NOV 2015 - Redwood Loop

It started out cool and we start a little early.  I arrived around 8:30 to scope out the work needed to repair the fence around the Redwood Loop Trail.  The Redwood Loop was one of the first things I worked on when I joined the BBVTC back in 1996.  Someone had the idea that instead of using the old style of using wire to secure the rails to the post that bolts would be better.  Well, between then and now the fence was back to using wire and the bolts were gone.

Unloading the Posts and Rails

 Wiring the Rails to the Posts

 

Work preping for the repairs

Lunch in the Amphitheater

Prepping to replace the posts 

 

 We finished around 4pm but there was still at least another good days work left.  We put in 93 hours with the help of Norm, Dale S., Jan, David P., Herman, Janette, Peter, Michelle, Mike, David B., and new member Barry and with help from park interpreter Susan.

 Our Dusky-footed Woodrat would like to reminder you of the Dec 12th Holiday Get Together

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day

Robins

Pacific Wren

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

Steller's Jay

Acorn Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Chestnut-back Chickadee

Spotted Towhee

Varied Thrush

Raven

SEP 2015 - Middleridge and Hollow Tree

So the day started as a typical for Santa Cruz County with a bright sunny morning greeting us.  We had 7 crew members show up and with a report of trees down on Middleridge we planned on driving the road up to Lane camp and work on the upper end of Hollow Tree Trail.  We had worked on Basin Trail up to Lane Camp in April and May but we ran out of time to complete the Hollow Tree section.

We didn't find any trees down on Middleridge except for a fir over the road near Ocean View Overlook.  It was passable but we decided to take it out anyway.  It didn't take long and then we were off to the next objective.

 

 Middleridge near Ocean View Overlook

We dropped 3 people off at Hollow Tree where you can reach it from Middleridge.  The rest of the crew drove up to Lane Camp to work on Hollow Tree towards the other crew.  There was some brushing but the trail was very open with the prep work for a prescribe burn completed earlier in the year.  We did run into 3 trees down at the midpoint between the crews.  Dale and the lower crew took care of the trees and they were done by the time the upper crew arrived.

 

 3 Trees down about 3/4 mile from Lane Camp

On the way back we came across a very bright green and yellow Garter Snake who wasn't very happy with the attention we were giving her.

 Garter Snake (does anyone know the species)?

There were still wildflowers in bloom and there was one last Rose still hanging in with Fall approaching.

Wild Rose

The crew put in 44 hours and I would like to thank Dale P., Janie, Jan, David P., David B., and Norm.  The year end is rapidly approaching.  Start thinking about the holiday pot luck in DEC.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day

American Robin

Acorn Woodpecker

Brown Creeper

Steller's Jay

Wrentit

Northern Flicker

Western Scrub Jay

Hutton's Vireo

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

AUG 2015 - Buzzard's Roost

I was out it the middle of the Sierra's so Peter was leading the crew of 2 with Janie joining him.  Here's Peter's report of what they worked on.

Janie and I were the only ones who showed up - is that an all-time low?  We had fun. We started by meeting with Susan and looking at the board - nothing else would have worked, because it was all either large trees that needed the chain saw that I didn't bring or repairs to signs and bridges. We went over the map with Susan about Buzzard's Roost, and she suggested we drive up, instead of hiking, and gave us the key to the one locked gate.

We drove up Pine Mountain Road and, after a couple wrong turns, saw a sign for Buzzard's Roost and headed there.  When the road was about to get REALLY steep, I mean REALLY REALLY steep, we parked at a place we could turn around in, in case there wasn't' another such place further along.  We trudged up the REALLY steep road, doing some clearing along the way as a reason to stop going uphill.  At one point, we cleared a bunch of REALLY prickly stuff with long sharp thorns.  We got to the top, but because we used the road instead of the trail, none of the directions worked.  We spent about an hour walking around and on a rock outcropping that we figured must be Buzzard's Roost because of the location, even though Janie kept saying that it didn't look like the place she remembered.  The problem was, there was no connector road and, in particular, no trial with a sign to not use it. But there was a rattlesnake.  I heard it before I saw it, and there it was, rattling away, all coiled up between rocks. I tried to get a picture, but it didn't come out.  It was exciting, though.  I don''t think I've seen one that close up before.

