Save the Date — March 12, 2020 Joint Forest Service & SLT Open House
Trail Challenge Appreciation at MSTA Annual Meeting
Congratulations go out to those that completed all of the trails included in the 2019 Trail Challenge!
The Mount Shasta Trail Association wants to celebrate these accomplishments during our annual meeting on April 2, from 6:00-8:30. The evening will begin with a social hour of appetizers and drinks. It’s a great opportunity to meet other trail enthusiasts and find out more about current and future projects. Then, near the beginning of our meeting we will have a drawing to determine the special prize winner. The location will be announced soon.
Gateway Temporary Trail Closure Map
The need to close some of the Gateway Trails for public safety during thinning operations begins on Wednesday February 12th. Below is a map of the closure area.
For more information, the Forest Service news release can be found here.
GATEWAY AND LOLLIPOP TRAIL CLOSURES
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.
Trail Challenge 2019 — A Huge Success!
START GETTING EXCITED!
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.
Trail Association Raises Nearly $23,000 on Giving Tuesday
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:
- Getting construction started on the Gateway II Trail– early spring?
- Moving forward with the trail to Mossbrae Falls
- Completing the City Park to Downtown Trail
John Harch New MSTA President
The Mount Shasta Trail Association (MSTA) is very pleased to announce that John Harch was recently elected as the association’s new president. John has been active on MSTA’s board of directors since 2013 – serving as its vice president for the past three years. He was elected president at a recent board meeting, assuming the reins that Barry Price held for over three years.
A retired general surgeon, Harch brought a good mix of humor and energy to the MSTA. John has been very successful in getting volunteers and other organizations out on the ground to cut brush, dig trail tread, build rock walls and install trail signs. His core of hard workers has been nick-named the “crazy old men,” but under John’s leadership they’re the hardest working bunch of guys and gals you’ll ever meet.
John earned a degree in biology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, before going on to medical school at UCLA. He completed his surgical internship and residency at LA County/USC Medical Center. Before landing in Siskiyou County, John practiced surgery in the Bay Area and southern California. John is board certified in general surgery and critical care medicine.
Don’t be surprised to run into John on an area trail, hiking, riding his mountain bike or leading a group of volunteers working a trail. With surgical precision, John will use his skills and passion to lead the MSTA into the future!
DON’T FORGET MSTA ON GIVING TUESDAY
There’s lots going on with the Mount Shasta Trail Association right now. Help us move forward on several big trail projects like the Gateway II and Mossbrae Falls Trails. Go to https://www.northstategives.org
Thanks!
WORK ON GATEWAY I REROUTE HAS BEGUN!
Brushing out the .7-mile section of Gateway I Trail that is being rerouted to avoid a steep segment has now started. On Thursday, Nov. 21 and Monday, Nov. 25, volunteers hiked in carrying chainsaws, loppers, pole saws, and safety gear. Andrew Pelkofer and Jenna Kane of Trail Labs Co directed the effort.
It was rough going in the dense brush of the gulley and hillside, but we didn’t care. We ripped and slashed, creating brush piles for burning. And miraculously, no injuries occurred!
Thanks for the hard work from Patty Guthrie, Davis Bowden, Neil Jacobs, Justin Schmidt, David Tucker, Brian Sindt and Brian Crane (who came from Redding representing the McConnell Foundation), Steve Russell, Becky Cooper and Steve Clark (USFS), Gary German, Carol Winston, John Schuyler, Barbara Paulson, and Todd Whitney (new to our trail crew). This volunteer effort is important not only because it advances a trail project without breaking the budget, but it sets the framework for future construction of the Gateway II Trail System (46 new miles), some of which will be built by volunteers.
Join us next time. We had fun, and got exercise on two beautiful days!
