The day started off with a slight chill and ended with a slight rain. Other than the “wintery” weather that we have grown accustomed to NOT having in Santa Barbara, the day was beautiful and lots of work got done. We met at Lizard’s Mouth and Winchester Gun club where bikes were put into the proper vehicles and off we went. Some riders chose to start earlier and went from the bottom and rode up to the top so that they then of course could ride back down.
Anyone who has ever tried to get to the top trailhead of Tequepis knows that it is a journey not for the faint hearted or having a low clearance vehicle. It is slow and rough going. Past the gun club is a dirt road that is barely maintained.
The main purpose of this trail work event was brush clearing. As with most back country and front country trails these days the brush is hugely overgrown. Four hedgers were brought to the top and qualified trained volunteers cut back brush while others followed behind with McClouds to pull the cuttings down the side. Others had loppers for the thicker stuff that the hedgers could not get through. A few Rogue tools were also brought along for minor tread repair.
The weather held and we never did see the sun really shine. So instead of anyone overheating, we had the opposite problem, we almost froze. OK, so that’s an exaggeration… It ended up getting very cold, but it did not prevent anyone from enjoying a post work ride down the nicely trimmed Tequepis trail. Two of us braved the ride back in four wheels instead of two where everyone else was promptly picked up at the bottom for a shuttle back to their cars at Lizard’s mouth.
The original plan was to have Chicken Ranch at the top at Lizard’s head. But as I have already mentioned multiple times, the weather was proving to be our enemy as it was actually starting to drizzle! Celebratory food and drink was had at Tucker’s Grove park instead under the protection of a large oak tree as the rain started to come down.
