A Day of Trail Work
A few Saturdays ago at the urging of a friend I joined a group of volunteers for the work day at Audubon Canyon Ranch by Bolinas Lagoon. I had driven by ACR many times, but never really knew what they do there. ACR preserves land and educates children and adults about the natural environment and the need to protect it. Their main program for adults is setting up telescopes to watch nesting herons and egrets in the spring. For much of the year the preserve is closed to the public. Children in 4th and 5th grade visit the Bolinas Lagoon preserve throughout the year as part of the educational program. So even 
though it's not a place I frequent, they do good work and I was happy to donate a day to help Audubon Canyon Ranch continue their programs.
I drove up to the ranch early Saturday morning with two Sierra Club friends who had attended work days before. When we got to the ACR coffee and bagels were laid out for all the volunteers. As we sipped our hot mugs of coffee we wandered over to a long table where work party supervisors were encouraging volunteers to sign up for their particular project. Projects ranged from clipping branches around the program buildings, to clearing out the pond, to building trails, to working in the native plant garden. I signed up for a trail building program. The leader was an employee at ACR and assured me the trail work was in a most beautiful spot by a stream.
A short time later we divided into work groups, about 50 people in all, eight had signed up for the trail work group I was part of. We picked up a load of tools including rakes, shovels, iron rebar, fiber cloth and a few other things and headed out. It was about a twenty minute hike out to our work area. The area was indeed in a very pretty spot surrounded by redwoods, with a small stream running through. The trail along the side of the stream and meandering up a hill was badly eroded. We split into two groups of four
and our leader explained how we were to build up the eroded trails. First a couple of boards were laid out along the length of the eroded section. Rebar would be pounded into the downhill side of the trails and the boards laid upright against the rebar. Bent nails would hold the wood to the rebar. Fiber cloth would then be laid down on the trail and one edge nailed to the board. Dirt would be piled onto half the fiber cloth then the other half of the cloth folded over the dirt like a pillow. Finally the cloth is covered with more dirt like a strudel and no one even knows the cloth is there, all they see is trail. The fiber cloth allows water to run through it while leaving the dirt in place.
One lady on our team picked up a hammer right away and started pounding in rebar. We were all amazed at her hammer skills, and found out she was a metal sculptor working with a hammer daily. I took on the job of nailing the cloth to the board. More hammering than I had done in many years, and my arms were sore but it was a fun job. The other two ladies in our group piled on the dirt. We made quick work of it and were done with twenty or so feet of trail in about an hour. Our four then went to join the other half of our group which was working on a larger section of trail which also included rebuilding some stairs. We stopped working around noon, it was pretty amazing what just a few people accomplished in a couple of hours. Where there had been dangerously eroded trail was now solid and secure pathways. One lady in our group was a docent who guided school children and she was thrilled to have safer trails.
We brought all the tools back to the staging area, washed up and headed to lunch. The lunch was being served in a separate canyon so we had to hike over a hill to get there. It was a nice day and a beautiful short hike overlooking Bolinas Lagoon. It was a very yummy lunch of chicken, mushroom pasta, salads and cookies. The ACR does work days twice a year. Most of the attendees were repeat volunteers. I had a lot of fun and the trail building is a good project as it gives you a real sense of accomplishment. I'm really glad I went and may be there again next spring!
though it's not a place I frequent, they do good work and I was happy to donate a day to help Audubon Canyon Ranch continue their programs.I drove up to the ranch early Saturday morning with two Sierra Club friends who had attended work days before. When we got to the ACR coffee and bagels were laid out for all the volunteers. As we sipped our hot mugs of coffee we wandered over to a long table where work party supervisors were encouraging volunteers to sign up for their particular project. Projects ranged from clipping branches around the program buildings, to clearing out the pond, to building trails, to working in the native plant garden. I signed up for a trail building program. The leader was an employee at ACR and assured me the trail work was in a most beautiful spot by a stream.
A short time later we divided into work groups, about 50 people in all, eight had signed up for the trail work group I was part of. We picked up a load of tools including rakes, shovels, iron rebar, fiber cloth and a few other things and headed out. It was about a twenty minute hike out to our work area. The area was indeed in a very pretty spot surrounded by redwoods, with a small stream running through. The trail along the side of the stream and meandering up a hill was badly eroded. We split into two groups of four
and our leader explained how we were to build up the eroded trails. First a couple of boards were laid out along the length of the eroded section. Rebar would be pounded into the downhill side of the trails and the boards laid upright against the rebar. Bent nails would hold the wood to the rebar. Fiber cloth would then be laid down on the trail and one edge nailed to the board. Dirt would be piled onto half the fiber cloth then the other half of the cloth folded over the dirt like a pillow. Finally the cloth is covered with more dirt like a strudel and no one even knows the cloth is there, all they see is trail. The fiber cloth allows water to run through it while leaving the dirt in place.One lady on our team picked up a hammer right away and started pounding in rebar. We were all amazed at her hammer skills, and found out she was a metal sculptor working with a hammer daily. I took on the job of nailing the cloth to the board. More hammering than I had done in many years, and my arms were sore but it was a fun job. The other two ladies in our group piled on the dirt. We made quick work of it and were done with twenty or so feet of trail in about an hour. Our four then went to join the other half of our group which was working on a larger section of trail which also included rebuilding some stairs. We stopped working around noon, it was pretty amazing what just a few people accomplished in a couple of hours. Where there had been dangerously eroded trail was now solid and secure pathways. One lady in our group was a docent who guided school children and she was thrilled to have safer trails.
We brought all the tools back to the staging area, washed up and headed to lunch. The lunch was being served in a separate canyon so we had to hike over a hill to get there. It was a nice day and a beautiful short hike overlooking Bolinas Lagoon. It was a very yummy lunch of chicken, mushroom pasta, salads and cookies. The ACR does work days twice a year. Most of the attendees were repeat volunteers. I had a lot of fun and the trail building is a good project as it gives you a real sense of accomplishment. I'm really glad I went and may be there again next spring!
| 19:50
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