Trail Maintenance - don't do this

[notcho]

Good intentions that missed the mark. This shallow water crossing didn’t need a rock bridge, especially not at the bottom of a fast downhill and as sketchy as this. Also had the potential to further dam an already dammed up section of the stream. @trailhead, this has been removed.

 

[stb222]

First attempt at paint removal on a tree, sprayed with a citrus-based graffiti remover, scrubbed with a brush and rinsed with water, and then repeated that, one thing for next time as I need more water to flush. We’ll see what it looks like when it dries.

 

[stb222]

Another attempt at arrow removal, this one I went to aggro on the scrubbing and you can see the bark is extra clean around the arrow. This was one of the darkest arrows so satisfied it is mostly removed

 

[mtn]

Anyone have an old draw knife type thing laying around? I forget what the actual name is. Someone did grafitti on log steps near me so I think that is the best option for dead wood removal.

 

[trailhead]

draw knife is correct! or a "barking spud" to remove the bark........though for your task a modern day solution , maybe a battery powered angle grinder/sander

 

[Ironjunk]

Why is it a bad idea to add drainage rock to a water crossing?

 

[Patrick]

Why is it a bad idea to add drainage rock to a water crossing?

it blocks the water after getting clogged - then the resulting puddle spreads out onto the trail,,
which gets softened and collapses into the stream - so add more rocks and repeat -

the better way is to create a channel to control the water flow across the trail and protect the edges -
bike can easily handle a couple of 9" gaps. when the water comes up, it flows over the rocks,
but most of the time it is between them.

I've seen the bottom armored, some crossings get much deeper when it rains so not great.

I did some work at jungle on Animal Chute a couple weeks back to eliminate dams.
huge difference in depth of crossing. It didn't look like people put the rocks there,
I think they were pushed there from up-stream by heavy rain.

 

[snashters]

it blocks the water after getting clogged - then the resulting puddle spreads out onto the trail,,
which gets softened and collapses into the stream - so add more rocks and repeat -

An example of this (what not to do) I came across a few weeks ago at Wildcat (Mjolnir/Telemark trail). The water drains from left to right in the photos.

 

[shrpshtr325]

An example of this (what not to do) I came across a few weeks ago at Wildcat (Mjolnir/Telemark trail). The water drains from left to right in the photos.

we took apart a similarly janky rock setup ("bridge" lol) on the far side of wildcat (old koehler on tf), not sure what the logic is, but i can tell you for sure that neither one was put in by any official tm

 

[trailhead]

stream crossings....I think that many times is just the Hikers or kids who are amateur civil engineers. Like beavers, they just have the impulse to build a dam or a foot bridge.
Not much thought behind it.

 

[Patrick]

stream crossings....I think that many times is just the Hikers or kids who are amateur civil engineers. Like beavers, they just have the impulse to build a dam or a foot bridge.
Not much thought behind it.

just like not much thought behind their footwear before leaving the house that morning.....
Perhaps I shall encounter mud, these sandals should do just fine.

 

[stb222]

it blocks the water after getting clogged - then the resulting puddle spreads out onto the trail,,
which gets softened and collapses into the stream - so add more rocks and repeat -

the better way is to create a channel to control the water flow across the trail and protect the edges -
bike can easily handle a couple of 9" gaps. when the water comes up, it flows over the rocks,
but most of the time it is between them.

I've seen the bottom armored, some crossings get much deeper when it rains so not great.

I did some work at jungle on Animal Chute a couple weeks back to eliminate dams.
huge difference in depth of crossing. It didn't look like people put the rocks there,
I think they were pushed there from up-stream by heavy rain.

As with anything, poor execution equals poor outcome. There are two examples of poor execution at Baldpate with the “channel the water” technique. It works great in the dry summer months but is a disaster in the wet months. Always need to consider that “water wins” in every scenario

 

[ekuhn]

poor execution equals poor outcome

You have a nicer way of nicer way of saying, Garbage In equals Garbage Out

 

[stb222]

For anyone that thinks they controlling water

 

[Norm]

For anyone that thinks they controlling water

All you need to do is look at the Grand Canyon to understand that Water Wins.

 

[JonF]

All you need to do is look at the Grand Canyon to understand that Water Wins.

Yet plates come out of the dishwasher with egg *still* on them. 🤬

 

[a.s.]

Yet plates come out of the dishwasher with egg *still* on them. 🤬

1. Eggs
2. water
3. lava

 

[Ian F]

For anyone that thinks they controlling water

The best we can hope to do is moderately influence.

 

[Kaleidopete]

The park did this one. I expected better, not for me, I can ride it fine, but this is so they can get emergency vehicles up the trail..

 

[stb222]

My annual PSA about trimming:
Rose whips/ multi floral rose/ prickers are one of the biggest offenders of over growth on the trails in our area. Trimming the hangers is needed, however they grow very quickly and the new growth will often spilt into multiple hangers. If possible, you should try to get the branch the hangers are coming from (typically perpendicular to the hanger) and better yet, the mother vine. It is somewhat amazing how an entire “bush” grows from a single vine.

The picture below is the branch mentioned above. This removed around 10 hangers that would need to be trimmed multiple times. So this method removes the entire thing.

In this case, I pulled the whole branch from the spice bush it was entangled in, which allows that “good” plant to grow better. I don’t expect people to do that but it takes 1 min longer.