Volunteering for Trail Work at Almaden Quicksilver County Park with the Quicksilver Running Club
The Quicksilver Running Club has adopted the New Almaden Trail (NAT) since 2003. We meet several times a year to maintain the 6-mile long New Almaden Trail and adjacent trails. Join us for 4 hours of fun (and work), typically on a Saturday (8am-12pm), to keep this beautiful trail in good condition for the general public and for our runners. We have work for all levels and abilities, whether you are a veteran of trail maintenance or it's your first time and you'd like to learn and give back to the community. Trail work days are posted on the website homepage and emails are sent to the membership. Non QRC members are welcome to join.
Contact our Trail Liaison Jim Yates (jyates1006@gmail.com) to learn more or get notified about the next trail work day if you are not a member.
What to expect:
Join us for a fun morning of working together on the trail to allow fellow hikers and runners to enjoy the park. Ii's also a perfect way to meet your trail service hours requirements for ultra races! These days poison oak has been cleared from the trail proper. However, it exists in many forms, especially the few times we use the power tools on the trail. It is best to over‐protect yourself, which is how these guidelines are written. In many of the trail days, we do not encounter it at all. I may announce it if I think we will be encountering a little, some, or a lot of poison oak depending on where we work. After all, it’s a six mile trail.
What to wear:
There is a reason for all of the items below, trust me. In short, wear full coverage clothing.
1. Long pants
2. Long sleeve technical shirt. Wear two if you will be swinging picks and stirring up dust.
3. Boots are preferred to shoes
4. Gloves
5. Bandages and paper tape to wrap thumbs (preventing blisters)
6. Hat, better if it covers your neck and ears
7. Snacks and a water bottle
After you get home:
1. A paranoid mindset works best!
2. Wash your hands carefully with Technu, Dishwashing soap or an alcohol‐based wipe
3. Carefully remove your clothes and place them immediately in the washer
4. Wash clothes in hot water. You may want to run a short cycle twice.
5. Take a cold/luke‐warm shower, preferably with dishwashing detergent first. If you think that you’ve been exposed to PO, then it is preferred that you scrub your dry skin first with Technu, then rinse with cool water.
Poison oak:
1. Poison oak is abundant in Quicksilver. We have cleared the NAT over the years of the worst areas. At its prime in the spring, it is a cluster of three leaves with wavy edges and a waxy surface. In the fall it usually turns red. In the winter the leaves may have fallen and only the branches show. You can get exposed to the oil all year around, but more so when leaves are present.
2. Poison Oak grows like a weed. The oil can stay on hard surfaces (tools, tree bark) for years.
3. The Ushirol oil will not stick to your hands. It will attach to the proteins in your skin.
4. If you get the oil in your eye, you need to go to the doctor. Your eye will swell shut.
5. Most people can put up with a little poison oak for a week to ten days. If you get it in your eyes, on your face or over a large area, please see a doctor. The usual treatment is Prednizone (5 mg tablets, starting at about 7 per day and tapering down like 7‐7‐6‐5‐4‐3‐2‐1).
6. It helps to be paranoid when it comes to poison oak. Treat any tools used as being contaminated.
Trail Work Schedule:
Sat. 2/17/2024 @ 09:00 am, meeting location: Mockingbird Parking Area
Please let QRC Chief Trailwork Officer, Jim Yates, know if you would like to join us by emailing him at jyates1006@gmail.com
Check back here before work day for any last minute instructions.