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January. Brrrrr. Well, not so for the Advocates workday on January 19. The temperatures were unseasonably warm and the sunshine gave us a welcome respite from our normal wet weather.
Along with the great weather came a great turnout. We had 21 hearty souls who wanted to get the New Year off to a good start by doing some volunteer trail work. Many were driven by competitive desire...to win prizes in the Trailworkers.com contest. Blaise Hamel, for instance, hasn't missed a workday since the contest began. We're becoming rather attached to him and hope to continue seeing him at our workdays once the contest is over.
We were also fortunate to have volunteers from other groups to join us. Patty Ciesla and Charles Jalgunas were there from the Stewards of Soquel Forest. Their trail building expertise was a huge help. Geoff Smith and Doug Landauer were there from Mountain Bikes of Santa Cruz, bringing good advice and good cheer. Chuck Wisse and Greg Lydon did Trailworkers.com proud.
And State Parks sent some of their finest to join us. Barbi Barry, the Maintenance Supervisor for the South Sector was there, providing tools, expertise and good humor - and artistry with a chain saw. She brought along the newest member of her team, Tim Reynolds, who was just hired as a Worker 2. Kirk Lingenfelter, the head of Road, Trails and Equipment, while not there physically, sent a stalwart member of his crew, Evanne, to see that the trail construction went as he had planned.
Our workday completed a much needed trail reroute on West Ridge. Not only did this require a lot of cutting and digging, but the volunteers had to hike over a mile UP HILL to reach the site. The work was carefully orchestrated so be sure there was plenty to do for folks who were not eager to dive into trail building until the poison oak had been cleared. Which means a few daring souls slashed and hacked at this nasty vine to pave the way for the rest of us, who performed routine maintenance to the neighboring trail in the meantime.
Once the trail reroute was complete, the crew needed to go in and decommission the old trail. This required tilling the packed down dirt to encourage new plants to take root, putting in drains to keep flow off our new trail, and obliterating the old trail. Once this was complete, it was virtually impossible to tell where the old trail had been (and that's the way it should be).
Of particular interest, Charles Jalgunas, from the Stewards for Soquel Forest, brought some of his special "bent shovels". Patty and Charles have significant expertise with trail building and have found these shovels make a much better edge when shaping a trail. Charles buys the shovels and has a blacksmith make the bend. As you see in the picture, these shovels are very unique and make a huge difference in building a trail.
Originally we had slated two workdays to complete this project. But with such a great turnout, we were able to start and finish this in one workday. As seen in the last picture, everyone was very pleased with the finished product. A big "thank you" to everyone who turned out.
The complete list of voluteers are: Harvey Hartman, Patty Ciesla, Carol Cuminale, Chris Foster, Chris Chang, Dan Chen, Scott Robinson, Richard Andrews, Charles Jalgunas, Doug Landauer, Chuck Wisse, Chris Hackler, Linda Moore, Geoffrey Smith, Blaise Hamel, Greg Weaver, Margrite Weaver, Mike Hammes, Greg Lydon, Jeff Hicks and Margaret Hicks.
The Advocates next workday is February 23. Come out and join us! It really is just as much fun as it looks!!
For more information on trailwork in Nisene Marks, click here.
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Photo
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Chris Foster, Chuck Wisse and Geoff Smith are clearing the poison oak before the work crew gets going.
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Charles Jalgunas poses with his "one of a kind" bent shovel.
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Two volunteers stand well clear while Barbi Barry, of State Parks, clears a downed log.
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Charles Jalgunas puts the finishing touches on the drain for the new trail, while Patty Ciesla and Chuck Wisse observe. Chris Chang (in the foreground) works on creating the adequate slope for good drainage.
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Can you find the old trail in this picture? Linda Moore takes a break from spreading downed wood on the old section of trail.
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The group at the end of the day. If all these people are smiling, it HAS to be fun!
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