Friday, March 5, 2010

Trail Construction: Flagging the Route

Trail planning has been good this month with a few minor setbacks. It has snowed over 25 inches making it a tight fit for our planned work day this Sunday March 7, 2010. However, despite these setbacks we can continue as planned, with a fully flagged trail. The flagged trail works with the land to create the smallest environmental impact. This trail will create less erosion in addition to showcasing the beauties of nature. Our first plans for the trail included much more work than now planned. Previously our plan included multiple water bars that require a lot of work to incorporate into the trail. The plan no longer includes any water bars and only involves creating minor barriers to help keep people on the path. This improvement in the plan means less work needed to build the trail. Flagging the trail route was difficult because of all the snow. We had to slip and slide down hills and guess whether certain trees were alive. We needed to know if the trees were alive so that we could plan to remove or to avoid these trees. These obstacles became easier to overcome as the snow melted and spring approached. Now the trail is flagged and ready for work. We hope to see a great turn out on Sunday to help with the first step in building our trail.
by Tom, Northwood HS Junior