Weekly Update

On Friday the crews completed the work on the Canyon Trail, it looks great. We moved over to the Skyline Trail on Saturday and were blown away just before quitting time but did get to see a double rainbow while hiking down. On Sunday we made it to the top, felt the wind push us around and then called it a day. Again we saw a rainbow on the way down. Never did see where that pot of gold was.

Plan for Trailwork

The weather for this week looks pretty good so far with highs in the 60’s, maybe even up to 70. Since it has finally warmed up the trailmaster will be moving the start time to 8:00 in the morning. There will be work parties on Thursday through Sunday, 8 till noon. We will also be meeting at the Trails Building at Westgate Parking lot (the Skyline trailhead off of Dallas Road) and then drive up to the summit.

The work we are doing is raking the gravel back on to the Canyon Trail. The gravel forms a hard layer protecting the soft dirt from wear, without it the trails would rapidly turn into gulleys. Over time as we use the trails the gravel moves to the downhill edge and the trailmaster would like to get it spread back across the trail. We will also be removing some rocks that now stick up in the trail. The ground is still nice and moist, it is a good time to be doing this. We will be using rakes and McLeods plus some picks to get the rocks out. We continually move along the trail so please bring a pack to carry your water and extra clothes.

The trailmaster will provide all the tools and even some homemade cookies at the mid-morning break. Volunteers need to bring work gloves, water, and snacks with a small pack to carry them, and dress for the weather forecast. Remember if there is a little breeze at home there will be much more on the top where we are working. There isn’t any work for preteens and younger – it is hard to keep them motivated for 4 hours. You will need to sign-up so the trailmaster can plan the work and bake enough cookies. Please let the trailmaster know that you are coming by sending an email to [email protected]

If you can’t make it this week, there will work parties every Thursday through Sunday into April to do some general trail maintenance along the trail system.