Project: Portola Redwoods State Park (Upper Coyote Ridge Trail)
Photo Album: 1608 Portola Redwoods
We revisited our destination of a year ago by working in Portola Redwoods State park on August 20, 2016. Two crew leaders, Hank and Bill supervised 21 volunteers, including six young men from Camp Glenwood.
The team covered about 0.7 of a mile of the 1.3 mile long Upper Coyote Ridge trail in order to address low and high vegetation, poison oak, and slough and bring back a more comfortable tread width throughout. We staged from the Tarwater Trailhead in Pescadero Creek County Park, at the north end of the trail. We were fortunate to work mostly under tree cover.
The work day leaders prioritized working on areas of the trail where the tread narrowing was forcing hikers to the outside edge of the trail and where the highest concentrations of poison oak were encroaching. Bill's crew began by completing much brushing, grass and berry vine removal from the westward facing vista area about 0.6 mile down the trail. Later they continued south at the next most needy areas, again primarily removing vegetation that had overgrown into the trail corridor and attacking patches poison oak.
Hank's crew started about 0.9 mile down, where the trail is situated right on the ridge and there are a number of switchbacks. This part of the trail needed mostly slough removal and tread restoration along with brushing. All of the critical tread was completed save for a small section where a retaining wall may be needed due to tree roots and a steep hill slope. A pair of volunteers did all the brushing to the junction with the two branches of the "lower" Coyote Ridge Trail.
We look forward to returning to Portola Redwoods sometime after the turn of the year to complete some outstanding retaining wall projects on the Slate Creek Trail. Perhaps we can also revisit the Upper Coyote Ridge trail to fine tune the tread when the soils have more pliability and perform additional low vegetation removal, particularly in the northern 0.6 mile that includes part of Pescadero Creek County Park.
Thanks to Ranger Tyler Knapp for coordinating with us on this project, walking the whole route during scouting, ensuring availability of the trailhead parking lot and for visiting to thank volunteers at the end of the work day. We also appreciate the continued support from Santa Cruz District Trail Supervisor Chris Pereira.
Judd Volino
8/25/2016