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A GREAT summer turnout of 17 on our July work day, which included two newcomers. We worked the Sky-line to the Sea (STS) Trail just beyond Creeping Forest with the State Crew. The July workday really began back in February when we worked on clearing a 4-ft Doug fir from the Skyline-to-Sea Trail just north of Creeping Forest.
We met as usual at HQ and 6 crew members showed up and 4 new members. We drove up to Eagle Rock trailhead to address 7 trees reported by Kurt Leal that were in various states of blocking the path. We left Dale S car at the bottom of Little Basin Road and then we all piled into two trucks with Dale P and new guy Mike S. driving to the trailhead.
Working with the Trail Crew often provides new opportunities like hiking a seldom used trail like Last Chance, driving the fire roads to work in the backcountry, and learning about different aspects of the park's history. Logging has played a large role in the history of the Santa Cruz Mountains and during our May workday we had the opportunity to see a logging demonstration on Redtrees property just north of China Grade.
The initial plan for the April workday was to have two crews, but with an excellent turnout of 17 we decided to make it three crews with one group removing a tan oak jumble near the campfire center, the second tackling a redwood blocking the East Ridge Trail behind the Blooms Creek Campground and the third following up on a Kurt Leal trail report of numerous trees on Creeping Forest Trail.
March may bring the official beginning of Spring, but the the Trail Crew workday still felt very much like winter with rain, mud, and temps never getting above the mid-40's but we still had a great turnout of 12 people for a long workday. We were able to split into three crews, with one removing a large Doug fir on Creeping Forest at Dool, one making the long drive to the Berry Creek Falls area and the final crew driving out Johansen to the upper Hollow Tree area.
A couple of days before BBVTC work day, Kurt was surveying the trail for us and encountered a rare snow storm. Three crews work on clearing fire roads and 2 worked on STS. Dale P and David P. drove out Johansen Fire Rd from Lane Trail Camp to the Sandy Point area to deal with many issues along the road, Chris, John C. and Janie, worked on clearing a large 48” Doug Fir on STS just beyond Creeping Forest, and the remainder handled problems further along STS and hopefully the upper Hollow Tree and Meteor Trails.
The New Year got off to a good start with 12 regular Trail Crew members, 2 newcomers, and 3 people from the California Conservation Corp working on their community service hours. Since we are just getting into the busy chainsaw season, John Collins held a brief review of chainsaw safety along with how to properly take care of hand tools (essentially clean the dirt off them at the end of the day).
It was a cool morning but that didn’t stop 17 BBVTC members from showing up. With a strong showing, we split into 2 crews one heading to Sequoia trail then Shadowbrook and the other crew headed to Blooms Creek area. We collected tools at the shed and we were off.
Gathering the tools
Mike’s Crew on Blooms Creek Area
After splitting into two crews after the morning gathering, the Blooms Creek Crew set off to prove that sometimes even a wrong turn can provide useful information. Our destination was a Tan Oak that we first spotted during the November workday when we took a wrong turn and discovered the tree blocking the Blooms Creek Trail behind the campground, but didn't have time to remove it.
Upon arrival, Chris climbed to the top of a bench created by the large root ball of an adjacent Doug Fir and started removing the top section of the Tan Oak in order to make it easier to cut and remove the lower portion that actually blocked the trial. After the top cuts were completed, Dale S. made the initial cut on the lower portion of the tree when we received the surprise of the day. Dale got the bar wedged in the cut and as he rocked it back and forth to release the trunk suddenly lurched forward and dropped to the ground. What we were not aware of was the tree was rotted on the inside, so it may have been fortunate the saw wedged itself to slow things down.
After the initial cuts, things proceeded quickly with the hardest part being finding places to hide the debris since the creek was immediately below the work area.
As the tree was being removed, part of the crew headed off to brush the entire length of the trail behind the campground as it required a lot of ducking and weaving to navigate. After everything was completed, we split into two smaller crews with one group heading out to check on a reported problem on Dool Trail just above Skyline-to -Sea while the others replanted a 'You Are Here' trail map signpost at the juncture of Buzzards Roost Trail and Eastridge Trail.
Jeff’s Crew on Sequoia and Shadowbrook
We hit the road and headed up Lodge Road and parked across from the Kirsch Trail. There was a report of a mess on the trail between the Schultz Bridge and Sempervirens Campground. We did pass a Tan Oak with about 10 branches having been cut a foot or so from the edge of the trail. We continued on passing the campground and then onto the Shadowbrook Tail. We came across 2 tan oaks one having been up rooted. It took about an hour and we were able to push the root ball off the trail.
The next tan oak was at the end of the Shadowbrook near the Eastridge trail. A couple of cuts later the trail was cleared.
The next report was along the upper section of Shadowbrook Trail above the Sempervirens Falls. We parked along Lodge Road where the trail crosses the road and it was a short hike to a messy fir. This took longer than the other downed trees but what a difference after we were done.
We all got back to the tool shed with perfect timing to head to Boulder Creek for our annual Holiday Party. The crew put in 124 hours and we ended the year with 1245 hours and a big thanks to Norm Beeson, Jeff Bleam, David Bryan, John Collins, Alicia Clark, Michele Gelblum, Peter Gelblum, Jan Hill, Shyamal Kapadia, Janie Leifhelm, John Martin, Mike Peasland, David Philleo, Aaron Poulos, Dale Stadelman, Devdutt Sheth, and Chris Young.
Cheers to the close of BBVTC 49th year working on the Big Basin SP trails
by Mike and Jeff
photos by Aaron, Janie, Jan, Mike, and Jeff
Birds of the Day
Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata)
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
After several months of project work with the State Trail Crew, it was back to a more normal summer-fall workday which means a little of this and a little of that. With 12 crew members out, we split into 2 crews with one heading out to clear a tree on the Skyline-to-Sea Trail near the Joe Metty Bypass and what would be a 5+ mile day while the other crew followed up on several miscellaneous things that had been pending for a couple of months.
