April 16, 2013 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

APRIL 2013 WORKDAY SCHEDULED

With wonderful warm days upon us, what better way to celebrate than to join us as we makes repairs to another trail. This one is at an unusual location. Note the time change and the vehicle requirements.

WHAT: NMRTA Workday

We will be grooming the section of the Road Canyon Trail (T-234), from the West Side Road going uphill toward the Sunspot facility. Be sure to bring drinking water, sun protection, work gloves and sturdy boots. All tools will be provided. There’s work for all skill levels.

WHEN: Saturday, April 20, 2013. Meet at 8 a.m.; work until noon.

SPECIAL INFORMATION:

The work site is located some 18 miles or so driving south along the West Side Road from High Rolls (hence the early start time). The road is recommended only for trucks and similar rough road vehicles…not for the average city car. Therefore, we will be carpooling from the Tunnel Stop in High Rolls. Meet at 8 a.m. at the Tunnel Stop; park on either side, but not in front. We will have several pickups and other vehicles to take volunteers to and from the work site. If you have a pickup or similar vehicle and wouldn’t mind carpooling people, we would appreciate that. Our convoy to the work site will be led by the Forest Service.

This is an unusual chance to take an escorted tour through a part of the Sacramento Mountains that most people don’t get to see. If you can’t make the 8 a.m. meeting time, and have suitable transportation, join us when you can.

DIRECTIONS TO THE TUNNEL STOP:

The Tunnel Stop is located on Hwy 82 a short distance uphill from the High Rolls Store; park on either side, but not in front…they have some nice stuff in the Stop, by the way.

March 17, 2013 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

MARCH 16, 2013 WORKDAY

Getting in Even Better Shape

Wow what a wonderful day to work on a rail trail. Sunny. Warm. Lots of help. Twenty-four volunteers showed up, approximately half from Holloman Air Force Base. Nothing like having a group of strapping folks ready and willing to work. We claim that while helping us they are making themselves even more fit. We even had a 10-year old volunteer. Exciting. Maybe we have gained another young hiker. We had more folks than we were expecting, but the Forest Service brought plenty of trail working tools to keep everyone busy.

We concentrated on the Salado Canyon Rail Trail below High Rolls on CR A60. The Mexican Trestle up near Cloudcroft is more famous, but this trestle’s claim to fame is that you can walk on it and see and hear the tiny waterfalls from the year round creek underneath. You can see most of the trestle in the photo below.

Working at the Trestle Steps

One team enjoyed the soothing sounds while replacing the stairs leading down to the interpretive sign. The original 10 steps, installed in 2006, were not made of railroad ties, and even though they were treated periodically and are in an arid climate they still weathered poorly. We were able to reuse the 9-inch nails and the 4-inch wide side rails used in the original construction. Now fitted with new railroad ties the steps are in fine shape. If you mosey on down that way to the sign you can see in the right side of the photo, you can learn about the names of all the lumber that makes up a trestle.

41 Steps Staircase a Quarter Mile From the Trailhead

The second team hiked a quarter-mile to the 41-step stair case and replaced three steps. It’s not easy working on such a steep slope. Just carrying the equipment up the stairs is a good workout.

By the way hikers this is a good place to work on the cardiovascular aspect of hiking. If you can get up the steps without gasping and wheezing, you are doing good. The more hardcore hikers have been known to tread it multiple times.

Whacking Brush

Although it wasn’t planned, with such a large number of volunteers, a team was able to groom the seldom maintained quarter-mile trail past the trestle. They cleared brush from the trail bed, trimmed brush to make the trail a certain width, and filled in holes. It wasn’t easy. After years of low rainfall the ground is like concrete.

This section of the trail bed is a “trail to nowhere” since it ends at private property. (NMRTA hopes to change that in the very near future.) There is no actual End sign. [CORRECTION: Private property begins about 370 yards past the small broken trestle. ] The team cleared from the big trestle to about halfway to the end. So right now the trail is in unusually good shape for walking and sightseeing. Come on. Keep walking. Who knows what you might see.

Finally, another team helped the Forest Service “hide” access to some unwanted “shortcut” trails. Some of the trails you will see are not man-made. Cattle and wildlife trails crisscross the hiking trail and they have shown they can get up and down easier than two-legged critters. If you take one of those trails, you might find yourself going somewhere rougher and pricklier than you expected. So when there is a row of rocks or a shrub branch across a smaller path that means don’t go there.

At noon all volunteers dispersed. We hope that the same number show up next month at the next workday. News will be posted at this site about a week before the day. And don’t forget. Come out and hike the Salado Canyon Rail Trail before it gets hot.

February 28, 2013 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

WHAT A GREAT FEBRUARY 2013 WORK TEAM

The Hole That Started it All

This last workday began long before volunteers picked up hammers on February 23rd. Planning began in September 2012 after a Grand View Trail hiker and NMRTA member, reported a 5-inch hole in the trail immediately over a wooden culvert. It wasn’t big, but it was dangerous to hikers.

The wooden culverts, built to allow rain water to flow under the rail beds, were built by railroad workers over 100 years ago which makes them archeologically significant, so NMRTA couldn’t just hammer new boards on. After considerable review, inspections, and collaboration, the Forest Service allowed NMRTA to proceed with replacing the culvert due to it’s overall deterioration…as long as the replacement was identical to the original.

With that requirement in mind, NMRTA special ordered about 150 feet of 3 inch x 12 inch treated lumber and over 200 six inch nails. After delivery, handy NMRTA volunteers pre-cut the lumber. Two days before the workday, two volunteers braved the cold and frozen ground to deliver the lumber, dig up the culvert, and prepare the trench to accept the new culvert. The loan of a Forest Service Bobcat made the task so much easier.

On the workday, eight volunteer trail workers met at 8 a.m. at the lower trail head of the Grand View Trail. They made their way up-trail a quarter mile or so to the work site, accompanied by two pickups with tools and supplies. Talk about a neck ache! The pickup drivers had to back up over half the distance due to limited turn-around opportunities on the narrow railroad bed.

Working on Those Arm Muscles

The trail workers arrived at a very big trench and a pile of cut wood. Construction should have been simple. After all a culvert is basically a big, heavy box. However, it was too heavy to build in one piece so construction began with building one-half of the bottom and sides. That assembly, weighing about 300 lb, was inverted and set into the trench. After the second half was assembled and set into the trench, the two halves were spliced together and the roof pieces nailed into place. Yep, they brought out the big hammers to drive the 6-in. nails. In between all the cutting and hammering, a volunteer drenched the fresh cuts with a wood preservative. There were some sore shoulders by the time the last nail went in. Lastly, the handy, dandy Bobcat was used to cover the new culvert.

Tired But Happy Volunteers

And while the culvert construction was taking place, one volunteer was back at the entrance treating the entire stile with wood preservative.

By 12:15 pm, all work had been completed, the workers had returned to their cars and the Bobcat re-loaded on to its trailer. It had been a good workday. Cost of materials…less than $1000. Cost of manual labor from generous volunteers…priceless.

The trail is ready to be trod on so come on out to Grand View Trail and walk all over our work.