The Coalition of American Canyoneers in conjunction with the San Bernardino Cave and Technical Rescue Team, Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, and the Angeles National Forest performed a canyon cleanup event on August 23th, 2014. More than 60 volunteers from as far away as Arizona, picked up trash and cleaned graffiti from the canyon walls. Using hammers and chisels, the graffiti was painstakingly chipped from the rock surface. Afterwards, the rock was painted with a thin coating of mud, and a dusting of fine sand from the nearby stream bed using a technique that has proven successful in other outdoor areas. In this way, the tagger’s “canvas” was made less attractive, hopefully decreasing the graffiti in the future. Since the mud will last only a couple years, the team will be at it again to help preserve this jewel of the San Gabriels. A second cleanup day is scheduled for October 25, 2014. (See the second cleanup including a video)

Thanks to Brian Olliver for the photos.

Click on the first photo to see the full scale images.