This morning I was out in the yard doing some rain-enforced-neglected yard work. I watch the many visitors streaming by our place looking for a place to park. Because we actually have room between the road and our retaining wall and the fact that we are close to the gate our spots our 3 spots are filled early.
I often engage or am engaged by visitors as they park or walk by on the way up into the forest. I asked the family of 5 if they were going up to enjoy the snow. They confirmed yes but said they were going up the Silverado Motorway, er sorry, Silverado Trail. I told them that the snow leaves that trail early since it gets direct sunlight. If snow is what they wanted then a walk up Maple Springs is their best chance.
Reaching our further I asked where they were from. Irvine was the reply and the guy said he mountain bikes up here frequently but today he wanted to bring the family up to see the snow. It wasn’t much snow but our first of the year.
I want to reach out to these families more and provide opportunities to explore much more of our area besides the usual few trails. I want to reach out to them more to recruit more volunteers to help us create an atmosphere that makes the canyons a destination rather than a place they go through to get to the things they know.