Adams' Pack Station

Having some amazing empanadas from Lord Empanada and a refreshing hef from RT Roger's. Don't forget to support our small local businesses.

Hello Friends!! Here is a link to a podcast, where I was interviewed by Robert Peterson, podcast host and creator of The Hidden History Of Los Angeles. His episodes are quite amazing. Whether you are a native of Los Angeles or from anywhere else and want to find out about some of the most unique and hidden historical places around town, tune in to his podcasts. I'm grateful he chose to do one on our wonderful Big Santa Anita Canyon and that I got to be a part of it. I hope you enjoy it and please share it if you would. https://podcasts.apple.com//the-hidden-histor/id666596114

We have sung for our family every year since we were little. This year, since we could not be together, we decided to create a video to share with everyone. Thank you to all who have supported Adams Pack Station this year. We want to wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New year!

Good morning friends. Here's a glimpse of what this morning's rain brought us. Not a typical Big Santa Anita canyon vision, so I thought I'd share. Have a wonderful week everyone!

The Pack Station 9, on a mission.

Happy Friday everyone!! I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Holiday season. I know shopping for holiday gifts is going to be different for many this year. I personally like to pick things out in stores and see first hand what I'm getting. But in this time of online buying, I'd like to present some possible gift items for you, created by a few of our very own Big Santa Anita cabin owners. Our cabin owners are some of the most stand up folks I have ever met. They have co...ntinued to support each other and the pack station following the Bobcat Fire. Proceeds from all of these items listed below will help support the pack station while we remain closed for business. You can purchase these different items from the cabin owners directly, either via Etsy or by email. Information will be listed below each description. Thank you all for your continued support. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. These amazing pins are the best. One is a copy of a vintage patch from the early years of the pack station and the other is of a very popular sign along the Sturtevant Trail heading to the waterfall. https://www.etsy.com/shop/anchorlesspinworks This next item is a compilation of art cards celebrating the wildflowers of our canyon. They are of original paintings created by one of our talented cabin owners. https://tinyurl.com/y69pkflo This 3rd item is a wonderful service that adds such a beautiful touch to your gift giving and/or other correspondence. One of our talented cabin owners is offering a calligraphy addressing service. $2 per envelope (this does not include return addressing) and offering a variety of inks and colors. If you're interested, email Gina at: [email protected]

The "Pack Station 9" (the donkeys), and Maggie, packing on a beautiful morning. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Hello friends!! Happy Giving Tuesday! In the spirit of giving, I'm not only going to repost our Go Fund Me Campaign, but I'd like to promote 2 organizations that are very dear to me and extremely connected to the Adams Pack Station. They are both vital to the history of our San Gabriel Mountains and for the safety of our community within it. Whatever you can do will go a long way. Thank you friends!! gofund.me/2664f246 If you can give to multiple organizations, great! ...If not, please consider donating the the Mount Wilson Institute and/or Sierra Madre Search and Rescue. I have also donated to both today. I am grateful for the impact the Observatory has left on our community and in the world of science. Not to mention the wonderful staff and volunteers up there who continue to share what this amazing place has contributed and continues to contribute to all of us. https://www.facebook.com/donate/1524083677981689/?fundraiser_source=external_url I am also grateful for the selfless, brave and amazing human beings that make up the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team. I pray I will never need them personally, but have seen how incredibly necessary they are to those who have needed them on our trails and for those who have found themselves off the trails.

We are hanging out in Sierra Madre to hopefully bring some joy to those shopping in town today. It's Moonshine and Heasley just in case you don't recognize them since they are disguised as reindeer. Happy small business buying day and Happy Holidays to everyone!

It has now been a little over 2 weeks that I have been able to return home to the pack station. The donkeys just arrived this past Monday. Since the road to Chantry Flat is being worked on from damage from the fire, the trailer that transported the donkeys had to drop them off about a half mile down the road...It is great to have them home again. Things are feeling a little bit more "normal". Now that I am back, seeing the cabin owners coming through each day, has made this ...time so much easier. I love this community so much and continue to be eternally grateful to the firefighters that worked to save my home on the mountain, and really the community's home on the mountain. I'm looking forward to the day I can see all of your lovely faces again when we re-open to the public. The word right now is still as far out as April 2022. With the way the Go Fund Me is going, we should be able to stay afloat until we are able to run business as usual. Thank you all so much, who have donated. There are no words to express how touched and grateful I am. See more

Happy New Year from the Adams Pack Station! I know we are already halfway into January, but I wanted to share out first packing trip of 2021 and a few pictures of the crew. We are all back at the pack station and doing what we can to move forward. I wish you all a wonderful 2021!!

Just sharing the most updated version of our fundraising campaign. Thank you again to all those who have donated and have shared our campaign. We are so grateful.

