VWA Black Cone Trail Project

VWA member Steve Wilson reconnoitering the BCT following the fires of '99

PURPOSE

The purpose of this project is to re-establish the entire length of the historic Black Cone Trail, and the historic Mosquito Springs camp, between the Pine Ridge Trail and Strawberry Valley to serve the needs hikers, backpackers, horseback riders, hunters and other wilderness users.

BACKGROUND

The Black Cone Trail (BCT) is located in the heart of the Ventana Wilderness Area and provides important linkage between the trails of the Carmel and Little Sur watersheds in the northern part of the Wilderness with the trails of the Arroyo Seco watershed in the Southern part of the Wilderness. The trail was originally built and maintained by the US Forest Service but was abandoned by the Forest Service following the devastating Marble Cone Fire of 1977 that burned the entire length of the BCT. The nine mile trail route descends gradually from the Pine Ridge Trail (el. 4,400) along the western slope of the ridge that separates the Big Sur watershed from the Tassajara tributary of the Arroyo Seco watershed to the Marble Peak Trail in Strawberry Valley (el. 3,000).

Within several years following the 1977 Marble Cone Fire, dense chaparral grew over major portions of the BCT making passage virtually impossible. The last hiker who we know of that successfully negotiated the full length of trail did so in 1982. In the years since the trail was lost, several attempts have been made by local volunteer hiking and horseback groups to recover the Black Cone Trail. In every case, the efforts have been unsuccessful because of the lack of sufficient resources to actually complete the very challenging task of clearing nine miles of thick mature chaparral by hand.

In the autumn of 1999 the Kirk Complex Fire burned almost the entire length of the BCT and effectively incinerated the chaparral that had obliterated the historic route. Following that fire, a field reconnaissance of the trail conducted by VWA members revealed a residual trail tread that has been filled in by erosion material from upslope, but is readily recoverable. In fact, when the post fire tread is observed from the top of the Coast Ridge, approximately 3-4 miles to the west, it is seen as a straight line, descending gradually to the south as it winds its way in and out of secondary drainages. This view offers a visual testimony to the excellent design and construction of the original Black Cone Trail.

Given the financial constraints that led to the Forest Service decision to abandon the Black Cone Trail, the only way this trail will be reestablished is with private funding and volunteer labor working in cooperation with the Forest Service.

PROPOSAL

The 1999 Kirk Complex Fire has created a window of opportunity to re-establish this important trail. The project has been conceived and planned by the Ventana Wilderness Alliance (VWA). The project will be executed by a partnership of six separate organizations that share the common interest of reestablishing the historic Black Cone Trail. Led by the Ventana Wilderness Alliance, this partnership also includes the US Forest Service, the Student Conservation Association, the Sierra Club National Outings group, Robert Louis Stevenson School and the Ventana Mounted Assistance Group.

The project will be executed in two phases. The first phase will be the removal of the burned chaparral remnants that remain in the trail corridor. This work entails cutting standing remnants of chaparral and grubbing out root crowns in or adjacent to the trail tread. The Ventana Wilderness Alliance, the Sierra Club National Outings group and students and faculty of Robert Louis Stevenson School have each committed to clearing one third of the route during the winter and spring of 2001.

The second phase of the project is to re-grade the original trail tread after the clearing work is complete. The Student Conservation Association (SCA) will be hired to provide a twelve-person crew consisting of two leaders and ten trail workers for one month to complete this part of the project. The SCA is scheduled to begin the project in mid-June 2001. The Ventana Mounted Assistance Group will pack into (and out of) the project sites all of the gear and supplies needed for the SCA crew.

In addition to helping plan and manage the project, the staff of the Monterey District of LPNF are providing the hand tools needed for the clearing and grading work and additional logistic and communications support.

With the exception of the Forest Service and the Student Conservation Association, all project labor is by volunteers. The SCA is only able to subsidize one third of its actual crew cost. Funds to pay for the balance of SCA trail crew cost are now being sought from a variety of sources including foundations and endowments, local conservation and user groups and private individuals. Contributions are gladly accepted.

CONTACT

Schedules for VWA volunteer work parties will be available in February 2001. VWA members and non-members alike are welcome to join in this work. For more information about this project, contact Tom Hopkins at tom@ventanawild.org.

Anyone with the computer mapping program TOPO! (San Francisco Bay Area, Wine Country & Big Sur disc set) can download an overlay file of the Black Cone Trail project here:

Black Cone Trail TOPO! Overlay (.tpo format, 9.2K)

You can also request to have the file emailed to you - just send us a message at blackcone@ventanawild.org. If you don't have the Topo! program, you can find out how to get a copy at http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/topo/.