Jan 31 - Feb 1 Trail Trip
| Date: | Jan 31-Feb 1 2009 |
| Trail: | Gamboa and North Coast Ridge Trails |
| Volunteers: | 16 |
| Volunteer Hours: | 176 |
All, the Cook Springs trip was EPIC! 16 stalwart volunteers cleared trail on the upper Gamboa and North Coast Ridge Trails(NCRT), in a manner that really exemplified the amount of work that can be completed by a small number of dedicated people. Our team was diverse, and though we had a number of people who were new to trail work, we also had Betsy as an assistant leader, who was able to train everyone on proper brushing techniques and brushing safety, and Steve as an assistant leader, who was able to not only haul in a 6ft crosscut saw and its required accessories, but also led the saw crew in removing 11 logs from the upper Gamboa Trail.
I estimate that we cleared 500ft of the Gamboa, and though that might sound small, the amount of brush removed was incredible, and just as importantly, it was done safely, and in a way that we believe will keep it clear for some time. Everyone marveled at how much easier it was to go up the trail where they had worked, than it was to go down the trail earlier that day.
No VWA trail work report would be complete without at least a cursory description of the evening's feast! Alas, there was no fondue, however there were many other culinary delights (and oddities!). To name a few, there was, Pickled herring in sour cream, dolmas, corn-on-the-cob, carrots wrapped in romaine leaves beans, 3 different kinds of olives, home dried fruit, 2 or 3 different cheeses, steak, herbed salami, hard boiled eggs, chocolate, and nuts, at least 2 different batches of homemade cookies, and a whole bunch of stuff that I can't remember. Also, someone brought a Jiffy Pop skillet of popcorn, which Betsy cooked over an MSR stove.
The next day, some people went out to the Arroyo Seco Trail junction to check out the bulldozer line, and fix a place where people might get lost, and the rest got started on the NCRT. I estimate we did about 400ft of brushing there. We removed the worst parts of the wart-leaf ceanothus from between the Carrizo shortcut and the Gamboa. We'll see if the snow brings down some more brush, but for now, it looks really great!
I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to the entire crew - everyone was really fantastic about wearing the proper safety gear, and did a great job of sawing and lopping - THANKS!
Some pics are here: Cook Springs Pics
