Originally Posted by
skidder
I rode up there yesterday morning starting about 6AM from the beach. The scattered encampments from the 405 freeway up to the golf course just south of the 22/5/57 interchange area seemed to have grown since I last road all the way up to the Stadium area (about a month ago). They're on the opposite side of the River from the SART. But then you pass under the 22 freeway and HOLY CRAP!!! its a packed-in urban "tent city" up to Katella! I just rolled through that section slowly due to people popping out from between tents on to the trail, turned around and headed back down to the beach. I'll still ride the SART up to the bridge crossing over to the golf course (Riverview GC in Santa Ana?) for now, but I'm hesitant to ride any farther.
I usually head the other way, towards HB... and yes, it's insane. Like a Sudanese refugee camp sans the UN. I actually was talking to someone the other day and likened it to the trench run at the end of Star Wars, "Except instead of turbo lasers, it's transients."
The other issue here, and what I actually pointed out to the local City Councilman for that district in a sternly worded email this week... is that there's a health issue at play. Yes, there's all sorts of humanitarian concerns, and mental health/addiction factors. But in the end, that whole stretch of the path is strewn with rotting trash, dog and human feces, and who knows what else. It's almost impossible to breathe there. I cannot imagine there not being some sort of public heath concern that needs attention.