Guadalupe Mountains National Park, October 21-28, 2006

During the last week of October 2006, the CTTT returned eight volunteers to the highest mountains in Texas to volunteer at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. As always we had some challenging projects and great support from the National Park Service.

The rebuilding of the visitor center pedestrian bridge was the major project worked on by the crew. The bridge decking had failed due to the use of faulting composite decking material The trail tamers worked with two NPS carpenters to rebuild the bridge. Significant progress was made by completing two-thirds of the bridge during the week. Over 100 hours of time was spent working on the pedestrian bridge into the visitor center. The trail tamers removed the old decking material, rebuilt the supporting joists, pre-positioned new materials, and cut and installed new recycled decking materials.

The crew also worked on several trails during the week. On Monday, four members worked on trails in McKittrick Canyon by removing a large bolder from a canyon trail and by performing maintenance on the trails around the Pratt Canyon. On Tuesday, four members cleaned water bars on the Smith Spring trail. On Wednesday and Thursday, 5 members worked on the McKittrick Canyon Nature Trail to clear the trail of overgrown cedar, cat claw, and overgrown native grasses on the trail.

8/26-9/4/06: 13th Annual Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

13th Annual Central Texas Trail Tamers work trip to Rocky Mountain National Park
August 26-September 4, 2006 - by Jerome Collins, Executive Director

We left the "Y" between 71 and 290 in Oak Hill about 7:20a.m. with only Jerome Collins, Chris Argyros, Travis Caffee, Terence Donovan and piles of camping equipment in the van. John Shanks and Kathy Costello left earlier in the week to take the cooking equipment. Barbara Martinez drove her car with Dave Schneider for company. Bill Warren drove up earlier and Lin Risner drove directly from Marshall to Raton, NM where we met that evening and ate. We spent the night at Travis Caffee's family place near Cuchara, CO, arriving before midnight. Sunday, we drove into the Moraine Park campground at Rocky Mountain National Park about 3pm to find Lin Risner and Bill Warren pitching the cook tent with John and Kathy.



Thirteen volunteers working in two teams worked on three different trail projects in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). One team, Lin Risner, a forester from Marshall, Bill Warren from Georgetown, Chris Argyros with Americorps in Austin and originally from Troy, NY, Kathy Costello from Austin and Debbie and Ralph Ploeger from Grand Junction, Colorado, completed 92 checks and 6 drains on new trailbed for the Twin Owls trail opening in spring, 2007. And they did it in four days. There was some excitement on the first day due to a short hailstorm and the destruction of Bill's daypack by tooth and claw. A bear was suspected but not spotted.

Jerome Collins, this year's crew leader recruited John Shanks, a retired chef, restaurateur and caterer, as camp cook for a return engagement and bringing Kathy Costello with him. Terence Donovan a veteran of four previous Central Texas Trail Tamers (CTTT) trips to RMNP, Martha Davies, rock wall expert, returned, Barbara Martinez from Austin and fresh from the trip to Leadville, Colorado earlier this summer, Travis Caffee, native Austinite, Americorp member and youngest, and Dave Schneider, a CPA from LaGrange, made up the second crew. Working under Dan Ostrowski, NPS trail crew leader, this team worked on repairs on the "Bear Nymph Dream Emerald Lakes" trail.

The first two days Terence, Travis and Dave spent creating a rock lined drain for a wetland area to dry the trail that had been continually muddy. Travis was the mud diver, Terence was the voice of experience and Dave carried buckets of dry aggregate uphill. Jerome, Martha and Barbara tore out asphalt that had been used in the 1970's to stabilize the heavily used trail (600 visitors a day average in summer). They placed 2 log checks and a drain by tying them to the granite monolith on one side and to an existing rock wall on the downside using a carbide tip chisel, rock hammers and sledges. Dan O did the custom chain saw work and supervised.

Monday, visitors reporting a bear on a carcass up the trail caused Dan O to report it, call in a couple of rangers loaded for bear, and send a crew including Dave Schneider to move the carcass farther off the trail to prevent human-bear contact. The cow elk carcass had a broken neck and was very ripe.

Tuesday we woke to ice on the windshields. There was a communication glitch and the very able Ploegers, Debbie and Ralph, spent the day in camp waiting for the NPS crew leader to arrive. Lin, Bill, Chris and Kathy put in another dozen log checks and a drain on the Twin Owls-Lumpy Ridge project. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew finished the work they started, but Jerome, Martha, Barbara, Travis and Terence came to appreciate the buckets of dirt Dave Schneider had carried all day Monday. We also received some official looking hats, "NPS Volunteer" so we would look official when we directed trail traffic at the worksite.

