Prior to the CZU fires in 2020, winter was the Trail Crew's busy time of year as we worked to clear down trees from trails after storms and keep them open for park visitors. Our Feb. 10th workday was a throwback to that era as a series of atmospheric river storms brought rain and high winds to the Santa Cruz Mountains, closed the park for most of the previous week, and felled a huge redwood that fell across Hwy 236 and into the Jay Camp parking area, damaging the lot gate in the process.

After a good turnout for our Jan. 13th workday to start the new year, we had an even bigger crew on Jan. 27th with 26 coming out! The day got off to a slow start as there were no burn pile locations identified or cleared, so that part of the day took about an hour to get up and running, but a couple of sawyers pushed forward rough cutting the next stretch of Sequoia Trail.

The weather forecast for the first workday of 2024 called for rain, but despite the prediction 23 crew members showed up to kick off the new year. And for the first time since we resumed post-fire work in Big Basin in late 2021, we were on the 'other' (old HQ) side of Hwy 236.

It was another productive year with the BBVTC putting in 3160 hours by 73 members that put in at least a day with 8 putting in over 100 hours. The 3,160 total hours worked is less than in 2022, but we had fewer workdays due to a longer than expected January break because of an atmospheric river of storms to start the year. There was a skipped  March workday due to dangerous conditions from rain, wind, and more rain. Then the late August workday was skipped since we got ahead of the District crew since they had not flagged the next stretch of trail that needed work.

For over 20 years the BBVTC has reserved the final workday of the year for our annual Holiday lunch to celebrate the season and another successful year of work on the Big Basin trails, but since the 2020 fires it has become even more meaningful as we recognize the effort it takes to bring the park back and all those who have helped. With a turnout of 23 for our Dec. 16th workday, we decided to split into four crews to cover more ground in the three hours we had for actual work.

The Trail Crew's Dec. 2nd work unrolled much the same as the Nov. 18th workday with gray, sometimes drizzly skies, and the Crew was back on the short Blooms Creek Connector Trail between the Redwood Loop Trail and the old Blooms Creek Campground.  

With our work on the Creeping Forest Trail ended, the Nov. 18th workday was a quick stop on the Blooms Creek Connector Trail. This is a short section between the Redwood Loop and the old Blooms Creek Campground and it will provide access to Middle Ridge via the Hihn Hammond fire road.  So more clearing, felling of trees, and creating burn piles.

After seven months of work, the 1.2 mile Creeping Forest Trail is nearing completion and the final segment should be ready to open in early December. (The lower stretch of the trail opened to the public just before Labor Day).

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.

The Oct. 7th workday was our first fall outing with the expectation of cooler days, but the weather forecast said otherwise with the prediction of temperatures of 'about 90' in the park. Despite the hot weather, we still had a good turnout of 18 which included two newcomers.