Author: Karl Mosgofian

Project: Skyline Trail 

Photo Album: Skyline Trail Photos 

On Saturday, January 12, Trail Center returned gave some love to the Skyline Trail, bringing 29 experienced and new volunteers to the task of general maintenance, with a focus on removing accumulated slough & duff to restore tread width and some drainage work. The project spanned a 1.5 mi section starting north of the Molder Trail junction. We were fortunate to catch a break in a series of rain storms that, but it remained chilly with some mist as the day wrapped up.

Volunteers parked at the El Corte de Madera OSP parking lot and either shuttled or walked on the Sierra Morena trail about 0.8 mi to reach the Molder Trail pullout on Skyline Blvd where the trailer was staged. Thanks to Brendan Dolan of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District for coordinating a permit for our group that day.

This trail runs between Huddart and Wunderlich county parks just east off the ridge and Skyline Blvd in Redwood City/Woodside areas. This trail is maintained by San Mateo County Parks, but lies largely on California Water Service Company property, and presumably is accessible due to an easement. Our SMCP contact for the project was ranger Rogelio Castaneda.

In order from south to north the crew leaders were…

Hank, who had a group of relatively new volunteers who dug right into the work of removing exposed roots in the trail, brushing, clearing duff from inside edge and removing debris.

Karl and Tim Moore paired up to lead the next section’s crew, also focused on restoring tread width and trimming back some growth of saplings and cutting a dead “widowmaker”.

Bill’s crew tackled some areas where the tread had become uneven before overgrowth had been trimmed back. They did a great job restoring an even bench and outslope, improving drains, and more of that slough and debris removal.

Dave Croker’s crew also cleaned up some long stretches and made a number of well-developed “nicks” for drainage.

At the far end, Woody led a very game group who had to hike out the furthest. They had some of the most challenging sections in terms of the amount of slough to remove and also a fair amount of berry bramble that had grown into the trail. They also had to remove some roots that were hazards after the slough was removed.

Overall, we were able to address nearly all the areas planned for the day. The lesson trail boss Judd re-resolved keep project work areas 1 mi. max in length.

Snacks were served at the pullout. We made due with the coolers as flat surfaces, as the classic folding tables had accidentally been left out of the trailer when we packed up at Hidden Villa last month.

Hank awarded teen volunteer Alex his green hat for his participation in at least 4 work days. Alex and his associates have made strong contributions to projects including Hidden Villa and Sugarloaf Mountain Open Space.

Thanks to Larry for snacks and Dave Croker for bringing the trailer.

Judd Volino
1/22/19

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