Home»Gallery»Portola Valley Ranch, Windy Hill, Etc.»Coal Mine Ridge Nature Preserve of PVR»2/11/2023 Trail Center Volunteers Renew Toyon Trail

Over two decades after it was forged by local volunteers, a portion of Toyon Trail is renewed by volunteers from the Trail Center, a regional organization, joined again by local volunteers. Some of us remember the construction phase, one Saturday a month for three years, working together.

Here are photos of the volunteers and their work.

BONUS: a photo from February 2022, the same spot along Toyon Trail. Two things to notice: a. The Warrior's Plume was farther along on 2/10/2022 than this year, 2/11/2023; b. Toyon Trail was narrower last year, with dirt falling onto the uphill side, and the clear pathway crowded toward the downhill side. The Trail Center volunteers widened and flattened the trail, setting us up for many years to come.

BONUS 2: Blast from the past! Construction activity in about 1979. Town volunteers, including residents of PVR, build the original Toyon Trail along a line surveyed by Herb Dengler. In the foreground, Helen Quinn wields a "pickle", a bent shovel developed and fabricated in Portola Valley. The Trail Center still uses this tool, now simply called a "bent shovel" -- another example of our language's loss of color. A "pickle" is halfway between a pick and a shovel.