Ever since the Trail Crew started its work on the lower section of the Sunset Trail on Labor Day weekend we've accessed the area not from the trailhead but through a nearby drainage so we didn't bring attention to this still closed section of the park.
But recent workdays have brought us almost to the end and the Dec. 17th workday was another milestone as we abandoned the drainage and entered from the Dool-Sunset trailhead. The District crew had cleared the remaining debris at the juncture and taped off the entrance, but it was clear the trail was there and would soon be open.
We hiked up to where we left off and continued working the area just below Middle Ridge Fire Road. We had a smaller group of only 15 for the work, but were still able to split into three crews. One crew hiked all the way to the top where they continued bucking up and building burn piles with the debris left from earlier workdays. The second crew worked on a short trail reroute that will take visitors around a section of trail that included a burned out retaining wall that was not worth repairing.
The final crew was tasked with clearing an area we had avoided since the first day because of three overhead trees that were hung up on each other and it wasn't clear how to bring them down safely. With everything else finished, it was time to clear this area as well.
Felling the tangled trees was beyond the scope of the BBVTC, so we left that to the District crew and once they were brought down we started bucking everything up and moving all the debris into burn piles along with closing off the alternate trail we had been using the past three months. Within a couple of hours we had transformed a debris strewn stretch of trail into a clear, open area ready for visitors.
As usual for our last workday of the year, it was a short one as we wrapped up work at 12:30 so we could adjourn to the Sawmill Restaurant in Boulder Creek for our annual Holiday party and to celebrate the year.
The crew put in 82 hours and thanks to Arnie Arcolio, Alison Breeze, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, Denis DeDeuster, John Martin, Ted Merrill, Joe Mitchell, Whitney Mitchell, Chris Newport, Mike Peasland, Devutt Sheth, Bruce Washburn, Chris Young, and newcomer Tom Condy for helping on the trails along with Daryn Bieri, Nan Bowman, Mimi Guiney, Shyamal Kapadia and David Signor who joined us for the Holiday gathering afterwards.
Sunset Trail by Bruce Washburn (2015 watercolor)
by Mike and Jeff
photos by Bruce and Mike