Monday, July 19, 2010

Busy Weekend for BONC Volunteers

Last weekend was a busy weekend for BONC volunteers.

SOUTH YUBA RIDGE
On early Sunday morning, a group of five brave souls hooked up with the USFS to work on brush clearing for the South Yuba Ridge Trail (pictures). Meeting at 7AM, they set in to prepare the route so that flagging could be finished for this trail and ultimately, BONC could apply for grant money to fund construction. The group started hiking up the trail just after 8 am and stopped about 12:45 pm at our high point about 2 miles and 1000 ft in elevation gain from where we began. It was hot out there.

The trail needs more brush clearing. Joe Chavez of the USFS said he'd get his crew out there to continue what we started. Thereafter, BONC volunteers will flagging higher up once the trail path is clear.

DIAMOND ARROW
On Sunday, Shannon and I made a field trip to scout out a possible 2 mile trail route between Diamond Arrow and Round Mountain.

We started at the top of the RM trailhead heading east. The terrain was steep and difficult at points and we encountered lots of PO and thick manzanita at times. As usual, the route seemed simpler on a topo map than in the field. Regardless, we learned a lot about what we have to work with.

It will be very challenging to snake this trail between steep sideslopes and private property boundaries. Another field trip or two is required to find a possible route. Let me know if you are interested in joining me for another expedition sometime soon.

No comments: