MANAGEMENT

If you’ve been out there recently, you’ve not doubt noticed the green collection box near the kiosk.  It relates to the transition from a hunting/fishing license or lands pass to a State-Park-style daily parking fee or State Parks Pass, which will be complete as of June 30^th.  More info to come. 

TRAIL MAINTENANCE

All the work we did over the winter has been very beneficial and things are looking great (there always going to be a few muddy spots).  We’re looking at some options for a few spots on Bimini, but otherwise volunteer works on existing trails should be fairly limited in the coming months.  Besides respecting trail closures, the biggest thing everyone can do to help is take the time to move a few limbs off the trail after storms.

TRAILHEAD

Gate – The automated gate is operational and is an incredible management tool.  Many thanks to ACOM for donating it and State Parks for working with us on the

More Parking – The additional 70-car lot is funded and the environmental survey has been completed.  We have an on-the-ground meeting with DNR this week to look at one small tweak.  After that, we’ll just be waiting in line for our contractor.

NEW TRAILS

Trail Solutions begin working on segment 18 (blue, bike-only gravity trail) this past Monday.  It should take about 10 weeks to build.

We need about $25,000 more to complete the green trails (turn Primary Goods into a loop and complete Bimini) and address a few problem areas on Bimini.  Please donate to help us get there.

MASTER PLAN

All of the new trails have been flagged and the environmental survey is underway (with good results so far).  As soon as the environmental survey is complete and we can officially add these trails to the Master Plan, we’ll put out more info on what exactly is being added and why.

Thanks for everyone’s support and hope everyone is getting to enjoy the trails a lot during this beautiful time of year!

This past Saturday, we had over 20 people turn out for the workday! THANK YOU! Because we had such good participation, we not only armored the lower 1/3 of The Bug, but we also got gravel in the problem areas on the upper 1/3. Because of good participation in the workday, we’re expecting to be able to open to The Bug this Wednesday. Also, because we had lots of people, toward the end of the workday we were able to send off a small group to handle some issues on Lonely Hunter.

This past Sunday, a small group armored the remaining problem spots on Primary Goods (with the exception of one area that likely needs some gravel).

This coming Saturday, we have 15 people from the officer school coming to volunteer. We’ll be working on the northern portion of the section of Lonely Hunter by the river (from Hub E to the old roadbed). We are hopeful we’ll be able to armor most of the problem areas.

This coming Sunday, we’re holding a public workday at 1:00 to resolve the remaining issues on South Bimini and anything remaining on Lonely Hunter. If we can get another good turnout, we should be able to finish our list of armoring projects for this winter. That would put all of the trail on equal footing in terms of being open and position us really well for any periods of dry weather in February and to have great trail conditions in March and beyond.

We’ll then focus to about 4-6 areas that need some gravel. I’ll explain more about that when we get there.

Absent getting surprised by trail conditions, we’re planning to open all trails sometime Wednesday morning through whenever the rain starts on Friday. However:

• please go real easy through the wet sections of Lonely Hunter and walk your bike up climbs rather than spinning your rear wheel. If we hammer them, it will make the work we need to do Saturday and Sunday take longer.
• BE CAREFUL ON THE GRAVEL AT THE TOP OF THE BUG. It will sink in and mesh with the soil quickly, but until then be aware and ride light.

Please be there this coming Sunday and please, please, please donate. We’re not going to be able to complete the green trails without everyone who uses the trails making a financial contribution.

This is an update about the outlook for the trails into early March and the trail work that remains to be done.

We completed drain clearing and a round of deberming a few weeks ago. Since that time we have been armoring. Armoring is fun and rewarding trail work, because if we do it right it’s pretty much permanent.

In their second winter, Primary Goods and Bimini are holding up relatively well and we hope to be able to open them along with Quality Time and Doughboy this weekend. The Bug and Lonely Hunter will remain closed pending the completion of a little more work.

Here’s what’s on the list. Please help us!

