The Trail Companion

Winter 2002

Trail Center Notes

Trail Construction and Maintenance

...continued

A small, but hardy, band of volunteers turned out on Oct. 6 and made short work of the first bridge and moved on to prepare the way for a second bridge on another tributary.

Gazos Totem Skull (click for larger version)

Photo by Geoffrey Skinner

Rain postponed our final session for the year, but let up soon enough for us to try again on Dec. 8. The waterfalls on Gazos' tributaries were in full force while we built most of the approach to the second bridge and hauled bridge timbers. We cut the timbers from downed logs many hundreds of yards away - each 5-person crew that brought the 14-foot timbers to the bridge site had to carry them up an extremely steep hill. Then the crews jockeyed them into place in order to slide them down the side of the ravine to the bridge site without sending them over a cliff. David "Tex" Houston of the PCA saved the day by rustling up a pot of hot soup that he and TC stalwart Dave Croker then lugged across the creek and up the cliff to nourish the hard-working crews. At the end of the day, we were all exhausted and muddy, but the timbers were all in place.
After December, we realized we needed to permanently attach the bridge timbers so heavy rains wouldn't carry them over the falls. We had planned an informal trip that we canceled at the last minute due to a (needlessly) pessimistic weather.

Broken Post Pounder (click for larger version)

Photo by Geoffrey Skinner

We had expected to work at Jasper Ridge for our first trip of the new year on Jan. 8, but we had to change plans at the last minute, and instead headed to Gazos after all. Despite the change, enough volunteers made the long drive out to Gazos and we had a great day. Despite a broken Pulaski and shattered post-pounder, we finished the retaining wall on the approach and completed the bridge except for handrails.

Please check out photos from our Gazos events that are posted in the Photo Gallery section of our website.

Thanks, Gazos volunteers!

Steve & Alice Ringer, Augie Kuo, Paulette Pan, Aaron Beverly, Bill Warburton, Sandy Venning, Alex Fabrikant, Dan Moran (and friends Dave and Jay), Chuck.and Brion Doyle, David Alderman, Ed Alderman, Elena Fabrikant, Bem Jones-Bey, Elizabeth Hansell, Peter Crigger, Tex Houston, Bill, Joan Schwan, Dilgep George, Geoffrey Skinner, Justin Knowles, Tim and Pat Oren, David Taylor, Jonee Austin, Anukul Shenoy, Arvind (KC) Chakravarthy, Primrose Boynton, Sarita Jain, Dave Croker, Bill Henzel, Justin Knowles, Bobby Shaw.

Crew Leader Training

Congratulations to Bill Henzel, who graduated to Crew Leader on Feb. 9! Bill is a long-time volunteer and supporter and we have appreciated his help in many areas, including his beautiful Map Source cabinet. Welcome to the ranks of the Red Shirts, Bill.

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