From staff reports

jreece@ledger-dispatch.com

Officials of the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail recently gave updates of the various segments of the trail system and its organizers, officials and volunteers. Online see www.mc2ct.org or e-mail moke-trail@earthlink.net for more information.

East Bay MCCT segment

The East Bay section of the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail is Martinez Shoreline Regional Park to Brentwood, CA (30 miles) and Tilden Regional Park to Contra Loma Regional Park (40 miles) and ultimately through Berkeley and over (via ferry) to San Francisco and on to the Presidio where the MCCT will connect with 4 other major Bay Area trails.

Segment Coordinator is Jean Tarabek and co-sponsors are the East Bay Regional Park District. Jim Townsend is trails development program manager. Co-sponsors are the East Bay Trail Dogs and Harry Silcocs.

The Mokelumne Coast to Crest Council is working with East Bay Regional Park District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Mt. Diablo State Park and other agencies and organizations to incorporate several existing trails into the Coast to Crest Trail.

As soon as the Council receives permission (which has been a five year project) from the East Bay Regional Parks District, volunteers will be needed to help install the MCCT trail markers on 52 miles of trail and the four map panels on the Bay Area Segment of the MCCT.

The American Discovery Trail has partnered with the MCCT in this project as they share many of the same routes in the EBRPD and through Berkeley and over (via ferry) to San Francisco and on to the Presidio where the MCCT will connect with four other major Bay Area trails.

The next step will be a dedication and a series of work parties. Volunteers are welcome and information will be posted on the Web site.

Then people can enjoy and help publicize all the interesting activities that are available in the EBRPD, the western-most segment of the MCCT.

San Joaquin County/Delta segment of the MCCT

The San Joaquin County/Delta segment of trail will link the East Bay segment with the Camanche/Pardee Segment.

The segment coordinator post in the area is vacant. Co-sponsors are the Lower Mokelumne Trail Group and Kathy Grant, the California Delta Trail, Sen. Tom Torlakson and the Central Valley Rails to Trails Foundation, with Betsy Mahan as president.

The Lower Mokelumne Watershed Council, centered in the city of Lodi, has begun networking with the NPS to establish a recreational waterway in the Lower Mokelumne River.

This trail section is approximate to Highway 88 and Highway 12, between Camanche Reservoir Dam and Lodi Lake and would align with the MCCT. The planned recreational waterway route from Camanche Dam is approximately 20 miles to Woodbridge Dam.

Existing access points are at EBMUD Mokelumne Day Use Area, San Joaquin County Stillman-McGee Park, city of Lodi Lake and San Joaquin County Woodbridge Regional Park. An additional access point on private property has been proposed between Stillman-McGee and Lodi Lake.

The recreational waterway planning group is meeting with the Delta Trail project manager and Delta Protection Commission about the scope of the MCCT/Lower Mokelumne Water Trail and its potential linkage to the California Delta Trail. The MCCT Council is researching MCCT records, minutes, maps, planning information and other agreements documenting that MCCT is a regionalized trail to support the Sen. Torlakson's efforts with the bypass authority to place a MCCT trail bridge over Highway 4 at Brentwood.

This proposed bridge would offer linkage between the East-Bay Contra Costa Segment and the San Joaquin Segment via the California Delta Trail.

For more news and stories about the Lower Mokelumne River, see two articles and video in the Lodi News Sentinel by Matt Brown, searching for the Mokelumne Part I, June 16; and Searching for the Mokelumne Part II, July 13, 2006. Search online at www.Lodinews.com.

The possibility of linking with the south end of the Central Valley Rails Trail near Woodbridge is being researched. Stockton is looking into building a beltway that will head west from around French Camp. This may be a chance for us to link with the trails to the west across the Delta some day.

Coast to Crest Trail now links with REI sporting goods

Steve Diers of the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail Council said that the the council now has an agreement with REI sports that if buyers link to REI though the council's Web site, www.mc2ct.org, the trail council receives a commission.

Write to The Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail, P.O. Box 744, Pioneer, 95666.