June 15-22, 2002
Continental Divide Trail, Gila Wilderness, NM - by Dave DeGroot
This recent trip was held from June 15th - 22nd. It was reduced by one day due to fire near the work area Thursday evening. All activities were conducted in the Black Range Mountains of the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. Activities involved construction of a new section on the Continental Divide Trail in the vicinity of Diamond Peak.
Fourteen volunteers traveled from Austin and spent the night at Percha Dam State Park southwest of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Sunday, the group made its way through Winston, NM to the trailhead on the west side of the divide and backpacked 3 miles to the basecamp below Fisherman's Bluff. For the next four days, the group made a hike up roughly 500 feet plus two miles to the work site on the Continental Divide. Three persons suffered minor symptoms of altitude sickness from the work at 9000 ft. elevation but otherwise there were no problems.
The day after we arrived, our group was joined by members of the Youth Conservation Corps and a small USFS Trail Maintenance & Construction crew. Together, we finished 400 yards of trail and roughed-in another 200 yards. At the end of our efforts, Ranger John Groom stated he had never seen as much trail completed by a volunteer group in such a short time. We were all much pleased at the news!
As often reported in the news, the whole region is extremely dry and many fires were currently burning in other parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Therefore, when lightning strikes created three smoke plumes Thursday evening, the US Forest Service was quick to throw all available resources at the problem. That included Smoke-jumpers, the rangers that were working with us, and the horses that were scheduled to bring water up to our dry camp Friday morning. Consequently, we gave up our day off, made our way back to our vehicles, and headed back to Texas and Balmorhea State Park. There, we relaxed in the cool spring waters Friday and Saturday before returning to Austin Saturday evening.
Sunday, June 30, 2002
Sunday, April 28, 2002
4/20/02 Longhorn Caverns State Park Trip Report
April 20, 2002
Longhorn Caverns State Park, TX - by Jae Kim
Nine volunteers led by Lynda DeGroot traveled to Longhorn Caverns between Burnet and Marble Falls to work on about a mile long trail. Trail Tamers moved gravel, laid the gravel on top of an existing trail to widen it somewhat, trimmed overgrown vegetation, and moved large/heavy rocks to help define a confusing section of trail.
The ranger, who also worked as the cavern tour guide, accommodated us with some great pastries and coffee for breakfast followed by lunch later on and finally a special "private" tour of the beautiful and remarkable cavern. Several Trail Tamers drove up Friday evening and stayed overnight at Inks Lake State Park compliments of the Longhorn Caverns staff.
Longhorn Caverns State Park, TX - by Jae Kim
Nine volunteers led by Lynda DeGroot traveled to Longhorn Caverns between Burnet and Marble Falls to work on about a mile long trail. Trail Tamers moved gravel, laid the gravel on top of an existing trail to widen it somewhat, trimmed overgrown vegetation, and moved large/heavy rocks to help define a confusing section of trail.
The ranger, who also worked as the cavern tour guide, accommodated us with some great pastries and coffee for breakfast followed by lunch later on and finally a special "private" tour of the beautiful and remarkable cavern. Several Trail Tamers drove up Friday evening and stayed overnight at Inks Lake State Park compliments of the Longhorn Caverns staff.
Saturday, April 20, 2002
4/6-14/02 Fort Davis National Historic Site Trip Report
April 6-14, 2002
Fort Davis National Historic Site, TX - by Dave DeGroot
This year's trip to the Fort Davis area was an aggressive undertaking involving four segments and coordination of local and Austin based volunteers. The trip leader, Dave DeGroot, traveled to Fort Davis on Friday to conduct a training class for representatives from local agencies on Saturday. Meanwhile, CTTT volunteers traveled from Austin. On Sunday, Trail Tamers and local volunteers teamed up to start working on the construction of a rock retaining wall at the Fort Davis National Historic Site. When completed on Tuesday, the 8ft. long by 6 ft. high wall fixed a nasty section of trail that had eroded, leaving a potentially dangerous situation for users. For our efforts, the crew was treated to lunch at Pop's Grill--home of the best burger west of the Pecos.
On Tuesday evening, the group was joined by two more Trail Tamers and relocated to The Nature Conservancy's Davis Mountains Preserve on Wednesday morning. Three Trail Tamers climbed Mount Livermore that afternoon (it's the seventh highest peak in Texas!) while the rest investigated the flora and fauna nearby where many deer and wild turkey were sighted.
