Story by Chris Vargas
Pictures by Mark Cluttey
To say that the Holy Jim Trail work on Saturday, February 12th was wet is an
understatement. To quote Dave McConville "It rained Friday like a cow peeing
on a flat rock" and a light rain was still falling as we gathered at our
meeting place off Trabuco Canyon Road.
We held a quick conference to decide if we'd all go out to breakfast and
wait a couple of hours to see if the rain would let up, but as Steve Timm
and Ken Rands expressed to me prior to the trail work, "it won't be the
first time we've done work in the rain," so a decision was made, (with
Andy's urging) to proceed immediately.
The drive in to the staging area was our first concern but we made it across
the creek crossings; after the recent major storms we've had great luck
crossing the various creek crossings without too much trouble when doing
trail work in the Trabuco area. I had promised all those that volunteered
that I would not let any of them get washed down the creek (with the
exception of Andy) and I kept my promise; and even Andy survived.
We made it to our staging area at the Holy Jim parking area and quickly
unloaded the tools from our trucks. Thanks to Oakley we were provided with
their expedition backpacks which made excellent carriers for the grade
stabilizers. Dave McConville and his son Seth (a member of his high school's
ROTC program) showed up to help and quickly showed no fear when it came to
hauling up tools and materials in one of the packs provided by Oakley.
We loaded everyone and their supplies and equipment into Bill Babishoff and
James Hahn's trucks for the 1/4 mile ride through the cabin residences to
the Holy Jim Trail Head. Everyone was in a good mood despite knowing we'd
soon be soaked and muddy by the end of the day.
As we started up the trail we had to negotiate the creek crossings, which
for the most part did not present a problem. A few of our volunteers decided
they might as well get it over with and walked in the creek knowing that in
a couple of hours their feet would be soaked anyway from the rain and
moisture in the brush.
It wasn't all work; we did experience the beauty of the creeks running and
the vibrant green that comes with the Cleveland reawakening to spring. This
has got to be the most frustrating year to do trail work with all the record
rain that is putting us behind schedule, but nature subscribes to no
schedule but its own when it comes to shaping the environment to suit its
whims; and in a way that is what attracts us to it, the unpredictability of
nature's spirit and the challenges we must face to deal with her on her
terms.
We decided to hike to the top of where we left off two weeks ago and work
our way down. Prior to our rehabilitation of the Holy Jim Trail, which we
initially completed 3 years ago, the volunteer groups worked from the bottom
of the trail and never quite managed to address the brushing and repairs at
the top of the trail. This allowed the buck thorn and other vegetation to
grow out from the upside of the trail forcing hikers and bikers to the
outside edge of the trail in many sections, which caused the trail bed to
fail. Our policy now is to work from the top to the bottom in most cases.
Luckily, we have not let things get out of hand as far as upkeep goes, and
we have not experienced the problems of the past on Holy Jim.
We broke the volunteers up into two groups; those doing earthwork and those
doing brushing. Andy, James, Drew, Bill Babishoff and Bill Jr. all took
turns manning the gas powered hedge trimmers with others cutting the larger
brush to ease their work. Working a hedge trimmer is hard work and many
thanks to these guys for volunteering to take care of this important task
(although cutting the brush using hand tools is not a picnic either).
The other "earthwork" group quickly attacked the earthwork that needed to be
done. We have several switchbacks and sections of the trail that had
scouring due to excessive runoff and our goal was to repair all of these
deficiencies.
There was no time to take a break; we all wanted to get the work completed.
We had hoped to work on Upper Holy Jim above Bear Springs but it was not
safe to drive there with our volunteers, tools and supplies via the Main
Divide Road. It was probably a good thing; we had our hands full just
working the remainder of Lower Holy Jim; it was elbows and *ssholes for most
of the day with our volunteers working relentlessly to complete the work.
As 1:00 rolled around it was time to head down the trail. All of us were
tired and soaked to the bone. We made our way down stopping every once in a
while to stop and trim something back or do a little refining on the
earthwork but otherwise our work was done. We were all glad to jump into
Bill's truck and head back to the staging area.
We did not have the luxury of Keith's gourmet cooking for lunch since he was
unable to attend due to moving, but it was probably best considering we were
not sure until the morning of the work whether we would be able to have the
trail work proceed. We decided to head off to a local pizza joint, where it
was dry and warm, to eat. Unfortunately, many of the volunteers did not
bring a change of clothes and thought it best to head home to take a hot
shower and change into some dry clothes instead; and I don't blame them. So
a group of about 8 of us enjoyed a nice pizza lunch, excited about all the
work we had completed despite the rain.
I cannot say enough about the dedication, perseverance and passion of our
volunteers. They have given up their free time to subject themselves to what
nature throws at them so that others can enjoy and have access to their
public trails.
All our volunteers have my respect for their sacrifice. Many of those that
have volunteered are some of the best athletes in Orange County and
literally call the Santa Ana's home. Max Schmelling, the German boxer who
defeated African American boxer Joe Lewis in a championship boxing match in
1936 said the following:
"I don't want anyone to say I was a good athlete, but worth nothing as a
human being - I couldn't bear that."
Max was exploited by Adolph Hitler as proof of Aryan supremacy prior to
World War II. After the war, Max Schmelling gave gifts of money to a
penniless Joe Louis and paid for his funeral.
Max, like many of our volunteers, understood that there is more to life than
championships, wins and your athletic ability. Max understood that while
athletic ability was a great personal achievement, it did nothing in and of
itself to give back to the betterment of mankind.
That unlike the discipline of training to win, to give back was a discipline
of the soul that made him complete as a person and an example of all that is
best in mankind.
Thanks to all our volunteers who through their sacrifice of time and sweat
maintain our public trails for the enjoyment of others.
-Chris
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