9/1-9/2:
Met with our bosses from Columbia and got approval to build
the S-turn puncheon that will complete the handicapped access
around Lake Placid. Re-planted “foot traffic only”
signs in appropriate places since we have rearranged the trail
use rotation.
9/6:
Came down and got some price quotes for the S-turn puncheon,
also tried to source specific trail signs. We headed out
early due to hurricane Frances.
9/9-9/10:
Hiked all the trails to find where all the downed trees were
after the hurricane. The trails were doing all right,
only a couple of trees down. Went out with a bow saw and
took out what we could. We decided to leave all the big
trees until after hurricane Ivan would come through. Then we
finished the tread on the Archery Range connector trail.
9/13-9/16:
Flagged a pretty large re-route of the Sulphur Springs trail,
this re-route will get rid of the fall line section of the
S.S. trail north of the road (that connects the Buckhorn gate
parking lot to the Mt. Creek trail). Reinforced our rock
creek crossing on the Mt. Creek trail. Frances washed
out a little section so we came back with about thirty percent
more rock and really made it solid. Started exploring
back side of the mountain for the first time. Explored
the very top part near the Firetower ruins, and went down to
the water easement at the bottom of the hill. The
terrain on the back side of the mountain is really nice, and
will make for some beautiful trails. Started painting
some new trailhead signs.
9/20-9/23:
Worked with an RBC insurance volunteer group on smoothing the
tread on the Mt. Creek trail. They brought out nine
volunteers and had a really good time. The trail looks
really good. Then we started in with the chainsaws.
Hurricanes Frances and Ivan took their toll on the trees in
the park, we had at least twenty five trees down across the
trail, so we hiked the entire system with chainsaws. We
also re-masked some of the Firetower trail (just to narrow the
tread back down, it was getting a little wide in spots).
Hiked around the Sulphur Springs trail and tried to figure out
where to sprout off for the re-route.
9/27-9/30:
Went to Home Depot and picked up the lumber for the S-turn
puncheon. Came back and painted trail signs for the rest
of the day. Organized our workspace and the lumber for
the puncheon. Cut all the lumber for the sub frame.
Went out and hiked all the trails (again) to see what trees
Hurricane Jeanne had knocked down. Only one tree down on
the Brissey Ridge trail. We cut that one out and then
scouted the Brissey Ridge re-route some more. Came to
the conclusion that Ty and Woody’s flag line was the best
option.