Thursday, a trail design training class was held and included Trail Tamers and members from The Nature Conservancy. Construction of a new trail flagged the previous day began on Friday, emanating from the site of the future interpretive center due to be built next year. By Saturday afternoon, the first leg of the trail was complete and the crew was treated to dinner at the new pizza place in Fort Davis (no one lost weight on this trip).
The Davis Mountains Preserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy, is a unique place unlike any other in Texas. Besides having Texas' 7th highest mountain on it, there are three distinct bio-regions that converge on these 20,000 acres. This is why you'll find rolling grasslands toward the front with mixed riparian habitat including Madrone, oaks, elm, several species of pine (and a few pockets of aspen on Mt. Livermore) near the center and Chihuahuan desert toward the back. It's not hard to imagine oneself in the mountains of Arizona or New Mexico. So...if you missed this one, keep your eyes open for future trips. There is much more trail to be built and CTTT has been asked to help with the effort.
Fort Davis National Historic Site, TX - by Dave DeGroot
This year's trip to the Fort Davis area was an aggressive undertaking involving four segments and coordination of local and Austin based volunteers. The trip leader, Dave DeGroot, traveled to Fort Davis on Friday to conduct a training class for representatives from local agencies on Saturday. Meanwhile, CTTT volunteers traveled from Austin. On Sunday, Trail Tamers and local volunteers teamed up to start working on the construction of a rock retaining wall at the Fort Davis National Historic Site. When completed on Tuesday, the 8ft. long by 6 ft. high wall fixed a nasty section of trail that had eroded, leaving a potentially dangerous situation for users. For our efforts, the crew was treated to lunch at Pop's Grill--home of the best burger west of the Pecos.
On Tuesday evening, the group was joined by two more Trail Tamers and relocated to The Nature Conservancy's Davis Mountains Preserve on Wednesday morning. Three Trail Tamers climbed Mount Livermore that afternoon (it's the seventh highest peak in Texas!) while the rest investigated the flora and fauna nearby where many deer and wild turkey were sighted.
Thursday, a trail design training class was held and included Trail Tamers and members from The Nature Conservancy. Construction of a new trail flagged the previous day began on Friday, emanating from the site of the future interpretive center due to be built next year. By Saturday afternoon, the first leg of the trail was complete and the crew was treated to dinner at the new pizza place in Fort Davis (no one lost weight on this trip).
The Davis Mountains Preserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy, is a unique place unlike any other in Texas. Besides having Texas' 7th highest mountain on it, there are three distinct bio-regions that converge on these 20,000 acres. This is why you'll find rolling grasslands toward the front with mixed riparian habitat including Madrone, oaks, elm, several species of pine (and a few pockets of aspen on Mt. Livermore) near the center and Chihuahuan desert toward the back. It's not hard to imagine oneself in the mountains of Arizona or New Mexico. So...if you missed this one, keep your eyes open for future trips. There is much more trail to be built and CTTT has been asked to help with the effort.
Thursday, February 28, 2002
2/23/02 Pedernales Falls State Park Trip Report
February 23, 2002
Pedernales Falls State Park, TX - by Jae Kim
The weather could not be any better. Although it dipped below the freezing point the night before, it went up to 80 degrees on the work day. A blue sky with no clouds and the cool breeze greeted us while we were taming the badly eroded trail.
Under Mark Henneke's leadership, nineteen volunteers worked on the short trail (about 30 feet long) that leads to the river from the Youth Camping area. The heavy rainwater caused the erosion during the winter.
The crew brought up buckets full of rocks from the river bed and filled up large voids. Then, a mix of dirt and gravel was added on top using wheelbarrows. Due to the large number of volunteers, the work was completed before lunch time.
Generous park rangers cooked delicious cornbread and beef stew for us. Some of the crew camped there Saturday night as well.
Pedernales Falls State Park, TX - by Jae Kim
The weather could not be any better. Although it dipped below the freezing point the night before, it went up to 80 degrees on the work day. A blue sky with no clouds and the cool breeze greeted us while we were taming the badly eroded trail.
Under Mark Henneke's leadership, nineteen volunteers worked on the short trail (about 30 feet long) that leads to the river from the Youth Camping area. The heavy rainwater caused the erosion during the winter.
The crew brought up buckets full of rocks from the river bed and filled up large voids. Then, a mix of dirt and gravel was added on top using wheelbarrows. Due to the large number of volunteers, the work was completed before lunch time.
Generous park rangers cooked delicious cornbread and beef stew for us. Some of the crew camped there Saturday night as well.