Wednesday, both full crews were at work, with Jerome swapping places with Kathy for the day. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew moved higher to add a couple of checks to long pads, establish a new tool cache and bring in more logs.

Thursday, work went well with all hands on board and the Lumpy Ridge-Twin Owls crew completed their assigned task by day's end. The Bear Nymph Dream Emerald crew (working with honorary Trail Tamer, Eric the Irishman) started to create a photo opportunity bench using four very large boulders, Jerome, Dave, rock bars, skids and sledges. We tried to close off the worksite to hikers by re-routing the trail, but people found their way anyway. Martha, Barbara, Travis and Terence worked on a tricky set of checks and drains on a curve. That project called for 20 buckets of dirt and we were almost 1000 feet higher than where we had begun. The afternoon was marked by a report of Travis falling during a lunch-break rock climb and the arrival of thunder, rain and lightning as we quit and moved down the mountain.

Friday, since the Lumpy-Twin Owls project was finished, the Ploegers decided to leave instead of working at higher altitude. Bill Warren wanted to get back to meet an expected grand child. He drove with Terence Donovan so he could meet his daughter. Lin Risner left to celebrate his mother's birthday with her back in Marshall. The remainder of the Lumpy-Twin Owls crew, Kathy and Chris, joined the other team on the Bear & Bierstadt Lakes Trail to clean drains in the morning and block "social" trails, shortcuts, in the afternoon under the guidance of Dave Larsen, Chief Crew Leader for RMNP. Lunch and a nap were at the top of the slope looking out over Bierstadt Lake and a beautiful glacial valley.

Saturday was a free day. John, Kathy and Jerome broke camp, loaded the cook's van and the Shanks-Costellos left to see old friends in Colorado Springs. Travis had backpacked into the primitive camping area and arrived in time for supper Saturday. Jerome took pictures of the work the 2005 crew had done on Ypsilon Trail. Martha met her daughter at the Travel Lodge in Estes Park. Barbara went sightseeing. Dave and Chris hiked up Flattop Mountain and sent a picture to her father in NY. That evening Barbara, Chris, Dave, Travis and Jerome enjoyed a dinner in Estes Park. We did not refuel the van in Estes Park.

We left Sunday morning at 7:40 a.m. and arrived about 11:30 p.m. in Childress, Texas. About 9:30 pm, between Perryton and Childress, a deer standing on the opposite side of the highway, jumped between our headlights, breaking the grill. Eager to get back to Austin, we left about 6 a.m. Monday, Labor Day, to arrive in Austin about 3:30 p.m. Jerome and Michele Collins cleaned out the van and turned it in the next morning. Bill for the deer damage was $1056.48.

4/22/06: Convict Hill Quarry Park

April 22, 2006
Convict Hill Quarry Park, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot
On April 22, 2006 (It's My Park Day) numerous local residents, a couple of Scout troops and 3 enthusiastic Trail Tamers (Mary Zeitler, Stan Pascua and me) showed up at this great little park located near Oak Hill, on the southwest edge of Austin, TX.

The agenda for the day was to remove as much cut cedar and other brush as possible from the interior of the park where it was stacked in huge piles and left to rot for almost a decade. Members of the E-Corp division of AmeriCorp removed massive amounts of cedar during earlier workdays. All of this effort was being made to clear the park sufficiently so that a few trails could be put in for everyone to enjoy.

From 9am until 1pm, we dragged and stacked as much dead cedar as we could possibly move and, when finished, the stacks were nearly 50 yards long and about 6-8 feet high! When we finished for the day, all volunteers received a free t-shirt and other goodies.

The park has historic significance in that it was the original quarry for the stone that was used in part of the Texas capitol! There was once a railroad line running from the quarry that delivered cut stone to the capitol construction site. There are still some old stones in the park with bore holes from that time long ago. Throughout the park are numerous high mounds of rock and low-lying areas that tend to accumulate water after a rain. There's a high rock ledge running along one side and a thicket in the northwest corner. Near the center are several huge, OLD cedar trees and a variety of native plants throughout. It's really a pretty & peaceful setting!

A couple of short meandering trails had been put in place by the informal Friends of Convict Hill Quarry Park, but they asked for Trail Tamer help to determine the best placement of future trails. We suggested that they wait until all the brush is removed before attempting to put in more trails, and then CTTT will be glad to come back and help. Their next workday is June 10 so that would be a great opportunity to see this fine park!

