Trail Maintenance on Old Bridle Path, 5/22/10

[Lava Lamp]

Saturday, May 22, 2010, was a beautiful day for trail maintenance on the Old Bridle Path that leads from the trailhead off Route 93 to the Greenleaf Hut on Mt. Lafayette. The New Hampshire Chapter of the AMC, which has adopted the Old Bridle Path, devotes a few days a year to keeping it the safe and beautiful trail that it is. The most recent day's effort was devoted to water bars. For clueless hikers like me, a water bar is any ditch, log or set of stones placed across the trail (usually diagonally) that drains runoff away so it won't erode the trail. A typical water bar looks like this:

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But water bars don't work if they get clogged with leaves, soil, rocks or other debris. Below is an extreme case of a water bar in need of help. The trail descends from the left. In the middle is the water bar. It's supposed to catch runoff and channel it away from the trail (toward the viewer in this shot). It's also supposed to drain a shallow stream that crosses the trail. But one of the rocks that had made up the wall of the water bar has fallen face forward into the stream, obstructing the flow. Leaves and muck have backed up behind it. Just a big hydrological mess.

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Trip leader Bill Darcy used hoes, hands and his engineer's instincts to maneuver the wayward rock back into place. After a little cleanup with a rake, this water bar was once again working the way it was supposed to.

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In April, a bumper crop of 16 volunteers removed just that number of blowdowns from the Old Bridle Path. For some reason the call to clear water bars generated less enthusiasm. But the four of us who showed up had a great time. Here's Don digging a clear channel in a water bar that had silted up:

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And here's Allie raking another water bar clean:

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More to come in a minute.

 

[cooperhill]

Great job. Bill is a great crew leader. I hope to get out with the AMC NH Chapter again in August when we do the rock step work.

Thanks for your work.

 

[Barkingcat]

Nice work and thank you very much for your help in keeping this trail maintained.

 

[Lava Lamp]

More on Trail Maintenance

This photo catches me in a rare moment of honest labor. Bill Darcy, in light of his many contributions to mankind, should be forgiven his choice of headgear.

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Volunteers treat the day much like a hike: you bring your pack, some lunch and lots of water. Everything else is provided by the AMC, including tools and work gloves. And like a hike, you give it as much energy as you want. For some the day lasted from 9 am to shortly after 4 pm, while others chose to leave sooner. All told, the group cleaned up more than 60 water bars, stopping at the stone stairs where the trail makes an abrupt left turn.

The day wasn't all digging and raking. When we came upon a log that was just right to include in a future water bar, we went to work to strip it of its bark to slow decomposition. Here's Bill taking on the task with a Swiss Army knife, a shovel and his gloved hands:

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And here's the finished product:

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One of the nice things about trail work is that everyone who passes by thanks you for your service. If that's not enough for you, volunteers earn credits toward cool rewards such as bandanas and t-shirts. If you're interested in giving trail work a try, we'll be working on the Old Bridle Path on two Saturdays in August. The job then will be repairing the stone steps mentioned above. Check out the notices of trail work opportunities in the chapter trip listings on the AMC website. Hope to see you there!

 

[audrey]

Here's another thank you. You know the water bars are effective when you hike into them right off the trail.

 

[Creag Nan Drochaid]

Waterbars on Lafayette

I have had the pleasure of cleaning those waterbars on occasion since I joined that crew in 1982. As Bill would no doubt tell you, that trail sits on subsoil of Conway granite. a large-grained granite that is unusually weak-bonded, meaning it erodes quite easily from frost action and hiker traffic. As the small angular pieces are deposited in waterbars during rainstorms, they lock together and are compacted by hiker traffic. Therefore the best way I know of to keep those bars working at design specs is to first loosen the sediment with a pick, then throw it onto the mound of earth on the downhill side of the waterbar with a long-handle shovel, which is by far the most ergonomically-designed tool for the job. I call it great-grampa's armstrong method of earthmoving. In fact, you can easily throw extra soil five yards or so downhill and rebuild the treadway.
Bill is indeed a good crew chief. Expect another chance at cleaning waterbars about next October.
By the way, my count of them from trailhead to that rock staircase at Deadass Curve is 88.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I have had the pleasure of cleaning those waterbars on occasion since I joined that crew in 1982. As Bill would no doubt tell you, that trail sits on subsoil of Conway granite. a large-grained granite that is unusually weak-bonded, meaning it erodes quite easily from frost action and hiker traffic. As the small angular pieces are deposited in waterbars during rainstorms, they lock together and are compacted by hiker traffic. Therefore the best way I know of to keep those bars working at design specs is to first loosen the sediment with a pick, then throw it onto the mound of earth on the downhill side of the waterbar with a long-handle shovel, which is by far the most ergonomically-designed tool for the job. I call it great-grampa's armstrong method of earthmoving. In fact, you can easily throw extra soil five yards or so downhill and rebuild the treadway.
Bill is indeed a good crew chief. Expect another chance at cleaning waterbars about next October.
By the way, my count of them from trailhead to that rock staircase at Deadass Curve is 88.

Hey, Creag,

Did we meet on the lower Greenleaf Trail on Saturday afternoon when I was completing a qualification hike?

The Conway granite also chemically weathers rapidly (grussifies) because of the high feldspar content and "fabric," which was probably a major reason that the Old Man collapsed in 2003. Grussifed Conway granite is also known as "rottenstone," highly priced for paving driveways and walkways.

Also, to whomever maintains the upper Greenleaf Trail, from the Flea to treeline, this heavily used trail section is in dire need of some serious trimming of the encroaching spruce/fir vegetation.

Finally, great screen name; I found a walk in the Cairngorms described at this link: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/carn-na-drochaide.shtml

Cheers, Dr. D

 

[cooperhill]

Here's another thank you. You know the water bars are effective when you hike into them right off the trail.

Truer words were never spoken. Just be careful on step pitches. I fell a** over teakettle trying to clean out outflows.

 

[Creag Nan Drochaid]

Aye, Dr. D.

Aye, Dr D, 'twas me you met descending Greenleaf above Eagle pass.
My screen name is the Gaelic for Craig of the bridges. When I walked the Cairngorms I was to the northwest of the walk you linked: Derry Cairngorm, Glen Echacainn, the Shelter Stone, Corrie Odhar, Faindouran, Glen Feshie, Strath Nethy, Glen Tilt, etc.
It was fun meeting you and the other Pemi Valley S&R people. Til next time...

 

[DynamiteSr]

Lava Lamp: thanks not only for what you and all other trail maintainers do, but also for this nice explanation, complete with photos!

 

[sierra]

I agree that waterbars are essential to the maintenance of any trail. I have for years had the habit of clearing waterbars on most trails that I hike, debri seems to collect at the runoff point causing backflow to the trail, a simple drag of the boot towards the woods cleans this problem right up and more people who hike should try to participate in this simple but effective on going maint. In addition I clear sticks off trails, I use my poles, hands or feet but I rarely pass junk on a trail with flicking it off. With the amount of hikers out there, this can make an impact if even some did these basic mait. steps.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

In addition I clear sticks off trails, I use my poles, hands or feet but I rarely pass junk on a trail with flicking it off.

I also flip sticks off the trail all the time with my trekking poles, pretending to "dangle" before putting shots on net; "he shoots, he scorrrrrrres!"

 

[Barkingcat]

I also flip sticks off the trail all the time with my trekking poles, pretending to "dangle" before putting shots on net; "he shoots, he scorrrrrrres!"

Next time I meet you on the trail, perhaps we can play some one-on-one stick flipping...?