The Western States Endurance Run

WSER Trail Projects

Working on the WS Trail is a terrific way to satisy your service requirement hours! Attend any of the scheduled trail maintenance days listed below.

Trail Preservation Mission and Purpose:
The WSER Trustees are working diligently to assure that the WS Trail remains open for future use. Trail work is being conducted in association with the Western States Trail Foundation (WSTF), the Inez and Wendell Robie Foundation, the Drucilla Barner Foundation, California State Parks and Recreation, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) - Tahoe National Forest and the Placer County Water Agency (PCWA).

Total focus is on trail preservation, either by improvement or maintenance, and is meant to provide a safe route for the Western States Endurance Run and the Tevis Cup Ride, as well as the enjoyment of the growing population of community members who spend time in the outdoors. This is accomplished by joint coordination between the different foundations and government agencies.

Importance of Trail Volunteers:
The USFS and California State Parks and Recreation do not have general trail maintenance programs for the Western States and peripheral trails. Trail work is done principally by volunteers. Also the funding for these projects generally comes from private organizations, such as the WSER, WSTF and associated foundations. Volunteering on the trail is rewarding and fun. This is a terrific way to satisfy your service requirement hours!

Core Trail Team
The core trail team is composed of members of the WSER Trustees and the WSTF Board of Directors, plus local trail supporters. This team currently includes: Glenn Carnahan, Mark Falcone, Bill Johnson, Greg Kilmer, Matt Lambert, Chuck Mather, Tim Twietmeyer, Dave Van Wicklin, Mark VanZuuk and Donn Zea.

Upcoming Trail Projects

We really need your support with the next series of trail events. Our intentions are to do a complete restoration of the California Loop from Foresthill to the river over the next 2 years. This is being tightly coordinated with ASRA (State Parks). We will be doing trail clearing in targeted areas over the next 3 events so ASRA can come in and initiate machine work.

For Questions/Comments regarding Trail Projects...
Contact WSER Trustee Mark Falcone mark.falconemac.com

The following events have all been coordinated with the respective agencies and foundations. Events will be co-led by Bill Johnson (WSTF), Matt Lambert (WSER) and Mark Falcone (WSER)

If you are running the WSER event in 2008,
we encourage you to use these project events
to help satisfy your volunteer requirements.

The trail needs you!

Event #6: Sunday June 1, 2008 -- Duncan Canyon Tree Planting & Pucker Point

Meet: Foresthill Post Office. Corner of Race Track and Foresthill Roads

Directions: Take I-80 East or West and take the Foresthill Road Exit. Go East towards Foresthill and proceed about 18 miles to the Post Office

Start: 7:30am <-- Note early start time!

Finish: 3:00pm

Project: We will have a small group that will do a 5 year cut back on the Pucker Point section. The remaining team will go to Robinson or Duncan Canyon (based on snow melt and access) and we'll perform the tree planting under the California Forest Foundation's direction.

Sponsors: USFS, Placer County Water Agency and the Forest Foundation

Bring: Gloves, water, food, clippers, handsaws, McLeod's, Pulaski's, etc.

Event #7: June 20-21, 2008 -- Duncan Canyon Campout

Meet: Robinson Flat Campground end of Foresthill Road

Directions: Take I-80 East or West and take the Foresthill Road Exit. Go East towards Foresthill and proceed all the way to Robinson Flat (~45 minutes from Auburn all on Foresthill Road

Campout: 6pm Friday

Trailwork: 7am start Saturday

Finish: 4PM

Sponsors: USFS, Placer County Water Agency and the Forest Foundation

Bring: Gloves, water, food, clippers, handsaws, McLeod's, Pulaski's, etc.

Trail Status as of late April 2008

Highlights:

Pointed Rocks Ranch Appropriation Completed
Boxer Legislation for California and National Historic Trail Designation Introduced
Completion of Pointed Rocks to No Hands Trail (Historic Trail) Revitalization
Two-Three Year Plan for a Complete Restoration of the Cal Section from Dardanelles to Poverty Bar (ASRA Project Evaluation Work Completed)
Duncan Canyon Tree Re-forestation planned for May / June (Forest Foundation)
750 Volunteer Hours Logged Since December 07