3/2-6/06: Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

March 2-6, 2006
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Glen Rose, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot
On Wednesday, March 2nd, a small band of Trail Tamers converged on Fossil Rim Wildlife Center just outside of Glen Rose, Texas---about 1-1/2 hours southwest of Ft. Worth. At the request of Anne Bolte, Education Specialist at Fossil Rim, we were asked if we would come and share our expertise with them, and repair one of their hiking trails that had become too dangerous to use.

Upon arrival at Fossil Rim on Wednesday around lunchtime, Anne greeted us and showed us our accommodations. We unloaded our gear and took everything to our cabins. A bit later we were joined Nina & Cy Francis, who drove down from Ft. Worth to help after they found out about our project. The next day, we were joined by some local families and, later on, a couple of fellows from Dallas came to help and also talk to us about a possible project in their area.

We decided to look at the trail right away in order to see what needed to be done, so we grabbed a few tools and followed Anne to the end of the trail near our cabins. It was nearly impassible with all sorts of shrubby brush blocking the way, so several of the crew went right to work cutting a decent path. The rest of us headed down the trail to size up what else needed to be done...and there was plenty!

Numerous water bars sat in the middle of wide spaces where the trail used to be. The soil had washed away from them. Other parts of the trail were steep and slippery, while other sections were rocky and overgrown with low-hanging branches. Once we assessed the situation, we rolled up our sleeves and went to work.

The weather was perfect and we got a lot done that first afternoon. We could have continued, but it was late and our dinner had arrived. Anne ordered several delicious pizzas for us, including dessert! Yum! We enjoyed our meal and then discussed our plan of action for the following days. Afterward, everyone headed for the cabins.

Much time was spent replacing or realigning most of the water bars and putting steps in the steep, slippery sections. Steve Baker, Jim Schmidt, Alex Arreguin and Cy Francis worked hard on those steps and waterbars while Nina Francis, Debbie Galloway and Mary Zeitler were the lopper crew who made the trail passable. Alex, Debbie and I moved some big rocks at the other end of the trail, leveling it out where possible and adding steps to make it user-friendly. On Saturday afternoon we finished all we could do. Anne and one of the interns at the center, walked the trail and were amazed at how much work we had done and how much better and safer the trail looked!

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, Anne and her staff had breakfast ready for us and when noon rolled around, they brought us lunch. When each day ended, they prepared a mighty fine dinner as well! On Sunday, before heading back to our homes, we were treated to breakfast at the Fossil Rim Café© and were given a terrific “behind-the-scenes” tour of the entire wildlife center and it's array of animals!

If you've never heard of Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, it's a research and educational facility dedicated to protecting and maintaining scores of animals from around the world that are either extinct in their native lands or on the verge of extinction. The center maintains a captive breeding program that seeks to gradually increase the number of these magnificent animals so they may eventually be returned to the wild. This is a wonderful place to visit and to learn more about!

2/17-20/06: Bustamante, Mexico

February 17-20, 2006
Bustamante, Mexico - by Philip Russell
Over president's day weekend, ten trail tamers returned to Bustamante, Mexico. Bustamante, a charming little town older than San Antonio, is just 90 miles south of Laredo. In addition to offering challenging trail work, it has a mountain overlooking the town, springs on the order of Barton Springs, some fine 19th century architecture, pastries, and a distillery producing the local brew known as mescal. Our task was to upgrade a section of mountainside trail leading to a large cave that forms the heart of Bustamante's eco-tourism program. The work is challenging since all the plants are well equipped with thorns, large rocks abound, and soil is a scarce commodity to be sought out and brought back to the site in plastic buckets.



Fortunately, out previous work on the cave trail had weathered last year's hurricane that hit the area. We built on our previous work, filling, hauling, dragging, etc. and left the trail in even better condition for the anticipated rush of visitors over Easter. The Trail Tamer contingent was one of several work projects occurring simultaneously to enhance the cave. All projects were organized by the Texas Speleological Association, which also organized a variety of activities for participants on the second day of our stay.

On the second day, some of us went about 20 miles north to the small town of Candela, where we were greeted by the mayor who took us to a canyon being developed as a park. The tour included a scramble up a hillside to visit a mine that intersected a cave. The mine is no longer worked for its ore, but the bats inhabiting the complex do leave abundant guano which is collected, bagged, and then sold as fertilizer.
A second option involved an extended drive across the desert west of Bustamante. After passing through deserted ranch communities, participants arrived at the Chiquihuitillo Rock Art Site. There, under the shelter of overhanging cliffs, are dozens of Indian rock paintings. Little information is available as to who made the paintings, or when the many geometric shapes were painted.

