Recap: Glen Canyon Adopt-A-Crag, November 16, 2019

Posted on by webbacc
The boulders at Glen Canyon from a distance. A volunteer crew wearing Tyvek suits is removing graffiti. One crew member stands atop the boulders surveying the land.

It’s always nice to finish out the year on a high note, and thanks to the twenty eight volunteers who showed up to help out, that’s exactly what we’re doing! Over the years, Bay Area Climbers Coalition volunteers have made a tremendously positive impact at Glen Canyon, and during our last Adopt-A-Crag of 2019 we returned to focus on:

  • Graffiti removal
  • Trail maintenance and box step repair
  • Brush clearing
  • Volunteers gather around a Parks and Recreation employee to discuss brush removal tasks
  • Volunteers listen to a BACC graffiti removal team leader describe the work that will be done
  • Volunteers listen to a Parks and Recreation employee describing the trail repair work they will be performing
  • A Parks and Recreation employee stands in the payload of a truck, gathering brush removal tools

Our graffiti removal team was able to remove some relatively new tags and liquid paper markings and revisited previous removals that required a little more attention. While we were at it, we removed many of the chalk marks that had accumulated over the years.

A before and after comparison of a boulder that had graffiti removed. The after photo shows the paint was thoroughly removed.
It looks like we even managed to remove Karl the Fog somehow!
  • graffiti reading "killa & keystone was here!" painted on a rock face
  • graffiti reading "killa & keystone" painted on a rock face
  • volunteers carrying jugs of water used to remove graffiti. The volunteer in focus wears a white Tyvek suit
  • volunteers wearing face shields removing graffiti from a small boulder
  • volunteers brushing a graffiti removal paste onto a rock face
  • 3 manual pump water sprayer canisters focused in the foreground, out of focus volunteers discuss their project in the background
  • one volunteer brushes graffiti off a rock face while another sprays the area with water. Both wear white Tyvek suits and face shields.

Glen Canyon’s trails are in better shape than they’ve been in quite some time, but there’s always room for improvement. Our volunteers helped to prevent further erosion by re-grading portions of the trail and repairing box steps.

A green sign reading "Trail Work Ahead". In the background, out of focus, volunteers work on brush removal.
  • Glen canyon from roughly mid-way up. The trail repair crew works in the distance.
  • A close-up of a tool used to cut, dig, and rake dirt during trail repair
  • A volunteer wearing a water sprayer backpack wets down a trail.
  • A close-up of a rake in recently-wetted trail dirt
  • Volunteers working on trail repair. In the foreground, one volunteer excitedly cheers.

No Glen Canyon Adopt-A-Crag would be complete without a little brush removal, so a team of volunteers worked to help clear away brush, trim back overgrowth, and remove fallen trees and branches that were obstructing the trails.

A volunteer picks up brush from the trail
A volunteer hauls brush from the trail
A parks and recreation employee cuts away overgrowth using a telescoping saw
Volunteers trim back brush that had been encroaching upon the trail
Volunteers observe as a parks and recreation employee cuts away overgrowth using a telescoping saw
A volunteer hauls away fallen branches, holding a trash bag
A volunteer hauls away branches
A young volunteer trims away overgrowth
A parks and recreation employee cuts away overgrowth using a telescoping saw
A portion of trail at Glen Canyon prior to brush removal
A portion of trail at Glen Canyon after brush removal
A portion of trail at Glen Canyon prior to brush removal
A portion of trail at Glen Canyon after brush removal
A portion of trail at Glen Canyon prior to brush removal

Thanks to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department for their continued partnership and to all who showed up to help make this another successful Adopt-A-Crag! We’ll see you next year!

a coyote in the fields at Glen Canyon
Looking down upon the bouldering area of Glen Canyon from the rim of the canyon