Frigid but Fantastic Finale to Inaugural Dig Day Season
On Saturday, May 4th, California State Parks, in partnership with Mount Diablo Trails Alliance as a promotional and educational supporter of an increasingly-impactful Shared Stewardship model, hosted a Dig Day on Buckeye Trail at Mount Diablo State Park. Despite bitter-cold rain and fierce winds, 57 Volunteers (aka, Trail Champions) helped maintain and enhance more than half of this beautiful trail in one day.
Guaranteed True Grit
The dedication, service and teamwork of the intrepid Trail Champions are WHY the Mount Diablo Trails Alliance exists. It is all about contributing to the greater good, sometimes in some pretty challenging weather conditions.
Join these Trail Champions and our fast-growing Community next season (Fall/Winter 2024-2025) to help us continue building a sustainable Shared Stewardship model with California State Parks, making the trails better and focusing on safety, preservation and equitable access.
In the interim, check out our Photos and Videos webpages to see the incredible work of the FIFTY-SEVEN Trail Champions.
https://www.mountdiablotrailsalliance.org/photos
https://www.mountdiablotrailsalliance.org/videos
Due to inclement weather conditions, we were not able to record any new WHY Factor reels at the May 4th Dig Day. Definitely check out the current WHY Factor library and be ready to share your story, in your own words … when the next Dig Day season kicks off in October or November 2024 … when the rains return.
Proven Techniques
At our Dig Days, all trail work is conducted in strict accordance to the standards/best practices of the California DPR Trails Handbook and also the policy-based, multi-stakeholder-built Road and Trail Management Plan (RTMP) for Mount Diablo State Park. Adhering to both of these two defensible guideposts makes for grueling, slower work, but the finished product is built-to-last.
Patience is still a virtue. The RTMP for Mount Diablo was approved in January 2016. The wait was worth it, as the rules of engagement increasingly favor State agencies and the Community working together to overcome budgetary and staffing constraints to achieve California State Parks’ mission of providing high-quality recreational opportunities while protecting biodiversity and ecological and cultural resources.
Shared Stewardship Is Built on Trust and Results
Thanks to the leadership, support and trust of key California State Parks officials, especially Cameron Morrison, Ryen Goering and Clint Elsholz, the Shared Stewardship model at Mount Diablo State Park is in full motion and one that is firmly built on delivering meaningful results.
Since mid-October 2023, the Shared Stewardship model has empowered nearly 500 Trail Champions to contribute more than 3,000 hours, maintaining, repairing and enhancing eight (8) trails at Mount Diablo State Park. Some of the extensive work included the preparation of three (3) trails to be eligible for change-in-use to multi-use Bike Friendly (per the 2016 RTMP), which one day stands to provide Safer Access to the Upper Mountain for a much larger representation of trail users.
Mount Diablo State Park is one of the first units in the California State Parks system to be in the enviable position to implement an approved RTMP. This honor carries immense responsibility to get it right the first time, but it also is a golden opportunity to be that “shining example” for other State Park units to develop, approve and implement their RTMPs in coming years.
All of this means that Mount Diablo State Park and its related Shared Stewardship model participants (e.g., the Trail Champions) can be that Beacon for better trails through better engagement.
We’re Just getting started
Most of the trail work conducted during this past inaugural Dig Day season focused on the heavier-traveled trails of the Northwest Corridor and the Upper Mountain. Over the next two Dig Day seasons in Fall/Winter 2024-2025 and Fall/Winter 2025-2026, the workflow will incorporate a blend of the Southern (Old Finley Rd) and Backside (Clayton / Mitchell Canyon) Corridors.
There are several important RTMP-based projects for each of these two (2) corridors that will enhance the trail user experience, while also creating more loop and connector options.
Many future Dig Day projects DO NOT relate to change-in-use to multi-use Bike Friendly trails. That’s fine. The Shared Stewardship model focuses on all trail user groups and recognizes that in some cases there are trails best left as hiking-focused.
Mount Diablo Trails Alliance … Will Be Growing beyond Trails Stewardship
Later this year, we will become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and we plan to launch an ever-important Ride with Gratitude educational campaign, designed to foster trail etiquette, increase trail users’ awareness of each other, and to protect the gift of trails access.
We also plan to partner with several important national and local organizations to welcome under-represented or underserved groups for a day of Community & Trails at Mount Diablo State Park.
More details to follow in coming months related to both programs.
Until then, have a safe, glorious summer!
With gratitude,
Mount Diablo Trails Alliance