On Saturday, November 2nd, 2024, about 40-45 volunteers and staff met and worked on the Saratoga Gap Trail for the annual Bay Area Ridge Trail Service Day event. There were three crew leaders and a project supervisor from the Trail Center (www.trailcenter.org), two crew leaders and several other staff from Santa Clara County Parks, and several representatives from the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council.
Rain had been expected all week, but fortunately we only received a light overnight sprinkle which softened up the working conditions and kept some of the dust down. We planned on 1.3 miles of repairs, starting at the parking area trailhead located about 0.5 miles north of the junction of Hwy 35 x Hwy 9 and ending at the trailhead located 0.3 miles north of Charcoal Road. Tools and sign-in tables were located at the junction of Charcoal Road and the Saratoga Gap Trail, and that is where we started our day. Five crews were assembled, two working north of Charcoal Road and three heading south.
To make a long story short, thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and crew leaders, the entire planned stretch of the trail was completed and was left in really excellent condition.
I wish to thank Helen Shaughnessy, Dave Croker, Judd Volino, Eric McFarland and Ashkan Yahyale for excellent crew leading, Natalia Cortes for hauling in the burritos, the other support staff from BART for administrative and check-in help, and the staff of SCCP for handling registrations.
For future events like this I would like to stress to volunteers the importance of arriving on time. The last volunteer showed up at 10:15 and that really impacts safety talks, tool distribution and crew balancing. Also, I forgot to request a porta potty, which for such a large group would have been a nice convenience.
Looking forward to next year,
Hank Magnuski
"Trail Boss"