[Moe Ped]

ENCORE! Henry W Coe Trail Work Day this Saturday the 19th; code name "Cherry"

Being Valentine's Day, Sorcerer had his love life to attend to so he asked for help bumping this thread up.

We are hoping for an encore performance of last Saturday's effort!

Don't fret about the controversial 48" wide tread; Mother Nature will reclaim what is rightfully hers in due time!

It was a beautiful day. <<<< yes it was! >>>> You are an awesome crew! <<<< yes we are! >>>>

Sorcerer says "Thank You"!

We're going out there again Saturday. We need RSVP's to see how many tools we'll need.

Plymmer won $20 cash (in lieu of Pliny), and a $20 REI Gift Certificate (ROMP), from the Pliny the Elder Missing Marker Contest.

Second-time volunteers get a neat HWC tee-shirt like the one plymmer's wearing. << for the second FULL DAY of volunteer trail work that is! >>

Sorcerer wants some more incentives for the volunteers!!! Any ideas for donations?

We have maps and T-shirts to give away.

Nice team work guys!

Let's get some girls out there!

See you this weekend? Saturday 9:00 AM Hunting Hollow parking lot---look for us in the picnic area just past the porta-potties. If you don't have a parking pass ask for one!

Rain or Shine!!! We usually work until 2:30 with a lunch break at noon. If you want to work until noon and then go for a ride that's OK too!

RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -RSVP- - -

 

[TahoeBC]

So is this ADA trail standard for people with disabilities so they can take a Wheel chair up the trail? The rule was probably sponsored by Sweco

Seriously is this a State / National thing are all new official trails be it at a State park, National forest or National Park level going to have to conform to this standard in the future? If so it going to be to costly or impossible to build new trails in the future in many places.

I hear you on nature reclaiming, it's just to bad so much effort has to be made to meet a standard which will not be maintained in the future. This picture makes me sad.

 

[special O]

I agree w/ TahoeBC in spirit but I think that SP is probably thinking that this trail will become very popular and have lots of two way multi-use traffic, with potential for user conflict. That is probably their motivation for the width. However, the wider trail may promote higher speeds and in-trail passes, which would somewhat defeat the purpose...

Wanted to go out last Saturday but had to work. Maybe I can make it this weekend.

 

[Moe Ped]

Don't cry in your beer...

So is this ADA trail standard for people with disabilities so they can take a Wheel chair up the trail? The rule was probably sponsored by Sweco

Seriously is this a State / National thing are all new official trails be it at a State park, National forest or National Park level going to have to conform to this standard in the future? If so it going to be to costly or impossible to build new trails in the future in many places.

...it makes it taste salty!

This is not the Hunting Hollow ADA trail; it will be on the opposite side of the canyon.

ADA-wise; JDT is too steep and would need frequent turnouts, plus bikers and horses would be eliminated from using it. So we don't want to go there.

Yeah, the 48" standard is nothing new for multi-use trails---I think it goes back to the last century and what the Forest Service came up with. It's possible that 24" true single-track COULD be built in a State Park, it would take an extraordinary amount of lobbying to get it approved though. It would almost certainly have to be a one-way trail for bikes.

 

[TahoeBC]

This is not the Hunting Hollow ADA trail; it will be on the opposite side of the canyon.

Got an e-mail or was told in person that the reason it was being widened was to meet ADA standards. Thanks for the clarification, I won't cry anymore, or at least be drinking a Mexican beer if I do

 

[Moe Ped]

Dos Equis...

Got an e-mail or was told in person that the reason it was being widened was to meet ADA standards. Thanks for the clarification, I won't cry anymore, or at least be drinking a Mexican beer if I do

...or something darker?

Seriously, you should try to make it out to one of these volunteer work days at Coe---you'd get to hear some back-story (that won't be discussed on a public forum such as this). We're damned lucky to "be getting what we're getting"---it's rumored that some camps wanted a 96" wide trail corridor.

Or it could have gone the other way with JDT being obliterated and nobody getting to use it!

