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Rock trail work Desolation Wilderness


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#1 pvstoy

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Posted 11 July 2021 - 02:06 AM

I was invited to backpack into the Desolation Wilderness to work on trail maintenance at Fontanellis Lake.  This is a section of the PCT and TRT.  The TRTA has the agreement to maintains the length of trail along the West shore of Lake Tahoe.  The 3 person paid work crew for the TRTA lost one person so I thought I would head into the back country for 4 days to volunteer and share some of my wisdom.

 

One section of trail has poor drainage and when the lake rises in spring the section holds water with dirt. I suggested a raised 6 to 8 inch rock causeway with ability for drainages between.  Even if it has water over the rock surfaces that will give the hiker confidence to walk on top but not in the mud. So after 35 rocks we had a raised sidewalk.

 

I was surprised as the volume of people doing the PCT.  Most gave gratitude for trail work and how nice the TRT section is compared to the PCT.

 

A quick summary of 3 people working.  First day was just getting there and hiking to a tool cash.  2 eight hour work day and last day 1 hour finish up and hike out. So 17 hours of trail work.

 

Drainages cleaned or maintained: Total of 15 drains cleaned or created, in addition to 3 waterbars cleaned

Structures built or maintained: Rock sidewalk consisting of 35 rocks and filled with approximately 15 dirt bags of rubble and cobble to allow drainage as well as one stair leading into rock sidewalk consisting of 3 rocks placed. Root stair maintained by placing 3 rocks in tread to make grade and create and easier passage through eroded section, a large rock was taken out above structure to reduce braiding. 2 of 4 stairs maintained and rehabbed by placing a total of 12 rocks (6 each) below each railroad tie stair.

Number of Fire rings dispersed: 2

Illegal campsites decommissioned: 4, including approximately 8 social trails leading to them to discourage the reopening of the campsites.

 

Cheers....

.

.

before walk.jpg

working walk.jpg


Edited by pvstoy, 11 July 2021 - 02:08 AM.

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Patrick

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#2 pvstoy

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Posted 11 July 2021 - 02:07 AM

Finished....

.

.

.

after walk.jpg

pano walk.jpg

..

.

 

 


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Patrick

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#3 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 11 July 2021 - 03:24 AM

Well done, Patrick!


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#4 craig333

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Posted 11 July 2021 - 04:51 AM

Nice work!


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#5 fish more

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Posted 11 July 2021 - 02:22 PM

Looks great, not a easy task!!


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#6 fuzzymarindave

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Posted 11 July 2021 - 05:20 PM

Good work.  Looks nicer than some landscape improvements on multi-million dollar residential properties.  Hopefully you don’t have to carry the stones too far. 


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#7 Mighty Dodge Ram

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Posted 12 July 2021 - 03:01 PM

πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘


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#8 ski3pin

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Posted 12 July 2021 - 03:13 PM

Very nice Patrick! Our little buddy Barking Spider and the mules have been cutting out trails from the huge blow downs the west slope suffered this winter. The USFS loaned him a husky with a 48" bar. It's very dangerous work with the root ball and the log dropping different directions and the log six to ten feet above the ground. The saw makes Barking Spider look small. Julie has not been able to get out and swamp with her recovering from the knee replacement. You've got to have good mules that are use to the noise and dropping trees.

 

Again, great work out there!


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#9 pvstoy

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Posted 12 July 2021 - 04:14 PM

Thanks all !!!... I like to make a pleasant trail experience with rocks :) .  There is lots of trails out there that need maintained to prevent tread failure.  Volunteers have been the best resource to do this.

 

Ski I did get a chance to put on my 36" bar on my bigger chainsaw and clear a 42" tree in the spring.  I have not done much cutting on the trail this year but some chainsaw training for some sawyers.  I spent 3 days clearing trees for new trail construction on Ward Creek reroute near Tahoe City.  If the West slope was not so much a drive from Carson City I would offer my services to Barking Spider freely.

 

Even though the tree is dead it can still reach out and cause you grief.


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Patrick

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#10 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 12 July 2021 - 10:29 PM

Very nice job Patrick.

A few years back we were camped at Crater LK NP.

On one of our walks we came across a crew doing stone work.

I was very impressed with the quality of work,and thanked them

for their work.

 

We have run across crews several times on our hikes doing some kind

of stone work. Great to have these crews out there improving our NF experience.

Thanks for the post.

Frank


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