Trails are Heaven.
The Grey Pine which populate Henry Coe State Park must believe this because when they die, they fall onto the trails to spend eternity in Heaven. That's not so good for the more mobile creatures of the earth.
Unusual that this was a Sunday and unexpected that the group was this large, we set out to take back Cross Canyon and Kelly Cabin Canyon trails from the dead Pines.
Greg started early (~8am) and explored the Hoover Lake area before dropping down from Willow Ridge to meet us mid-day. Roy was late. Mike B. and I rode out a quarter-after-ten from Hunting Hollow joined by Eric S. who just happened to be there.
Anza/Jackson seems to be morphing into a DH Flow Trail but today we are pedaling up in the morning sun:
Jackson Meadow: Mike's sweet new XXL 2013 Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc:
Mike stressed this is not yet in its final configuration but he was very happy with it and is noticeably faster. Tall Eric tried it a little and was impressed. The only blemish on the day was a sidewall cut.
Roy caught up with us at Jackson Meadow and the four of us rode over to the beginning of Cross Canyon Trail:
Roy always enjoys attacking this climb!
And here we go, cutting the first tree of the day:
On the descent from Coit Road, there was that tree plus 3 or 4 stops to cut branches.
Down in the streambed section, ~12:45pm we found Greg here cutting back the brush:
We also cut one tree to clear a hiking path—on the right outside the photo—which crosses at a shallower spot. This is one of the two extra deep steam-crossings.
In the shade is the single tree which Roy had in mind when we planned the day.
Greg had done a lot here before we arrived.
Riding the streambed section of Cross Canyon is always fun....Mike and Roy:
Not knowing what we would find, we turned onto the Kelly Cabin Canyon Trail. In no time, we found the first fallen Pine:
Oh, and in the name of Trail Work, we moved some large rocks off the trail:
We almost skipped this one but Roy got out the K-saw:
After photo, timed-stamped 25 minutes later:
It was a tough one, plus the saw-cut went spiral on us....we were joking that we could get jobs at Honey Bake Ham :-)
We were only a couple tenths of mile from the end when we found this giant mess! Eric gets out the Sven:
Mike scoping it out:
We got this cleared out in under 30 minutes!
4:15pm - We begin the ride back
...and are to the cars well before sunset. We cleared approximately 15 Pines, very satisfying.
Start at Hunting Hollow » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Coyote Creek entrance » Coit Road » Anza Trail » Jackson Trail » Elderberry Spring Trail » Rock Tower Trail » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Cross Canyon Trail » Kelly Cabin Canyon Trail » Coit Road » Sierra View » Wasno Road » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Grapevine Trail » Anza Trail » Coit Road » Coyote Creek gate » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Hunting Hollow parking. 22.39 / 3:41 / 7:28 / 4,218'
Roy’s track:
http://app.strava.com/activities/42191424Mike’s track:
http://app.strava.com/activities/42189596Gilroy:
Cordoza Ridge:
