Stranded, but Not Helpless

For the first time in two and a half weeks, Follows Camp felt like a ghost town.

Deep inside the Angeles National Forest, 135 residents were stranded in this rugged community when raging river waters powered by record rainfalls destroyed the three bridges that connected the hamlet to the outside world. But residents managed to repair one of the bridges by Wednesday, and the isolation gave way to exuberance.

“People got out of here like scorched bats,” said full-time resident Tim Dowling. “I did a jig as soon as I got over that bridge.”

Children returned to school, adults went back to jobs, bills were paid and those sick of canned soup bought fresh vegetables and meat. They also stocked up on propane gas. They had been relying on airlifts from the Sheriff’s Department and neighbors, who loaded a crude steel compartment with supplies, which were then dragged over the river on a pulley.

“I was just thrilled. I got rid of my husband,” joked Joyce Ellis, 62.

Ellis, who was tidying up inside a small restaurant on the 90-acre camp property north of Azusa, said she and her husband, Leslie Ellis, left Follows Camp on Thursday for the first time since the bridges were toppled. They headed straight for their favorite Mexican restaurant in Azusa and gorged on cheese enchiladas and chile rellenos.

“Boy, did it taste good,” she said. “We’re such regulars there that they kept calling us and asking, ‘Where you been? Are you OK?’ ”

Leslie Ellis, a funeral escort, was finally able to call mortuaries Thursday to say he was available for work again. The couple had been worrying about how much they had in their checking account.

In a place known for its fierce independence -- residents are artists, retirees and others generally sick of city life who over the years have fended off everything from wildfires to wild bears -- it was little surprise that the inhabitants repaired the bridge before authorities did.

Because Follows Camp is private property, the owners are responsible for building a new bridge, an enterprise that could cost more than $400,000. If the federal government deems Los Angeles County a disaster area, the camp may be eligible for financial assistance.

But the full-timers weren’t going to wait around for that.

Since Saturday, a crew of up to eight residents used bulldozers and dump trucks to build a dirt ramp onto the community’s main bridge, a span that was still standing but was disconnected from the two river embankments.

J.C. Courtemanche, a rail-thin man with a brown Civil War-era beard, expertly operated an International Harvester bulldozer that was built in 1938. The contraption, nicknamed “Teddy” because its serial number begins with a “TD,” was a loud and feisty machine that scooped up rocks and soil for 30 minutes and then had to be cooled down for 30 minutes because its clutch was so arthritic.

“You’ve got to be an octopus to run this thing,” Courtemanche said. “You have to reach the cable, the brake and the blade at the same time.”

Unlike the modern Caterpillar equipment used by L.A. County Public Works across the river, Teddy had to be restored after sitting idle for more than a year. Courtemanche and a partner bled all the injectors, replaced engine fluids and tweaked the gas-powered ignition to get the hulking diesel engine started.

Residents say their patchwork is built to last -- at least until the next major storm. They are awaiting permits that will allow them to deepen the channel under the bridge and temper the ferocity of the water running along the embankments.

Because many were drawn to Follows Camp for its seclusion, being isolated by the rains was not much of a problem. However, the inability to pick up essentials like medicine and diapers weighed heavily on many residents.

Some braved a river crossing in the steel compartment, a flimsy space only big enough for two people.

Courtemanche took such a trip last week to buy food and other supplies. A rib-eye steak he bought is still sitting in his refrigerator.

“I keep telling myself I’m going to cook it, but by the time I’m done working on the bridge, I find myself falling asleep as soon as I sit down,” said Courtemanche, who turns 54 today.

The owner of the camp paid Courtemanche and other residents to build the makeshift bridge.

Last week, Courtemanche took the bulldozer down the steep hill and said that he had such difficulty stopping it from flipping over that he inadvertently corrected the double herniated disc in his back.

“A 67-year-old bulldozer fixed what a doctor wanted to charge me $20,000 for,” Courtemanche said. “I feel like dancing now.”

Even though the bridge is completed, the recovery is far from over.

A large grassy area along the riverbank that would accommodate thousands of campers in the summer was washed away when the east fork of the San Gabriel River rose 20 feet above normal. One of the 100 homes at Follows Camp was damaged when river water ate away a resident’s wine cellar, spilling dozens of bottles into the water.

Mark Yelton, manager of the nearby Williams Camp, has spent weeks sending food to his neighbors over the pulley. He and others from Williams Camp used a mechanized backhoe to build a ramp onto the bridge to reach Follows Camp.

“When we completed the bridge, you could hear people celebrating over the fire radios and CBs, ‘We have a bridge!’ ” Yelton said. “I’m surprised they weren’t more frustrated being stranded up here. They’re a different breed of people.”