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Two days ago, a burly, beastly group of 13 showed up to wrestle the big steel posts into a trench for the kiosk at Pioneer Trailhead at the south end of town. They attached aluminum templates to get the exact positioning (this required a lot of different opinions, but there was no bloodshed). The trench was filled in and we took a photo. Finally, we installed the two wooden 4×4 posts that will hold the “Pioneer Trailhead” sign near the road, using a bit of concrete.

Thanks to Dana Bennett, Bryson Adams, John Kelly, David Tucker, Steve Diaz, Emma Wilcox, Ray Uhlig, Mark Derby, Christian Birch, Jim Wrona, John Thomson, and our newest volunteer, Jeff Earl.

About two years ago, Becky Cooper, recreation officer for the USFS, submitted a grant application for MSTA to the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreation Trails grant program (RTP) for funding to cover construction of roughly 2 miles of trail in the Gateway Trail System. The program had a 10:1 request/funding ratio, so we didn’t get the grant. BUT…the grant administrators said the application got such high marks on all the elements they require that they strongly urged us to reapply.

Last year, Taylor Cole and Daniel Hewitt (USFS) resubmitted the grant after buffing it up even more. We waited and waited and waited until last week, when we were informed that we were granted $200,000 for construction on the planned Cosmic Connector Trail. You can check the location in the Gateway System here. It’s the blue trail in the upper right of the map connecting Vista Point to the Learning Zone.

And the press release for the grant is here if you want the details.

The board of MSTA is extremely excited about this development because it gets us very close to having all 46 miles of Gateway II financed (but we’re not quite all the way there). Kudos and thanks to our USFS partners!!

Have you been sitting next to the wood stove eating cinnamon rolls the last 2 months? I thought so. Well, it’s time to get off your rear end and help us install a kiosk and posts for the trailhead sign at the south end of town on City property.  Yes, this is the exciting start of the lowermost segment of the Bear Springs Trail which will eventually go from Vista Point all the way to this spot near the radio tower.

Good news: no holes to dig (already done by Andrew Pellkofer with the excavator) and no cement to mix and pour. The only work is attaching posts to panels, leveling, and backfilling. We’ll have fun and you get to see the first part of this new trail. Very exciting. 

No more sitting; come help. Meet us at South Mt. Shasta Blvd. just north of the radio tower and across from the stored white freeway dividers at 1 pm. Below is a photo of what we’ll be installing.

Given the recent rain and snow, conditions on Muir’s Ascension from the McBride Trailhead down to Moon Doggie allow us to open the trail. Thanks to those who respected the closure while the tread settled. Entry to the trail is about 50 yards above the McBride Trailhead parking lot where I left some orange tape on either side of the trail, which enters the forest to the left of the thirty-foot dead tree. This now allows a continuous trail route from Ten Gallon to the Gateway Trailhead without traveling on Everitt Memorial Hwy.

Just want to make everyone aware that Dave Mauro of Timberworks donated his heavy equipment operator time to grade, gravel, and finish the trailhead parking lots at Ten Gallon, McBride Springs, and the Nordic Center, thus saving MSTA a load of money. He also leveled out the big piles of gravel at Nordic, thus significantly increasing the size of the lot there. This will make it easier to clear snow and park for the ski season, and also creates a huge lot for summer parking to use the Learning Zone bike paths.

Thank you, Dave (and Timberworks) for jumping in big time to help build Gateway II, which has become a community effort!

Kudos to our steadfast trail crew for braving the cold and snow to install signs on EMH! The morning started out crisp and clear but slowly became stormy. A determined group stood in the road for several hours to divert traffic while the rest of us focused on driving posts and attaching signs.

Many thanks to Chris Marrone, who purchased and retrieved a post driver, fabricated an extension (many hours of work), and spent the whole day loading and unloading equipment and driving steel posts, all to save MSTA money. And thanks to Emma Wilcox, Barbara Paulson, Steve Eddy, Neil Posson, Mark Derby, Steve Larson, Mark Telegin, Jim Wrona, Tony Mills, John Thomson, Rick Cory, and Mike Hupp for dividing up the work.

You can see what happens when you try to drive steel signposts into rocks!