1/10-11/04 Bamberger Ranch Preserve Trip Report

January 10 & 11, 2004
Bamberger Ranch Preserve, Texas - by Lynda DeGroot

Some mighty fine weather greeted 22 Trail Tamers who ventured out to this wonderful place near Johnson City. Several members drove a long way just for the privilege of working on the new Turkey Hollow Trail that has been created in a portion of the preserve that we hadn't seen before. One person drove in from Sequin, another drove all the way from Laredo(!), while others came from Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Buda and, of course, Austin. We were even paid a visit by a member from Lampasas whom we haven't seen in a while.


When everyone had gathered in front of Hes' old General Store on Saturday morning, our hosts for the weekend (Colleen Gardner and Steven Fulton) told us where we were going and what kind of work we would be doing. Then, after a brief tool safety talk given by our president, Dave DeGroot, we boarded the "Bluebonnet" for our short jaunt to the worksite.

Upon arrival at the site, we grabbed our tools and began the task of carving this new path through thick stands of immature cedar. Chainsaws were wailing as their operators followed the flags marking the route through the heavily wooded area, cutting trees or branches that were in the way. The rest of us followed, trimming back smaller limbs and cutting in the trail tread where necessary. Several members built large rock cairns to help people locate the trail in open areas where it could easily be hidden by the tall grasses. Unfortunately, one of our newest members took a spill and hurt his shoulder but he continued working.

After we finished for the day, Colleen, Steven and his wife prepared a fine feast of tamales, ranch style beans, chips & salsa. Most of the crew headed home afterward, but nine members stayed the night and were planning to finish the rest of the trail the next day. We camped near the old general store since it has a bathroom, and we built a great campfire under a big oak tree. The sky was clear and the stars were awesome!

The next day, we were up early and ready to go after a quick breakfast. This time we drove a couple of vehicles to the other end of the trail to start working on it. When quittin' time rolled around at about noon, I was told that, in all, we completed a little over half of the trail, which is more than a mile long. After saying our goodbyes to Colleen and Steven, we headed home.

11/03 Copper Breaks State Park Trip Report

November 6, 2003
Copper Breaks State Park, QUANAH, Texas - by Galen Stewart
The second Copper Breaks S.P. work trip was made in early November. We all arrived at the park by Thursday afternoon and set up the camp. On Thursday evening, the sky opened up and we had over an inch of rain. As a result of the rain and muddy trail conditions, we had to alter our initial plans to work on the trail in the northwest end of the park. Instead, Fred Winkler and Chuck Lundstedt worked with Rick Morrison (a.k.a. Ranger Rick) in clearing the Rocky Ledges trail while Mary Zeitler, Ray Fore and Galen Stewart began to make several new directional and informational signs.

On Sunday afternoon, we walked the Bull Canyon Trail with Rick. He showed us the area of the park where future trail work is needed. On Sunday evening, the park staff prepared hamburgers, etc., as a thank-you for our weekend's work. Both the park manager, Dave Turner and Rick again expressed their appreciation for our work and said they would contact Lynda to request additional Trail Tamer help in 2004.
On Monday morning, we headed back to our homes with the feeling that we had again made a positive contribution to the maintenance of one of our State Parks and also had a very positive work experience with the staff.

