Six volunteers greeted the New Year of trail work at Wilder Ranch. The crew consisted of recently welcomed Jon Hudson and old friends Bertrand and Cristina Teplitxky, Greg Lydon, Harvey Hartman, and Chuck Wisse. State Park Aid Dan Johnson provided the usual shuttle support.

A downed madrone tree was blocking Old Cabins trail near the northern trailhead, so we decided to make the junction of Eucalyptus Loop and Old Cabins trails the area of our first workday of 2009.

When we arrived at the trailhead, we decided to temporarily split forces. Chuck and Jon headed down to remove the fallen tree and open up a few clogged drains. Greg grabbed some tools and began working solo on the turnpike in the meadow. Christina, Bertrand and Harvey were shuttled by Dan a little farther down to the upper end of Rodrigo. There were a few key drains near the top that had totally failed and were in need of some serious rework.

The chainsaw blade had just been sharpened so the tree removal went very quickly. After the tree was cleared, Chuck and Jon opened a few drains nearby and then headed back up to help Greg with the turnpike work. The Rodrigo crew masterfully reshaped the three large drains in short order and then joined the others in the meadow.

The Old Cabins trail turnpike was part of the re-route project in October, 2000. The turnpike is located where the trail goes through the lowest, wettest spot in the meadow. Its purpose is to keep the trail dry during the wet winter months by raising the trail tread slightly above meadow. It is bordered by ditches on both sides, which are connected by a 4" PVC pipe that crosses underneath the trail tread. The ditch on the lowest side has an outlet to drain off any excess water.

Wear and tear over the years had eroded the trail tread and allowed it to trap water. The trapped water softened the soil, which made the trail more vulnerable to erosion. Our primary goal was simple; drain the water off of the trail tread, into the ditches, through the pipe, and away from the trail.

A ditch was dug along the upper part of the trail and the trail tread was sloped to get the water into the ditch and not reach the turnpike. The rest of the work was on the turnpike itself; digging out the bordering ditches, reforming the trail tread, and trying to find the crossing PVC pipe, which seemed to have been swallowed up by mother earth!

After a lot of exploratory excavation, the pipe was eventually found. Jon and Bertrand creatively cleaned it out using long branches of coyote brush as giant pipe cleaners. The ditches and were dug out, and the rolling dip drains and trail tread were reshaped. Our work for the day was complete.

Tired but satisfied with our day's endeavors, we sat down to have a quick bite of lunch and share a few bad jokes. Soon our State Park chauffeur arrived to give us a welcomed ride back down. It had been another fun and productive day improving the trails in Wilder Ranch. We really do make a difference!