The Trail Crew's July 10th workday at Fall Creek was canceled due to a forecasted high temperature of 103F, so for the July 24th work we decided to do what a lot of people think of when warm summer weather sets in, we headed to the coast! Fortunately for us Big Basin has a section right on the coast, so we headed over to the Rancho del Oso (RDO) area of Big Basin, which is just east of Wadell Beach.
The plan for the day was to replace about 130 feet of split rail fencing that RDO staff needed help with. They had removed the old fence before we arrived and even more importantly cut back some poison oak, so things were ready when we arrived.
For the fence, we initially planned on reusing the old fence postholes to make things easier, but discovered the new railings were shorter than the old ones so we would need to dig new holes.
Fortunately RDO had a power auger, so while several people took turns drilling 17 new postholes the remainder of the crew fine tuned the holes, installed the posts and made sure everything was in alignment and ready for the railings.
We've done fence work before, so everything went smoothly and using screws to secure the railings made it easier than wiring rails into place like on the Redwood Loop Trail.
Kirsch Era Crew Member - Jim Brooks and Dale S. Catching Up
John and Devdutt Side Work
Smoke at Rancho del Oso
While most of the crew started work on installing the new fence, two crew members and an RDO park aide drove a little further into Basin to remove a couple of small-medium trees and related debris that were blocking a service road. Devdutt and John went with a park aide to clean up a few trees that had fallen across the road about a quarter of a mile from the gate. It was fun to meet and work with park staff that we don't usually run into. So I learned that a Sr. Park Aide means that they do anything that needs to be done at the park. It was a small job for the three of us and back to the fence building.
The crew put in 77 hours and thanks to Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, John Collins, Matt Kelsey, Chris Newport, Mike Peasland, Aaron Poulos, Devdutt Sheth, Dale Stadelman, Chris Young, and Alex Moore for taking a break from the warm Fall Creek canyon and enjoying a cool day on the coast. And a special thanks to Park Aides Andy Wilson and Owen Forest for all the prep work that allowed us to finish the project in a single day.
by John, Mike, and Jeff
photos by John and Mike