By Scott Bartlebaugh
The hills are alive and the grass is starting to take off. The trails are in decent shape due to a relatively dry winter, the cattle being grazed in other pastures to the east and south, riders asking about conditions and giving the trails some time to dry out and some great drain work by Dave Sturgis and Tim Christol. A gravelling trial was done on Wood Rat just east of the tunnel. That area was getting particularly slick mud even with the addition of drains that addressed the standing water. We’re only doing solo or very small groups (3 or less) until the park district allows to get back to the 10 or less small groups and larger work days which probably won’t happen till Contra Costa and Alameda counties reach the yellow COVID-19 tier. Goldfinch trail closure will probably be coming very soon due to nesting eagles assuming they make another return. Hopefully we’ll be back to having larger work days and can pick up again on Goldfinch in the fall. The park supervisor is close to getting a rollover gate installed at the south side of the tunnel in the next few months.
