Hartshorne Trail maintenance info
- Thread starter knobbyhead
- Start date
don
Well-Known Member
Wait you would jump that uphill??
Oh and I can build and shape a lip - wood, rock or preferably grade A clay. Along with a proper landing to go with it.
I just need...
don
Well-Known Member
Update from the last couple of Monday TM's
We have been hand tool working in the circled area while @pooriggy and Austin have been doing machine work in the Monmouth Hills open area.
Partial view of the open area re-route Iggy has been working on. With the native grasses planted and a new better designed and built trail this area will be a great experience for years to come.
Last week @knobbyhead did a ton of pruning as the trail was getting tight visually and holding moisture from the rains. He also took out a bunch of invasive plants.
The rest of us created a drain and roller to make sure any left over water will dip off the trail. It doesn't look like much but it was a full TM with @ChrisRNC working on some fixes to it yesterday.
This is looking up hill towards the intersection and where we did a bunch of rock work a few weeks ago.
Chris then made a spoon before the intersection where he ended up pulling 2 barrow loads of rocks out of the ground.
We have been hand tool working in the circled area while @pooriggy and Austin have been doing machine work in the Monmouth Hills open area.
Partial view of the open area re-route Iggy has been working on. With the native grasses planted and a new better designed and built trail this area will be a great experience for years to come.
Last week @knobbyhead did a ton of pruning as the trail was getting tight visually and holding moisture from the rains. He also took out a bunch of invasive plants.
The rest of us created a drain and roller to make sure any left over water will dip off the trail. It doesn't look like much but it was a full TM with @ChrisRNC working on some fixes to it yesterday.
This is looking up hill towards the intersection and where we did a bunch of rock work a few weeks ago.
Chris then made a spoon before the intersection where he ended up pulling 2 barrow loads of rocks out of the ground.
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don
Well-Known Member
Yesterday a few of the team (Brian, Roland, and Andrew) created a dip grade before the sharp and steep turn (that's just before the intersection going downhill on GT). The sharp drop has some erosion issues but has stabilized in recent years and is short enough that a dip before and after it should keep the current feel and flavor of it. Again it doesn't look like much but those 3 guys can dig and they were working on it the whole TM. The first pic is looking downhill right before the sharp turn to the left where it drops.
Just around the bend Steve and I worked on a long grade dip to make sure any water from the steep drop got off trail and make it a little more interesting ride wise. @ChrisRNC helped us with the final touches after his spoon build.
Side views - it ended up being a shovel and half of bench in the middle and about 30 ft long:
The view looking up - Chris' rocks were put to good use!
Last one - chipmunk view
Just around the bend Steve and I worked on a long grade dip to make sure any water from the steep drop got off trail and make it a little more interesting ride wise. @ChrisRNC helped us with the final touches after his spoon build.
Side views - it ended up being a shovel and half of bench in the middle and about 30 ft long:
The view looking up - Chris' rocks were put to good use!
Last one - chipmunk view
knobbyhead
Next off the Island.
Even while riding I got some bad poison ivy … okay fine I fell off a log into some poison ivy. Maybe a long sleeve shirt is good too
Btw log down on quests.
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
Hop it!
don
Well-Known Member
It was supposed to be a clip and trim day but with the cooler temps we ended up banging out some much needed fixes to the Grand Tour connector (which links Monmouth Hills to the Rocky Point area). We had done some re-routing in this area a couple of years ago and overall it's held up decently but we were able to improve it with some of the techniques and skills we've learned over the years.
I got there late and the guys were patching up some drainage that we had done previously. @knobbyhead and Brian suggested some real earth moving to make a proper drain. After looking at it for a few minutes, they were correct. The old pits were filled with run off and there was really no place for the water to go.
Knobby took this shot when we were almost done with the excavation. Ken in the red shirt is standing where we took out 20+ wheelbarrow loads and the water should unload where Brian is with the wheelbarrow. Knobby opened the drain entrance which will help a ton in guiding the water off trail.
Another pic from Knobby - post fill in of the drain with organics and some packing and shaping of the roller where we piled the barrows
Another pic of the drain. Kind of a shame to cover up our grading lol
After @pooriggy and the other part of the crew finished up with the planned trimming Iggy came up and suggested some inslope for the turn after where we were working. There was inslope on it a coupe of years ago but the weather and use blew it out and we noticed a number of fresh skids so a fix was needed.
