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)

APR 2015 - STS, Dedication, and Basin Trial

We had 4 new members and 15 regulars out for at least part of the Day.  We started out with most of the crew moving firewood for Susan and I took a few workers to take care of a reported tree across the STS trail near the Lodge.  

 About 18" Tan Oak

 We broke out the Crosscut Saw

 Cleared

 California Azalea

There was a dedication for Linda Yule for all of her time working on preserving the watershed along the coast through the Sempervirens Fund.

 Dedication event for Linda Yule

After the dedication we headed up to Basin Trail with a detailed map from Kurt with photos and GPS coordinates of many downed trees.  There a few small things at the east end of the trail and they got larger as we went.

 Light Brushing

 Tan Oak

 Light lifting

A bit messy

 And Cleared

 This was a Madrone and about 24"

 Open

 Last one for the day

 After this one we called it a day since the next few were getting larger and there is always next month.

Beatles on a Bush Poppy

There was a great turn out and we got a lot done.  There is more to do on Basin trail and Kurt's map was a great tool.  We put in 135 hours and I would like to thank Norm, Dale S., Janie, Michele, Dale P., David P., Janette, Mike, Herman, Francis, Dell, Manny, Anita, new members Curt, Kamal, Fulon, and Winbert.

See you on the trails

Jeff

Birds of the Day 

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) 
Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata)
Black-throated Gray Warbler (Setophaga nigrescens)
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

Mar 2015 - Sunset, HQ area, and Shadowbrook

Another nice morning with the temperature expected to reach into the mid 70s.  Another good turn out with 11 crew members turning out are 2 new members.  Again with this size of a crew we split up where I took one crew back out to Sunset starting at the Trail Camp and Mike took the rest (Norm, Janie, Michele, Janette, Kurt and Mike) focused on the main park area to start.

The first stop was right next to the headquarters building where a large redwood had fallen earlier in the winter and while the staff had removed the section blocking the road, there was a lot of debris remaining. The first effort was to clean up the small clearing just up from HQ towards the Sequoia Group Camp where the interpretive staff holds Jr. Ranger programs. 

 With the road coming into the park on one side and the HQ building on the other, there weren't a lot of good places to hide the debris, but we were able to get everything tucked behind a couple of redwoods so it wasn't too visible There was too much debris to be removed from the remaining areas next to the Sequoia Group Camp Trail, so we worked on cutting up the larger pieces so it looked more natural rather than just a large dumping area.

 

 

After taking a lunch break we had a choice of making the steep hike up Meteor Trail to look for a reported down tree or going out to the  Shadowbrook Trail  to look for a misplaced sign that staff said was confusing hikers. The trail sign work was the easy winner, especially since this was the second month in a row that staff had mentioned it was a problem.

We parked at Huckleberry and made the short walk to the Shadowbrook Trail where we found the misplaced sign. It had been incorrectly placed at the small spur trail in to the campground rather than down where the   Shadowbrook and East Ridge Trails intersect. It didn't take long to remove the sign, but there was a lot of discussion at the new location on exactly where to place the sign and its proper orientation so it read correctly for passing hikers. Since we were there, we also replanted a trail marker that had rotted out at ground level. It was a little shorter after we finished, but it looked good and we headed back to HQ to end the day.

 

My crew headed out Gazos Creek road for Sunset Trail Camp.  This ride takes about an hour but usually there are things to take care of on the way and this time was no different.  First there was a Tan Oak and next there was a Madrone.   Although our trucks could pass, we took it out because the taller fire trucks probably would not.

 

 Madrone about 15" diameter

This Fir took about 10 cuts to clear just because of how it landed on the bank and road.  The bank was about 5 meters high and to get the tree on the ground we had to cut from the top.  Of course it didn't just fall after the first cut but after about 5-6 cuts later it finally was on the ground.

 

The 8 mile ride out to Sunset Camp took about 2 hours with the amount of clearing we had to do.  It was a little after noon so we had lunch at the Sunset trail head and then we headed out to clear a "Big Tree" down on Sunset before Timms Creek Trail.  Right after we got onto Sunset we heard a very unmistakeable sound of a rattle and this guy was just off the trail under a small manzanita less than 1 meter from the trail.  He wasn't too happen about us passing through her territory.  So after a few photos I got the oh so clear message and we moved on leaving the girl in peace.

Red Diamond Rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) 

 

Along the way we asked the numerous hikers if they had seen anything blocking the trails and one hiker reported a tree down before Timm's Creek coming from HQ.  This contradicted the report we had but after doing this for nearly 20 years little surprises me.  After hiking about a mile, we finally came across the "Big Tree" on Sunset and as you can see big is a relative term.  This was about a 12" Tan Oak that didn't take long to clear and then that was it for the day.

 

 

Surprisingly, we got back before the other about 10 minutes before the other crew but I had left just before they got back.  The 2 crews put in 85 hours and I would like to thank Norm, Dale S., Janie, Michele, David B., David P., Janette, Mike, and new members Kurt and Shyamal.

See you on the trails

Jeff and Mike
Photos by: Jeff and Kurt

Birds of the Day
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni)
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)   
Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus)
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)