I must admit my disappointment at reading all of the negative responses about the new trailhead. I climbed the mountain in June while the students were working away on the structure and had the opportunity to speak with a number of them. Aside from being really excited to be working in such a spectacular environment, they mentioned a number of things that I thought showed how in touch they actually were with the area. Apparently all of the wood that was used came from trees that had fallen in the city of Oakland and had been milled by the East Bay Conservation Corps. The wood is the same species, but none of it had to be harvested from the Sierras, in fact no wood was harvested at all. They also mentioned that they designed the structure to be easily assembled at the site with most of the work being done off site ahead of time. This means that they did not have to be as invasive at the site as most new buildings seem to be. Most importantly, none of the students struck me as particularly egotistical or interested in making a statement - they just seemed like people who really appreciated the mountain and wanted to contribute to it - and without being compensated (something I imagine many of us have never done for the mountain).
When I revisited this fall to see how the trailhead had finished up, I was pleasantly surprised at what they had pulled off. I am no architect, but what they did does not strike me as a waste of money. It did strike me as something that fit in much better than all of those new pit-toilets and the majority of things the Forest Service has done at their other sites. The size of the wood pieces and the stone walls are much more in keeping with the grandeur of the trees in the portal and the large granite outcroppings. It was nice to have a place to sit (on the stone wall) and reflect on the mountain and the beauty of the area - something that was hard to do with the last solution the Forest Service came up with. I like the fact that the thing seems kind of incomplete - the last thing I would like to see here is a typical building. This way there are places for their signs and scale, but you can still see through it to the trees and mountains beyond. I have to congratulate the Forest Service on opting to improve the trailhead in a manner that provides important information, actually marks the start of the trail and is a departure from their traditional approach. But most importantly, I want to thank the students for their hard work and hope they continue to be as sensitive in their future work as they were here.
. You could tell forethought had gone into the design and I would imagine the information posted would be helpful to many of those who travel to the trailhead (we saw quite a few "tourists" who were starting up the trail with no packs/water for pictures). I'm surprised at the number of negative responses considering many trailheads have some sort of signs and postings. In fact, I think the design is significantly better than many of the kiosks at other trailheads, where they seem very cheap and much more so out of place. As for not wilderness enough, you are still at the parking lot - next to ALOT of vehicles and pavement. Way to go Design/Build team!