Mt. Wilson toll road update

There's a good post by my colleague Julie Sheer at The Times' Outposts blog on the Mt. Wilson toll road above Pasadena and Altadena. A couple of big portions of the fire road used by hikers, cyclists and horses succumbed to landslide during the big rains of the winter of 2005-06 and -- guess what? -- still haven't been fixed.

Turns out there's been a bureaucratic delay getting some of the money for repairs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (shocking!), but it looks like work could begin soon. That's kind of interesting, given that we're on the verge of the rainy season.

In the interest of full disclosure, Ms. Sheer also happens to be Ms. Road Sage. It also should be noted that on a recent hike on the toll road, Ms. Road Sage dispatched yours truly to "scout" the trail that had been cut across a pair of big landslides to make sure the slopes were "stable" and then stayed behind to capture pictures for her blog. Luckily, the Road Sage is as sure-footed as a mountain goat and survived to take the garbage out, do the dishes, walk the dog and pick up milk and toilet paper for at least a few more days!

-- Steve Hymon