Many general improvements and projects have been completed this year, including,

No Hands to Robie Point erosion control
Paige Harper maintenance work
Cal Section(s) cut back and trail widening (in safety concern areas)
Cal Street erosion control
Cal Street in FH to Dardanelles revitalization (work begins this week - contracted through Joel)
Volcano Canyon trail maintenance
El Dorado Canyon east side trail maintenance and widening
Granite Chief trail maintenance
Poppy and Picayune trail maintenance (Historic Trail)
USFS Trail Certification Course Completed

Overall Status

As of late April the trail is clear from the west side of Devil's Thumb to Auburn (numerous downed trees have been removed.) The remaining high country areas will be cleared starting in May. Expectations are the trail will be clear from Duncan Canyon to Pacific Slab by June 1. The remaining trail from Squaw to Duncan / Soda Springs to be cleared in June. Joel will move into the high country, HW89 and Robie Park in June. Trail event calendars are provided on the WSER and WSTF websites.

2007-2008 Completed Trail Projects

Event #5: Sunday, April 27, 2008 -- Volcano and El Dorado Canyons

A great beautiful spring day in the ever so humble Michigan Bluff.

We had approximately 20 folks that weathered the canyon on foot. I used my trail bike to lug my Big Bertha saw across the canyon. I had 2 gents from Oregon (Jeff and Craig) that swamped the spoils of my saw. Turned out we had about 2 dangerous snags in the 2-3 foot range and another 4 or so that were equally as big, but not as tricky. Tim and Matt took care of the big-birds nest snag about a 1/2 mile east of MB. The rest of the crew trimmed up the canyon and rebuilt the trail nicely from the bridge ~1/3 of mile up going east. It was nice to see their work going back.

Chef Lambchops had the BBQ going full bore and he served up dogs and burgers with all the trimmings.

I'm happy to report that the trail is totally cleared from Auburn to Devil's Thumb. The high country clearing will begin in a few weeks. I believe this is true of both the run and the ride course.

BTW pulling out of MB, I saw a mother bear with 2 tiny cubs. They looked very young, each the size of a big housecat. Nice way to top off the day!

-- Mark

Event #4: Sunday, March 30, 2008 -- Cal Street #3 and #4

Our Mission: Widen and clean up trail between Cal # 3 and Rucky Chucky River Crossing. 25 volunteers turned out -- nearly half Tevis folks! Car pooled down from Driver's Flat to Rucky Chucky, 3-4 vehicles. Started work around 9:30am. The wild flowers were magnificent and the weather was pleasantly cool and misty for most of morning, clearing and warming up toward the end.

Cleared and widened nearly half way to Cal #3. One group (3-4) went all the way to Cal #3 and took care of any obvious problems. Dave and Beth VanWicklin took their horses up to Cal #1 and removed a tree or two reported down and did general trail maintenance.

Shut down operations around 11:30am. Carpooled back up to Driver's Flat and feasted on A-town Deli sandwiches, chips, cookies and beverages. Volunteer long sleeve shirts were handed out. Most folks headed home with full bellies and sore muscles around 1:30pm. No injuries. Lots of good times and wonderful hard working folks!!!

-- Matt Lambert

Note: If you took any digital photos during this work day, please send them to mark.falconemac.com so we can post a few here.

Event #3: Sunday, March 2, 2008 -- Cal-2 clearing, trimming, etc.

Awesome volunteer turnout for this event. Thank you! We had over 25 volunteers and were able to clear the trail end to end on the Cal Loop. The Peachstone Access, Elevator Shaft, Julie Suhr Water Trough, Cal 1, Sandy Bottom, and Ford Bar sections where cleared, brushed and safety-groomed.

Click HERE for more photos from this event.

Event #2: Sunday, January 27, 2008 -- Cal-1 Maintenance

Note: If you took any digital photos during this work day, please send them to mark.falconemac.com so we can post a few here.

Event #1: Saturday, December 8, 2007 -- Pointed Rocks to Robie Point

Thanks to all (about 24 souls) who turned out for Event #1 and did a fine job, end to end, from Pointed Rocks to Robie Point.

Some nice work was already done in the prior several weeks. Despite the off season, most of the Poppy Trail is clear (thanks to Dave and Beth Van Wicklin) and now the Granite Chief Wilderness (thanks to Dan Williams and crew).

Part of the WSER mission is to restore and maintain historic parts of the Western States Trail. Dave and Beth VanWicklin spent several weekends clearing the Poppy Trail, part of the original Tevis (100-mile Horse Ride) route. This section of trail has been neglected since the Star Fire in 2002. Dave and Beth used their trusty horses as they traced and cleared a 2 mile section of trail across steep slopes above French Meadows Reservoir...

