The work wasn't the biggest obstacle for the June 13th workday it was the warm temperatures and gnats that tested the Trail Crew's dedication. Despite temperatures in the upper 90's two days beforehand, 21 crew members still said they planned to be there.
The work was more casual than recent efforts as the plan was to fall back along previously cleared trail segments to remove vegetation 2-3 feet off the trail edge to make the area look more open.
The first task was to set up the highline between the trail and fire road above us so there was a place to stash the cut material while most of the crew focused on the trail improvements and a small saw crew moved to the head of the work area to continue initial clearing efforts.
Although it didn't reach the upper 90's like a couple of days before, it was 89 by the lunch break and 93 by the time we decided to wrap up a little earlier than usual.
And then there were the gnats! They didn't become noticable until about 11 when the temperature moved into the 80's and everyone worked up a good sweat. The worst area was the lower end of the highline which was largely a stationary position where bundles of cut material were attached to the highline and sent up the hill.
The gnats would buzz around at face level with everyone trying to swat them away, then drop down to knee height or disappear completely for periods of time but then returning. They haven't been a problem on previous workdays, so hopefully it was just the location that provided an ideal gnat environment.
Sequoia Trailhead Opened now.
Despite the warm temps (and gnats) we completed work on the targeted trail section. The crew put in 155 hours and thanks to Fremont Bainbridge, Daniel Bernstein, Jeff Bowers, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, Karen Cheeniyil, Santhosh Cheeniyil, Tom Condy, Vlad Kuznetsov, Andrea Lee, Janie Leifhelm, Bill Lock, Mike Peasland, Christian Rempis, Eric Voelkel, Brian Washburn, Bruce Washburn, Kris Kiefer-Woolery, Chris Young, Jill Zeng and Daniel Zichuhr, for working under challenging conditions.
by Mike and Jeff
photos by Bill and Mike