(FWIW; JDT is being built with IMBA standards in mind)

 

[TahoeBC]

I only salt my cheap Mexican beers I prefer a good IPA, my current favorite is Dogfish 90 minute

I will try and make it out later in the year, I'm relocating later in the day back up to Tahoe now that winter is returning for awhile. And then it really depends on how the back is treating me, I blew it out twice digging to much last year in which it took several chiropractor trips and a few weeks to mostly recover from. So I pick my work days pretty carefully, usually limited to the local trails around my Tahoe house. I work best as a consultant anyway, thinking of designing some weather proof post-it notes that I can leave along the trails as suggestions

 

[d-bug]

I work best as a consultant anyway, thinking of designing some weather proof post-it notes that I can leave along the trails as suggestions

This must be your work

 

[ratpick]

My unemployment is (seemingly) tangentially approaching its end (every day seems to get just a little closer to actually signing a contract but we never actually get there so I may be traveling on Friday. If not, I'll be there and make up for missing last weekend. I'll confirm later.

I assume this is rain or shine, since rain helps with the dirt and it's close to parking?

 

[plymmer]

...

My, my....

 

[special O]

I'm coming, cya tomorrow. I have my own tools.

 

[Jack Burns]

Rain or Shine! Here we come!

Yes there's a lot of rain down here, and it is a factor for sure.

The creek crossing is deep and wide, so we will hike around it and use the road bridge to get to the trail.

I want to get a look at the drainage situations on the trail. This is a good eyewitness opportunity.

Certainly the freshly benched tread will be a total slippery slop fest, and we will probably need to hike around a lot of it, ironically (it is the trail), to not damage it.

We will definitely bench trail and do a lot of recon, recording, and flagging of special situations. We'll take the time to discuss many of the issues, like turns, and the sequence of events leading up to the construction of the bottom of the trail, prior to opeing it up.

We will be joined by a half-dozen volunteers from the hiking and horse rider groups. It will be good to review the trail together from these various points of view. It is a real multi-use trail right next to the major trail head parking area for Henry W. Coe SP. All of the the users are going to put their backs into this project.

I'm sure we'll come back with some interesting photographs to show here.

-Paul

 

[ratpick]

Definitely in.. see you tomorrow. Not going to bother bringing my bike - if the rain passes by the time we're done, I'll take a hike up JD!

 

[ratpick]

Soggy!

We had a few spots of non-rain, but mostly it drizzled all day. It was actually quite enjoyable since I wasn't riding in it!

Sorcerer is getting way too good at the safety talk! We had, I think, 5 MTBRers representing, as well as a mix of equestrians and hikers. Good bunch!

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Coyote Creek was a river - we didn't try to cross it

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Last week's trailwork has held up nicely, although all of us tramping past made it soggy by the end of the day

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Eventually, we got above last week's efforts and began the work of widening the trail. Here, a before shot..

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Plymmer wasted no time and began hacking away at the hillside, Sorcerer doing the same further up the trail

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

The ground was soaked and quite muddy making it easy to cut but hard to move. We worked solidly in small groups until the lunch whistle blew.

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

After a bite, I was getting cold, as was Plymmer, so we talked eachother into taking a hike up the trail. I've never been on it before, so was interested to check it out. It's a beautiful hillside that it climbs

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

I was extremely impressed with how well it was built. Much work was done to create good switchbacks when they are were needed, and the grade has been very well managed the whole trail

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

It doesn't go all the way to the top, and when it joins the "old" Jim Donnelly trail, it becomes much steeper and less well defined

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

When we got to this spot, we noticed that Willson Peak and surrounds had a dusting of snow!

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Wondering if there would be any snow at on Steer Ridge Road at the top of Jim Donnelly, we continued up. There wasn't, but there was a good view of the frosty ridge

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

The top of Jim Donnelly is about 2200' elevation so it probably has seen some snow - no trace of it anymore.

This fella was as happy as a pig in mud

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Descending back to continue trailwork, we noticed that decorations had been hung

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Another hour of digging and the day was done. We benched quite a bit of the trail, although having hiked to the top, I'm keenly aware that there is a lot of work to go still.

