Starting at Sierra Trek and again at the toy drive I ended up having conversations with some of the operators of Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) and they have approached us to restore Strawberry ASAP rather than wait on the Forest Service to Figure things out. This seems like a no-brainer to me as using all volunteers means it gets fixed at least a year ahead of any Forest Service led project and we get a much bigger seat at the table. If anyone has ant issues with this plan please post up or PM the officers with any concerns.
Attached is the draft Document PWORA sent to start this process. I think the document is good but lacks the necessary detail so I pulled out my mapping info I took from the last Patrol.
Attached is my first draft map of previously existing obstacles, optional new obstacle/bypass locations due to dozer excess, basic areas of repair, and campsite formalization.
In summary we need to draft a narrative description of each obstacle/area/repair/modification and justify it. After Spur A I don't seem to have as many obstacles as I remember their being so please dig into your phones and look for photos and text them to me. If you text them then I should get the geocoding location your phone recorded when the phone took the picture.
Here is an example of the language in my document to expand their work:
"Point 1 – North Gatekeeper
A common method of controlling access to a trail that not any car can access is by use of a “gatekeeper”. This obstacle, whether natural or artificial, should represent the general trail difficulty and give uninformed users the ability to experience the difficulty of the trail combined with the easy ability to turn around where a typical tow truck will have access or at least easy ability to hike out to pickup and cell service. There are significant examples of gatekeepers being removed that have led to net negatives for a trail including the gate keeper on El Dorado County’s own Rubicon. Given the usage of hunters in deer season taking bone stock full-size trucks where they shouldn’t, the replacement of the gatekeepers should be step 1.
The North Strawberry Gatekeeper used to consist of a smooth dome shaped boulder approximately 8ft in diameter and 3ft tall on the right side of the trail. The left side of the trail was level with the top of the boulder with a curving, V-shaped trench between the left side of the trail and center of the boulder. Shortly above the boulder was a smaller series of 1ft tall rocks that served to show potential users that difficulty did not decrease after the gatekeeper.
This gatekeeper would be re-established using rocks onsite to for example, a stock full-size truck from getting through without difficulty. Additionally a short explanation of the trail difficulty would be added to the North end info board saying something to the effect of 'If you have trouble with the gatekeeper then expect trouble with the rest of the trail'"
Please also post up similar explanations of obstacles you remember and photos if you have them.
