Heavy Lifting

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Filed under Trail Maintenance

Moving boulders is a science

A hardy band of young men and women from California, Florida, Illinois and other states spent 12 weeks earlier this year solving hard problems — large sections of bare, rough rock in the Overlook trail bed.

As regular users know, the upper trail was closed between the Toyon Junction and the summit during the project. What went on beyond the “Trail Closed” tape? Every morning, a six-person crew from American Conservation Experience arrived around 7:30 a.m. from their campsite at Sugarloaf, did the daily stretch, and discussed the day’s plan. Then they hiked up to the site.

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Lace up your Hoka’s: The upper loop is open! 🥾🥾

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Filed under Land Maintenance, Trail Maintenance

Yes, the rumors are true: the upper section of the Overlook Trail is open!

The entire trail bed rehabilitation has been completed right on time, conducted over 11 weeks by nonprofit organization American Conservation Experience (ACE) in partnership with the Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards and the City of Sonoma.  Additional steps, rock walls and drainage features have been installed to protect the integrity of the trail and to make the way more sustainable, walkable and enjoyable.  These improvements should last for decades and make our jobs as Overlook Stewards much easier.

We want to thank those of you who donated to this cause and those who had the patience and thoughtfulness to stay off of the trail whilst the ACE team did their intensive work; we know it wasn’t easy.  😜  We also thank Sonoma Police Department for helping us keep the work zone safe and clear.

Welcome back, Sonoma.  The Overlook awaits.

Before and after:
Trail Smoothing

Sssnakes….

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Filed under Reptiles, Snakes, Spring
California Night Snake

California Night Snake

It’s that time again: spring!  Nature has been staging post-winter awakenings around here for weeks now, and due to what was another healthy rainy season, there is an abundance of plant life, which fuels a myriad of other life.  Wildflowers, fawns, bees, lizards, and…snakes!

This little friend popped up in a pile of gravel on a trail work day last weekend.  He/she is a California night snake (Hypsiglena torquata nuchalata), one of the rarest snakes in Sonoma County and although mildly venomous, known to be harmless to humans.  California night snakes are nocturnal and are generally about 7 inches long at birth; this one was likely at its first molt.  When coiled, it could have fit on a nickel.  Their diet includes insects, lizards and other snakes.

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Hummmmmmmmm

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Filed under Bees, Insects, Spring

You may have noticed, on your treks up the Overlook Trail, that we have some fuzzy friends living in the base of a multi-trunk tree on the left just beyond the main trail/Rattlesnake Cutoff Trail junction.  These European honey bees, also known as Western honey bees (Apis mellifera), are the most common kind of honey bee and are a generally docile sort with a placid temperament, only stinging when threatened.

Like all honey bees, European honey bees are extremely social, creating colonies of up to tens of thousands of bees, sometimes as high as 40,000 to 80,000.  A hollow tree is an ideal habitat.  The bees build intricate wax structures within to house food and their cooperatively raised brood.  Colonial activities are organized via complex communication between individuals, untilizing both pheromones and the waggle dance!

So, enjoy the buzz as you go by and leave them bee.  Considering that bees worldwide are seriously threatened by pests, diseases and pesticides, we count ourselves lucky to host these little friends.

Read more at iNaturalist.

Trail rehab update: A little peek to whet your appetite for what’s to come…!

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Filed under Land Maintenance, Trail Maintenance
Trail Construction

Building a rock border to prevent “trail creep”

Our current trail rehab project is well underway! The specialized crew we’ve brought in to undertake this endeavor, American Conservation Experience (ACE), is hard into the second “hitch” or work segment of the project, which is scheduled to wrap up on May 21. These improvements are designed to last beyond our lifetimes and will help ameliorate the rougher bits of SOT’s upper trail section.

The first hitch went pretty well, save the need to navigate a bit of poison oak and a quick visit from a rattler.  Morale is good and the crew assigned to this project are determined, mighty and enthusiastic.

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