Work day JAN 2020
Happy second Saturday of the month! Apologies for missing it in January, but the month seemed to slide by without much notice and there wasn't anything of interest to report anyway. BUT there is news this month, so please read at least a little further!
I received a note from Chris Pereira, district trails manager, about a week ago asking to meet this coming Thursday (18th) to discuss getting the Trail Crew back into the park. Chris mentioned before the Holidays that they were 'close' to finalizing plans for what areas of the park to reopen first and that plan would drive the trail work.
My guess is those plans are now complete and since it's been a relatively dry winter they believe it's safe to start trail work. (How dry? A little over 15 inches in Boulder Creek so far versus about 36 inches in a normal year.)
We'll likely start by working with the State crew for coordination and liability reasons, but hopefully will be able to branch off on our own as time goes on.
It's also highly likely that we'll work more than our usual once a month due to what needs to be accomplished before reopening even a small portion of the park. We've already had some internal Trail Crew discussion about breaking into teams if needed depending on how often we'll be working. It's going to be a marathon, not a sprint, so we want plan for it.
After talking with Chris, there is a detailed plan and you can read that below. As Park Interpreter Susan Blake put it '....so historic, being there to help BB get open again'.
Of course we lost all our hand tools when the tool shed was destroyed in the fire, so Noah Myers started a Go Fund Me campaign in November with a goal of $2,500 based on what we believed was needed to get restarted.
Well.....Noah succeeded, and then some! All combined he generated donations of $3,600 directly related to his effort and the daughter of Trail Crew founder Bob Kirsch donated another $1,000 when she heard about the tool loss.
So we've gone from not knowing how we would be able to replace the tools (fortunately chainsaws were not kept in the park) to being primed to have what we need to contribute to rebuilding and reopening Big Basin.
THANK YOU to everyone who donated to the effort and thanks to Noah for taking the initiative to get things rolling. As I say often, the Trail Crew has made it through 51 years because of the people who come out, and then decide to stay and care about the work and the park.
As the new Big Basin comes into existence over the next couple of years, one of the major things to consider is how to deal with wildfires. As all of California has experienced over the past several years, things have changed.
While much of this is climate related, we have also lost touch with how Native Americans successfully lived with and managed fire. The Amah Mutsun were the local SC Mtns-Monterey Bay tribe of what is generally referred to as the Ohlones and and back in November the Amah Mutsun Land Trust presented a fire symposium webinar.
It not only provided an overview of how fire was used and managed locally in the pre-European settlement days, but also how human activities in the past 100+ years have created the SC Mtns we have today. If you're interested, you can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3sA7bck9bE&feature=youtu.be . It's a 90 minute presentation, but well worth at least skimming through.
And I recently came across a map that showed the scope of the August fires. From just west of Hwy 9 to the east side of Hwy 1, Pescadero County Park in the north to the Davenport area to the south. Amazing and frightening at the same time.
Santa Cruz Lightning Complex Fire Burn Area
That's all for now! I'll provide an update after the conversation with Chris Pereira. Despite the work that lies ahead, it'll be good to get back in the park.
Mike
I mentioned in my second Saturday of the month note last weekend that Chris, John and I, had a meeting with Chris Pereira, district trails manager, scheduled for this past Thursday so we now have a lot more details on what the plan is for the Trail Crew and Big Basin.
If you're looking for the short Trail Crew answer - it's late March/early April.
But Chris provided a wealth of information on what's been happening the past several months, where the park stands now and how he plans to utilize the Trail Crew, so read on. As you can imagine, a lot of things are still in flux and may change as we go along.
As mentioned, Chris said he wants to get us back to work in late March/early April. It might even be a little earlier as the Falls Creek section of Henry Cowell was also damaged by the fire and they may ask for our assistance there before starting at Basin.
It looks like it we'll work at least two Saturdays per month (may not include our usual second Sat.) and there might be opportunities to work some weekdays if people are interested.
Depending on how many times we work per month and the level of interest, we may break into teams so people don't burnout. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint, but we'll get there!
In the beginning we'll need to work with the State Crew for coordination and safety purposes, but Chris implied we may be able to spin off on our own once we're past the initial start-up phase.
It hasn't been decided, but we'll likely meet at the Saddle Mtn-Little Basin area outside the park and enter as a group. Because the park is still closed and they're trying to keep the public out, we'll need to enter and leave the park as a group.
The plans call for us to work on one trail at a time, rather than jumping around from trail to trail. The hope is to focus on one area and then get it opened to the public.
A lot more trail maintenance and repair than we have done in the past. Removing burned debris from trail edges, cutting back trail edges as needed, filling in ash pits, outsloping trails for improved drainage, etc.
We'll be required to wear helmets due to the continued danger of falling branches and trees and the park will purchase them so everyone will have their own. (Chris said the resource management folks expect fire weakened trees may continue to fall in higher than normal numbers for a couple of years.)
Because of the large number of damaged trees, workdays may be cancelled if high winds are forecasted. Any decision along this line will likely be made the day beforehand.
We're currently buying replacement hand tools (McLeods, Pulaskis, handsaws, shovels, and a couple of other tools Chris suggested) so we're ready to go.
Chris stressed the heat from the fire seemed to change the soil structure to make it more slippery and unpredictable. We'll need to use extra caution when walking off trail or anticipating how a tree we are working on may behave.
So that's about it for now. The fact that we're the first volunteers to be asked to come back into the park and help bring Big Basin back to life illustrates the Trail Crew's reputation with park staff. And of course the BBVTC reputation is only because of each of us, so thanks as always!
We'll keep checking for updates and passing them along as we get them.
Look forward to seeing you soon!
Mike