Before

For about 22 years, water created a ditch on the upper part of the Upper Loop of the Sonoma Overlook Trail and sent a creek down a “climbing turn” above the bench at the top of the trail, eroding it down to expose big rocks that are now well above the trail bed (see photo). Perhaps you know of it. Over the years, it became a complete mess. A shit-show, actually. I would hate to know what hikers and runners thought about it. I hated it. 

For years, I pondered what to do about it; then eventually, it hit me. I would break down the central rocks and simply take the trail straight up the center. But first I needed to deal with the drainage leading up to it, which was a real problem. This is because the water was flowing straight down the trail.

This fall, I began a campaign to completely rebuild the Upper Loop to stop the ditching and regain the proper outslope so that rainfall would sheet off the trail immediately rather than following the trail and eroding it. After months of work, we finally did it. By “we,” I mean Tom Sours and myself, with some assistance from other trail stewards along the way.

During

The second phase was to break down the rocks on the climbing turn (see photo) to make a path that we could build back up with rubble, soil, and then a smooth aggregate top layer. Along the way, I spent three days breaking down the rocks (at least six battery charges for the rock chisel) and more days staging aggregate and soil. When you need to rebuild a trail, sometimes it needs a significant amount of raw materials. Getting them there ahead of a work day can set the stage for a lot more progress in a couple hours than could be accomplished otherwise.

By the time we were ready to work on the third phase, I had staged two wagon loads of aggregate and three of soil gathered from nearby. All of that and more was needed to finish off this stretch.

After, from the other direction

I finally finished this corner on Thursday, December 4th, when I should have been up at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park on the Trail Crew there. I was too eager to finish off this piece to go to elsewhere.

Using all of the stationed materials, I was able to move a great deal of soil to create an outslope where there had been none, and top it with a layer of aggregate to harden it (see photo). The result was a complete transformation from a rocky, rutted mess to something much more walkable and runnable. In addition, it will be easier to maintain. 

It’s why we do what we do. Well, and it keeps us out of gyms. The view and the atmosphere is MUCH better out here. Plus, we can wear baggy jeans instead of spandex and not look out of place. Just sayin’.

Stay tuned for The Upper Loop Project, Part 2, where we will take on trail smoothing and water control on the lower part of the trail. We have a small start already, but the goal is to complete the entire lower part of the Upper Loop by spring. Watch our progress here.

Also, a huge shoutout to the City of Sonoma Public Works Department, in particular Terence Erickson and his team, who set us up with a big drop of aggregate at the top of the trail system and a tank that they fitted out with a valve to give us a water supply at the Upper Loop. Without that, these projects would have taken at least double the amount of time and effort by us volunteers. Thank you so much!

Finally, it was due to our fearless leader, Chair of the Overlook Trail Stewards, known only as “Secret Ranger” online, who deserves credit for pushing me to ask for the kind of assistance we needed from the City ; it totally paid off. I was ready to continue hauling aggregate up to the Upper Loop three buckets at a time–let’s just say that would not have ended well.  Terence came through with flying colors and now we are set for some time.