Saturday, January 10th, 2009

MTB: Henry Coe Trailwork Day (Kelly Cabin Canyon Trail)

Today was another ROMP’s trailwork day at Coe (MTBR thread). Erik had made plans though to do some rebolting of a rock climbing route at Pinnacles (the equivalent of trailwork to mountain biking). Guess we would be paying dues to two park goddesses on the same day. Sweet!

Usually, in order to get to Hunting Hollow parking lot at 9am, we leave home at 7am. But between packing, feeding the two kitty cats, and cleaning the litter boxes (why did they have to go every time I was just about to walk out the door?), I didn’t get out until after 7:30am. In order not to be late, I drove like an Asian female. Just when I thought I was making good time, I saw East Dunne Ave exit. Oh, that sounded familiar. I floated across two lanes at 85 mph and landed on the exit ramp. Only after a little while driving towards the hills and not finding the McDonald’s we normally stop at, I realized that E. Dunne Ave. is the exit for the Coe headquarter. Dang! That’s what I get for not paying attention when Erik drives.  Back to the highway, and now I drove like a mad Asian female. After the restroom stop at McDonald’s at the Leavesley Rd. Exit, it only took me 13 minutes to cover the 8 miles, mostly windy road, to the parking lot and I pulled in at 8:58am. That was just perfect!

Although it was a little chilly when I stepped out of my heated car, it was really not too bad. There was some breeze, but the temperature was definitely above 40 degrees. After a safety briefing and a round of quick self-introductions (.avi or .wmv), the group split three ways. Paul, Dan, Sheiloh, Ranger Eric, Ranger Greg, Rob, and Ed went straight to the site by car; Chris, Roy, and Tom rode there by way of Middle Steer Ridge Trail; and Patrick and I took a pleasant climb up by the route Spike Jones -> Grizzly Gulch -> Dexter -> Kelly Lake Trail.

There were a few sections of major re-routing and rebenching done on Kelly Cabin Canyon Trail today.  Just like last time, there were a lot of hard work and fun conversations involved. The section we worked on (up to the canyon creek bed) evolved into a well benched 4 foot wide smooth trail. The achievement was quite impressive. Or maybe I should let you be the judge by showing you the before and after shots. It seems that the continuation of the trail, in and out of the creek bed, will need more work in the future.

After the hard work, Tom, Patrick, Ed, and I had a very sweet ride back to the parking lot by way of Coit Road -> Wasno Road -> Domino Pond Trail -> Cattle Duster -> Grapevine -> Anza -> Jackson. I believe every one had a big grin going down Jackson.

All the pictures are available on Picasa for easy viewing and they are captioned. The same pictures are also uploaded to my gallery (without captions) for my posting convenience. Here are a few highlights.


Pre-trailwork briefing



Only Henry Coe!


On my way to work


A few action shots


Look, a smiley mudworm!

I was hoping they would swing the picks in synchronization.


Before and after shots


This is another section where Paul said, “Let there be a trail” and a trail appeared. (Sorry I forgot to take an after shot.)


Getting rid of a widow maker on Domino Pond Trail

Ed coming up Domino Pond Trail.

Ha, I got this video thingy figured out. Here are the participants. Yours truly is behind the camera.

P.S. There are more photos posted by others in the MTBR thread.