Looking down trail into the inslope turn
Looking uphill
I forgot to take a pic of the drain we did after this but it's a good size. I also added an inslope roller - so it should have a double roller feel to it for a little added zest 😀
Iggy has used this formula a lot at Perrinville - inslope turn to grade reversal/dip to shed the water out. Doing this before and after turns keeps the water off and make an enjoyable experience to ride or hike as there should always be a dry section of tread.
The plan is continue with the fixes down trail. The Monday crew should take care of it in a short number of TM's but if anyone has interest there is always dirt to move 😉
I got there late and the guys were patching up some drainage that we had done previously. @knobbyhead and Brian suggested some real earth moving to make a proper drain. After looking at it for a few minutes, they were correct. The old pits were filled with run off and there was really no place for the water to go.
Knobby took this shot when we were almost done with the excavation. Ken in the red shirt is standing where we took out 20+ wheelbarrow loads and the water should unload where Brian is with the wheelbarrow. Knobby opened the drain entrance which will help a ton in guiding the water off trail.
Another pic from Knobby - post fill in of the drain with organics and some packing and shaping of the roller where we piled the barrows
Another pic of the drain. Kind of a shame to cover up our grading lol
After @pooriggy and the other part of the crew finished up with the planned trimming Iggy came up and suggested some inslope for the turn after where we were working. There was inslope on it a coupe of years ago but the weather and use blew it out and we noticed a number of fresh skids so a fix was needed.
Looking down trail into the inslope turn
Looking uphill
I forgot to take a pic of the drain we did after this but it's a good size. I also added an inslope roller - so it should have a double roller feel to it for a little added zest 😀
Iggy has used this formula a lot at Perrinville - inslope turn to grade reversal/dip to shed the water out. Doing this before and after turns keeps the water off and make an enjoyable experience to ride or hike as there should always be a dry section of tread.
The plan is continue with the fixes down trail. The Monday crew should take care of it in a short number of TM's but if anyone has interest there is always dirt to move 😉
Was this at Huber? I didn't see any downed trees at Hartshorne.
Yup. Huber
don
Well-Known Member
I saw the debris while hiking at Huber this weekend and brought my saws to the TM thinking it was going to bad at Hartshorne but wasn't at all on the Rocky Point side.
Hope you had a good birthday ride this AM! Enjoy the rest of your birthday day!!
JonF
Well-Known Member
Just rode a full pull of hartshorn, definitely lots of debris all over. Doesn't look like much but it can easily hide a grab me rock or root and it's easy to slip a tire on all those medium round sticks laying around. It'll burn in after a while but just be careful right now.
One tree down at that top of Grand tour as you're crossing Cuesta and descending down from the big water tower.
One tree down at that top of Grand tour as you're crossing Cuesta and descending down from the big water tower.
rxpete
Member
I just saw that a lot of work has been done to the middle portion of the connector trail .. it flows much better now and is a lot more fun. A couple of berms and rollers were added. Most importantly the one of the turns is now tighter and guides riders toward the inner part of the trail. Previously the trail flowed into a rocky catch basin if riders weren't careful to keep the turn tight.
Thanks TM crew!
Thanks TM crew!
Thanks for noticing. We spent about 4 sessions working on this connector and I'm happy with the results.
We rebuilt this connector two years ago, adding turns and drainage points. Overall it's still a bit too linear given the sandy soil which is prone to erosion, but I did not want to take land for a proper reroute with grade reversals given the delicate native plants in the area.
The alternative is more engineered trail within the existing footprint to drain water and have the trail hold up. Basically every turn (I think there are 4?) down the hill follows a formula. Grade Dip/Inslope/Grade Dip.
This creates a more sustainable downhill and makes for a better trail experience.
Going into the last turn required some rock moving to set the turn up and complete the radius. These guys spent about 1.5hrs getting this guy and smaller slabs into place. I rode it afterwards and it was man hours well spent, the arc was perfect and set me on a great line into the lower turn. I worked on armoring the straight line in between the turns to counteract brake bumps and erosion which forms on trails this steep with sandy soils. We use soil to fill in the cracks around the rocks to lock everything in place. After a couple of rains the rock will become exposed and enhance the look of the trail.
Thanks to the volunteers who worked on this during the hottest point in the summer. Ken, Brian, Larry, Roland, Andy, @knobbyhead , Steve and Jorba rep @don.
Trail work is a labor of love, if you love trails then volunteer locally. If you can't make the Monday 9am-12pm sessions at Hartshorne then make it a point to volunteer at least 3x a year at another park when you can.
Hartshorne is now a recognized Jorba chapter. Becoming a Jorba member helps Hartshorne as well as other parks. It gives mtbers a collective voice we need to let land owners know who we are and helps insure access to trails we love. Join now.
