It was a very pleasant morning as the crew starting to arrive at our 9am call of duty time. We had 3 new people out with a total of 13. As we were collecting a not so common Vaux's Shift flew around HQ for about 1/2 hour. First of the year for me. We moved around today starting in the Redwood Loop then over to STS south of Maddox's Cabin, and finally STS west and Basin Trail north.
We started at the Redwood loop to lay duff down under the Mother and Father of the Forest. Years of people climbing over the fence to get near to the large trees has compacted the ground around the trees. The duff will help hold in the moisture that drops as the redwoods collect the fog.
Mother
Father
Of course the signs we put up to "do not climb the fence" didn't keep the crew out nor the visitors. Within minutes people climbed over the fence. Oh well. Next was a report of a blockage on STS south of Maddox's cabin. It was about a 1/2 mile hike and a tan oak snapped about 20 feet off the grown.
Crosscut Sawing
It was a little tricky since I had to detach the tree. When it did detach and the far end fell down my end went up and me too. Luckily I remembered to let go.
It didn't take long to clear the trail and then we were off to China Grade to search for reported redwood down on STS west of China Grade and something on Basin Trail about 1 to 1.5 miles toward Lane Camp. The day had gotten very warm and after hiking about a mile down STS we were not near any redwoods so we turned back to find the blockage on Basin trail. After about a 1/2 mile Dimitriy and Sarah scouted ahead and after running about 10 minutes they returned and reported that they found nothing so that was the end of the day.
Madrone Peeling
It turned out to be a long day and we racked up 106 hours putting the year's total at 600 hours with a good chance of breaking 1000 hours for the 4th year in a row. Keep turning out and help keep our park's trail on of the best in the state and may be the country (I don't really know if this is a true statement but I can still believe it). I would like to thank Norm, Joan, Kathy, Janie, Bill, Dimitriy, Sarah, Michelle, Jeanette, and new members Yana, Cathy, and Susanna.See you on the trails
Jeff
Birds of the Day
1 Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
4 Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Empidonax difficilis
4 Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni
3 Warbling Vireo, Vireo gilvus
2 Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal), Aphelocoma californica [californica Group]
21 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens
3 Wrentit, Chamaea fasciata
1 American Robin, Turdus migratorius
1 Black-throated Gray Warbler, Setophaga nigrescens
1 Common Raven, Corvus corax Delete
2 Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
4 Pacific Wren, Troglodytes pacificus
3 Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa
1 Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata
1 Vaux's Swift, Chaetura vauxi
2 Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2 Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
1 Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
3 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon), Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group]
