National Trails Day Car Camping Trip Horsepasture Trail from Arroyo Seco

NATIONAL TRAILS DAY PROJECT
TRAILWORK HORSEPASTURE TRAIL

OVERVIEW: Please join us for a Saturday VWA Trail Crew outing on the Marble Peak and Horsepasture Trails. This is a one day outing with optional car camp Saturday night. The car camp will not be in the official campground, but in a site behind the locked gate.

CARPOOL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED due to the limited access it is important that we carpool as much as possible.

START TIME 8:30 a.m. Saturday DO NOT BE LATE, we will leave the meeting location and drive 2 miles from the meeting location to the trailhead!

MEETING LOCATION DETAILS: drive to the end of the Arroyo Seco Road. At the Arroyo Seco campground entrance kiosk tell the concessionaire that you will be joining a VWA work trip. You do not pay for parking. Drive through the entrance and continue past the picnic area and past the campground until you reach a locked gate. Meet in the parking lot to the right of this locked gate.

WORK: We will drive 2 miles to the Marble Peak Trailhead, and hike about 2 miles to our work location. Water shoes may be helpful for one creek crossing. The work is general brushing and removal of small logs. All training will be provided, just bring your enthusiastic attitude!

TRIP LEADER: Betsy MacGowan

BRING:
· A day pack large enough to carry 3 liters of water, lunch, and tools for Saturday
· work gloves, long pants, long sleeves and sturdy footwear
· Tecnu lotion for poison oak protection if you need it. There is poison oak on this trail.
· Loppers, handsaw, hand tools ,and hardhats (hardhats are required while working) will be provided. But bring your own if you have them.

OPTIONAL: camp Saturday night:
Bring a contribution to the famous VWA POTLUCK Saturday evening
All camping and cooking supplies you would need for a car camping event. There is a creek nearby but water should be filtered.

SUNDAY ACTIVITY: Arroyo Seco Swim hike.
We will swim-hike up the Arroyo Seco River. This popular outing features 7 long pools in the Arroyo Seco River where you must swim. Bring your water shoes, clothing that is comfortable for swimming, a dry bag for your essentials. Some people like to bring an air mattress or other flotation device. There are sandy beaches to rest along the way.
At the end of the river pools you swim up a narrow canyon and can climb up a small water slide.
The total duration of the Sunday swim hike activity is approximately 4 hours.

OPTIONAL: continue working Sunday
Some people may prefer to continue working on the trail Sunday instead of doing the swim hike.