Author: Karl Mosgofian

Project: Hidden Villa 

Photo Album: Hidden Villa Photos 

On Saturday, December 1, Trail Center completed its second work day at Hidden Villa open space and farm on the north 0.3 mi portion of the Short Bunny Loop Trail, starting from the Long Bunny Loop junction in the creek valley. We were lucky to have a very strong turnout of 29 volunteers, including many teenagers.

We began the day under drizzling rain, and endured one short downpour before the rain eased up in late morning. This made from muddy conditions. We decided to go forward with the work day due to the lack of a rain date. The area of the Short Bunny trail we worked on weaves among bays and oaks, with occasional openings for more shrubby vegetation. The hike in is only about .25 mi.

The key goals for this work were to replace deteriorated retaining walls, install new walls where needed, improve switchbacks, general tread widening, and brushing. We were greatly enabled by Hidden Villa’s Jesse Dolan who procured all the materials we requested and staged them at the work sites with Scott Farnworth. This greatly accelerated the retain wall work.

Tim Moore, a crew leader trainee, led a mix of experienced and new volunteers who worked on the lower switchbacks, widening the tread to make the initial steep trail more passable. In addition, Dave K. and Larry planned and guided the installation of 24’ of retaining walls at a very narrowed switchback. This required more earth moving and regrading than the work plan anticipated, but they ended up with a much improved tread. Ideally, an addition 4’ or so of retaining wall will be added by Hidden Villa staff at the pivot of the switchbank to further armor the turn against shortcutting.

Dave Taylor’s crew worked on the next higher set of switchbacks, aided by a set of 3 teenage volunteers and a dad helping as part of a school project, along with Kathy and the two Franks. They installed 16’ of retaining wall at the foot of a tree, replacing one that had been undermined. Then they moved on to another 16’ in a switchback, and 8’ just below there. The crew also worked on general widening above and below the wall projects.

Crew leader trainee Karl, aided by regular volunteer Neil, Hidden Villa volunteer Ron, and several others, focused on brushing back a 50 yard stretch of more exposed trail to allow for the bench to be moved back uphill. With the brushing completed, they restored the tread to a more solid alignment, although this was challenging because it was fairly muddy. This crew also shored up a a couple sections of retaining walls, using a reclaimed board that had by lying on the trail in one case.

Dave Croker oversaw a mix of new and experienced teenage volunteers and regulars, including the ever versatile Ken and Tom. The latter two installed 16’ of wall, where hikers had been sidestepping a tree in the trail, to create a solid bench and stop deterioration of the hillside. Tom also installed another 16’ under a big tree where the root system had limited the tread. Dave and the teenages and one dad completed an ambitious set of walls totaling more than 48’ under a big partially fallen bay tree. This work included lots of backfill, reinstalled 3 steps, and shoring up a couple other walls in that stretch. They also did brushing in this area and further on to reduce branches at head and eye level.

Overall, the volunteers and leaders performed admirably in challenging conditions, with everyone sticking with it in good spirits until it was time to leave. We were able to complete all the work that was planned for the day. Crews starting packing up and heading down about 2:00 p.m.

Judd Volino
12/2/18

Project: Purisima Open Space 

North Ridge, Harkins & Craig Britton Trails - Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve
Trail Center Work Day Report
November 3, 2018

Saturday, November 3rd, was the annual Bay Area Ridge Trail service day and the Trail Center partnered with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to run a trail maintenance event at the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space District preserve.

A total of 32 volunteers showed up for this event plus 4 staff from MROSD and representatives from the Bay Area Ridge Trail and REI.

Our task was to do needed maintenance on the North Ridge Trail, the Harkins Ridge Trail and the Craig Britton Trail, all part of the Ridge Trail running through this park. There was a lot of erosion, drainage and gulleys to repair or refurbish along with some tread rework. Five crews were organized led by Lisa Jewett, Judd Volino, Dave Croker, Bill Farrell and Karl Mosgofian. One crew worked the North Ridge, two on the Harkins and two on Craig Britton. Hank Magnuski was supervisor for the day.

For the assigned worksite tasks there was a completion rate of about 105%. All crews managed to get their original assignments done and a number of crews found some bonus projects to do on their sections. Only about two or three flagged sites were deferred as these were really horrible sections of trail that probably needed a backhoe and a dump truck full of base rock to fix. The North Ridge and Harkins Ridge segments are done, and about half of the Craig Britton is waiting for another trail day.

Many thanks go to Brendan Dolan of MROSD for proposing this project and helping to survey it. He also helped coordinate the transfer of tools to the worksite, provision for sanitation, and reservation of the parking lot where we staged our event. We also deeply thank REI for their support, cash contribution and raffle items. For a project with so many people dispersed over a wide area and with so many moving parts, the day went about as flawlessly as could be expected.

Hank Magnuski

Project: San Mateo Memorial Park 

Pomponio Trail - Memorial Park
Trail Center Work Day Report
October 13, 2018

On Saturday, October 13, we returned to San Mateo County’s Memorial Park to work on the long anticipated and recently reopened Pomponio Trail. The trail had been closed for years due to washed out piers under the footbridge at the park’s northwest corner west of Mt Ellen. SMCP recently replaced the damaged bridge with a 36” culvert, and the park rangers were eager to restore the long neglected trail and welcome visitors to this scenic stretch. The Trail Center was thrilled to participate in this important work, and its crews brought this enthusiasm to Saturday’s workday.
The weather was clear, with unseasonably warm temperatures in the high 80’s by workday’s end. The trail tread is a mix of organic, sandy, sandstone soil, mostly workable after last month’s rain. The work area was partially under Douglas fir tree shade and partially under full sun. Our 20 volunteers included a nice mix of experienced and first time volunteers.
As on previous workdays, we staged the trailer and volunteers in the pull-out area immediately before the park entrance kiosk. Ranger Matt Auda-Capel transported our tools to the trailhead in the SMCP pick-up, and he and Dave C helped shuttle volunteers up the hill to the worksite.
Hank’s, Karl’s, and Tim’s crew began at the new culvert, brushing, restoring tread width, and outsloping nearly a quarter mile of trail. Judd’s and George’s crew did similar work for the next quarter mile, including the addition of one drain and the reattachment of existing retaining wall lumber to hat channels. Special kudos to Dave C, the Grim Reaper, for preceding all crews; luckily for all, neither he nor the Shindaiwa ran out of gas.
The Trail Center looks forward to returning to Pomponio Trail, possibly later this spring, to complete the portion between Flag 24 and the Mt Ellen trail network. The Trail Center Projects Committee will coordinate with the Memorial Park rangers to plan this next phase.
Thanks to Dave C for driving the trailer, to Kathy for coordinating our glorious volunteers, and to Larry signing in the volunteers at the beginning of the day and for catering the snacks and beverages at the end of the day.