JAN 8th Workday
The beginning of the new year picked up where 2021 left off with more burn piles being constructed on the Redwood Loop Trail. We had great turnouts by the Crew as we work towards a planned reopening of a small section of the park this summer.
The January 8th workday had another excellent turnout of 20 and there wasn't even the prospect of food and beer afterwards like the final workday of 2021! We've been getting big turnouts since the return to Big Basin, so we've started sending several people in before the official start time to scout the work area and make any last minute preparations so the bulk of the crew can get off to a fast start when they arrive.
And the extra effort has worked! All told for the workday, we started and finished four burn piles (a lot of debris was staged from earlier work and was waiting for burn pile sites to be identified), started but need to finish another burn pile, and moved random slash piles over to existing burn piles as feeders once the actual burning is done. (No idea when that will be done.) We also felled many dead Tan oaks along the trail corridor so we'll have lots of work waiting for us next time.
Here are some of the surviours from the fire. Campground cooking stations and a few benches in the amphitheater.
The crew put in 169 hrs and thanks to Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, John Collins, David Dunlop, Michele Gelblum, Tommy Ha, Howard Higley, Jan Hill, Shyamal Kapadia, Marc Koenig, Janie Leifhelm, Janette Mello, Whitney Mitchell, Chris Newport, Mike Peasland, Dale Petersen, Aaron Poulos, Jo Thorogood, Chris Young, and Big Basin Docent Hal Anjo who decided he had been sidelined long enough by the fire and wanted to help in the recovery work.
JAN 22th Workday
Only in the post-fire world would a turnout of 17 be considered lower for a Trail Crew workday, but several of our regulars were out of town on January 22nd, but it didn't affect the output. We were still able to expand a pre-existing burn pile, started and finished three piles and started a fourth that we'll finish next time. And there was the usual chainsaw work in front of the main work area that will give us lots of material to work on next time.
Signs of recovery with mushrooms sprouting as well as Redwood Violets.
The crew put in 137 hrs and 306 hrs for JAN. Thanks to Hal Anjo, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, John Collins, Dale Elliott, Mimi Guiney, Tommy Ha, Jan Hill, Charles Jalgunas, Marc Koenig, Janie Leifhelm, Janette Mello, Gabe Mickel, Mike Peasland, Dale Petersen, Chris Young, newcomer Arnold Arcolio and Matt Weil from the District Crew.
by Mike and Jeff
photos by Aaron, Jan, Mike, Whitney, Charles, and Mimi
Also, we're getting a steady stream of new inquires in recent weeks with 29 people joining he bbvtc Group since the beginning of the year. It appears that with the mention of our work on the Reimaging Big Basin website (https://reimaginingbigbasin.org/2022/01/05/big-basin-briefing-4-december-2021/), the January newsletter of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks (https://mailchi.mp/thatsmypark/mid-january-2022), and the Boulder Creek Facebook page.