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Almaden Quicksilver Treefall Accident Investigation, 9/17/22 by Ronald Horii
I saw a newsflash on TV in the morning on Monday 9/12/22. They said that around 10 am, a 50-60 foot oak tree fell down on the Mine Hill Trail in Almaden Quicksilver, injuring 3 hikers. The hikers were taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries:
https://www.ktvu.com/news/three-people-injured-by-falling-tree-in-santa-clara.
Here's another report:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/hikers-hurt-almaden-quicksilver-county-park/3001004/
"Three women were injured Monday when an oak tree fell on them as they were hiking on a trail at Almaden Quicksilver County Park in Santa Clara County, an official said.
The women suffered "various injuries" and were transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Santa Clara County Parks Department Acting Chief Park Ranger Frank Weiland said.
Park rangers were dispatched to the park at about 9:53 a.m. for a medical call, according to Weiland.
Park rangers and police used a victim's cell phone to determine their location, Weiland said. They eventually found the women and transported them to the Hacienda trailhead, where additional medical assessments were performed before the women were taken to the hospital.
The section of Mine Hill Trail where the tree came down was closed for an assessment and debris removal, Weiland said. The trail was expected to reopen later Monday or early Tuesday." I wanted to investigate the accident site to see what trees actually caused it and if there were further hazards. Could it have been caused by drought stress or disease, like sudden oak death? Are more trees in the park in danger of falling down? On Saturday, 9/17/22, after finding out where the accident occurred, I took the least strenuous way to get there and surveyed the vegetation, both native and invasive, along the way. I also checked the interpretive signs and some of the historic sites. I was also scouting out sites for a possible memorial to Kitty Monahan. This is a virtual tour of my trip, showing views and points of interest along the way, with special attention on the plants and trees. Here are more of my pictures of Almaden Quicksilver County Park: http://www.newalmaden.org/#Pictures. Here's more information and maps of the park: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/almaden-quicksilver-county-park. There have been tours of the historic areas of the park for many years. Here are some pictures I took in 2001 (pre-digital): http://www.newalmaden.org/AQSPark/VanTour/Vantour.html.
I saw a newsflash on TV in the morning on Monday 9/12/22. They said that around 10 am, a 50-60 foot oak tree fell down on the Mine Hill Trail in Almaden Quicksilver, injuring 3 hikers. The hikers were taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries:
https://www.ktvu.com/news/three-people-injured-by-falling-tree-in-santa-clara.
Here's another report:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/hikers-hurt-almaden-quicksilver-county-park/3001004/
"Three women were injured Monday when an oak tree fell on them as they were hiking on a trail at Almaden Quicksilver County Park in Santa Clara County, an official said.
The women suffered "various injuries" and were transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Santa Clara County Parks Department Acting Chief Park Ranger Frank Weiland said.
Park rangers were dispatched to the park at about 9:53 a.m. for a medical call, according to Weiland.
Park rangers and police used a victim's cell phone to determine their location, Weiland said. They eventually found the women and transported them to the Hacienda trailhead, where additional medical assessments were performed before the women were taken to the hospital.
The section of Mine Hill Trail where the tree came down was closed for an assessment and debris removal, Weiland said. The trail was expected to reopen later Monday or early Tuesday." I wanted to investigate the accident site to see what trees actually caused it and if there were further hazards. Could it have been caused by drought stress or disease, like sudden oak death? Are more trees in the park in danger of falling down? On Saturday, 9/17/22, after finding out where the accident occurred, I took the least strenuous way to get there and surveyed the vegetation, both native and invasive, along the way. I also checked the interpretive signs and some of the historic sites. I was also scouting out sites for a possible memorial to Kitty Monahan. This is a virtual tour of my trip, showing views and points of interest along the way, with special attention on the plants and trees. Here are more of my pictures of Almaden Quicksilver County Park: http://www.newalmaden.org/#Pictures. Here's more information and maps of the park: https://parks.sccgov.org/santa-clara-county-parks/almaden-quicksilver-county-park. There have been tours of the historic areas of the park for many years. Here are some pictures I took in 2001 (pre-digital): http://www.newalmaden.org/AQSPark/VanTour/Vantour.html.
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