Having missed the first workday in the Fall Creek section of Henry Cowell, I wasn't sure what to expect as we gathered for the May 8th work other than the forecasted high for the day was 88 and there would be a steep uphill climb to the vehicles at the end of the day.
Fall Creek is part of Henry Cowell State Park and is located Northwest of downtown Felton. The section is north of Felton Empire Road and east of Empire Grade.
Chris’ Update on Working in Big Basin
Chris of the State Trail Crew updated BBVTC on the status on working in Big Basin. Chris stated that there were fires in Big Basin the last few weeks. Underground embers from the original fire are reigniting from the dry conditions and northwest winds. On Sunday May 2nd, 20 acres burned off of Mt. McAbee overlook and Hihn Hammond Fire Road. The previous week there where chimney trees burning up near Sky Meadow, and about a month ago 5 acres burned around Middle Ridge and Gazos Creek Fire Roads, as well as numerous chimney trees smoking in the back country. Given the drought conditions we anticipate more of this through summer and fall.
All that said, we will not be putting my trail crew, CCC or BBVTC volunteer crews in the park until we can safely do so. We are focusing our efforts on Fall Creek and Butano in hopes to get those park open first. The State Crew are not taking new volunteers, only current trail crew members.
Fall Creek Work
We had a good turnout of 13 and after gathering in the District office area at Cowell, we made the 15 minute drive to the trailhead and dropped down to the upper section of the Fall Creek Trail where we would work. The steep section of trail was only about 0.4 miles in length, but it was a steady downhill grade which meant a uphill trudge at the end when everyone was tired. The best comparison at Big Basin would be the upper stretch of the Eagle Rock Trail.
As for the work itself, it was essentially a game of pickup sticks. Because of last summer's fires, the typical places used for hiding trail debris were no longer quite so hidden so the plan was to build burn piles and light them at a later date.
Burn pile construction is pretty straight forward with the pile situated off the trail edge in an area with a lot of surrounding debris that needed to be removed. Small logs were set down as a base to keep the lighter fuel off the damp ground and allow air flow up through the burn pile and then the smaller debris/brush was stacked on top. A chainsaw was then used to cut the small debris so it could be compressed and then more debris was added, cut and compressed, with the process repeating itself until the pile was about four feet in height. Once the burn pile was at the proper height, large branches and other heavier debris were placed on top as a cap.
The goal was to remove all debris from 10 yards on either edge of the trail and while the work could be tedious at times, fortunately the temperature seemed closer to the low 80's than the forecasted upper 80's. And of course in keeping with Trail Crew tradition, we seemed to accomplish more before taking lunch than afterwards when we experienced our usual slump.
We finished the work at 3 and started the uphill trudge to the vehicles getting back to the District office about 4.
The crew put in 108 hours and thanks to Rory Brooks, John Collins, Dale Elliott, Michele Gelblum, Peter Gelblum, Janie Liefhelm, John Martin, Steve Nagayama, Mike Peasland, Aaron Poulos, Devdutt Sheth, Beth Wichman and Chris Young, for putting in a lot of work as we learn the new normal, whether it's in Fall Creek or Big Basin.
by Mike and Chris
edited by Jeff
photos by Mike and Beth