Today I was reminded why it’s important to have people dedicated to hiking our trails and doing all of the various jobs required to keep them well cared for and safe to use. Hiking along the Rattlesnake Cuttoff Trail, from the Montini property to the Overlook, I was surprised to see a tree across the trail (see pic).  I was surprised, as I didn’t recall any storm or high winds recently. But there it was anyway. I immediately took a picture and sent it off to the Chair of our stewards group, Joanna Kemper, who will work with the City of Sonoma to have it removed.

On my way back, I pulled out my handy Leatherman knife, which has a fairly good saw blade, and hacked off enough branches so at least the trail could be used until the City could come in with their chainsaw (see pic). This is, of course, just one of many jobs that we volunteer stewards perform.

For example, Fred Allebach is very active in various physical trail maintenance activities such as cutting drainage channels to make sure water flows off the trail as soon as possible. Lynn Clary has been known to hike his battery-powered Sawzall saw up the trail to take care of an overhanging limb. We likely all pick up trash when we see it.

Speaking of which, what do you think is the most-encountered piece of trash? Beer cans? Nope. Coffee cups? Close, but no cigar. It’s facial tissues. Yep, the hands-down favorite discarded item of trail hikers. And just think of it — I get to pick it up and put it in my pocket. So…yeah. Please don’t throw things on the trail. Just don’t.

We do other things too, such as raising money to do trail work that we can’t do ourselves, soliciting donations for building benches, pulling invasive non-native plant species, cutting back poison oak, and leading school trips. But it’s a labor of love, as we all love the trails and the properties they traverse. And we know that many others do too.

As regular users of the 17-year-old Overlook Trail know, a number of segments are showing quite a bit of wear and tear, the result of high use and erosion.

When it first opened, the trail had about 5,000 annual visits and now logs more than 50,000. All of those footsteps and running-steps deliver a pounding and eventually “dish” the trail. In some places, trail layout has disrupted the natural pattern of storm water flow, causing it to surge down the path instead of sheeting across and over it.  The result is that the thin soil layer, characteristic of the hillside, has been scoured down to volcanic bedrock, creating dicey footing and trip hazards.

All trails need regular, cyclical maintenance, but these issues are more substantial. Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards, an all-volunteer group that monitors the trail and performs routine maintenance, asked noted California trail expert Don Beers, who designed the adjacent Montini trail a few years ago, to assess Overlook’s condition and advise how to improve its sustainability.

Mr. Beers spent several days on site in 2016 and recommended some rehabilitation and restoration measures and re-routing around the most problematic areas. Stewards decided to tackle the work in phases, beginning with the lower route, that occurred in Summer and Fall of 2018.

The project took many weeks and involved:

• Rehabilitation of the trail entrance: When setting out from the First Street West entrance, users immediately encounter an exposed incline, which has badly eroded and created poor footing. Given the terrain, and the fact that access is sandwiched between Norrbom Road and the Cemetery, the most sustainable and safest solution is to install stone steps. The Kiwanis Club of Sonoma Plaza have generously agreed to help fund this work.
• Reroute of a portion of the lower trail to avoid a badly degraded, rocky segment with switchbacks and abrupt elevation changes. The new segment follows land contours in terrain that can better support a trail that gets lots of use and that will provide more sure footing. The old segment was restored back to a natural condition.
• Rehabilitation of the rest of the trail to improve tread, encourage natural sheet flow during rain events, and transition grade changes in a more sustainable and safer way.

The Sonoma Overlook Trail maintenance, restoration and educational programs are funded by individuals, local civic groups and businesses at no cost to the City of Sonoma.

Please help support your trail by making a contribution today. See the “Donate” button in the upper right.

Here are some pictures of the project (click on the thumbnail to see the full version):

Teens and adult volunteers worked together.

You might think that the life of a volunteer trail steward is all glitz and glamor, and no one would fault you for thinking so. But no…it’s actually a life of picking up trash, reminding hikers of the rules, kicking loose rocks and branches off the trail, reporting trees down, and of course maintaining the property in as fine a condition as we possibly can.

It was this last responsibility that brought out a crew of 10 stewards and Sonoma Valley Teen Services members this past Saturday to reseed and cover with straw and jute webbing a shortcut (also called “rogue”) trail. This trail is very steep and prone to erosion, as well as being a hazard for hikers who walk down it in sometimes very slippery conditions. After letting it go for a while we decided that we needed to close it off for both hiker safety as well as to better protect the condition of the property.

Under the direction of Steward Fred Allebach, stewards and teen volunteers hauled seed, straw, rolls of burlap webbing, and other materials to the Upper Meadow Loop. They scraped the soil to prepare it for the seed, laid down the seed, covered it with straw, then webbing, then more straw.  Thankfully the rain held off until the next day. The soaking should give the seed a good start toward germinating.

We are very grateful to have a partner like Sonoma Valley Teen Services with which to work with on this project, as well as the individual teens who participated. If you would like to support the work of Sonoma Valley Teen Services, see their support page.

If you would like to support the work of the Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards, donations are tax deductible and can be sent to “Sonoma Overlook Trail Fund,” c/o Linda Felt, 18782 Deer Park Drive, Sonoma CA  95476.

Steward John Donnelly tacking down the webbing, with the town of Sonoma below.

Stewards Rich Gibson, Lynn Clary, and Fred Allebach after a good day’s work.