Trail work requires flexibility as you never know what you will find out there, even when there are plans going into the job. In the pre-CZU fire era we would have days we couldn't find trail issues that had been reported by park visitors while other days we would come across multiple unexpected problems to deal with before getting to what we were looking for in the beginning.
Our Oct.21st workday was kind of the same as our Plan A didn't pan out before we settled for a Plan C for the day.
The idea going in was to continue our earlier work of bushwhacking a trail reroute on Creeping Forest, but this only lasted long enough for us to hike into the work site and find that a CCC crew had already started the work.
After conferring with the District trail crew, a Plan B was developed with one BBVTC crew doing tread work on previously cleared section of Creeping Forest while the other crew felled dead trees along the trail edge and moved the debris into burn piles. Having two crews and the ability to switch between the different types of work seemed optimal.
But, after felling a small burned Tan oak that dropped across the trail, cutting it up and adding the debris to existing burn piles, things changed. From that point on, all the trees dropped neatly off the side of the trail with no further work required, so it became apparent we needed to switch gears again.
So it was off to Plan C with everyone doing tread work except for a single sawyer and a spotter who continued felling dead trees.
The most challenging portion of the day was when a small-medium Tan oak that had most of its weight at the bottom and not much at the top got caught in the canopy of an adjacent tree. No one, including the nearby CCC crew had a rope, so we worked the tree down with successive cuts. One person even tried tossing rounds at the free standing tree in an effort to get it to drop with no luck, before the tree was lowered enough that it could be pushed over.
Despite the start and stop nature, it was a good workday with 18 coming out including two first timers. Remember there are milkshakes at the Frosty Freeze in Boulder Creek for that energy boost for the ride home.
The crew put in 151 hours and thanks to Arnie Arcolio, John Bodley, Nan Bowman, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, Alex Cline, Dale Elliott, Michele Gelblum, Peter Gelblum, Janie Leifhelm, Whitmey Mitchell, Chris Newport, Mike Peasland, Devdutt Sheth, Bruce Washburn, Daniel Zichuhr, and newcomers Evan Rebesque and Nico Wendell, for their flexibility and effort.
by Mike and Jeff
photos by Bruce, Dale E., and Mike