Hello Friends, in case you didn't get a chance to hear this interview on NPR by Larry Mantle with Forest Service Personnel, the cabin owners association president and myself, here it is. It's a great update and Ben of the cabin owners association gives a great update on the cabins in the canyon. https://www.scpr.org//bobcat-fire-and-the-historical-cabi/

Good morning everyone. A couple of us from the canyon will on live with Larry Mantel this morning on KPCC between 10:30am and 11:00am. If you miss it, I will post the link of the recording of it once they give it to me. https://www.scpr.org/

Hi Friends! We just posted a little video to say thank you to all those who have supported us and a video of how the donkeys are doing. It's been requested to re-post the link to our Go Fund Me Campaign. We greatly appreciate any support we receive https://gf.me/u/y3qbw7

Hello friends! Just a short video to say thank you to all those who have supported us through this time, as well as a small introduction of my awesome donkeys. We absolutely appreciate your donations, sharing our campaign, your offers to help physically, and your kind words. Every bit of what you are all doing is making this just that much easier. THANK YOU!!

Good afternoon friends!! I'd like to say thank you to all those who have been supporting our fundraising campaign thus far. We are astonished and humbled by the response we have received with your generous donations as well as spreading the word.... To leave you with some good news, if haven't already seen this, here is the Forest Service update. The forest is open once again! Yay!! However please know that the Chantry Flat area will continue to stay closed as it is a burn area. We will be closed for the foreseeable future..Our phone lines are not working currently, so all updates will only be communicated here. Enjoy the mountains responsibly everyone!! https://www.facebook.com/1561468497418820/posts/2882014552030868/

Many of you have asked how you can help. We are now launching our Go Fund Me campaign. Thank you all for your continued love and support.

Good afternoon friends. Even though the Bobcat fire continues to move over our mountains, the Big Santa Anita Canyon area near Chantry Flats is beginning to settle a bit. We are still praying that the Mt. Wilson Observatory, my first residence on the mountain, pulls through untouched. It's been touch and go at the observatory and near all of the TV and radio towers for the last few days. However, our firefighters and their operational overhead, are doing what they do best to ...keep people, property and in this case, our history safe. As the Mt. Wilson Observatory was coming to life in the early 1900s, so was the community of the Big Santa Anita Canyon, beginning with Sturtevant Camp in 1893. Simultaneously, along the same mountain, began the breathtaking developments of what have shaped this part of the San Gabriel Mountains. I am extremely proud to have been a tiny part of the Mt. Wilson Observatory's recent history as former superintendent, and am equally proud to be a part of the Big Santa Anita Canyon currently, as the Adams Pack Station Owner. With all of that said, in the next several weeks, I will be posting links of interviews, articles, and information about how to be a part of helping not only the Adams Pack Station, but also The Big Santa Anita Canyon Cabin Owners Association, Sturtevant Camp, and Mt. Wilson Observatory. Although all of us are of different organizations, we are one as a community. Together, we will be stronger and build ourselves up again with each other's help as well as yours. Please repost our stories as you see fit and help spread the word that we are here and seek everyone's kind and generous assistance to bring our mountain from the bottom of the foothills to the top of Mt. Wilson, back to life. I will begin with posting the first interview done by KPCC with the president of the Big Santa Anita Canyon Association. (The interview begins about 41 minutes into the program) #BSACStrong https://scpr.org/programs/take-two/2020/09/17/21199/

Good morning friends. We have had a few days to process what has happened in our canyon. I think I can speak for everyone in the canyon, when I say, we feel your love and support. We understand that this canyon is special to so many. For many, a piece of their heart resides here, such as hikers, runners, bikers and former cabin owners. With that being said, healing from what has happened is going to be a hard process, but an easier one (not easy), because of you, our communit...y. If any place can overcome, and move forward even stronger than before, its our community. The beauty of that, is this not only includes everyone in our foothills, but from all over LA and beyond. I will not leave out all those I have met, that come to these mountains from afar, just to set foot in it's beauty. If this year has done anything for me, it's reminded me that people are truly good. To remember that in the midst of so much tragedy and heartbreak, and people choosing to do the wrong thing, I need to have faith in the good of everyone who is here to help and focus on that. So from the bottom of my heart, I Maggie Moran of the Adams Pack Station, the Canyon Cabin Owners which includes Sturtevant Camp always, all thank you for your thoughts, kind messages and offers for help. It will be some time before we can organize how to use your assistance. So for now, if you are interested in helping, please send a private message in Adams Pack Station messenger, with your email address and if you would like to help in a specific or general way. I will be putting together a list of everyone interested, so when we are ready to move ahead, we already have your information...I would like to leave you with a couple of images of what I feel is our beacon of hope. This is an aerial shot of Chantry Flat taken 2 days ago. The smoke was too thick to see into the canyon that day. It is very difficult to see the pack station because it is still surounded with trees blocking the buildings. As it stands untouched by the blaze that came through this past Sunday, it is what will help restore our canyon, and in the meantime be the home of everyone who needs it to be until that happens.... Not only will the trees and plants of this canyon grow back, so will our spirits, hearts, and support for each other as a community. Even Stronger than before. #BSACStrong See more

