JAN 28 - Redwood Loop and STS

Our end of the year Holiday season break lasted longer than expected as a series of 'atmospheric river' storms brought heavy rain to the area, closed Big Basin for most of January, and scrubbed our scheduled Jan 14th workday, so everyone was excited about the prospect of getting back to work for our Jan. 28th workday.

photos by KSBW

But after three weeks of often heavy rain and wind it wouldn't be easy. With storm damage to many other parks in the area, the District crew had been unable to access Basin to see what work needed to be done and Caltrans had closed Hwy 236 at both ends due to storm related damage.

But a couple of days before our workday, things came together when the District crew was able to make a preliminary assessment of the trails and we learned we would be able to squeeze by the road slippage area that had closed the highway on the Boulder Creek end.

We gathered at Saddle Mtn in the morning in order to caravan around the road issue and with a turnout of 27 that tied our single day turnout record. After news reports of heavy damage to coastal parks from the storms we didn't know what we would find at Basin, but the park escaped what could have been far worse. Nothing we found was any worse than a normal post-storm workday.

With the large turnout, we split into two crews with one clearing the Redwood Loop Trail (RWL) while the other worked on a blockage on Skyline to the Sea Trail (STS) near where the Old Lodge once stood.

RWL CREW

Most of the work on the RWL involved removing small debris that had been blown down by the winds, but one area took a lot more effort as a medium size redwood had toppled across the trail scattering debris everywhere.

3. Cleaning up downed tree (during) [Joe].jpg

13. Last burn pile of the day Dale,WHO, WHO, WHO, WHO,Tommy, Rory, Tom.jpg

8. WHO, Whitney and WHO on the hand winch (2).jpg

It took most of the day to access the tree so it could be bucked up, move the debris into burn piles and use a grip hoist to drag a section of tree trunk into a proper spot off the trail.

11. Jan, Whitney, QQQ, Tim, Dale and John.jpg

Lunch on the Redwood Loop

7. WHO cutting the tree off the trail.jpg

5. Cleaning up downed tree afte, Tom.jpg

STS CREW

The STS work was much more of what we expected after three weeks of rain. The trail end of the pedestrian bridge crossing from the Old Lodge was buried under trees with a single Dool Trail signpost sticking up from the middle of the debris.

opal creek bridge with redwood across.jpg

A 4-5-ft diameter redwood that had been standing next to the bridge fell and narrowly missed the bridge while a nearby 3-ft redwood toppled across one end of the bridge damaging some of the bridge railings and scattering debris everywhere before landing at the trail's edge.

Without the time or equipment to completely remove the tree from the bridge, the goal was to remove all the debris from the area so a later crew could remove the tree and further assess the bridge for structural damage.

By the end of the day the RWL was open and clear and ready for visitors while STS was accessible for the next crew to come in and finish the work.

The crew put in 199 hours and thanks to Arnold Arcolio, Daryn Bieri,Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, Julie Charles, John Collins, Tom Condy, Denis DeCeuster, Dale Elliott, Mimi Guiney, Tommy Ha, Jan Hill, Marc Koenig, Andrea Lee, Janie Leifhelm, Deepak Mahudeswaran, John Martin, Janette Mello, Ted Merrill, Sean Miller, Joe Mitchell, Whitney Mitchell, Mike Peasland, Devdutt Sheth, Bruce Washburn, Chris Young and Daniel Zichuhr, for a successful first workday of 2023.

By Mike and Jeff

Photos by Bruce, Daryn, Jan, Joe, Mimi, and Whitney