There is sometimes a fine line between dedication and craziness and the Crew exhibited a little of both on the April 16th workday when 18 turned out despite the forecast of a wet morning in what has otherwise been an historically dry winter. The day got off to a challenging start when we discovered the padlock we use to open the park gate was not working.
It had been increasing difficult to open the lock the last several workdays, but when we went to open it this time we found the entire locking assembly had somehow dropped out and we were left on the outside looking in. Fortunately, after several minutes the contractor servicing the portable latrines came by and was able to open a different lock on the chain and let us in.
The weather forecast proved accurate with a light-moderate drizzle as we unloaded equipment and donned rain gear before heading out onto the Redwood Loop Trail. The work area was between the Chimney and Father of the Forest trees where we had cleared the trail several workdays before and the goal this time was to cut and remove all burned vegetation off trail between two switchback legs.
The rain continued for most of the morning and though we had done this work many times before, it seemed more difficult in rain gear and soaking wet work gloves. Just as we called lunch break, the rain stopped, but after about 30 minutes it began again as if to say 'break's over'!
We wrapped up the work an hour earlier than usual as everyone was wet and tired enough at that point, but we were still able to start and completed five burns piles and left two others in process.
Its nice to see the green starting to take over the burnt landscape. Life will find a way and some moss found a home in an old broken bourbon bottle. Work on salvaging all usable materials continue with lumber being stacked for drying.
The crew put in 132 hours and thanks to Arnold Arcolio, Katy Booth, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, John Collins, Dale Elliott, Peter Gelblum, Jan Hill, Marc Koenig, Janie Leifhelm, Janette Mello, Whitney Mitchell, Mike Peasland, Dale Petersen, Aaron Poulos, Devdutt Sheth, Bruce Washburn and Chris Young for exhibiting the dedication that has brought us through the past several years.
By Mike and Jeff
Photos by Mike, Jan, and Bruce