I am just re-posting what I posted on our cabin owners page.. I really am unable to say much else at the moment. "Good early morning friends. So much happened yesterday and I know emotions have been both hopeful and grim. At the moment, noone knows for curtain what the canyon will look like once the fire subsides. The reports I received from firefighters who braved working in this area, were, that it appeared that much, if not all of the main canyon burned (First Water Trail ...towards Sturtevant Trail). How far north the fire went is unknown and in which direction the fire ran up is unknown. Until we go in there, we won't know if any cabins made it through the burn. For curtain, the fire was seen going up the San Olin Canyon and rolling up towards upper winter creek. Noone could say exactly where it traveled from there, however I spoke with the superintendent of Mt. Wilson Observatory early yesterday evening and he was able to see the south side of Mt. Zion burning from there at the time. I'm sure with all the online apps and links to maps, you may or have already gotten some answers as to what has been over run by fire. I know there isn't much information here you probably can't already look up. However, it's very difficult for me to say that it appears that as of yesterday evening, the pack station and the forest sevice structures were saved. This was due to efforts made by key individuals who I will forever be indebted to and will always hold firm in my heart for doing what they did. I know they would say it was their job, but I know that they went above and beyond in the face of fire and uncertain safety to do what they did, because they cared about this place, the history and these mountains. I feel a level of gratitude that I have never felt before and yet my heart breaks for every single one of you in the canyon. For the loss and/or for the agonizing unknown. I won't speak of what I don't know, so I continue to pray and hope for the best outcome for everyone. It truly feels unreal that I am posting these very words about our precious canyon. This historic gem of a canyon will live one way or another. I know that as the days pass and the smoke settles, we will come together to figure out how. I send each and every one of you all my love." See more

Here is an update: The fire has reached Hermit falls and is pushing to move up the west side of the canyon. They have put some water down on it the try to keep from moving into the west side, but the visibility got worse after a handful of efforts. They will get on it again when visibility improves. It is also to the bottom of the canyon at the gaging station north of the dam. I will update when I know more.

Good evening friends.. The fire in Big Santa Anita Canyon is now about half way down the mountain above the First Water Trail/ and the beginning sections of Sturtevant Trail/Gabrielino Trail. (NOTE: NOT ON THE TRAILS BUT ON THE UPPER PARTS OF THE CANYON ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CANYON) It has moved south on the ridge past the dam and towards the debris basin at the southern/east sise of the canyon. It is burning very hevily above the dam area. The helicopters continued to pou...r over on the hillsides above the cabins and down towards the south end until about an hour ago. Some fire personnel are at Chantry still working on the next plan of attack. There is no way to fight directly anymore. They will hit it with air support again tomorrow visibility permitting, to put as much moisture as they can on it to slow it down. However, we can only wait now and see how it continues to move down the canyon. The Forest Service folks up there spent the day dozing lines and preparing for the fire for if or when or it heads up the mountain towards Mt. Wilson on the front side of the Mountain. We just need to hope for the best and hope noone gets hurt. I'm sorry friends. I know it doesn't look hopeful that it won't get to the heart of BSAC. Every single cabin owner is in my thoughts and heart, as well as Sturtevant Camp. I know this is awful but I say it's not over til it's over. I will have hope until the very end that it's still possible our places survive this. I will be manning the Chantry gate again tomorrow. I will post any updates of the progression of the fire. See more

Here is a small summary of what I know regarding the fire on this southern front. The fire crested over Clamsell ridge but held steady at the top most of the day. Visibility was too bad to make any air drops all day. As the Big Santa Anita Canyon side of the Clamshell ridge began to pick up some lateral movement, county helicopters came in this evening and started dropping right over that area. They also worked on dropping water over Sawpit and above Camp Trask. Someone from ...the Forest Service left Chantry this evening and had been there for a while to check on things. They said the fire at the top of Clamshell is currently holding steady and all looks good in the canyon at this time. They hit the fire on our side of the canyon pretty heavily this evening so I have hope. As we have seen the fire doesn't stop when we go to bed and many heros are out there all through the night watching over these mountains and our communities. If you look up to the mountains, much is happening even now. These firefighters and all those directing are working there tails off. I'm beyond grateful to every single one of them. Let's hope for a still night and if not, may all these folks stay safe and well. Goodnight friends. See more

Hi friends. As you know we at the Adams Pack Station are all evacuated. All of the amazing people of numerous agencies are working together tirelessly to keep the fire from moving into the Big Santa Anita Cayon and into the homes of our surrounding neighborhoods. So much is being prepared right now to help protect us all. I know we all wish for them to come out of this alive and safe in the process. However what they do is quite dangerous and they do put their lives on the li...ne to protect life and property. Please give our local heros some peace of mind that they will not have to rescue anyone on top of fighting a fire and stay off of main and small roads leading up to mountain access as well as off the trails. I am certain that no matter how long they have been fighting this and other fires, that they will do everything in their power to protect us. Please help them do that by making responsible and considerate choices with them in mind. I am grateful to our brave firefighters even when their not fighting directly for us as they are now. They are in our thoughts and hearts here at the Adams Pack Station. See more