Dan Williams was joined by Lee McKinley, Dennis Hoagland, Jim Scott, Dave Messman, Dan Daly, Troy Howard and Carl Maes. Together, they tackled the encroaching buckbrush in the Granite Chief section above Squaw Valley. They even developed a roll-and-cut method to defeat the resistent bushes...

View more photos of the project at Lee McKinley's photo site.

2006-2007 Trail Projects in Review

Thanks to the efforts of all that participated in our trail events this past season, the trail is now in stellar condition.

We accomplished a lot this past trail year, and here are the highlights:

Over 300 trees removed (compared to 500 last year)

Over 1,000 volunteer hours (trail year Oct to Jun/Jul)

Restoration of the Granite Chief section

Continued the remediation of the Red Star and Duncan Canyon area

Addressed safety hazards in / at Robie Park (Tevis course), Devil's Thumb and El Dorado Canyons

Restoration of Volcano Canyon

Two year cut back of Greengate to Quarry sections

Addressed wash out areas from Poverty Bar to Lower Quarry (Tevis course)

Restoration of Pointed Rocks to No Hands

Everyone worked safely and there were no injuries

Special thanks to the Western States Trail Foundation; Robie Foundation; Dru Barner Foundation; US Forest Service (Tahoe District); Auburn State Recreational Area; California Forest Foundation; and Western States Endurance Run Foundation.

Remember -- without your continued volunteer support we would not have a trail.

Regards,

Mark Falcone, Project Coordinator

2006-2007 Trail Projects, most-recent first:

Robinson Flat, June 15-16: We camped overnite Friday and headed out on Saturday morning to take care of the trail between Robinson and the Duncan Canyon Aid Station. A few photos of the effort...

Devils Thumb / Swinging Bridge, June 3rd: We were able to fix all the trouble spots for the Run and for the Ride (safety items.) Plus, we had a nice swim in the canyon and enjoyed a nice BBQ at the top of the Thumb. Here's some photos from the day...

Bridge Repair Made, May 12th: The bridge at the spring coming east from Pacific Slab Mine down the switchbacks to Swinging Bridge (in the canyon enroute to Devil's Thumb) was fixed by Dave and Beth Van Wicklin with assistance from their horse Starfire. Dave and Beth used fallen trees in the area to repair the bridge. You can see this was a major effort and we are indeed grateful for the work they provided. The bridge is again sound.

Event #5 was held on April 29th, working on the Lower Quarry, Browns Bar & Poverty Bar areas of the Auburn State Recreation Area (ASRA)

Event #4 was held on March 25th, again on the Pointed Rocks to No Hands Bridge trail. We had a strong group this refurbishment project. The day kicked off to a good start:

Jay Galloway received the WS Friends of the Trail Award for his dedicated efforts in getting this trail project completed with his resources.

The new Trail Joint Foundation Team Shirt was unveiled from the Forest Foundation. Many thanks to Donn Zea and his team for their generosity.

We completed all the erosion prevention work and did additional brushing.

We had a nice lunch afterwards complements of Matt Lambert’s culinary talents

For those of you that use this trail -- please check it out after the rain settles it out. What a beauty. It’s done and we just need to maintain it annually.

Jay Galloway accepts Friend of the Trail Award
Dogs for lunch!

Event #3 was held on February 25th at Auburn Lake Trails (ALT): Pointed Rocks to No Hands Bridge . We had a strong group (16 folks) despite the weather. We worked on the historic trail from the mid point of ALT to the ALT Camp Ground (WS ALT aid station). We did a major cut back and installed water bars. Thanks to all for your help. Also special thanks to Bill Finkbeiner (for staying out extra time) and Bill Johnson for still getting some work done despite driving from Reno through the snow!

March 25th Work Team

Event #2 was held on Sunday, January 28th: 40+ trail workers helped with the Pointed Rocks to No Hands trail clearing. We took care of several other peripheral trails as well, which is the beauty of having such a large group. This is definitely the largest group we’ve had since the start of our joint foundation trail work in 2005. The prior record was around 25 up at Duncan.

Event #1 was held on Saturday, October 28th. A WS trail crew consisting of ten volunteers cleared 300 feet of trail west of Watson Mounument. The Monument is located at the high point of the climb out of Squaw Valley at 4.5 miles.