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

From Henry Coe Jim Donnelly Trailwork - Feb 2011

Very enjoyable day! Very much looking forward to when this trail is opened!

 

[Moe Ped]

Got dirt...?

Last weekend the soil was a little on the dry side; today it was a bit wet---no matter, we made good progress on JDT! Some pix:

Setting out some marker flags to "pin" the edge of the trail to be benched.


The digging begins...


A distant view...


Bench shaping up nicely...


A "before" looking up the trail...


Same "before" section from above...


Men at work...some comments were made about what it must've been like to dig trenches in WW1!


The "Blue" team has leap-frogged the "Yellow" team and continue up the trail...

 

[Diesel~]

Nice work, everyone. What a difference a week makes.

-D

 

[locoyokel]

Thanks for all the hard work!

 

[Jack Burns]

Day#2 on the JDT

It was going to be a rainy, wet, and dirty day. Luckily it held off while we got ready. On the way over the San Martin Hwy 101 overpass I snapped a photo showing the snow on the Pine Ridge.

One of us has to get a park radio on the way in, and there were large groups of turkeys around when I picked mine up. I like talking to turkeys. Turkeys gobble back.

I do not look forward to the "safety talk", but it is an important task the DPR assigns. Safety is the top priority, and my experience tells me that spending this time is worth it. Yet I know I that I need to move this part along faster, and say less. I'm very aware of that.

Above, Mike works away. I like to assign small groups of 3 to 6 to a leader, someone who has a lot of experience, and give them the latitude to direct everyone to work together in the fashion that suits them and make those fine decisions that come up on every trail day, like dealing with rocks, going around trees, and so on.

The conditions were awful in some places, Here and there when we cut into the mountain it would sort of weep or wick water out of the cuts. And sometimes the material turned to mud as it lay on the bench. My position is that if we only work when conditions are ideal, then not much work gets done.

Here are a pair of our tough equestrian ladies benching tread. We had some good conversations on various topics. For me, everything about visiting and volunteering at your local park is so much better when you know all of the regulars and staff by their first names, and count them as your friends, and I can look forward to seeing them. It is a good thing to know your neighbors.

Plymmer posed with a Pulaski for me. He reminds me that everyone should bring the food and water they need during the trail work up on the trail with them. Unfortunately we don't have anyone who will show up on cue at 12:00 with a cart full of goodies for lunch yet.

Special O and Pliebenberg work relentlessly.

On JDT day one we made the decision to not build the RGDs as we go that we plan on having, to maximize our productivity. But I now think that is a mistake.

We ask the workers to pile up some of stones above the trail that they find in digging. These rocks are going to be needed to armor some sections, fill holes, and so forth, later. It makes a big difference to collect these as we go.

Tools: I make it a point to say that I want everyone to carry at least these two tools up the trail on the JDT trail work: A McLeod. A cutter-mattock, pick mattock, grub hoe, or Pulaski. I like a shovel too. I like both sizes of mattock too. We sometimes end up trading tools as certain tasks require special tools. A variety is good to have up there.

Good work everyone! Many thanks.

Does anyone want to go again this Saturday, Feb 26?

We can now begin considering the use of the BOB trailers.

 

[Jack Burns]

Coyote Creek

Here's a Feb 19 morning photo of the Coyote Creek ford to the Stone House in the Palasou OSP. The water is very high and runs flood brown. Ratpick identified Hunting Hollow Creek as Coyote Creek in an earlier post. Coyote Creek was much bigger than Hunting Hollow Creek.

 

[Jack Burns]

Day #3 on the JDT is this Sat Feb 26th: Come on out!!!

Hey!

If anyone can do it, come on out a dig some more trail with us again this Saturday.

This time we'll work until noon, take the lunch break and then head upwards and do some recon on the remaining work to be done.

The weather looks iffy, but we go rain or shine. If the weather is good enough (that the tread dries out enough) I am going to bring a bike with a BOB trailer. But it looks doubtful.

I'll post something on the forum on Thursday eve, so that it has a chance to stay up towards the top.

-Paul