com/AngelesBiologist  (Biologist killed)

  http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/DETOUR_Mt_Wilson.pdf   (Mt. Wilson Road Map)


  dennisd (at) ladigitalnetworks.com

Provided by Steve Blodgett, at Earthsignals.com