10/18-25/03 Guadalupe Mountains National Park Trip Report

October 18-25, 2003
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX - by Bill Kemp and Derly Rivera
On October 18, Trail Tamers returned to Guadalupe Mountains National Park for the ninth year. We met at the Ship on the Desert (a former Exxon executive’s vacation home) late in the afternoon and settled in while Derly prepared his specialty stew. Sunday morning we got up early so that the backcountry crew would have plenty of time to drive to Dog Canyon and then hike up to the Mescalaro campground, which needed significant maintenance. The members of the backcountry crew were Derly Rivera (leader), Jack Graham, Del Grosenheider, Bob Saegert, Louise Stahl, and Chris Zielinski.
Although the crew at the Ship had intended to make Sunday a day of leisure, Tony Armijo, the Park’s trail supervisor, asked us to work that day because of the damage done to the trails by a 5 inch rain the week before we arrived. The Park personnel assisting us were Jack Kincaid and Javier Godinez. The Ship crew (Bill Kemp - leader, Randall Bosarge, Margaret Hill, Marianna Hobbs, Jim Reed, Jim Robinson, Jack Smith, and Mary Zeitler) spent the first part of the week rebuilding the Frijole trail through numerous washes. We moved monster rocks into position on both sides of the former trail and then filled the middle with rocks and soil. Unfortunately, we did not have our rock carrying chains with us. Carrying large rocks is dangerous work, but we only had one minor injury. During the latter part of the week we replaced the soil that the storm had washed from the trail tread. This involved finding soil away from the trail and carrying it in buckets to the trail. Finding large quantities of soil was a challenge. We also installed water bars using cedar that the Park had purchased. We commented that in the Hill Country we don’t BUY cedar.

We saw lots of wildlife during the week, including mule deer, coyotes, javalina, jack rabbits and quail. After taking a nap, Bill looked up into the tree above him and saw a strange object, which turned out to be a large porcupine. Several birders in our crew reported seeing many different species.

Bill handled the meals at the Ship while Derly organized meals in the backcountry. The Ship crew enjoyed shrimp scampi, beef brisket, grilled chicken, lasagna and Texas chili. Allan Weber, you should have been on this trip!

The traditional Friday evening party was moved to Thursday evening after we learned that Friday was a day off for the Park employees. Tony Armijo, Jack Kincaid and Javier Godinez represented the Park. The Park personnel presented a cake honoring CTTT for nine years at Guadalupe Mountains. We also received t-shirts and patches. We stayed up rather late trying to outdo each other telling stories.

On Friday, our day off, Tony arranged for Ranger Frostie Bennett and Carol, a volunteer with 30 years caving experience, to take us on a guided tour of Slaughter Canyon Cave. We used flashlights to wander through the cave, which has many delightful formations. Two strips of plastic tape on the bat guano floor marked the trail. We saw large stalactites “growing” on a bat guano floor. Bats have been in the cave for 10’s of thousands of years

During the week some of us met the biologist and the geologist for the Park. We showed some rock samples to geologist Gordon Bell, who told us what they were and explained in broader terms the geology of the Guadalupe Mountains. He offered to make a presentation to our whole crew on our next trip.

After leaving the Ship on Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the Nickel Creek Café, owned by Jack and Jo Kincaid. Earlier in the week, we had met Jack’s wife, Jo, when we stopped by for a couple beers at the café. Also having breakfast were several members of the Sierra Club crew that would be working the next week. In fact, one of our members, Jack Graham, was also going to be taking part in the Sierra Club service week. We kidded him about the fact that he would have two weeks of trail work, good food, and great company except that the first week would cost $90 while the second week would cost $395.

Mescalero Campground Report - By Derly Rivera
On Sunday, October 19, after a five-mile hike from the Dog Canyon trailhead, the CTTT six- member crew pitched camp at the Mescalero Campground in preparation for the week’s work. Water and a camp stove were brought in by Jack Kincaid and his mule train. Roger Muniz, the campground ranger, was assigned to work with us for the week. A central kitchen served two hot meals daily, with hot desserts being a special treat at the end of the day!

Adjusting quickly to the 6400 foot elevation, we began clearing trails to the campground and removing rocks from the designated tent sites. At one site, a rock estimated at close to 1000 pounds was unearthed and removed. This task alone took about four hours to complete. The major work was finished Wednesday afternoon with minor cleanup done on Thursday morning.

The crew hiked out Thursday afternoon, with five people taking the McKittrick Trail out. The crew welcomed Jack’s offer to take our backpacks out on his mules.
At the “Ship”, hot showers and bunk beds ended the day for a tired crew. Thank you, Chris, Jack, Bob, Louise, Del, Roger, and Jack.