2/15-18/02 Davy Crockett National Forest Trip Report
February 15-18, 2002
Davy Crockett National Forest, TX - by George Boemerman
This particular Davy Crockett National Forest trip brought us members from far and wide: Austin, San Marcos, Round Rock, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, and Benton, Louisiana. A total of 15 Trail Tamers plus five E-Corp folks participated in a concentrated three-day series of projects.
Rocky Nelson (the guy from Benton) led a group to the wilderness area to repair flood-damaged sections of an elevated walkway. Ray Fore (our Lufkin guy) led the team building the boardwalk portion of the handicapped access trail. Mike Rodgers (our club president guy) took charge of the group working on the regular portion of the handicapped access trail.
The handicapped access trail is our main project at Davy Crockett. It is not complete yet and we will continue our efforts until it is completed. The next expedition is tentatively set for early May of this year (pending approval by our board). That time-frame was suggested by the National Forest folks because an area where they want an observation platform, along the boardwalk, will hopefully be dried out enough by then to work on.
The trip was not all work. In the evenings we had great meals prepared by Rocky Nelson, Ray Fore and John Payne. These were followed by a congenial atmosphere around the campfire.
Monday morning was a super breakfast. Allan Weber (our founder) and his buddy, Jim Robinson, prepared venison sausage and gravy. The biscuits were complements of Derly Rivera, George Boemerman and their Dutch ovens.
The weather was great, we accomplished the normal Trail Tamer workload (LOTS), and we all had a good time.
The partipants included Greg Robin, Nora Ahmed and P. Rogeli Esamella who came in one day from Nacogdoches; Jennifer Williamson and Kelly Hinds who came in for one day from Steven F. Austin University; plus Joe and June Villarreal, a one-day couple from Austin along with Pamela Mackenzie.
The five E-Corp members were Sean Bone, Evan Branum, Katheryn Killebrew, Lisa Slate, and Matt Styslinger.
The remainder of the crew were Jim Schmidt, Mike Rogers, David Justice, Allan Weber, Jim Robinson, Mary Lynch, Terence Donovan, Ray Fore, Chuck Lundstedt, Amy Tonai, Derly Rivera, George Boemerman, Rocky Nelson, John Payne and Jim McKinney.
Copyright © 2003 Central Texas Trail Tamers
Davy Crockett National Forest, TX - by George Boemerman
This particular Davy Crockett National Forest trip brought us members from far and wide: Austin, San Marcos, Round Rock, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, and Benton, Louisiana. A total of 15 Trail Tamers plus five E-Corp folks participated in a concentrated three-day series of projects.
Rocky Nelson (the guy from Benton) led a group to the wilderness area to repair flood-damaged sections of an elevated walkway. Ray Fore (our Lufkin guy) led the team building the boardwalk portion of the handicapped access trail. Mike Rodgers (our club president guy) took charge of the group working on the regular portion of the handicapped access trail.
The handicapped access trail is our main project at Davy Crockett. It is not complete yet and we will continue our efforts until it is completed. The next expedition is tentatively set for early May of this year (pending approval by our board). That time-frame was suggested by the National Forest folks because an area where they want an observation platform, along the boardwalk, will hopefully be dried out enough by then to work on.
The trip was not all work. In the evenings we had great meals prepared by Rocky Nelson, Ray Fore and John Payne. These were followed by a congenial atmosphere around the campfire.
Monday morning was a super breakfast. Allan Weber (our founder) and his buddy, Jim Robinson, prepared venison sausage and gravy. The biscuits were complements of Derly Rivera, George Boemerman and their Dutch ovens.
The weather was great, we accomplished the normal Trail Tamer workload (LOTS), and we all had a good time.
The partipants included Greg Robin, Nora Ahmed and P. Rogeli Esamella who came in one day from Nacogdoches; Jennifer Williamson and Kelly Hinds who came in for one day from Steven F. Austin University; plus Joe and June Villarreal, a one-day couple from Austin along with Pamela Mackenzie.
The five E-Corp members were Sean Bone, Evan Branum, Katheryn Killebrew, Lisa Slate, and Matt Styslinger.
The remainder of the crew were Jim Schmidt, Mike Rogers, David Justice, Allan Weber, Jim Robinson, Mary Lynch, Terence Donovan, Ray Fore, Chuck Lundstedt, Amy Tonai, Derly Rivera, George Boemerman, Rocky Nelson, John Payne and Jim McKinney.
Copyright © 2003 Central Texas Trail Tamers
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