A third excursion involved a scramble up the canyon at the foot of the mountain where we did the trail work. This excursion provided a good chance to observe desert vegetation and experience hiking along a trail built not for recreation but to carry ore from the mine to the rail line. At the end of the trail was yet another mine-cave complex. (The area is so full of caves that it's hard to open a mine without encountering a cave).

On our last night we had a banquet organized at the funky hotel where we stayed. The following morning we drove back to Austin, after touring the local mescal distillery.

2/17-20/06: Davy Crockett National Forest

February 17-20, 2006
Davy Crockett National Forest - by George Boemerman
Friday morning, the 17th of Feb., Steve Baker, George Boemerman, Bo Bosarge, Ray Fore, and Chuck Lundstedt rendezvoused at the Ratcliff Lake office of the Davy Crockett National Forest with Pearlie Green and Merlinda Schory, the trails maintenance supervisors at the forest, to plan and prepare the weekend's workload.

Pearlie and Merlinda had selected 5 bridges to repair so we drove to those sites to determine the extent of work, plus the tools and materials required. We then drove to the forest's work area and prepositioned the lumber, materials and tools on the work trailers so we'd be ready to go the next morning.

We decided to break into 2 teams, possibly 3 depending on how things worked out, with Steve Baker and Ray Fore as our construction team leaders. Note that Steve Baker briefed us on the trail bridge construction and repair procedures he found in a National Forest publication and they proved quite valuable. Great job, Steve.

That evening Janette Barlow and Terence Donovan of the Trail Tamers arrived, plus 4 AmeriCorps members: Leslie Huvler, Brandon Kiger, Scott Voorhees, and Chad Wilbur. Chuck brought a pickup load of good firewood so we had great campfires, and that night Chuck and Ray prepared gumbo for us.

Saturday morning we awoke to find the forest frozen over. Since we had selected the overflow campsite with its covered pavilion, we were able to prepare and eat breakfast in relative comfort. Then off to the woods we went. Since the bridges were frozen over, we could not walk on them (too slippery) so we had to do most of the work from the sides.

In the afternoon it thawed so we were able to complete laying the bridge treads. By the end of a long day we were able to complete all 5 assigned bridge projects. Again, Saturday night we had a great and welcome campfire. The camp host had prepared it in advance for us. Steve Baker prepared a wonderful and warming dinner of jambalaya. Pearlie Green joined us along with the 4 camp host families who also prepared dishes for all to share. It may have been a bit chilly but it did not dampen our spirits one bit. Around the campfire we planned the next day's work (3 additional bridge repairs) and the next day we finished those.

The entire weekend was damp, cold, sometimes freezing but we all had a good time (we must be a bit nutty) and were able to complete all tasks safely and in the usual Trail Tamer professional fashion. We all noted the spirit, work ethic and teamwork of the AmeriCorps folks. A great group, we would take them on any trip.

1/21/06: Bamberger Ranch Preserve

January 21, 2006
Bamberger Ranch Preserve, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot
On a fairly cool and overcast January morning, 15 Trail Tamers from Austin, Round Mountain, Wimberley and as far as Laredo(!) made their way to the beautiful Bamberger Ranch Preserve near Johnson City, Texas. We came for the purpose of modifying the trail to the Chiroptorium (J. David Bamberger's man-made bat cave) and repairing several other nature trails nearby.

We gathered in front of Hes' Store (a unique replica of an old general store) and waited for Steve Fulton to bring the Bluebonnet trailer to transport everyone to our appointed tasks. We were joined by 7 other people who traveled from Blanco, San Antonio and Dallas upon hearing about this project from the Bambergers.

Steve dropped us off at the bat cave and we promptly sized up the situation and then set to work trimming vegetation, widening the trail, and reinforcing it with numerous large rocks. In order to get more tasks done, Steve took about half of the crew to two other sites where they went to work putting in steps near the creek, clearing overgrown vegetation and making other necessary repairs.

When we had completed much of what we had set out to do by that afternoon, we rounded everyone up and hopped back on the Bluebonnet and headed to Hes' store where refreshments were waiting! We were treated to a fine "snack" of tamales, beans, chips and salsa prepared and served by J. David Bamberger with his assistant, Colleen Gardner, helping. As always, we enjoyed the camaraderie and listening to J. David's stories, and are looking forward to the next time!