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The first Sunday in April was a beautiful spring day with clear sky, warm sun, and a cool ocean breeze, perfect conditions for a little hard work on the open hills of Wilder Ranch State Park. Following a relatively dry month, the trails would be almost completely free of mud and standing water but still soft and relatively dust free, perfect for sculpting drains and smoothing some of the winter ruts.
Nine volunteers signed up, ready to take on any project. Karen Henwood, Patty & Annika Haymond, and Todd Jackson were looking for a new experience. Doug Blaisdell, Cristina & Bertrand Teplitxky, Harvey Hartman, and Chuck Wisse had all worked on trails in Wilder Ranch and knew exactly what to expect. After some discussion, it was decided that the crew would work on the western end of the Old Dairy Trail, which is officially the lower section of the Wilder Ridge Loop Trail.
The location of Old Dairy Trail subjects it to substantial underground seep water even during a light rainy season. The resulting erosion requires more frequent attention from volunteer trail crews than any other trail in the park. Years of work, including the installation of many culverts, have significantly improved the stability of the eastern section of the trail. To assure that the crew would get to the more remote western end of the trail, park aide Dan Johnson drove the crew to the Zane Grey overlook at the top of Wilder Ridge. From there, the crew hiked down the ridge to the Old Dairy junction.
The day’s first project would be to tune up the drainage around the Coyote Club Culvert. Before the culvert was installed, this area was a veritable swamp during the rainy season. The culvert has helped to dry out a short section of trail, but after five years both the inflow and the outflow were in need of some attention. Several nearby drains needed work as well.
Proceeding onward past the culvert, the crew broke into groups of two or three. As they identified developing problems, each group would work to eliminate, or at least diminish the problem then leap frog the other groups to the next problem area. Lush, new growth poison oak was hacked back so that trail users could pass without brushing against it. Some deep ruts had become veritable holes in the trail. High areas were cut down and low areas filled. Old drains always seem to need opening and can always be widened in the hope that they will stay open longer. There was even another culvert or two that hadn’t been serviced in a while.
As always, time ran out before the work did. The crew gathered up all the tools and hiked the mile and a half out to the rendezvous point at the junction with Wilder Ridge Road. Dan was waiting with the truck and, after snapping a group photo, drove the crew back to the ranch.
For more information on trailwork in Wilder Ranch, click here.
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Photo
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Wilder Crew musters at Zane Grey overlook.
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Bertrand sculpts a drain
while Chuck attacks some poison oak.
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Be sure to check for ticks at the end of the day.
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Sitting down on the job.
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Lunch break.
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A happy Wilder crew at the end of the day.
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