Adopt-A-Trail Reports

3N93 Second Workday

At the time of this report, Holcomb Creek Trail is closed to the public due to damage from the fires of 2007.

Nick, Barb, Doug, Tracy, Russ, Rick and Sarah met up at the Ranger Station Saturday morning with a goal of removing an old Bronco located approximately 1.5 miles down Holcomb Creek Trail. If you’re in suspense as to whether or not our small team was successful – we were! Upon approaching the gate at 3N14, we found two other jeeps heading away from it, letting us know it was locked.

The Bronco was approx 200′ off the trail near Holcomb Creek. The body was off the frame. We flipped the body upside down, tossed some of the spare parts aboard and winched it up the hill to the trail.

While the winching action was taking place, Russ and Tracy worked on removing a couple of old fence posts in the area. They were quite a struggle and we thank them for their hard work!

Once we got the Bronco on the trail we hitched up a strap to the A pillars to the tow points on the back of Doug’s bumper. Rick was behind the Bronco with a winch and strap attached to help lift some of the weight off the obstacles.

The vehicle behind only worked marginally well going downhill and not at all uphill. We finally ditched the idea of the back strap and manually worked the Bronco past some of the larger obstacles with levers and log rollers.

Mogul Hill was quite a treat! Doug took it slow and the Bronco cooperated.

The roof eventually collapsed and the Bronco towed pretty well. It took about an hour but we got it out to 3N14 and dropped it in a turnout. Rick and Sarah were busy picking up all the parts Doug was losing. Russ was dragging the frame and tailgate and Nick and Barb eventually wound up with the tailgate on their front bumper.

Mission accomplished! VIDEO LINK: The video shows the Bronco in tow down the trail.

While eating lunch at the Bronco site a dual sport motorcycle came down Holcomb Creek Trail. Doug informed him the area was closed to the public and asked him why he rode around the gate. His answer was that he thought the road closed sign and the locked gate were only to keep the 4-wheelers out of the area.

The Pacific Crest Trail crossed 3N14 at the turnout where we dropped the Bronco. While we were unhooking the Bronco a mountain biker was coming down the PCT. Doug told him the area was closed and turned him around. He had passed a giant yellow closed sign and a "bicycles prohibited" sign to get there.

All in all it was another great day in the forest. The temps were just about perfect – a little chilly in the shade and not too much wind. Thanks to everyone who came our to help keep our trails open.