Saturday, September 12, 2015

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