Otero County

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Workday – February 15th!

What we’ll be doing: We will be working on the upper part of the Bridal Veil Falls (BVF) Trail repairing erosion damage and improving erosion control on the railroad bed.  We may have some heavy equipment available to help ditch cleanout and dirt moving.  Also, if approval is obtained in time, we will start a major repair/rebuild effort of a large erosion control structure that has significant damage — its been in place over 100 years.  Be sure to bring your own drinking water, sun protection, work gloves and sturdy boots. All tools will be provided. We plan to work until noon.

When/Where: Saturday, February 15th, 2014. Meet at 9am at the Harris Hollow gate area (directions below). We’ll walk downhill from there to the Falls and work areas. We have special permission from the private land owner to use this shortcut. We plan to work until noon.

Directions to the Bridal Veil Falls Upper Trail head from Hwy 82 in High Rolls (click this link for a Google map): The Harris Hollow gate is north of High Rolls. From Hwy 82 in High Rolls, turn north at the High Rolls General store onto Cherry Blossom Lane for .3 miles, the west (left) at the stop sign onto Cottage Row. Drive .45 miles and turn north (right) onto Fresnal Canyon Road and travel .9 miles to the upper trailhead on the left. This is also the location of the lower trail head of the Grand View Trail.

If you’ve never been to Bridal Veil Falls, this is a great opportunity!

Thanks!

If you need any additional information, please call 575-434-1949 (ask for Grady) or e-mail nmrailtrails@gmail.com

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JANUARY 2014 WORKDAY SUCCESS

It was another cool day at the Dog Canyon trail above Oliver Lee State Park main building. Everyone that showed was ready to continue our work from last month in getting the trail in good shape and ready for summer hiking traffic.

This month we had 14 volunteers show up ready to do some work. We had a bunch of regulars as well as 3 new faces in the crowd to include some younger, more able bodied airmen from Holloman willing to carry 5 gallon buckets of dirt (around 60 pounds each — a welcome and significant bit of help to us old guys!).

Once again, we were reminded of how steep and rocky this trail can be but the view is worth the extra effort in getting up there. We split into two groups, one led by board member Doug Holcomb and the other by our longtime dedicated volunteer, Glenn Fess. Both groups essentially dug up loose dirt where we could find it (out of view from the trail) and hauled 5 gallon buckets to the trail wherever it was needed to shore up the large rock “steps” along the trail. On the way down near the end of the workday, Doug and a few others cleared the loose gravel that accumulated at each trail switchback.

Some of our volunteers for the day

Again, Jeremy Evans, the Forest Service employee that has been joining us over the last several months made the long drive from Cloudcroft and brought all the tools we needed for the day.

Again, we feel like it was a very successful work day and we really appreciate everyone that participated. Next month we SHOULD be hitting the Bridal Veil Falls trail — more to come on that as always!

Rails-to-Trails crew heading up the trail

Our dedicated volunteers from Holloman hauling a bucket of dirt up the trail

Laura Letterman, John Reimer and Don Draney filling up one of the 5 gallon buckets with dirt

Great view of Oliver Lee State Park campgrounds far below

As always, we’ve got many more photos! Check them out on our official Flickr page!

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Workday – January 25th

What we’ll be doing: We will be doing repair and maintenance on the Riparian Nature Trail at Oliver Lee State Park in the Dog Canyon area. We may also finish some trail repair work that we started last workday (in December) on the lower part of the Dog Canyon Trail just above the park headquarters. Tools will be provided and as always bring plenty of drinking water, sun protection, work gloves and sturdy boots.

When/Where: Saturday, January 25th at 9am. Gather in the parking area of Oliver Lee State Park.

DIRECTIONS TO OLIVER LEE STATE PARK: At the intersection of US70 and US54 on the south side of Alamogordo (just west of the overpass), drive south about 8.7 miles on US54 and turn toward the mountains on the road indicated by the sign to the Park.  Travel about 4 miles to the Park headquarters.  Drop your passengers off in the parking area, but park your car just outside the gate to the parking area. Ignore the self-service fee station.

If you need any additional information, please call 575-434-1949 and ask for Grady or e-mail nmrailtrails@gmail.com