We weren’t able to fix this huge rut because we didn’t have enough volunteers. The COSCA rangers will figure out how to fix it when they have some time.
From the beginning, the plan had been to build a reroute of the ridgeline Peninsula Trail in the Western Plateau. The new route would have a better view, be more rolling, and be easier to maintain. However, the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) rangers changed that plan a couple of weeks ago because many of the trails had developed severe ruts from all the rain we’ve had. And did we fill in a lot of ruts! Also we built some new drains to help prevent future ruts from forming.
Sixty-Five volunteers signed in on Saturday morning to help, almost half of them from various Meetup groups, including CORBA’s. We had planned to split into 5 crews, each of which was to tackle a different section of the trail, mostly on the Hawk Canyon Trail. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough volunteers so we only had four crews, and one severly rutted area when unrepaired.
Crew 5 widens the trail on the Baxter Singletrack.
My crew tackled the new Baxter Singletrack Trail that was built last October during the Conejo Annual Trailwork Day. We filled in lots of ruts, built at least four new drains and cleaned out a couple of old ones. Despite all the drenching we’ve had, overgrown brush wasn’t a significant problem.
You can see the gallery from today’s work at this thumbnail gallery.
We headed back up the trail to get back to the registration area by noon to take part in the thank-you barbecue. The COSCA ranger always cook up the best post-trailwork grub!
Thanks to all the CORBA volunteers and other who came out to help! Everyone did a great job and as a result the trails are in much better shape.
