Trail Talk – December 2014/January 2015

Thiis is the time of year the Jacksonville Woodlands Association wraps-up our projects and plans our workload for next year, which is just around the corner!

That being said, I thought I’d throw the ‘suggestion box’ out to you, the trail users. If you have ideas for improvements, or maintenance issues in need of attention—now would be the perfect time to let us know. You can send any comments to jwaplan@gmail.com.

In 2014, Boy Scouts Daniel and Matthew Root, as part of their requirements toward becoming Eagle Scouts, completed two projects designed to control several hazards on our French Gulch Trail. We hope you appreciate them as much as we do. (Please see a related here.) We also modified our Sarah Zigler trail brochure, thanks in large part to Kandee McClain and Gayle Stokes. Of course, weed control and basic trail maintenance always keeps us busy.

The biggest project on our 2015 “to-do” list is the replacement of the bridge over Jackson Creek up by Mary Ann Drive and Reservoir Road. The existing support stringers are losing their strength, and won’t last much longer. Fortunately, we had a great crew put up some temporary supports that will remain in-place until next spring. Fear not, they’ll support you on your hikes until we replace them with glu-lam beams!

Keep in-mind, adding additional trails is out of the question. If we added more trails, we’d be walking on each other! Nowadays, the Woodlands Association is basically in maintenance mode—taking care of what we have. We decommissioned a trail a few years ago due to erosion issues, and may do so again with a small redundant trail for several reasons (more scoping and discussion due). Cleaning sloughing soil from some of our trails is always on the docket.

Vegetation management is due for a renewed look, as well. We could probably do with less poison oak in the upper areas around Rich Gulch, and the manzanita and ceanothus on the exposed flanks below Panorama Point is causing fire concerns. In addition, there’s an excess of manzanita on top of Beekman Knob.

Of course, there’s plenty to do without contacting us. Picking-up the odd piece of paper, knocking a fallen limb off the trail, or wiping-off some of the informational placards is always appreciated, and for those of you that attend to this regularly, we thank you.

Remember, if you’d like to join the growing list of Jacksonville Woodlands Association volunteers, go to our website at www.jvwoodlands.org and click on the Volunteer Opportunities link. We look forward to working with you in 2015!

Featured image is of Matthew and Daniel Root at French Gulch Trail