Placer Maintenance
Back row: Cathalee, Megan, Ryan, Finn, Rayden, Mark, Boe, Angela. Front row: Natalie and Megan.
The Ketchum Ranger District has wrapped up two weeks of work on the Placer Creek Trail 141. The KRD Trail Crew, and an eleven-person Idaho Conservation Corp youth crew, performed heavy maintenance on the trail, and it needed it. Maintenance had not been performed on the trail, other than the cutting out of downed trees, since the region burned during the 2013 Beaver Creek Fire. The aim of the work was to improve the sustainability of the trail while preserving its demanding, rugged, steep character.
Building a reroute.
The work involved the installation of a number of drains, to help the trail shed water better. Placer Creek Trail climbs up its namesake drainage in a direct fashion. While steep, aggressive trails are challenging and fun, they can sometimes lead to situations where the trail becomes a conduit for channelized water. In other words, steep trails need to be adequately drained, and any drainage structures along such trails need to be maintained regularly. Since Placer Creek Trail lacked adequate drainage, remedying that situation was the focus of the two-week project.
Additional work involved the installation of three short re-routes along the trail. One of them avoids a seep. Its about 200 feet long. The two higher reroutes are approximately 400 feet long, and 200 feet long, and they are intended to make the turns found near the high point of the trail more durable and approachable.
Aspen Maintenance
Background: trail volunteer Mike Keenan. Foreground: trail volunteer Gary Gruver.
Thank you to the three volunteers who performed maintenance on the Aspen Loop Trail last Tuesday night, August 14th. Besides cutting out trees that were down across the trail, the workers cut back plants that were encroaching on the travel way. They also made repairs to the footbridge spanning Trail Creek. Thanks Mike, Gary and Laurie. And thank you to our Adopt-A-Trail Night sponsors The BCRD, Sawtooth Brewery and Clif Bars.
Lane’s Maintenance
The small footbridge that was near the west end of Lane’s Trail, and close to the intersection with Citizens Trail, has been replaced by the KRD crew.
Thanks for the solid repair KRD Trail Crew!
The old footbridge was in disrepair and unsafe.