• Saturday 1.30 – armor about 6-8 low points on the bottom of The Bug. Please come help!
• Sunday 1.31 – armor about 6-ish spots scattered across Primary Goods, Doughboy, and South Bimini. We have a small group already committed.
• Saturday 2.6 – we have 15 people from the Second Division coming to help. We’ll make a big push on Lonely Hunter and hopefully finish everything except for the areas that need gravel (see below).
• Sunday 2.7 – use gravel to address about 6-8 areas at the very top of The Bug. Since there’s no natural rock up there, gravel will be the easiest. We’ll also try to clean up whatever we didn’t get to on the prior three workdays and maybe get some gravel into more remote spots. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

IF we get good participation all four days and get everything done, that should conclude a huge push to complete the necessary armoring (other than the gravel).

Once we complete these projects, then we’ll start working on the logistics of getting gravel to the places we can’t fix with low points and natural rock. Right now, that’s two (or maybe three) places on Lonely Hunter and a few spots on South Bimini.

After that, in early March we’ll take a pass or two with rogue hoes to clean up ruts and restore outslope as the trails start to dry and harden for the spring, summer, and fall.

PLEASE ATTEND WORKDAYS SO WE CAN GET THIS IMPORTANT WORK DONE AND THE KEEP THE TRAILS OPEN MORE. This work will impact how often the trails are open all year long and is a necessary part of constructing new trails.

Thanks for your support!

Please check out this short, ten-minute video about what projects we’re trying to raise money for this winter so we can build this spring. You can also find these projects laid on the donate page. Please watch, donate, and share with others so that we can get this done!

Many, many thanks to those that have come to workdays. We have gotten a LOT of work done the past few weeks. As the pandemic subsides this spring and summer, we’ll start doing some group photos at the workdays so everyone can see and thank the people that are helping out.

All grade reversals / drains have been cleaned and the trails have been debermed. We have a current project list that is mainly composed of areas on the section of Lonely Hunter by the river that need to be armored (as seen in the video below), the section of seeps on the new portion of Lonely Hunter, and The Bug (which may require some gravel). The plan is to see how the trails hold up over the long weekend and then finalize the project list for the next 6-8 weeks.

To complete the work that needs to be done to keep the trails in good condition and open frequently, we need your help. Please take the time to watch this video about trail maintenance (i.e., what you’ll be doing if you come to a workday) and keep an eye on Facebook and Instagram for upcoming workdays.

This is the last comprehensive update video we need to post. Promise that future videos will be of the 5-10 minute variety.

First, compliance with trail closures and requests to avoid certain sections of trail has been excellent and that is hugely appreciated. 

The reason for this post is that I owe everyone a better explanation of the issues.  We also need to set some accurate expectations for the next 8-10 weeks and communicate the degree to which participation in trail workdays will impact how much the trails are open. I’ll get a video with some pictures up soon, but here are the cliff notes.

What We’re Worried About

We’re not worried about your bike getting muddy or your feet getting wet.  What we’re worried about is loss of compaction.  To have sustainable and fun trails, we must maintain good soil compaction.  Using wet trails causes loss of compaction, and mud is the byproduct. 

You can see the effect of trail use as the seeps (discussed below) and problematic drains get muddier and muddier even through it’s not raining. What’s happening is that when we open the trails, trail users are causing a loss of compaction on those sections of trail.

Main Issues

1. New Trails – Even though the trails are compacted by machine as part of the construction process, it will take the trails a few years to become fully established, especially because . . .
2. Soil – In many areas, and without getting into soil science I don’t fully understand, there are some compositional imbalances in the soil that inhibit compaction.  Also, there is high mica content in some areas.  Neither of these soil characteristics will prevent us from having an outstanding trail system, and I’ll get into how they affect design and build decisions later.  However, where these conditions prevail, the trail will lose compaction more quickly, especially in combination with . . .
3. Abnormally High Rainfall – We opened the trails in the fall of 2019.  That December, we got double our average rainfall for that month.  For 2020, we are more than 20” above our average annual rainfall.  We normally get just under 47”, so 2020 rainfall represents a more than a 40% increase in normal rainfall.  What this means is that the property never had a chance to truly dry out this year, and we rolled into December with an already saturated property. Having a dry property heading into the winter is especially important because . . .
4. Seeps Caused by Terracing and Native Grasses – This is the least obvious but, other than abnormal rainfall, biggest issue. It deserves requires more in-depth discussion.

