Author: Karl Mosgofian

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.

Project: Quarry Park Half Moon Bay 

On a beautiful Saturday day, 25 volunteers assembled at Quarry Park to complete the re-route started three weeks earlier. As with the previous project, Dave Taylor was the Trail Boss. Crew Leaders included Judd Volino, Eva Franko, and Hank Magnuski paired with George Willis. The Coastside Mountain Bikers contributed several people under the leadership of Ric Barker. Judd, Eva, and Ric helped bring folks from the lower parking area to the Dolphine Road gate that leads to the trail.

Even though only three weeks had passed since the previous projects, vegetation was already sprouting from roots not removed in the previous effort, especially in the upper area. Eva’s crew worked on removing the sprouts as well as remaining coyote brush stumps. She also had to narrow the trail in some places where overly exuberant workers had made it too wide. Hank and Judd’s crews worked on widening the lower trail, as appropriate, removing spoils from the edge, and better defining the trail. Hank’s crew also got the honor of removing a small eucalyptus tree from the middle of the entrance to the trail. The nature of the soil made creating a smooth uniform surface challenging, but all three teams tackled this task with reasonable success. A final smoothing will have to wait until fall/winter rains permit a better, less friable soil to work with. At one point, Ric took another mountain biker, Noel, to brush the upper part of the old trail, which he said would still be used by some bikers as a downhill challenge. It is a part of the trail unsuitable for hiking in either direction (hence the re-route).

Work proceeded quickly, and by 1:30-2, the trail was in sufficiently good shape to call it a day. As in the previous project three weeks earlier, the weather was fantastic, if not hot, and the views were postcard like in their beauty. The ocean was about a blue as it gets and crew leaders had to keep reminding volunteers to drink fluids to avoid dehydration.

Larry Stites again capably handled refreshments, and this time ensured that there was sufficient beer, although there was also less demand due to the smaller workforce. We awarded a green Trail Steward shirt to Julio, for his commitment to attending 8 work days. Julio was very happy to be so honored, and promised he'd wear it on an upcoming hike on the PCT. We also raffled swag from National Trails Day, mainly tee shirts and patches, via a raffle.

Dave Taylor

Project: Quarry Park Half Moon Bay 

Photo Album: 1806-2 Quarry Park 

On Saturday, June 2nd, National Trails Day, about 35 volunteers converged for the Trail Center’s first ever event at Quarry Park, a eucalyptus covered San Mateo County Park located on a hilly mountain east of El Granada and north of Half Moon Bay. David Taylor was the Trail Boss and he was assisted by Crew Leaders, Judd Volino, Karl Mosgofian, Tim Murphy, and Bill Farrell. Eva Franko assisted Karl in leading his crew. The objective was to carve out a new trail bypassing the steepest parts of what was a narrow use path up near the top of the ridge in the northeast part of the park. The trail had been previously marked by Dave Croker, Bill Farrell, and Judd Volino, and then re-flagged by Judd about a week before the event.

The initial part of the trail involved cutting a trail through a dense mixture of vines, poison oak, and other mainly invasive vegetation. Karl’s crew handled this responsibility. The next section of the trail transitioned from the “jungle” to coyote brush scrub as it climbed out of the forest and into the hillside. Judd’s crew focused on this section. The hillside afforded a spectacular view of the ocean and the Princeton marina, as the day, unlike many on the coast, was clear and sunny all day. Bill’s crew started at the top end of the reroute and worked its way downhill. Bill’s team mainly consisted of a contingent of volunteers from the Coastside Mountain Bikers group under the auspices of Ric Barker. This was the Trail Center’s first time working with this group and it was a successful partnership, with Trail Center volunteers and leaders gaining new insights into what aspects of a trail are most favored by mountain bikers.

Progress was impressive. The entire reroute was roughed in by noon, and in the afternoon work began on defining the trail’s edges and moving it toward a completable state. The upper area required the removal of a number of coyote bushes, and associated stumps, a task at which the mountain bike group seemed particularly adept.

Meanwhile, Tim’s group worked on widening the trail leading up to the reroute. Although passable, the tread was only about a foot wide, with poison oak and other plants encroaching on the trail and making the probability of contact with this noxious plant for both hiker and biker highly likely. Tim’s group did an excellent job of bringing the narrow parts of the trail into conformance with the broader, wider starting tread coming up from Dolphine Road. Once their assignment was completed, Tim’s group spread itself out at the junction of the reroute’s beginning to assist Judd and Karl’s crews.

The lack of parking, distance to the work area, and steep hills in-between necessitated the car-pooling of volunteers to the gate entrance and the hauling of the tools up in Tom Moore’s pickup truck. The recently repaired road into the site was fine except the placement of a large berm that created some challenges for Tom’s truck, especially on the way out, as his vehicle does not have a high clearance. The gunning of the truck on the way out and its flying over the berm created a highlight for the assembled volunteers and a real jolt for Tom and Dave T, who were driver and passenger respectively, as the truck landed. Thanks to Judd, Eva, and Ric for helping to ferry folks up the hill.

Larry Stites did his usual excellent job with snacks, although for the first time in recent memory, the Trail Center ran out of cold beer! Because of a last minute mix-up, handing out of National Trail Day swag had to be deferred to the next Quarry Park project in three weeks.

Dave Taylor