February 12, 2013 > Loved to death Loved to death Submitted By Emily Hopkins Photos By Courtesy of Ben Yee In an act of love to combat the destruction of too much love, a group of Fremont teens and volunteers gathered on February 2nd to help restore the Mission Peak Trail. A victim of too much love of hiking, the trail has suffered from overuse and in desperate need of a facelift and repair. Ninth grade students from Irvington High School found out about the problem through classmate Alan Yee, whose father Ben is a member of the East Bay Regional Park District Trail Safety Patrol. The students and a local mountain bike club, supervised by Park Ranger Neil Spargur, placed rolls of jute and eco-wattle on areas damaged along Hidden Valley trail to Mission Peak; fencing and signs were installed to warn and inform hikers about the damage of off-trail shortcuts (called "bootleg trails") that cause erosion, damaging the fragile ecosystem and create ugly scars in the landscape. Marked restoration projects along the trail are showing positive results and park personnel are asking everyone to use the official trail and help protect the park. More volunteer opportunities to help save Mission Peak will be available soon. For volunteer opportunities in the Regional Parks, visit: http://www.ebparks.org/getinvolved.