December 9, 2013 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

DECEMBER 2013 WORKDAY SUCCESS

We were reminded on Saturday why we normally take December off for the volunteer work days! This one was a bit different though simply because it was our rescheduled work day from our November cancellation (if you remember, it was due to the wet weather). Anyhow, we had a breezy, cool and successful work day this month up the Dog Canyon trail.

We worked over a mile and a half distance of the Dog Canyon trail above the Oliver Lee State Park main building. We were extremely fortunate to have 19 volunteers! Eight of us were regulars but we were very happy (and fortunate) to welcome an addition 11 young(er) airmen from Holloman! All I got out of them were that they were cops from base (Security Forces or Security Police? I always get them mixed up) and that their Flight Chief “encouraged” their participate. Well, thank you Flight Chief, whoever you are, and sincerely — thanks all of you that came out. You were a huge help!

The trail was pretty steep and rocky in many places, but the view was great! We managed to make a whopping 61 trail and water bar repairs throughout the mile and a half of trail (we think it was actually 60 repairs but our board President felt no one would believe such an even number so we rounded up a bit — you’d think he used to write EPRs (performance reports) in the Air Force!)

The weather was pretty cool but everyone seemed dressed well for it. Some of us unfortunately worked a side of the mountain that caught most of the breeze but later in the work day the sun started to finally break through the clouds and warmed us up a bit.

Most of our volunteers for the day (to include the motley crew from Holloman!)

Jeremy Evans, the Forest Service employee that has been joining us over the last several months faithfully showed up again and brought all the tools we needed from the Cloudcroft station.

One interesting bit about this trail is that two of our volunteers (one of which is a Rails-to-Trails board member as well) Doug Holcomb and Glenn Fess actually BUILT this trail way, way back when they were younger and more physically fit men (was New Mexico even a STATE then? No one knows for sure)! I don’t know Glenn’s past experience first-hand with the trail but I know Doug is a veteran Forest Service employee and he told me about his early years working on the very trail we were repairing.

Again, we feel like it was a very successful work day and we really appreciate everyone that participated. We hope to see you all again next month!

Rails-to-Trails crew heading up the trail

Those buckets are about to get heavy once they’re filled with dirt!

Building a much needed water bar across the trail

Great volunteer spirits even in the cold!

Great views from the trail even in the gloomy weather.

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

October 31, 2013 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

OCTOBER 2013 WORKDAY SUCCESS

Another successful work day down! We had 14 volunteers show up to the Grand View Trail ready and willing to get some needed maintenance crossed off our list.

Luckily, the good ol’ government shutdown ended just days before the work day so the Forest Service was back open for business and were able to supply tools and their monthly volunteer.

We did a temporary fix on a sinkhole located some 200 feet or so down hill from the wooden culvert we replaced last February. Our fix and fill ensured that the tread is safe, but probing indicates that a good sized cavity may still exist underneath. We’ll probably need to get some motorized digging equipment out there in the future to investigate further.

We corrected a maverick drainage situation that had developed during last summer’s heavy rains at the culvert we replaced last February. The drain now feeds into the culvert as planned.

We filled in about 20 feet of a large ditch that was washing away part of the railroad bed and built a major water bar to protect the bed from future damage. A lot of rocks and dirt had to be moved to get this repair done and required the effort of the entire work crew for a major part of the work time. It was a big accomplishment!

A small water bar was built at the top end of the “cut” located on the upper end of the Grand View Trail. There may be some additional attention required in the future to a few other water damaged locations.

Finally, on our way out, we repaired a rock step near the start (or end depending on which direction you’re heading) of the trail.

Getting ready to head up the trail

There was quite a bit of work to be done and our volunteers did a GREAT job! Thanks to all of them again and we hope to see you next month!

We had a small welcoming committee greet us on the trail

Hauling rocks!

No time to admire the view!

For more great photos of the day, please check out our official Flickr page!

October 15, 2013 by New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association

SEPTEMBER 2013 WORKDAY SUCCESS

We had another good turn out on our monthly volunteer work day! Again, we had 18 volunteers helping make the Bridal Veil Falls trail a nicer place to visit! We met up at the Harris Hollow gate and hiked in using a little shortcut that has been made available to Rails-to-Trails members only on volunteer work days. Heather Burman, the Forest Service representative, met us with all the tools and drove down and parked near the bottom of the access road. Heather took two volunteers and met up with Debi Maucione at the Switchback trail area to clear some fallen trees while the main crew work around the Bridal Veil Falls area.

A bunch of brush was cleared from beneath the falls area and several water bars were placed across the ramp leading up to the shelter area. The steps leading up to the shelter were cleared of mud and debris.

A couple of water bars were built across the trail uphill from the falls and a major water damage repair was done on the bypass immediately up trail from the Pinto site.

Water bar crew!

Surprisingly, most of the trails in the area were in pretty good shape considering the recent excessive amount of rain! Thanks again to all our volunteers and we’ll see you next month!