What happens at a trail work day?

A year or two ago a Sierra Club friend of mine suggested I might like to join him on an East Bay Regional Parks trail work day. The promise of a free lunch was enticing so I agreed. I've now participated in several trail work projects and each one has been very enjoyable, though one or two would have been more pleasant had the weather been a bit cooler! And so I found myself waking up at 7:00am on Saturday morning to head to Crockett Hills Regional Park for the Bay Area Ridge Trail Service day sponsored by REI. I chose to volunteer at Crockett Hills because it was a place in the East Bay Regional Park District I had never been to before. Not all the workdays I participate in have the level of involvement from REI that this one did, but the event is pretty much the same. If you've ever thought about joining in a trail work day but wanted to first know more about what it entails read on!

After getting just a little lost I arrived at Crockett Hills around 8:30am. REI was sponsoring this particular workday so there was an REI tent where all volunteers had to sign both an REI waiver and an East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) waiver form. I also filled out an all important raffle ticket with high hopes of winning a backpack. After completing the registration I grabbed some coffee and pastries while waiting for the rest of the volunteers to arrive. While waiting I chatted with a few friends I knew from past work days and met a few new people as well.

Once the expected volunteers were assembled the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, EBRPD and REI all gave a few words of thanks. An EBRPD employee then described the different projects of the day - clearing thistle, installing new fenceposts, and trail restoration. He also introduced the tools we would be using and said a few words on their safe use. The volunteers divided into groups according to which project we each wished to work on, I chose trail restoration in order to see more of the park.

Past trail restoration projects I have participated in at the EBRPD, involves smoothing out trails torn up by winter rains and cows, obliterating shortcut trails or as in this case more clearly defining a new trail. In all these cases the work involved is similar, rough ground needs to be hacked out and graded using two tools - the McLeod and the Pulaski. The McLeod is a long handled tool with a large hoe like blade on and a tined blade like a heavy duty rake on the other. The Pulaski combines an axe and adze in one. It's strong head can be used to dig through very hard, dry soil.

At Crockett Hills the group working on trail restoration piled into a van and an EB Parks employee drove us and our tools up to the section of the park we would be working on. We got out of the van high on a grassy hill overlooking the Carquinez Strait. For this trail we would work mostly with the McLeod though a few Pulaski's were available for areas the dirt was particularly hard. I pulled on my gloves, picked up my McLeod and headed over to the trail area. The EB Parks employees explained that the grassy track we could see cutting across through the hillside was a fairly new trail. Over the winter little use and wet weather would cause the grass to grow up and the trail would likely disappear into the overgrown hillside. So our job was to scrape away the grassy surface of the trail to expose the bare ground underneath, converting the green path into a recognizable brown trail. The group of about a dozen spread out along the trail a couple arm widths apart and went to work.

Little by little as I hacked away at the ground with the hoe side of the McCleod blade the ground appeared underneath the grass. The tined side of the blade was then used to rake away grass and smooth out the train. The ground was hard but not impossible to dig through having been softened a little bit by the fall rains. The progress was slow going at first but seemed to progress quicker as the morning went on. Trail work days provide lots of opportunity to converse with the people working next to you. Most of the people who participate are outdoor enthusiasts, I enjoy talking with the other volunteers and almost always learn about new hiking places in the Bay Area and beyond. Though scraping the ground with a McLeod is hard work the time passes pleasantly with good company, and fantastic views. Everyone works at their own space, as soon as I finished one spot I moved down to the end of the line to start again. After a few hours, looking back across the hillside to where we started I could clearly see a defined trail marking our group's efforts.

We had restored the trail most of the way around the side of a hill and almost all the way to the trail junction when the EB Parks leader said it was almost noon and time to head back for lunch. When our group arrived back at the Crockett Hills staging area lunch was laid out for us - Chipotle Burritos! EB Parks, the Bay Area Ridge Trail and REI again thanked all the volunteers and raffled off a few backpacks (I'm still hoping to win one day). Each volunteer also received a shirt from REI.

After lunch it was time to say goodbye and depart for the drive home. I always enjoy the trail work days. As a frequent user of local trails I like contributing my time to help keep the parks maintained. The hard work is good exercise and gives a sense of accomplishment at the end of the morning. Through work days I have also visited parks that I had never been to before and now want to go back to. Winter rains are on their way, this year's trail projects are over. Check the EB Parks website for the 2011 work schedule. I hope to see you there!