Author: John Harch

Big thanks to the nine folks who came out this Monday to do finishing work on Middle Muir’s Ascension (Eric Blomberg, Mark Derby, Dave Peterson, Steve Diaz, Neil Jacobs, Mike Hupp, Bryson, and Renee. We got so much work done!

Help us finish up the hand work on a new Gateway trail this Saturday, Sept 23^rd at 9am. We’ll meet at 9am on the south side of Everitt Memorial at the gravel road a half mile below the McBride Springs Campground. Look for a gravel pullout and small parking area just off the gravel road (we’ll be waiting for you there). 

From Everitt Memorial we’ll carpool (high clearance vehicles only) or walk about a quarter mile to the trail. We’ll work our way down, raking and shaping the trail. This is light to moderate work with some amount of walking. We plan to wrap up by noon; stay only as long as you like. Bring water, gloves and a snack. We have hardhats and tools.

This is a great chance to see a new section of trail that’s part of the current buildout. Middle Muir’s Ascension is the section that connects Muir’s from the new parking lot across from the McBride Springs Campground down to Moon Doggie. Once this trail has sat over the winter, it’s going to be really fun to ride and hike. 

This is part of a series of fall workdays to finish this trail and go to work on other new trails to put them to bed for the winter. Mount Shasta Trail Association, Bike Shasta and Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance are partnering to bring people together to help finish the work done by Trail Labs Co and to build a diverse community of trail users who care about and care for these trails and lands.    

Sorry for the late notice. We’ll be primping up the Muir’s Ascension Link (between McBride and Moon Doggie) on Monday, Sept. 18 at 9 am. Meet across from McBride Springs Campground along Everitt Memorial Hwy, about 3 miles above the GW Trailhead. The hike to the trail work is about 50 yards; we’ll have Sherpas to help if you can’t make it on your own. The goal is to rough up any deep tire tracks, smooth the tread, and open up any clogged drainages, much as we did recently on Strawberry Valley Trail. So, this is light to moderate rake/McLeod work. Come for an hour and hang with the crew.

Sixteen of us had a great morning together yesterday heading into the Gateway Trails to buff up the lower portion of the new Strawberry Valley Trail. Half of us trimmed out the encroaching brush that had nearly closed off the trail while the rest hiked up to clean up the tread and the drainages that had suffered a bit from the recent rains. The photos show that it was as much a social event as it was a successful work day. Many thanks to Renee Casterline, Davis Bowden, Kerry O’Brien, Neil Jacobs, Dave Pfurr, John Kelly, Mark Derby, Eric Blomberg, Steve Diaz, Neil Posson, Tony Mills, Mike Bradley, Chris Marrone, and Pat Titus, and Bryson Schreder.

Stay tuned; there will be many more trail days this fall as MSTA, BikeShasta, SORA, and the USFS get together to prep all the new trails for winter (and more importantly, spring!).

Remember that we’re meeting tomorrow morning at 9 at the Gateway Trailhead to do some trail maintenance/cleanup.

We recommend boots or sturdy shoes, long pants, long sleeve shirt, eye protection, gloves (although I have those if you need them), and water. I have the hardhats, which we have to wear on USFS property.

Hope to see you!

Please join MSTA on a trail work day this Thursday, Sept 7 at 9 am at the Gateway Trailhead on Everitt Memorial Hwy. We’ll enter the Gateway System through the green gate (hopefully in carpools) and drive to the North Gateway Crossing (about 6-8 minutes) where we’ll organize to trim back the brush and improve the tread on the lower part of the new Strawberry Valley Trail. This is light to moderate work with either a very short hike (for the brushers) and a slightly longer hike for those doing tread work. Stay only as long as you like. Bring water and a snack. We have all the tools.

This is a great chance to meet new trail crew members as well as Bryson Schreder, trail steward coordinator for the Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance, who will be helping organize some trail work days in the future.

The County has installed the last of the seasonal bridges at Lake Siskiyou!

Good morning,

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta McCloud Management Unit invites your comments on the draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the South Fork Sacramento Public Safety and Forest Restoration Project. The project proposes the implementation of public safety, fire resilience, and recreation management activities on National Forest System Lands. The project area falls entirely within two high-risk firesheds and the need for action is influenced and supported by the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The project area is above Lake Siskiyou, approximately 3 miles west of Mount Shasta, California, and includes the land along Castle Lake Road, South Fork Sacramento Road, and southwest to Gumboot Lake. The project’s purpose is to improve public safety and fire resilience of forested ecosystems to mitigate the potential of a large wildfire and to improve recreational opportunities. The Forest’s preferred alternative is Alternative 4, which was designed to address concerns over effects to northern spotted owls, northern spotted owl habitat, goshawk, fishers, late-successional/old-growth (LSOG) associated wildlife, and LSOG in Late Successional Reserve and/or Managed Late Successional Areas (MLSA).

Shasta-Trinity is seeking authorization to use the Western Firesheds Emergency Action Declaration (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Section 40807). The draft Environmental Assessment provides public notice of the emergency authority being considered and an opportunity for public comment. 

A legal notice has been published in the newspaper of record, the Record Searchlight: https://www.redding.com/public-notices/notice/07/21/2023/legal-notice-for-comment-usda-forest-2023-07-21-redding-record-searchlight-california-18976bacaa1. Public comments on the drafts may be submitted up to 30 days from the publishing date of the legal notice. Electronic comments, in acceptable [plain text (.txt), rich text (.rtf), or Word (.doc)] formats, may be submitted to STNF-comments-SMMU@usda.gov (please include “SFS” in the subject line). For more information, please visit the project webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/stnf/?project=61863.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Kendall Brockelman Natural Resource Planner Resource AssistantForest ServiceShasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta McCloud Management Unitp: 526-926-4511 kendall.brockelman@usda.gov204 W Alma St Mount Shasta, CA 96067 www.fs.usda.gov   Caring for the land and serving people

A crack group of volunteers consisting of Steve Diaz, Rick Cory, and Mark Derby joined me this morning to place three more permanent signs on GW. One was a temporary “you are here” sign near the RR tracks on Old McCloud, while the other two are warning signs for the Steam Donkey Trail. This precision team was done with digging, cement, and assembly at three sites in about 90 minutes. Oh, yeah.

The Lower Deadfall Trail is closed to the public from 7/10/2023 – 8/4/2023 for trail restoration and boardwalk installation. The closure is well marked at both the Lower Deadfall Trailhead as well as at the junction with the PCT at Deadfall Lakes. This work is important to maintain the health of the meadow system that it runs through as well as to prevent erosion and trail braiding. We are asking users to refrain from using the trail so as not to interfere with the work because of the presence of equipment in the area that could pose as a safety hazard. We appreciate your compliance.

Taylor Cole  Recreation Management SpecialistForest Service Shasta-Trinity National ForestShasta McCloud Management UnitO: 530-926-9653  taylor.cole2@usda.gov204 West Alma St. Mount Shasta, CA 96067 www.fs.fed.us  Caring for the land and serving people