2nd Annual Fordyce Cleanup- Nov. 1, 2003

by Alan Ratzburg
Member Attendees: Alan Ratzburg, Keith Ratzburg, Ray Revallier, Kris Revallier, Brett Benson, Bret Preble, Dave Luke and Jessica, Carl and Rika Shelton, Grant Johnston, Jerry Sparkman, Steve Piazza PROSPECTS: Bernie Martin, Jeremy DeFrisco, Malachi. SPECIAL THANKS TO: Dimitri Andruha, WEBILT, Mary Furney, and others.

The 2nd Annual Fordyce Creek Cleanup was upon us. Keith, the event chairman, had been keeping up on the weather reports that were forecasting an approximate 50% chance of snow on Friday. The word went out that the event was proceeding rain or shine. There was far too much time and effort invested by the club members and sponsors to cancel the trip because of a little foul weather. On Thursday night, a small group of Four Dice Club members left from San Jose towards the trail. Within fifteen miles of the Indian Springs turnoff, it began to snow. Brett had the top on his rig, Kris and I were warm inside our Toyota trucks, and Keith was in his CJ sans top, heater, or doors. Thankfully this only kept up for about ten miles before the sky began to clear. We arrived at the Cisco Grove campground and staked out our headquarters. We made a fire in a freestanding pit and attempted to warm up as much as we could. Although it was not snowing at the time, it was well below freezing. The tents were pitched and the group was in bed by about 4 am. I am usually the first to roll out in the morning, and did so to a winter wonderland. It was snowing when I awoke and did not quit for twenty-four hours. Our plans originally included pre running the trail and putting up signs at the bypasses to assist workers in finding their various assignments. This was no longer practical, because the signs would be covered in snow within an hour of being posted. As the day passed, Keith and I began to face the grim reality that the club may be doing the cleanup on our own. Highway 80 was closed all morning because of a multiple vehicle pile-up near Truckee. Traffic was routed around, and there was no way to get to Cisco Grove for several hours. When the road finally did open, there were chain controls beginning at Cisco Grove, our turnoff.

That night, as the snow was coming down heavily, the club members went to sleep with the hope that the skies would clear by morning. I rolled out of the tent at about 7:30am on Saturday morning to find a bright blue sky above. There was however, still about one foot of snow covering the ground. One by one our other club members emerged to begin the day, not knowing what to expect. Slowly, the first few volunteer workers arrived. Filled with a sense of optimism from the first arrivals of volunteers, we hustled to put out the complimentary club squirt bottles, work gloves, decals, donuts, and coffee. A few minutes later I glanced down the single lane road in the campground to see it lined with vehicles. We felt as if the proverbial Red Sea had parted and our wishes had been answered as volunteers poured around the sign-up sheet. When the sheets were tallied up the volunteer list totaled 102. As a club, we were caught a little off guard as everyone hustled to get the volunteers taken care of. We had begun the day anticipating the worst, and now we had more volunteers than we had ever imagined. Because of the snow, we had to revise our original plan of attack. Keith led the entire group down the trail in order to find the first bypass that needed work. He dropped off a smaller group, and then proceeded to the next bypass. The work party went from one bypass to the next until all areas were blocked.