Seeps Caused by Terracing and Native Grasses 

I’m using the terms seep to refer to 6 foot and longer sections of the trail that remain wet long after the last rain. When you come across these extended wet sections of trail and look uphill, you’ll almost always see two things: (i) terracing (flat areas) or very gentle side slopes and (ii) lots of native grass.  The terracing causes water to soak into the hillside rather than run down it.  When the water soaks into the terrace, it then slowly seeps out the side slope below the terrace.  Native grasses similarly hold water on the hillside and slowly release it.

When you have the amount of rain we’ve had this year, the “sponge” created by the terracing and native grasses is already pretty soaked.  So, when you get 3” of rain like we had right before Christmas and then again on New Years, the hillside gets absolutely saturated and the seeps persist for a prolonged period after the rain.  This why after a few days the majority of the trail is quite dry, but some portions are still really wet.

This issue was avoided with trail alignment where possible, but it could not be avoided entirely.

Solutions

1. Time – Over time the trail will harden, and the seeps will create fewer problems with loss of compaction. 
2. Normal Rainfall – If the property could dry out over the summer and fall, then it would have the capacity to handle winter better.
3. Trail Work – This is what we have control over and it can have a huge impact on much the trails are open – not only during winter, but also during other seasons.

The Next 8-10 Weeks

For the foregoing reasons, the trails may be closed frequently the next eight-to-ten weeks.  However, if we are disciplined and protect the trails, we will see two benefits: (i) the trail time we get in during this period will be fun, because the trails will be in good shape and (ii) the trails will be in top shape much, much sooner this spring and will be closed much less this spring.

During this time, we are going to try to have trail workdays every weekend. The more participation we get, the more the trails can be open.

Happily, the benefits of armoring workdays are lasting and cumulative. The rock doesn’t go anywhere, and as we armor more and more of the problem areas, the trails will get and stay more and more durable and, as a result, will be closed less frequently in the years to come.

Very Generally, We’ll Be Doing Two Things During Workdays

1. Clearing Drains and Deberming – we need to clear leaves, pine straw, and other debris out of the drains (i.e., dips in the trail) and knock off the small berms that naturally develop on the outer edge of the trail from hikers, runners, and bikers using the center of the trail. This is required maintenance akin to changing the oil in a car, and must be done a couple of times each fall and winter. It helps the trail dry quickly and prevents problems areas from occurring.
2. Armoring – armoring drains and seeps that turn out to be problematic is the chief volunteer component of professionally built trails. During the construction process, it’s impossible to predict with complete accuracy where the problems will develop. When these problem areas reveal themselves over the course of a trail’s first few winters, they must be addressed by volunteers. I’ll get into the difference between drains and seeps and how we address them in a later post.

Given the factors set forth above and the high-level of trail use, there are a number sections that need to be cleared and debermed before we can reopen the trails. As soon as we can get that done, armor a few of the most problematic spots, and get some extended dry weather, the trails can be reopened. Please come to trail workdays to help this go faster.

What You Can Do to Help

I’ll do a separate post on this, but obviously the biggest two are respect trail closures and come to trail workdays. Workdays are posted on Instagram and Facebook.  Beyond that, riders can do the following

• if you are descending, slow down and ease through the wet area, and be especially careful to stay off the backslope, which will be softest area of the trail.

• if you are climbing, please don’t let your rear wheel lose traction and spin out, as this will cause deep ruts that hold water; this may mean you need to walk your bike up some sections  

Reasonable Expectations

There is no way to know with certainty, but my guess is that in future years with somewhat normal rainfall, the trails will do fairly well through December and a good portion of January.  But, the increased rainfall, reduced daylight, and lower temperatures of winter will have a cumulative effect so that the trails may be closed a decent amount in February and early March.  Fortunately, we have other trails in the area that handle winter much better.  

While we still get a decent amount of rain in March and into the spring, warmer temperatures and longer days help a lot. Additionally (and this is often overlooked but crucially important), when all the trees, grasses, and other plants start growing again in March, they will suck tremendous amounts of moisture from the soil. So, the trails should quickly regain top form in middle-to-late March.

I hope this helps everyone understand what is occurring and be patient with the trail closures. Finally, please come to workdays so the trails can be opened more!