We're getting close to the end of our work on Sequoia Trail, so after our May 3rd 2025 workday was canceled due to high winds and a park closure we'll be back out to finish up on the Sequoia. We still have sections of trail that have debris stacked along the edges that needs to find a permanent home. So probably 1-2 days more work on Sequoia.
It'll be a busy weekend for the Trail Crew as we'll also be participating on Sunday in the Sempervirens Fund's 125th anniversary event at Roaring Camp next to Henry Cowell State Park in Felton.
Sempervirens traces it roots to 1900 when San Jose photographer Andrew Hill brought a group to what is now Big Basin to convince them it needed to be protected as a park. During the visit they camped at an area we recently worked - the bottom of Slippery Rock and afterwards they formed the Sempervirens Club which in the 1960's was renamed the Sempervirens Fund.
Slippery Rock Marker (Survived the fire and now in storage)
Since we're getting close to the end of our current work on Sequoia, it seemed a good time to check with the District Trails Manager on where we might be heading next along with any other trail or park news he might be able to share.
The 'Where to next' question came down to two trails from an earlier list: Basin Trail off China Grade or the Pine Mountain/Buzzard's Roost Trail that starts behind Blooms Creek. Basin Trail is long at almost three miles stretching from the Lane Trail Camp to the Skyline-to-Sea Trail and was little used even before the fires. It runs along a west facing ridge line and can get blazing hot, so it was an easy 'no' as we head into summer.
So, we're heading to Pine Mtn/Buzzard Roost once we're finished with Sequoia!
The trail was one of the most popular moderate length hikes before the fires as it climbed to arguably the best viewpoint in the park.
Buzzard's Roost Rock Outcropping
The trail is 1.8 miles in length with the Pine Mtn Fire Road crossing about a third of the way up that would provide easier access to the upper section of trail, however the Pine Mtn vehicle bridge near Blooms Creek burned in the 2020 fires with no immediate plans for replacement. But the fire road is accessible from the Little Basin direction.
Buzzard's Roost View West Towards the Pacific Ocean
So the initial thinking is we could start work from the Blooms Creek end and after crossing the fire road and getting tired of hiking in, we would switch to driving in from the Little Basin area. (The fire road coming from Little Basin is named Tanbark Loop which transitions into Pine Mtn Fire Rd after entering the main park.) It wouldn't be a short drive, but it would make the upper stretch of trail easier to get to. (There is also a spur road off Pine Mtn that if cleared for vehicle use would allow us to drive to the top of the trail at Buzzard's Roost, but no idea if this might be feasible.)
Buzzard’s Roost Trail (Yellow), Fire Rd From Little Basin (Green), and Spur Road to Top (Blue)
Once we start accessing the upper trail area from Little Basin (green) it would make sense to move our morning gathering spot to Saddle Mountain like we did with early post fire work when the park was still gated. The State Crew Manager has offered to arrange a temporary tool storage site at Saddle Mtn so we wouldn't have to drive into the park to pick up equipment.
As for some other items from the State Crew Manager
Several on the Crew have asked about doing cross training workdays helping with bridges, puncheons, retaining walls, and other projects. They would be small group projects of 3-5 depending on interest with the remainder of the crew doing our standard work.
When we started work on Sequoia Trail from Jay Camp in Jan. 2024 it was in connection with the planned reopening of Huckleberry Campground for dry camping sometime in 2025. But somewhere along the way the campground idea was scrapped. Management believes the rebuild planning process is far enough along for it to make more sense to hold off until final plans are in place. For now work will focus they're focusing on opening Sequoia to Slippery Rock for general visitor hiking.
Big Basin now has two CCC crews working in the park with the back country CCC in their second week joining the Watsonville crew that is here through July. The back country crew will be here until mid-June when they head to the eastern Sierra's to spend the summer in the Inyo National Forest. They'll be clearing Skyline-to-Sea from the connector trail heading out toward Timm's Creek Trail while the Watsonville crew continues final work on Sequoia between the HQ's area and Slippery Rock.
In addition to the CCC, there is an AmeriCorp crew (Cesar Chavez Environmental Corp) that is working on a different section of Hollow Tree than the SC Mtns Trail Stewardship crew which is continuing its work out there.
by Mike and Jeff