Lake Berryessa Trail Corps

I love the crew I work with. We’re made up of a bunch of like-minded folks from all across the country who have a shared passion of the great outdoors. Luckily another thing we have in common is the ability to get trail weird. You may ask yourself, “What in tarnation is trail weird?” I’m sure other subcategories of labor-induced weirdness exist as well. Restaurant weird, retail weird, farming weird - they all accomplish the same thing. It’s a sort of coping mechanism used to lift spirits among a crew when times get tough.

Our days start off upbeat for the most part, but after lunch the weirdness usually starts to take hold of us. People get tired physically, and restless mentally. When you combine these traits you are left with an opportunity for greatness to ensue, should you seize it. Someone starts speaking in an amusing accent. That evolves quickly into the entire crew speaking in that same accent. As we tire of our new voices, our minds wander. People start asking questions that they consider to be deep and thoughtful, but to anyone outside the crew would sound like the ravings of a lunatic.

“Hey Guys! If you had a magic water bottle divided into four sections, that could each contain four separate liquids, all of which having an infinite supply, what would they be?”
We generally take these questions with the utmost seriousness. It’s as if we believe that if our answers are witty enough, and our justifications sound, that we would turn around to find that magic water bottle on the ground behind us.

Another symptom of getting trail weird is temporary aural ignorance. Often, a member of the crew will experience a momentary lapse in conversation, but not in their subconscious. After a statement is registered as a sudden thought instead of part of a conversation, it is often blurted out as the same exact words that were uttered in the first place. I guess we just wouldn’t be ourselves if we didn’t repeat ourselves.

One of the greatest side-effects of getting trail weird is the boost in morale that it brings with it. There are always more things to accomplish around Lake Berryessa, and getting trail weird has helped us to tackle an enormous amount of work in the last few weeks. After returning from our winter break, we completed a loop trail hugging the shore of the lake at the Smittle Creek Day Use Area. The trail is a 3/4 mile jaunt with minimal grade changes and a wide tread. After completing the new loop, we maintained a large section of the Smittle Creek Self-Guided Nature Trail. During the first week back, we also took a grip hoist rigging course. Our newest endeavor is at Markley Cove, where we are improving the water access at roadside pullouts along Route 128.

So next time you find yourself wandering the shores of Lake Berryessa, if you come upon a group of dirt laden, overall wearing, tool wielding trail philosophers with muddy boots and big smiles, slowly approach and say something strange -just don't be surprised if we manage to make a conversation out of it.
-Andy Heller

My name is Stephani Kopfman. I am from Manhattan, Kansas but grew up in Southeast Kansas in the small town of Caney. I attended school at Kansas State University and graduated with a degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation. This will be my third SCA program. The previous two programs were in Idaho. The first was working in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness clearing trail. It was an awesome experience and got me hooked on the SCA. After I graduated I attended my second SCA program in Idaho in the Salmon Challis National Forest (adjacent to the Frank Church). I learned a tremendous amount from the variety of work we accomplished and the twenty two other SCA members and leaders. My last SCA introduced me to leading and I am hoping to further my skills so I may lead in future. I am also looking forward to learning what goes into creating a trail from beginning to end. Some of my hobbies include cooking, biking, horseback riding, swimming and I love trying new things.

I spent most of my time growing up in the “Sunshine State” 15 min from the beach in Jacksonville, FL. I spent 4 years at the University of Florida (GO GATORS!) and graduated in May 2011 with my B.S. in Geography and minors in Environmental Science and Sustainability Studies. During the summer after my sophomore year I joined my first SCA crew in the Delaware Water Gap NRA, building timber steps, treating Hemlock pines for the invasive Wooly Adelgid and planting over 300 trees. It changed my life by creating a passion for environmental conservation, which influenced my university studies, and I have been a hardcore SCA enthusiast ever since! Since graduation I have spent the past year and a half in continuous SCA internships. I moved up to the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park for a year-long internship as the GIS Specialist making maps and helping with natural resource management (water quality monitoring, invasive removal, and biology.) When that ended in August I jumped on down to New Orleans for 3 months, working for the USFWS as a biology intern at the SE Louisiana Wildlife Refuges. I got to help with endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker monitoring, wild hog removal and even had the chance to visit the 2nd oldest refuge in the country 30 miles out in the Gulf on Breton Island!

I’ve been on the east coast and gulf coast so I figured it was time to come check out the west coast! Traveling is one of my favorite things to do so I am super stoked to spend the next 6 months out here in the beautiful Napa Valley and exploring all over the western seaboard! I am looking forward to building awesome trails, getting chainsaw and crosscut certified, and training to hopefully lead and influence the next generation of environmental conservation activists! Y’all come back now, ya here!

My name is Ben Dunphey. I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. I graduated from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in May of 2012 where I studied Environmental Science with focuses on mapping and recreation. I have been doing conservation work since 2006 when I started with SCA as a high school member. Since then I have completed three high school crews as a member and two as a leader, spent a summer as an intern and most recently participated in the SCA Idaho AmeriCorps program. When not working I enjoy mountain and road biking, mountaineering and pretty much anything outdoors. I chose to participate in this program because I have not had the opportunity to build a trail to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. I am very excited to have the chance to spend time learning to build trails to ADA standard and to have the chance to explore Northern California.