Hey Everbody, how about an update on how the September 6th work party turned out? I was not able to go that weekend, but am just wondering how it all turned out? Was there much trash on the trail or many white flowers?

What a great work day!
Stacie & Bebe did a great job.

Unfortunately, due to mechanical problems on my way to the trailhead, I missed the morning briefing.
However, this was good timing because when we arrived at the trailhead Lonnie (forrest ranger) was just unloading the signage & his Quad from his truck.
Dylan (who had stopped to help me) & I introduced ourselves & offed to carry in the signage.
We arrived at camp (& checked in with Stacie) just as Bebe was spotting the last 4-5 rigs (from NorCal 4 Wheelers) up a ledge 100 yards down the trail.
After talking with Bebe for a bit, Bebe got word she was needed elsewhere, so I helped spot/stack rocks for the last few of us.

After everyone was through this rough spot, we all headed on down the trail to the Ladder portion.
We sort of got bottlenecked at this point because the crew was in the process of felling a tree at the base of the Ladder (per Lonnie's suggestion).
They were having chainsaw issues so I offered mine, while another worker (who I later learned was a CDF FF/Logger) felled it right where everyone wanted (blocking an illegal/expanding portion of the Ladder).

Past the Ladder there is a water crossing, where the Joaquin Jeepers were working on signage and blocking bypasses.
The NorCal 4 Wheelers were heading up to the Lake Alpine end of the trail to work on fencing off the Meadow, so I caravanned with them until I reached a popular camping area which had large slabs along the creek.
Just before this camping area, we stopped after one of the NorCal guys blew a rear driveshaft.
At this point I was starting to get hungry, so myself & a few of the NorCal guys thought it the perfect opportunity to eat our lunches (in between heckling their friend with the broken rig).
After about 15-20 minutes we were just getting on the move again when some of the Joaquin Jeepers caught up with us (they were going to the campsite area to install the signage I was carrying).

The camping area had several on trail turnouts & offered plenty of vehicle parking.
The edges of the turnouts featured large rocks that were obviously arranged to indicate vehicle boundaries on prior trail maintenance expeditions.
It was evident however, that users simply travelled over the rocks to park their rigs in the campsites along the stream (about 20-50ft in).
As the NorCal guys travelled further up the trail to the Meadow & the Joaquin Jeepers ate their lunches in the turnout, I thought it a good time to scout out locations for the signage.

We had about 6-8 of the flexible plastic "no motorized vehicles" signs (I'm not sure what they are called) and two 4x4s which had metal "Wilderness Boundary" signs on them.
While most of the Jeepers ate their lunches, one of the guys (can't remember his name) & I installed a few of the flexible signs along the trail where future campers might venture through the brush.
Pic:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/mochamike/Wheeling/SlickRock0908/IMG_2479.jpg

After lunch the rest of the guys built two Carsonites (metal mesh baskets which are filled with rocks) for the 4x4 signs.
After some discussion, we picked the two locations for the Carsonites & filled them with rocks.
The discussion mainly centered upon a few key issues.....
We wanted to make sure the two signs were noticeably visible to visitors, were in the areas that seem to have had the most travel off the trail, and more importantly were located in a location that would offer the least likelihood of damage or vandalism.

After finishing our work at the campsites (Stacie had already headed up to see the NorCal guys at the meadow), the Joaquin Jeepers headed back down to camp while I spent some time fishing in the stream.
20 minutes & 4-5 fingerlings later, I headed up the trail to the meadow.
My timing was perfect, since as I arrived at the Meadow the NorCal guys had just finished their work & were posing for pictures for Stacie.

After pictures, a few of the NorCal guys headed home and/or to Deer Valley, Stacie headed back to camp via Highway 4, while the rest of us headed back to camp via the trail.
On the way back, I took a few more pictures of the signs (only to discover a dirty lens on the camera):
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/mochamike/Wheeling/SlickRock0908/IMG_2477.jpg

Here is a picture of the trail just below the campsite.
You can see the rocks that were placed to keep folks on the trail:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/mochamike/Wheeling/SlickRock0908/IMG_2480.jpg

The trip back to camp was rather uneventful until we reached the ladder (I did lose a valve stem & with the help of the NorCal guys we swapped on my spare in quick order).
We were all starting to get hungry as we crossed the stream, knowing we were getting close to camp and only had the ladder to conquer before we could have some of the famous FOTR beans & delicious ribs & chicken that the food crew were preparing, when we discovered a local yahoo in an S10 stranded in the middle of the ladder, perpendicular to the trail, blocking it completely.
They had destroyed their front driveshaft & blown the auto-tranny (no forward gears), yet the guy was convinced that once his friend returned with tranny-fluid, his problems would be solved.
20 minutes later, after adding the fluid his friend had brought, he realized that even running his engine at 8-10k RPMs for minutes at a time, his rig would not proceed forward.
He also mentioned that since "someone" blocked the bypass & we couldn't get by him, if we wanted to go around the ladder there was a gully that even 2wd rigs could make (all be it off trail/through bushes).

A little while after this, one of the Hummer X folks showed up with their winch to help pull the guy up the slabs on the upper side of the ladder.
Pic:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/mochamike/Wheeling/SlickRock0908/IMG_2482.jpg

After we all made it up the ladder, we headed back to camp (a few of the NorCal guys hung back & tugged the S10 through other tough portions of the trail).

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/mochamike/Wheeling/SlickRock0908/IMG_2489.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/mochamike/Wheeling/SlickRock0908/IMG_2492.jpg

Bebe called an impromptu meeting thanking everyone (at wood message board/sign near the bridge that some of the workers were finishing up) when the S10 guys came flying buy in reverse.

The delicious dinner was served as we all reminisced about the days accomplishments & listenedd to the S10 trying to make it to the trailhead (constantly hitting 10k RPMs).

After dinner, I said goodbye to everyone & headed back to my Cabin in Arnold.

I think you summed it up great, I was in the sprung over white CJ7 and helped stack rocks into the baskets, and earlier helped winch logs into position on the mud lake trail side just before the steps.

I have always enjoyed going up and down the trails, but working on them was almost as fun. I am game to help out with work parties in the future and hope they get posted up here so that people can join in.

Great to see everyone working together! Sounds like it was a sucessful gathering. I wish I could have made the trip, maybe I can make it another time, but kind of hard to do when ya work weekends:shaking:

Where is this trail

Where is this trail


Bear Valley, off Hwy 4. Starts at Lake Alpine, ends at Utica Reservoir.