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Yesterday, we planted about 500 daffodils around the Spring Hill Trailhead. Many thanks to the 14 volunteers who showed up to help, including one very young, enthusiastic gardener. Since it’s so late in the season, the bulbs may not bloom this year. Opinions differed on this, so you’ll just have to visit the trail to see for yourself. We gave the balance of the bulbs to Lorie Saunders for the Beautification Committee to plant in the triangle and median strip for the city. Even though these non-native, ornamental flowers don’t help the pollinators or the soil or the little animals, they look pretty and thus cheer up the large animals who have been trapped inside for much of the pandemic.

OK, OK! I’m not smart enough to know that you shouldn’t plant non-native daffodils at the Gateway Trailhead or on USFS property. I’m a doctor, Jim, not a biologist. If I can ascertain the appropriateness of planting at the Spring Hill Trailhead (which most people seem to think is acceptable) we’ll do that at 1:30 tomorrow.

JH

Early this afternoon, I got a call from Eva Moll at Mercy Hospice. They have leftover daffodils from their fundraiser that are starting to sprout. She asked if MSTA wanted some to plant at the Gateway Trailhead and I said, “Sure!”

Well, I picked them up and found that there are about 1000 of them. Yes, 1000. So I think we should plant some at Spring Hill and some at the Gateway Trailhead.

If you want to help, meet me at the Spring Hill Trail parking lot at 1:30 on Saturday, Feb. 27. We can put 8 or 10 in each hole we dig so we’ll get a big show of color. If we have 6-10 volunteers, we’ll split into two groups, with the second group going to Gateway. Shouldn’t take long and it’ll be fun. Who doesn’t like planting flowers? Well, maybe there’s someone.

About a month ago, we decided to order a trailer to hold and transport tools for trail work. Shortly thereafter, Brian Sindt offered to donate his near-new trailer to the cause. Brian is a recently retired Senior Program Officer for the McConnell Foundation. His trail crew cut the Foundation Trail on Gateway several years ago, free of charge. He has been instrumental in securing significant funds for Gateway II. He has helped create many of the hiking/biking trails in Redding over the years, and drives up here to Mt. Shasta to volunteer on some of our work days. The trailer will fit our needs beautifully and will save MSTA about $4600.

Thank you, Brian, for this amazing donation.

On Tuesday, Jan 25^th Siskiyou County will be closing the gates on Everitt Memorial Highway (near McBride Springs CG) and Castle Lake by NOON. Due to the predicted snow accumulation and availability of the County to plow the roads in a timely manner, this is a needed safety measure.

Thank you very much! Hope everyone continues to be safe and enjoy watching the needed snow from the comfort of home 😊

Becky Cooper  Recreation OfficerForest Service Shasta-Trinity National ForestShasta McCloud Management Unitp: 530-926-9610rebecca.r.cooper@usda.gov204 West Alma Street Mt. Shasta, CA 96067 www.fs.fed.us  Caring for the land and serving people

A dozen volunteers showed up yesterday to cover burn piles on the Gateway reroute. It was a beautiful day and we were done in about 90 minutes, including safety talk, hike in, and hike out. There were a number of new volunteers and lots of new acquaintances were made. The new trail will have some fantastic vistas when completed.

Don’t miss the next work day!

We are rerouting a steep section of the Gateway Trail and creating some fantastic new viewpoints. The brush-clearing has left numerous slash piles that need to be burned. But they have to be covered with plastic before this next storm, so we’ll be doing that work this Saturday, January 23, at noon. Meet at the Gateway Trailhead on Everitt Memorial Highway (1/2 mile north of the high school) and we’ll walk in (or, we might drive partway in along the gravel road). We’ll need a couple people to bring scissors to cut the plastic. Also bring water and snacks. I’ll provide loppers and hand saws, which may be the only tools we’ll need. Hope to see you then.