Our 2010 Fall Trail Maintenance is Over
From our Trail Master, Jim Langdon, on 11/24/10:
It should be no big surprise that I am calling the Badger Mountain trail work season completed. The ground is now frozen, so not much more can be done. I had hoped for a few more work parties, but we did get a lot completed.
Last Saturday was our last big work party. We placed all the rocks we had staged and on Sunday a small group completed lining the last 60 yards or so. Now the Canyon Trail is lined with rocks all the way to the lower bench. We had mechanical problems with the Badger Buggy, so we did not get gravel on the reworked trail, but that can wait until spring.
Now for the stats. I logged 79 volunteers working 1062 hours. We moved an estimated 40 tons of rocks and 30 tons of gravel in 10 work parties. Russ Treat and Gary Weible, with help from Hector Jimenez and others, completed the last half mile of the Skyline Trail over the summer. Ken McMillan and Kent Richert and others started working on the new Badger Tram in August, completing it in October. John Friley, Keri Moe, Kathy Nye, Kent Richert, Bill Gurwell, Ken McMillan, and Ray Meriman were each out several times helping with the trail work this fall.
Have some happy holidays and rest up. We will start again in the spring, finishing the Canyon Trail and then working our way up the Sagebrush Trail.
A big THANKS to all!
Jim Langdon
P.S. You can see what we were up to in the story, below.
Fall, 2010
The Friends of Badger Mountain will be doing a lot of trail work this fall, and we could use your help.
Maintenance is an ongoing effort for the trails on Badger Mt, especially given the tens of thousands of hikers who enjoy the trail each year. That's a lot of feet! If you'd like to help out, we'd love to have your help.
We will have work parties every weekend and also during the week, until the weather gets too cold and the ground freezes. Trailmaster Jim would like to know if you plan to come, so he can plan the work. Call him at 943-3992 or drop him an e-mail and let him know what day(s) you could work. You can come late and leave when you want, but it would be best if you show up by 9 AM to hear what the day's work will be. We will meet near the restrooms in Trailhead Park. Jim is also looking for volunteers who can work on weekdays for tasks that cannot easily be done on busy weekends, such as repairing the steps. Please let Jim know if you can work some weekdays.
Bring gloves, snacks and water, and dress for the weather. Tools will be provided. If you have a work or church group that would like to help out, special work parties can be arranged. If you would like to be on Jim’s trail-work e-mail list, send him an e-mail asking to be added to his list (this is separate from the Friends of Badger e-mail list).
Note: Part of the Canyon Trail may be closed when repairs are in progress, but the Sagebrush Trail will remain open. So you'll be able to start up the Canyon Trail from Trailhead Park, but at the top of the steps you'll be detoured onto the Sagebrush Trail. This will be just like road work, with detour signs posted, so please help us by heeding the signs.
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And while we're thanking you for the help you might provide, we'll say THANK YOU to REI for their generous support for this project. They have given the Friends of Badger Mountain a grant that will pay for the tram, rocks, and gravel that is needed to complete this project. Thank you all! |
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| Here's the story of what we plan to do this fall. You can click a photo to see a larger version. | |
| 1) We built a tram near the base of the Canyon Trail to haul rocks and gravel up the first steep part, to just above the steps. We will then make stockpiles near the junction of the Canyon and Sagebrush trails, and move the material to where it is needed using the Badger Buggy. |
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| 2) We will then use these rocks and gravel to line the lower edge of the Canyon Trail. Once the rocks are in place, we will level the trailbed and regravel. These rocks are not being placed for looks. They are needed to keep the downhill edge of the trail from crumbling away and the trail from becoming wider and sloped, as you can see in the picture of the Canyon Trail. |
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| It has been much easier to maintain the trail section that we lined two years ago. Here's an example of the work we did then, laying rocks along the side of the trail. |
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| Here's how it looked when the rock-laying work was fiished. |
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| 3) We will also be reworking the 41 steps at the start of the
Canyon Trail. The landing at the bottom of each step has been gradually worn away, resulting in some of those
tall steps we now have. We will rebuild the landings to make about a 7-inch drop,
similar to steps you normally use. We will also reinforce the landings and widen the narrow spots. 4) Finally, near the top of the Canyon Trail there is a spot where the trail is worn into a gulley. We will rebuild this 150-foot section and add in some drainage to keep it from happening again. |
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