Hikers Take 1st Steps on a Long-Closed Trail

Don Mullally warned two men and a woman standing in a Denny’s parking lot Sunday morning that they were about to enter an area inhabited by mountain lions, snakes and poisonous plants.

But the small group did not seem to mind. Their anticipation of hiking the Weldon Canyon Trail, which has been off-limits to the public since the early 1900s, was stronger than any fear of nature’s dangers.

Browning-Ferris Inc., which bought the property in 1978, agreed five years ago to open the five-mile trail to the public in 2000. The company operates the Sunshine Canyon Landfill at the eastern edge of the Santa Susana Mountains. It made the agreement as a condition of expanding the dump onto land in Los Angeles County jurisdiction, said James Aidukas, the company’s director of environmental affairs.

In the 1920s, ranchers from Newhall Castaic Junction and points north would take the old Weldon Canyon Motorway along the spine of the Santa Susana Mountains--and across privately owned land--to the west San Fernando Valley and on to the sea.

About 10 years ago, Browning-Ferris planted hundreds of oaks along the trail, which was closed while the trees matured, Aidukas said. Now that they have grown strong--some as high as 20 feet--the trail was ready to be opened Sunday, and hikers finally were able to admire the canyon’s natural beauty, said Mullally, a former biology teacher who became a state park naturalist and nature tour guide.

His group entered the trail on Weldon Canyon Motorway and stopped to admire mountains covered with oak, pine and spruce.

“Oh, wow, look at that view,” said George Riippi, a Sierra Club member. “Isn’t that great? You know, I’ve hiked many trails but have never seen anything like it. What a view.”

Len Smith, 50, of Valencia resident, nodded.

“What an irony to think all this beauty is so close to the urban area,” Smith said. “L.A. is not all heavy freeway traffic and smog. I wish more people knew about this place.”

John Smith, 53, lingered behind the group, taking photos and looking for clues that might help him trace his family history in Weldon Canyon.

His mother told him his grandparents had lived somewhere in the canyon. His grandfather, who had bought a cabin in the area, took a job with a railroad during the early 1900s. His grandmother would shoot squirrels and cook them for lunch.

“All I can do is take photos and take them to my mom and tell her, ‘See, I’ve been there,’ ” he said.