Hummmmmmmmm

Posted
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…!

Posted
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.

Continue reading →

Overlook upper trail closed March 5-May 21!

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Filed under Events, Trail Maintenance

Trail closedHello SOT devotees! Heads up: the upper trail on Sonoma Overlook Trail, from the Toyon Trail connection and higher, is closed from March 5th through May 21st as a specialized crew undertakes some dearly needed trail bed maintenance. Some of the remaining rocky sections will be smoothed and additional sections of steps installed, so you can look forward to a much nicer cruise up the trail.

We invite you to continue to use the lower trail system, including Toyon and Rattlesnake trails, as well as Montini Open Space Preserve and other local trail systems. As a reminder, the Valley of the Moon trail on Montini loops up and back down to the main trail and includes luscious, sweeping views down to the Bay and along the Valley.

If you would like to contribute to our trail rehab fund, we’d be thrilled. Thank you!

Remember us….

Posted
Filed under Fundraising

Fellow devotees of the Overlook Trail,

Our deepest appreciation and thanks to all who have donated to Sonoma Overlook Trail this year. We see you!!

For those who haven’t yet had the chance, during this giving time of year, we hope that you will remember us. We continue to raise funds for the third and final phase of our Overlook Trail rehabilitation, but we need your help get us through!

So we ask: If you are inspired to contribute to the tending of this place, please make a tax-deductible donation to the cause. Your donation will go directly towards the cost of supplies and manpower. You will be able to delight in new stone steps and other elements that we will install to smooth your way.

  • Make your check payable to “Sonoma Ecology Center” and be sure to write “Sonoma Overlook Trail” on the memo line.

  • Or, mail your check to:

Sonoma Overlook Trail
℅ Sonoma Ecology Center
P.O. Box 1486
Eldridge, CA 95431

Thank you kindly in advance–and we hope you have a perfect holiday season….

Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards

The Cyclone and the Damage Done

Posted
Filed under Fall, Trail Maintenance, Weather

Santa Rosa received more rain in three days than ever before in recorded weather history, and it seems likely that we had as much or more here in Sonoma. Given that, perhaps it should be surprising that we still have a trail. But I have a hard time not grieving for the havoc that the storm created.

I should point out that the hillside that the Overlook Trail traverses is essentially all rock. I’m reminded of this any time I try to dig up soil to put on the trail. My shovel is more likely to clang into stones than it is to sink into soil. This results in very little rain soaking into the ground—instead, it runs off. What water does sink into the soil only does for short distances, and it soon flows onto the trail which serves as a convenient exit from the rocky hillside.

And exit it did—in many locations and with great volume. On one section in particular, the water then plunged down the trail, blew through a couple small drains and scoured the trail for about 100 feet (see video below of one small section). This will take a lot of work and many wagonloads of aggregate to fix.

But yes, we already have a strong start to our winter rains. I just wish it would come in smaller increments, or over longer periods. Wish us luck.