8/2-9/03 Gila National Forest Trip Report

August 2-9, 2003
Gila National Forest - by Dave De Groot

Congress established the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in 1978. Efforts to complete the 3100-mile route from Mexico to Canada have been ongoing ever since. This year CTTT assisted in that effort by constructing a new section of the CDT in the vicinity of Black Peak in the Gila National Forest. I hate to brag but this was one of the best trips I ever led. The campsite was SWEET, situated at 7950 Ft (according to the GPS) among a stand of tall pines and aspens. The air was filled with the aroma of the trees and hummingbirds flitted around the campsite attending to the numerous wild flowers. In the evening we communed around the campfire to ward of the mountain chill. Meanwhile, Austin sweltered in 100+ degree heat. We visited the Signal Peak fire tower and on our Friday play-day, we toured the Gila Cliff Dwellings, which turned out to be well worth the 2-hour drive from Silver City. Oh yeah, we did some trail work too. The Forest Service crew was a lot of fun and we worked well together (see pictures). The District Ranger and Recreation Manager even came out to inspect our work and were obviously impressed since they paid for our fee at the Cliff Dwellings. Do not despair, however, if you missed this one because we are already planning a return trip for next year.

7/4-15/03 Bridger-Teton National Forest Trip Report

July 4-15, 2003
Bridger-Teton National Forest - by Lynda De Groot
During the first part of July, 17 adventurous Trail Tamers made their separate ways to Bridger-Teton National Forest in beautiful Wyoming where we put in a brand new section of the Continental Divide Trail. From our rendezvous at Turpin Meadows Campground, we hiked in about 10 miles and camped in a meadow next to the South Fork of the Buffalo River in a scenic area east of the Grand Tetons and south of Yellowstone NP. This was the first time the Trail Tamers had ever ventured that far from home, and the trip was well worth it!

Such a widespread and diverse group! Our founder, Allan Weber (now in Rockport, TX), arrived with co-founder Larry Krenek, now in Sandy, Utah. Mikel Schoelen drove in from Boulder, CO; Raylene Welch & Bob Weglarz came from Smithville; Janette Barlow drove from Wimberley, and the rest (Bart, Debbie, Stephen & Lee Bratcher, Susan Kleinman, Hilary Dyer, Jerry Levenson, Jim Reed, Jerry Smolinsky, & Richard Viktorin) all came from Austin.

It was a very scenic but LONG hike to base camp, and I discovered the hard way that I'm not in the best condition. I ended up riding the ranger's horse part of the way with the wranglers and pack mules, but it gave me an opportunity to see a grizzly bear! I was intrigued when the lead wrangler stopped the pack train and talked to the bear in a loud voice, followed by whooping and hollering. The bear puzzled over us briefly then went on its way. When we arrived at base camp, fresh bear tracks were on the riverbank near the camp kitchen but it never returned to bother us, or our supplies. After unloading our gear and the bear-proof panniers containing our food, the wranglers left. The kitchen equipment was already in place so when the rest of our crew arrived, we located our packs, set up our tents and enjoyed a great dinner prepared by Raylene and her helpers.

We started work Monday afternoon to give some folks a chance to acclimate to the altitude or rest from the long hike in. As a special treat, Mike Wolcott, our Forest Service crew leader, told us about a great waterfall nearby, so we checked it out. What an awesome waterfall it was! Fast, furious waters plunging 75-100 ft., if not more, down a deep, narrow gorge with ferns and moss growing everywhere and springs trickling from the sides. After much picture taking and relaxing under the trees overlooking the falls, we finished our lunches and hiked to the work site. Mike led us carefully across the proposed trail that was on a very steep slope. After he gave us our starting point, we went to work and accomplished quite a bit before calling it a day. The incredibly beautiful scenery surrounding us as we worked made it all worthwhile! After returning to camp, some brave souls took a dip in that cold river and others played games by the campfire. The mosquitoes loved some of us.

After 3 days of cutting new tread and removing small boulders, we accomplished what they wanted us to do...create nearly 1000 feet of new trail. On Friday we packed our stuff, leaving the heavy gear for the mules, and headed down the trail to our vehicles. When the pack animals arrived, we grabbed our stuff and said our good-byes. Some planned to go straight home, but several of us decided to go sightseeing in nearby Yellowstone National Park. It’s a LONG drive out there but we sure hope they'll have more projects for us in the future!