Anyway, we sort of gave up and headed down to the car, looking again for the connector or the blocked trial.  We very shortly saw what turned out to be the connector with the 4" pines across the trail.  We had missed it on the way up because there was a lot of manzanita shielding the entrance.  We cut the three pines and a lot of manzanita and cleared the connector trail.  We then decided to look for a place for lunch and headed up the trial and lo and behold, there was Buzzard's Roost as Janie remembered it.  We ate lunch there, and then decided to take a brief look for the blocked trail with the sign.  Sure enough, it was right where you said it would be.  There were a bunch of branches behind the sign, which should have been enough, but, sure enough an older guy walked out of the trail when we were there.  I asked him why he decided to ignore the sign, and he said he wanted a quiet place to eat lunch (there were a bunch of kids on Buzzard's Roost) and he wasn't going very far.  What are you going to do?  We added a lot of branches and some manzanita and the thorny plant to the barricade.  You'd have to REALLY want to go back there now, at least until the first storm blows it all down.

I'm attaching photos of the cleared connector trail, Janie working on that trail (which I took by accident), and the new barricade.

The crew put in 12 hours and I would like to thank both Peter and Janie for keeping the work day alive.  It wasn't the first time the crew was this small.  One day it was Mike and I and it was when we were building the ramp on the Kirsch Trail leading to the Schultz Bridge. We were putting in posts for the hand rail and we had to drill through a root with a rock bar because we had no choice.  The prickly things Peter mentioned were Chaparral Pea.  The thrones are sharp and get up to 2" long but it's the small ones you have to watch out for.

See you on the trails

Jeff and Peter

Photos by Peter

JUL 2015 - Eagle Rock

It was a smaller than usual group this morning with 6 of the crew ready for our now annual work day on Eagle Rock trail.  There have been Swifts . . . I mean a few trees reported down and working on the trail each year makes the brushing a bit easier.  The day started out clear meaning it was going to be a warm day.

 4" Tan Oak

There were a couple of small thinks that only required a hand saw and these were both before the bridge.

The bridge looked good but there were a couple of 2" wide boards missing but overall it was holding up after close to 25 years.  At the first lookout I was surprised to see a Western Tanager perched in a tree very close to us.

 Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)

 Tough first start at a Knob Cone Pine

Dale and I guessed what we thought were the diameters of the trees from Kurt's photos from his scouting trip a couple of months ago.  This one and the final pine near the top were just about half the diameter we had guessed when we were at HQ.  Good to know.
 

Red Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla magnifica)

Up on the Rock we were treated to a few White-throated Swifts with one flying about 3 feet from Janie.  We also saw a Red Velvet Ant, which is actually a wasp and the female is capable of delivering a powerful sting.  Males can fly but female are wingless.  Adults drink nectar.  First time I ever saw one.

Eagle Rock is one of the harder trails and we saw a few small kids that probably took their first steps on the hike.  OK the parents probably helped.  Nice to see young kids being exposed to nature so early and maybe they will grow up respecting nature.  We put in 44 hours and I would like to thank Dale P., Janie, David P., Janette, and Herman.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day
3 White-throated Swift Aeronautes saxatalis
2 Anna's Hummingbird Calypte anna
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi
3 Pacific-slope Flycatcher Empidonax difficilis
1 Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens
1 Hutton's Vireo Vireo huttoni
1 Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
2 Western Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica
6 Common Raven Corvus corax
24 Violet-green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
4 Chestnut-backed Chickadee Poecile rufescens
1 Brown Creeper Certhia americana
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa
4 Wrentit Chamaea fasciata
1 Western Tanager Piranga ludoviciana
1 Lazuli Bunting Passerina amoena

JUN 2015 - Last Chance

There was an off shore breeze that pushed out the fog leaving the beautiful blue Santa Cruz sky.  As we were getting set up I could smell the blooming Azaleas right outside HQ.  What a treat.

