Unfortunately, John Nicholas passed away in 2001 in an accident. But his legacy lives on. This section of the John Nicholas trail is part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail and demonstrates the best in trail building techniques.
If you look up the trail towards what is called the "switchbacks" you'll see some tall rock walls bracing the trail up.
About 200 ft down the trail you'll see a rock arch over a stream culvert. All the rocks were quarried here at Sanborn County Park and moved into place with straps and block & tackle. Another example of this kind of rock work is the Mummy Mountain trail at Coyote Lake.
Check out this Mercury News article and the West Valley College park management program.