Kaner work party report

benw1 · Jul 31, 2012

This past Saturday Jayw and I headed up to help out with the work party on trail 676, Kaner. We arrived and met up with Gleed Boyz Atkins, Blaine and Brent, and a large group of Shindig Wheelers. After an interesting safety meeting with the forest service reps we headed up to Kaner to walk through the work for the day. We were working on a lower section of the trail, off of rd 1901, just west of the 1903 intersection. Atkins Landscaping generously donated the use of a mini excavator and operators. The FS provided a smaller excavator and a Sweco mini dozer and various hand tools and supplies. Besides the 4 wheel drive enthusiasts, there were 8 or 9 FS employees in attendance, including district ranger Irene Davidson.The overall plan for the day was to decommission a section of unsustainable trail, relocate the trail to an existing road that parallels the existing route, and put in a short new section of trail.

Heading up to the trail.

benw1 · Jul 31, 2012

Once arriving at the site, we walked through the trail and the forest service described the work that needed to be done in each area and assigned group leaders for each task. The first area, immediately off the road was a small hill and meadow that was rutted and dug out from vehicles climbing up on to the trail. This section was to be ripped and smoothed with the equipment and have erosion control matting placed to control runoff and stabilize the soil.

The next section dropped down to a marshy area with a wooden bridge that looked like it was perpetually wet, and clearly had a massive amount of erosion from heavy use. From the low area there was a hill climb out. The FS had already started work in this area and mentioned that the chute on the uphill had walls 6'+ high that they had already pulled down and smoothed out. This area was to be smoothed, drainage improved, and restored. The FS wanted the bridge removed so they could salvage the materials.

Atkins and his crew along with the FS equipment operators started on these sections while we continued the walk through of the rest of the project.

Here is the start of the section that is relocated to the road

Unfortunately I didn't get any before pictures, but here are the results.

benw1 · Jul 31, 2012

The next section to be worked on was a section of trail up a mild hill that had some braiding issues and rutting. The FS had already ripped and smoothed most of the trail, so the objective was to cover the (former) trail with small branches, rocks, and trees to create micro-dams to disrupt runoff and control erosion. The steeper sections were to be covered with the erosion control matting to stabilize the soil. Finally, some large dead trees along the trail would be dropped to block the former trail and help with erosion control.

benw1 · Jul 31, 2012

The next area to be worked on was a 100 yds of trail that was to be re-routed. The FS had an old skidder trail that was already in a good spot but just needed to be cleared.

This is the section that was closed and decommissioned, ripped, erosion mat, etc.

This is the new section. The FS said this is more sustainable because it is on a mild side hill that will promote drainage and reduce rutting.

Atkins used the Sweco to fix the approaches to the reroute, and put in some nice high-banked curves to keep people on the correct route.

benw1 · Jul 31, 2012

Up above the reroute, the task was to install water bars on the hill to control runoff. The FS is using a combination of traditional dug out water bars, and some conveyor belt water bars. The heros of this part were the equipment operators, Blaine and Atkins in the FS mini excavator and someone who's name I didn't get in the Sweco. They saved everyone a ton of work and made short work of the water bar install.

The conveyor belt water bars are basically a 12" tall X 10' wide section of conveyor belt bolted between 2 pressure treated 2x6's.

FS employee in the Sweco putting in a traditional water bar

Blaine in the FS mini-ex working on a conveyor belt water bar

JayW surveying water bar placement

Atkins manning the shovel, Brent and JayW supervising.

Finished conveyor belt bar

Thats all I've got, Jayw and I headed out after the water bars were done. I've been told that on SUnday the Gleed Boyz and some of the Shindigs did some repair work on a bridge crossing just before Lily Pond. They fixed some holes, fixed the bridge approach, improved drainage and blocked bypasses.

Trail Beast · Aug 1, 2012

Nice work :corn::awesomework:

pokey · Aug 1, 2012

Super report :awesomework:

Anthony1 · Aug 1, 2012

Looks good nice work :awesomework:

benw1 · Aug 1, 2012

In this pic the red is the decommissioned section, the green is the "new" section, and the blue is the hill where the water bars were installed.

According to bing maps the decommissioned section is about 300 yards. The "new" section on road 721 is about 550 yards