Western Azalea (Rhododendron occidentale)

I was expecting it to be warm so the 9 member crew headed to a cool spot in the park: Last Change trail.  Soon after hitting the trail we were greeted by a flock of Chickadees and numerous wild flowers.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)

Since we were into the Marbled Murrelet breeding season, we traded the chainsaw for the crosscut saw.  This saw works great after you get use to pulling only.

 

Elk Clover (Aralia californica)

The next blockage was another rotten tree and with a cut from the saw and a few whacks with the Pulaski this was cleared.

 

 

As I mentioned there were many wildflower along the trail

White Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea alba)

Red Larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule)

Globe Lily (Calochortus albus)

There were a couple of small things across the trail and some brushing to the end of the park boundary.

Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica)

California Hedge Nettle (Stachys bullata)

Cricket (ID?)

Hairy Star Tulip (Calochortus tolmiei)

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja linariaefolia)

It did warm up but since the trail runs along East Waddell creek it was relatively cool.  The crew put in 65 hours on a shorter than usual day and I would like to thank Dale P., Dale S., Janie, Norm, David B., Shyamal, Curt, and Janette.  The bird of the day was hearing an American Dipper in the area I have seen then the last 2 years.

See you on the trails.

Jeff 

Birds of the Day

1 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [cafer Group])
1 Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
12 Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
3 Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)
4 Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
5 Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
3 Common Raven (Corvus corax)
4 Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
9 Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
6 Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus)
1 American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus)
3 Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
3 Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
2 American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
1 Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata)
1 Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
5 Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
11 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])
2 Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)

MAY 2015 - Return to Basin Trail

This month we headed back to finish up along the Basin Trail with a crew of 8.  We parked where STS crosses over China Grade road because my truck was running on empty and I wasn't sure if I would make it back to Boulder Creek for gas.  There always seems be be something in bloom in the park and today was no exception.

Douglas Iris

It took about a 1/2 hour to get to where we left off last month and then first tree was taken care of by a hand saw.

We had to work around this large Redwood since it was larger than our saw could take care of.

The next blockage was a 24" Fir and after 4 cuts the trail was clear again.

New growth on a young Madrone

Next was another 18" or so Fir that didn't take long to clear off the trail.

Beetles on a Bush Poppy

Fremont Star Lily (Toxicoscordion fremontii)

Chaparral Pea (Pickeringia)

Green Soldier Bug (Chinavia hilaris)

After lunch we had another 24" Fir to tackle and we kept on knocking down the 11 trail obstructions.

Run away Banana Slug

This leaning tree we left on the way out but on the return we cleared it quickly ending a satisfying day on the trails.

Sticky Monkey (Mimulus aurantiacus)

It was one of our longer days and we put in 73 hours.  I would like to thank Dale S., David B., Janie, Norm, Jan, and Mike.  It was a birdie day with 25 species, which added to the enjoyable day.  I did make it back to Boulder Creek with gas to spare.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day
1 Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
1 Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata)
1 Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
4 Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
1 Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
1 Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
1 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
8 Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
5 Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)
5 Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
11 Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
1 Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)
1 Common Raven (Corvus corax)
7 Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
3 Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
20 Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
2 Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
3 Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata)
1 Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
5 Black-throated Gray Warbler (Setophaga nigrescens)
1 Wilson's Warbler (Pacific Coast) (Cardellina pusilla chryseola)
6 Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
5 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])
2 Purple Finch (Western) (Haemorhous purpureus californicus)