2010 BBVTC Annual Report

Big Basin Volunteer Trail Crew 2010 Annual Report

The Big Basin Volunteer Trail Crew had an outstanding year in 2010 as it continued to attract new volunteers and again exceeded the 1,000 hour total after several years below the mark. For the year the Trail Crew worked 1015.5 hours over 14 workdays.

The year started out on the coast with an outing to RDO. We cleared weeds and removed a few trees but this was the first and only time the crew would pull weeds.

Dale was up from Texas and joined us for the day.
The Trail Crew was fortunate to work over in the Rancho del Oso section of Big Basin on two other occasions clearing brush around the nature center, removing exotic vegetation, installing sign posts and removing trail and fire road blockages.


With the return of a wet winter after several relatively dry years, we were kept busy. In February the Crew cleared the Sequoia Trail and hit a virtual wall of down trees on the trail. It took 3 hours of work to cover a one-half mile section of trail. It seemed like every turn in the trail revealed more work.

Starting in late February we had several special workdays as the Trail Crew helped the Semperivirens Fund prepare for the dedication of its Red Tree property purchase. Two days before the March dedication a large storm obliterated the planned access route to the meadow dedication area. As Trail Crew lead Jeff Bleam put it

‘A long story short; a van got stuck, a huge tow rig got stuck and had to use a winch to get out. The road down to the meadow is a mess’.

The kids were concerned on the very rainy day that that Marja, Rick, Jeff, many other volunteers, and contractors were required to lay about ¼ mile of plywood to create a boardwalk.

The next day was sunny, unseasonably warm, and a stark contrast to the soaking of the previous day. All the people that came to the event reached the dedication area without incidents. It was a very nice day.

Banner at the intersection of Hwy 9 and 236

Board Walk at the top

The crew helped out in the more slippery areas

Close to 1000 showed up on a gorgeous day

In April there was a BBQ to honor Bob and wish him well in Bend, OR. Dell and Dale were kind to host the festivities.

Bob and Margo Kirsch in Oregon.

It's amazing what you can see in the park.

The year ended with the Trail Crew’s 3rd annual December holiday party at long time members Manuel and Anita Valdivia’s home.

2010 Big Basin Volunteer Trail Crew By the Numbers:

Total hours worked - 1015.5

Workdays - 14

Average Number of Hours per Workday - 7

Average Turnout per Workday – 11

The annual report turns out to give all of the trail crew recognition for the work we do. Here’s a message from Kevin Williams who is the supervising ranger

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the report. On behalf of the Big Basin and Santa Cruz District staff I can't say enough about all the great work done by the Big Basin Volunteer Trail Crew. Your crew's dedication amazes me and it makes such a difference, especially in these financial times. Thanks for the most recent slide fix on the Skyline to the Sea trail!

Kevin

Some time in December a slide closed the Skyline-to-Sea Trail just below Middle Ridge fire road. A Douglas fir that was standing just above the trail ripped loose at the roots and took an entire section of trail with it.

Since this trail is used at all times of the year we wanted to get it reopened. When we arrived, we quickly realized why park staff had closed the trail as anyone trying to traverse the area was likely to slide down the hillside. Here’s the slide work that was done on the STS trail between Middle Ridge and the Sunset connector.


After about 3.5 hours of work we had completed what initially looked like an all day project. Thanks to Jeff Bleam, Peter and Michele Gelblum, Michael Ishaq Janie and Bill Leifhelm, Janette Mello, Roger Miller, Mike Peasland and Dale Petersen, for helping to reopen this major trail.

Hope to see you on the trails in 2011.

Mike and Jeff

November 2010: Howard King & Creeping Forest Trails

In November we had a good turnout of 13 Trail Crew members. The day started
with Jeff announcing that he would not be able to work the trails due to a
twisted ankle from the previous day. Jeff's new puppy/pony/horse (choose one)
picked up something she wasn't supposed to have and in the ensuing chase
Jeff twisted the ankle. (If you're scoring at home it's Puppy - 1 Jeff - 0).

Kaja the Pony (7 months)

As for the work, since we had a large turnout and some needed to leave by
1, we split into different groups. Peter Gelblum led the first group and
headed up the Creeping Forest trail to check on a reported down tree. Peter
reports there 'had' been a 3-4 foot diameter redwood across the trail, but it
was recently removed judging by the cut and sawdust. Otherwise, there was a
4-inch diameter tree that was sort of leaning a bit over the trail that they
cut up and a bunch of overgrown huckleberry that was trimmed back. They
extended the hike by going up Dool to Middle Ridge Fire Road, along Middle Ridge
to Sunset and back to headquarters.

The second group took a longer hike by heading up the Skyline-to-Sea to
Middle Ridge and then picking up the Howard King Trail to the Mt. McAbee
Overlook. The majority of the trail was clear except for a couple of chaparral
areas that needed the usual intensive brushing. With the 6.5 mile hike and the
work it was a long day with the group getting back a little before 5.

The smallest group of the day was Fran Loop's work party of one. Fran
arrived a little before 10 and after checking with the office staff headed up the
Dool Trail hoping to meet the first group. She did some brushing on the
trail and removed a 6-inch tan oak near the Gazos Creek Fire Road, but didn't
meet the first group. Fran also worked a section of the Hihn Hammond Fire
Road from the Blooms Creek Campground area. (Thanks for taking the initiative
Fran!)

Thanks to Tom Batley, Peter and Michele Gelblum, Michael Ishaq, Bill and
Janie Leifhelm, Fran Loop, Roger Miller, Gene Nelso, Jennie Odryna and her
step son Loren, Francis Padilla and Mike Peasland for their work.


Hope to see you at the park or at the party this Saturday!

Mike & Jeff

October 2010: RDO

It’s the second Saturday of November 2010 coming up and the Trail Crew will be back in the core Basin area. We’ll meet as usual at park headquarters about 9. The forecast is for nice weather, so I hope you can make it out.

Thanks to everyone who worked at Rancho del Oso (RDO) last month! We had enough people to split into two groups with one crew planting trail signs around the RDO office while the second crew worked on widening the fire road where a slide had closed it.

Crew at HQ

It’s nice to make a positive impression to those who may not be familiar with our work and Ranger Marti at RDO has been impressed with what we have done for her this year. After last month, she sent me the following note.

Please forward this note to your crew as I want to tell them all again Thanks for their hard work! The work/projects the volunteer crew is helping us do here at RDO just couldn't get done without them. It's apparent the dedication everyone on the team has towards the park. It truly shows and it is so appreciated. The public certainly reaps the benefits from all you do.

Thanks again and I will definitely contact you again soon! How does everyone feel about working in the rain??

Working on the washout

Opened up for emergency access to the Falls

Thanks to Tom Batley, Norm Beeson, Jeff Bleam, Peter and Michele Gelblum, Michael Ishaq, Fran Loop, Janette Mello, Gene Nelson, Sara Palomo, and Dale and Dell Petersen, for their efforts.

Fire has always been an important of any forest and each year the State Parks staff tries to do a controlled burn at Big Basin . If you happened to blink, you probably missed this year’s burn. The plan was to burn 319 acres between the Meteor and Hollow Tree Trails and this past Friday they finally got the right weather conditions and we able to ignite the fire. Of course on Sunday it started to rain and just as quickly the controlled burn season ended. The final burned area was only about 30 acres, so the season was not a blazing success.

Hope you can make it out this Saturday!

Mike & Jeff