The River Park at Work

This summer the San Dieguito River Park has been very busy with two quite different projects, although both could perhaps be considered "repair" projects.

Sikes Adobe Creamery

Okay, the Sikes Adobe Creamery was beyond "repair." The Creamery was a 12 foot by 18 foot outbuilding on the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead site. The historians believe that the Sikes family built it to use as part of a small dairy operation after the patriarch, Zenas Sikes died in 1881. They speculate that the family used the dairy operation to supplement their income when the wheat farm business began to decline a few years after his death. (Click here for more information about the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead, the family history and the restoration progress.)

The creamery restoration was funded with a $10,000 Community Project Grant from Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, 3rd District County Supervisor. Although that funding was not enough to complete the entire project, it did enable some substantial work to be completed, as well as the purchase of the materials (concrete block, framing lumber and roofing shingles) that will be used in the next phase.

While the original structure was unreinforced adobe, our City building permit does not allow that type of construction. Therefore the walls will be built of concrete block, with adobe veneer. The goal is to have the building still look the way it did in the Sikes family period.

Because the building was too far gone to restore, it was necessary to demolish it (saving the old adobe bricks and other possibly salvageable parts). San Dieguito River Park Ranger Natalie Borchardt was in charge of this project. Too bad we have no photos of her loading and re-loading concrete debris into the two dumpsters that were needed. The demo took a crew of California Conservation Corps a day of hard work.

The next step was to grade the site level. That was accomplished with the donated help of Joe Ellis and his crew from Marathon Construction Corporation that was working nearby on the other San Dieguito River Park summer construction project, the Mule Hill Trail accessibility project (more on that below). They also dug the footings with their power equipment for the concrete walls.

Next, Phil Patrick, who was the construction superintendant on the Sikes Adobe Farmhouse restoration, came down with his assistant, his son, Brian Patrick, to help Natalie with the framing and rebar for the footings. Following a city inspection, the concrete pour for the footings began.

August 2006: Far from finished, this is how it will look until additional money is secured and/or volunteer work is done. In the background of this shot is the restored Sikes Adobe Farmhouse and the windmill that was completed by the Escondido and Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Clubs last year.

Mule Hill Trail Accessibility Improvements

The second project underway at the River Park in the summer of 2006 involves replacing the trail surface on a 1/3 mile long section of the Mule Hill Trail to provide a smooth, dry, un-rutted surface to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. The section of trail from the trailhead at Sunset Drive to the Mule Hill interpretive station (1 1/4 miles) was intended to be a fully ADA compliant trail. Unfortunately, the original trail surface used did not perform adequately. The River Park procured a Land & Water Conservation Grant to replace the poorly performing trail surface with an improved surface, and also to install improved drainage. Marathon Construction Corporation and Kimley-Horn & Associates, the engineering firm, donated some of their services for this improvement project.

The Coast to Crest Trail in this area calls for an 8 foot wide trail surface for hiking and bicycling, with an adjacent 4 foot wide trail surface for equestrian use. Part of the problem with the original trail was that this delineation was not clearly marked. Now the trail will be marked with signs informing equestrians which section of the trail they should use, and also with "header" boards that are buried in the trail between the two sections, providing a subtle separation between the two trail types.

The 8 foot wide section will have a cellular containment system known as GravelPave2 laid down and screwed into a compacted decomposed granite (d.g.) subsurface, then additional d.g. is rolled on top and smoothed into place.

This picture, which was taken before the Gravelpave2 was laid, shows the layout of the trail - the 8 foot trail for hikers and bicyclists is on the right in this picture, and the equestrian surface is on the left. The wood header boards help to show the trail users where they should go.

The plastic Gravelpave2 material before any d.g. is applied.

These pictures show the Gravelpave2 after it is rolled out but the d.g. is only partially filled in.

August 2006 - almost finished.

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