APR 2010: Fire Roads & Trails

Another storm was a day away on the April 10^th trail crew day. I left the house expecting a pleasant day (wishful thinking after the previous couple of warm spring days) and on the way to the park it started to drizzle. The park offered to lend me a rain jacket and I gladly accepted it. We had a nice turn out of 14 crew members so we split up. I took one crew to open the fire roads starting on Middle Ridge at Gazos then to Johansen where there were 4 trees across the road with 100 meters then back down Gazos.
There was about 8-10 trees across the roads and this was an 18” Fir but with a little effort; open road ahead.


There was a lot of hard working going on …well most of the time. We saw numerous banana slugs but they were smaller than the one at my house, which you can see is almost 7” long. Her name is George.

The second crew, lead by Mike, started the day by going over to the Kirsch Trail and taking out the tan oak that was overhanging the trail just before the bridge. After that they hiked a short distance up the Shadowbrook Trail toward Huckleberry and found the blockages (18-inch d/f and 10-inch t/o) that the ranger had mentioned. Norm caught up to the crew and reported there was nothing on the trail between Huckleberry where he parked and the work area.

After finishing with Shadowbrook, they drove out N. Escape as far as we could before they hit a locked gate. So they parked where the short connector trail goes between N. Escape and the Maddock cabin site. They hiked up and back on the Meteor removing some small debris and a 24-inch t/o which tested the limits of Dale's small saw.

It was an average work day but with it the BBVTC has racked up 407 hours year to date. If we can keep this up we can break our 2008 record of 943 hours.

See you on the trail - Jeff

MAR 2010: Sempervirens

FEB/MAR 2010: Sempervirens

The Sempervirens Fund purchased two redwood tracts totaling 267 acres from Redtree Properties of Santa Cruz, CA. Redtree had obtained state permits to cut 35% of the redwood and Douglas fir trees larger than 18 inches in diameter on the smaller 107-acre tract at the intersection of Hwy 9 and 236 before the acquisition of the property. We started preparing the sight on February 27 with Aaron from Sempervirens.

Meadow where the dedication would be held

Looks like the gardening continues from the February weeding work at Rancho del Oso.

Steps were put in to keep people from slipping down the bank.

After about 2 years, with a little help from the crew, my camper shell is going back on.

Short day but a BBQ was a nice ending.

There were 11 crew members that helped out and we were done in about 4 hours. Lunch was ready for us when we got to my house for the BBQ. Thanks J.

MAR 12^th

As most of the crew knows we get a lot more rain on the right side of the hill compared to the bay area. San Jose had a total of 13.01” as of 3-3-10 where Boulder Creek was at 46.29”. Needless to say, the week leading up to the event was very wet. I received a call from Linda the night before asking for advice and help. A long story short. Van got stuck, huge tow rig got stuck and had to use a winch to get it out. The road down to the meadow was a mess. We were able to round up 3 crew members for a day before fix and Linda had hired a contractor too. There was about 12-15 people total. It rained all day and it took about 8 hours to lay a boardwalk, improve the steps, and carry all the supplies needed for the dedication. I was soaked by the time I got home and it took about 2 hour in front of a fire to warm up.

MAR13^th

The trail crew mascot was showing his support with his buddy looking on (too bad they couldn’t attend: other plans).

Junction of Hwy 9 and 236 with the trail head off to the left.

Crew helping people down the trail after spending the morning finishing up preparing the trail.

>Boardwalk viewed from the trail

Landing after the steps

The initial thought was about 100 would attend but over 325 people showed up.

It was a long day and even the supervisor was tired thinking about the past 2 days. There were 15 crew members out on Saturday and some stayed to help break down the dedication area. We start around 8 and ended the day around 4 but there was no rain.

We have received many kind comments about the work we did with this comment being typical.

“That was a beautiful event you put on, just superb. Must have been harrowing yesterday, in the heavy rain, but everything was perfect today. The plywood and steps on the trail, the solicitous young people stationed at strategic points, keeping elderly donors from slipping and sliding. “

There was only one minor slip and one woman could not make it down the trail. I think that is a good showing. Thank all.

See you on the trail - Jeff

FEB 2010: Sequoia Trail

This was day where we traveled .4 miles in about 3 hours. We start at the bottom of the Sequoia trail at No. Escape and from there cleared about 8 fallen trees on our way to Hwy 236.
The last blockage was a Madrone and 2 Tan Oaks. It took a little scrambling to get through.

Along the way we had a little fun rolling the cut sections off the trail.

There was 6 of us out and it took the rest of the day to complete the loop back to HQ. Along the way we heard 2 Pileated Woodpeckers and spotted one at the top of a Fir near the Kirsch trail.

See you on the trail - Jeff