Author: John Harch

The USFS has asked us to post a notice about temporary closures of the Lollipop Trail and the first section of the Gateway Trail due to logging in the area. The closure will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and possibly extend to Feb. 17, 2020.

Also, please do not remove the orange flagging in the area. Mt. Shasta Trail Association volunteers have spent many hours flagging trails so that the loggers don’t obliterate them.

For further information and maps, please refer to the Shasta Trinity National Forest Facebook page or the Mt. Shasta Trail Association Facebook page.

Most of the Gateway II Trail Expansion has been reflagged, so that the trail construction crews can locate exactly the routes through the forest. This morning, a crew of three worked in the plantation area just north and east of the Gateway Trailhead, placing orange tape on trees and dense brush. Sometimes we were crashing through manzanita 8 ft. high. We hope to begin trail construction this spring. Get your bikes and shoes ready.

John Schuyler is shown gently placing a tape on one of his favorite trees.

Mike Hupp smiles because he placed two heavy rocks in John Harch’s backpack before starting the hike.

Mt. Shasta Trail Association board members Debbie Derby and John Harch picked up a check for $22,652.73 from the Shasta Regional Community Foundation on December 18, 2019, representing the final tally for the Giving Tuesday fundraiser. Sincere thanks to so many of you who donated.

We will now focus on: 

1. Getting construction started on the Gateway II Trail– early spring?
2. Moving forward with the trail to Mossbrae Falls
3. Completing the City Park to Downtown Trail

Recently, signage was completed to guide hikers, runners, and mountain bikers through the section of the Lake Siskiyou Trail that runs through the campground. Previously, it was easy to get confused and lost in that area, especially for out-of-towners. Now, a combination of brown signs with text and arrows, along with small, green signs with hiker icons and arrows create a clear path for travelers. The “Beach Loop” segment is particularly scenic and pretty.

Thanks to Tim Holt, Mike Feil, and Sean Feil for repairing a short segment of the trail between Tauhindauli Park and the Botanical Gardens in Dunsmuir. The trail runs along a rather steep slope that is subject to erosion when it rains, especially at the base of a large fir tree. We fixed it last year, but it has suffered more damage because of the wet year we had. Photos show the angled trail just below the tree’s roots, the placement of some boulders, followed by gravel to recreate a flat, smooth path. Let’s hope we get a few years out of this repair .

After receiving a gracious OK from the landowner (George Kay) to create a safe crossing over a spillway on Quail Hill, MSTA volunteers placed lumber and ropes today. A second small walkway was placed uphill at another crossing. Shown are the workers (one nut in the creek) and our first, happy (and safer) hiker.

Today, five lunatics assembled at the Parks Creek Trailhead to install a new kiosk adjacent to the brand, new pit toilets. It was the usual group from the Mt. Shasta Trail Association, along with Forrest Coots from the US Forest Service. We tripped over one another, argued over how to dig the holes and place the posts, and generally had a great time. Shown are Glenn Harvey and John Schuyler mixing cement while Forrest Coots supervises, and Mark Telegin touching up the results. Shockingly, it all came out well, and we’ll be placing the panels and maps soon.