w_b
Well-Known Member
Have at it. Be prepared to kick the nipping unleashed dogs from your ankles with extreme prejudice.
Hartshorne/Huber Conditions
- Thread starter jerzey111
- Start date
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
Park was in reasonably good shape yesterday before the weekend's rain. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the army of "Hartshorne is fine when wet" people are never there to fix all the ruts they've made when trail maintenance is announced; almost the entire descent from the water tower that had (and @pooriggy can give an exact number here) 50+ hours of work has been rutted on all the peaks of the grade reversals.
Downhill from the alligator is marshy, and should be avoided. There are 3"+ ruts covering much of the trail for 10 feet at a time.
Downhill from the alligator is marshy, and should be avoided. There are 3"+ ruts covering much of the trail for 10 feet at a time.
Citytrikeguy
Well-Known Member
I saw the same yesterday.
don
Well-Known Member
I hiked up GT a few weeks ago and was pretty bummed out. Lower GT was a total mess and it looked like a supercross track after the 450 main. It was frustrating on multiple levels - riding when things are soaking wet and not even dismounting when a section of the trail is obviously greasy. We heard a few comments from hikers when we were working on the trails this past summer how mtb's destroy the trails. When they see shit like this I cannot blame them for thinking that. And like you said KM, people will be ghost when the TM's are scheduled. There were a few folks with busy schedules that would pop in for an hour of digging, go grab a conference call and be back for a little more work before we were done. A power hour of TM is better than nothing and Iggy has been super flexible with TM days and times to get people out to help. I understand that the new work we did late last fall didn't pack in fully but man what a kick in the gut.
On the plus side, there have been pruning crews out the last 5 or 6 weeks on Rocky Point. The TM's have been on the short side but we are still getting a huge jump on the vegetation in that section of the park. We have trimmed back a few of the thick sections a few feet on either side and gotten a lot of vines off some of the nicer looking trees. Brian and Harry have given a handful of the beautiful Hollys of Hartshorne a much needed cleanup and new life. 2nd pic is from last Thursday (thanks to Kathy for the photo). Props to @knobbyhead for leading us the past few weeks.
Iggy has some great plans for work there this season. I'm excited to fix a few key areas and keep that Harthsorne feel balanced with good strong trail.
PS - I have close to 50 hours of work on GT myself from last year. (and way more than that if you include the time scoping it out on hikes and pre-work planing with Iggy) Multiple that by at least 3 as there were 3 of us on most of the TM's I did.
Attachments
knobbyhead
Next off the Island.
That section is always the last section to dry out.
I'd love to do reroute on that section.
CommandoStyle
Well-Known Member
Are they using machines to cut new trail in Hartshorne? There was a skid steer doing work (clearing trees/brush etc) in the woods in the Monmouth hills section about 150 feet east of the rock garden trail. Looks like he entered from the Indian terrace entrance.
An outside contractor was hired to remove invasives.
stilluf
Well-Known Member
There's a rock garden at Hartshorne? Wow things have changed. 😉
CommandoStyle
Well-Known Member
You know the section I’m referring to
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
Just an FYI, I saw this, and didn't remember it until today; that section, up to the climb up to Rocky Point, is fenced off. Didn't hear/see any work, but better safe than sorry. It's quite abrupt coming from Laurel Ridge, since they put the fence at the 'T', so check your speed coming down.
I happened to be at the park at just the right time for the sun to burn off the [minimal] wet from yesterday, and was treated to fog rolling in around everyone's favorite spot to fall off the cliff
JonF
Well-Known Member
I believe the rocky section of Grand Tour that is fenced off is due to some clearing of brush they're doing in that area. Its likely some invasive species like japanese knotwood or similar that they are clearing with machines. When i lived up by the bay i had that type of brush on my property and it was a nightmare to keep cleared. The trail in question is one with the the softball sized rocks and the brush would grow so thick that tall in the summer it was like a narrow corridor through the area and it connected grand tour to rocky point.
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
Super good conditions, minus a few puddles; down the chute from the alligator is still a bit muddy. There are a couple of blowdowns in the park, including one at the base of "ridge to river view" on Strava. It's doable if you know it's there.
The discussed area above re: fences is open now, btw.
The discussed area above re: fences is open now, btw.
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
Super good conditions today. Only thing of significant warning is that on Cuesta ridge, almost exactly where the middle of the three blue squares are placed on the official park map, there is what appears to be a metal survey spike exposed in the middle of the trail. Could cause some serious damage to a tire/a crash if a crank hit it.
Where on Rocky Point?
Was it hard to get out?