Port Hadlock WCC: Building a trail, We are pumped

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Building a trail, We are pumped

After a few weeks of site maintenance we were able to catch a break and build a trail for the Jefferson Land Trust. Our crew was pumped about being able to do this. Because we are a restoration crew we don't get many trail building opportunities. On Monday morning we met with Carrie, a corps member IP and from last years crew. The trail was already marked for us, all we had to do was put in the tread (easier said than done). Carrie also wanted us to build a split rail fence to keep cars out of the property. After our safety meeting we set to work building the fence. After we got the hang of it Owen, Evan and Zach went to begin cutting the tread for the trail. Colin and I stayed to finish up the fence. I was having a great time building the fence. The post hole digger and tamping bar were giving my arms a pretty good workout. By the end of the day we had finished the fence and were waiting for the concrete to dry before hanging the gates.
Zach and Evan did a good job putting a rough bench, and cutting tread and were at least halfway to the end of the trail. Come Tuesday we were all working on the trail. Zach and Evan were still roughing it out down to the creek while Colin and I were smoothing and tamping the beginning of the trail. We made good progress that day, but were slowed down due to some trail features that needed to be constructed.
Wednesday and Thursday were all about the finishing touches. We finished the trail all the way to the bottom and began a last round of tamping and leveling. We also had to move a lot of dirt to some of the corners to help decrease the slope and protect some large tree roots. We dug a giant hole in the woods off trail to get this dirt. 20-30 wheelbarrow loads later the trail was finished. We had a few things here and there to do, but it was time to add the finishing touch, and arrow pointing the direction of the trail at the trailhead. We made the arrow out of a tree root that we dug up. It made a perfect end to an awesome week of work.