The Geeky Trail Building Thread

raisingarizona · Jul 5, 2019

jamesdeluxe said:
When do you work every day? By noon, it must be brutal under that blazing sun. When I lived in NM, I always made sure to finish riding by late morning.

That's the tradeoff -- while we don't have the killer landscapes like in the southwest/in the east, we're usually riding under a canopy of trees so you don't die on hot sunny days.

It does get real hot over on that side of the mountain but we are now at 7500 feet so it’s not too bad. We do 10 hour days from 7 to 5:30, this includes the 2.5 mile hike in and out. From around 11 to 3 everyone gets a bit slower and we take plenty of water breaks.

marcski · Jul 5, 2019

raisingarizona said:
It does get real hot over on that side of the mountain but we are now at 7500 feet so it’s not too bad. We do 10 hour days from 7 to 5:30, this includes the 2.5 mile hike in and out. From around 11 to 3 everyone gets a bit slower and we take plenty of water breaks.

You guys can't ride in? Check out how the trail is flowing and get you there a lot faster.

raisingarizona · Jul 5, 2019

The ACE crew kids don’t ride and even if they wanted to they can’t afford it. I just rode it this morning, things are coming together nicely!

raisingarizona · Aug 30, 2019

It’s been a busy summer so I haven’t posted in here much. Here’s a bit of an update.

We stopped working on Heart as monsoon season started and then we had the fire on Elden. We are back on it this coming week and I’m really excited. I’ve also been continuing with the trail Faeries volunteer days on weekends when I can. The crew leader position for ACE has been a great experience so far but it’s hard. We often are in the field for eight days straight for ten hour days doing extremely hard work. Hopefully ina year or two I’ll have my own jobs lined up but for now I’m working on my resume and reputation. Here’s where we left off on Heart.

The trail is looking beautiful and we are starting to gain some legit elevation. It’s gonna be a sick descent!

raisingarizona · Aug 30, 2019

After the heart I was out doing trail work re-establishing a hiking trail in the Kendrick Peak Wilderness area but after the fire we were pulled from there to make sandbags for areas in Flagstaff that are in danger of serious flooding from fire damage. After 8 days of sand bagging and creating barriers for homes I was extremely excited to be done and get into the Grand Canyon for some trail work where we built a rock liner wall for a drain. The approach was only about 1.7 miles to the work site but it’s the Canyon so it’s steep and there was zero shade where the project was and it was HOT. Still, not bad views from the office.

raisingarizona · Aug 30, 2019

After the Canyon we went back to the Kendrick Peak Wilderness area to continue work on the Bull Basin Trail. By day five our approach was around 3 miles. It was a rugged tour no doubt.

Here’s a rock staircase we built.

Before.

After.

>

raisingarizona · Aug 30, 2019

The Kendrick Peak Wilderness area has seen a lot of fire since 2000 but it’s still extremely beautiful.

Progress on Little Elden has continued all summer as well with volunteer efforts and should be completed by the end of October.

jasonwx · Aug 31, 2019

I am grateful for the trail crews in my area. they have given more joy then I can say , all at no cost to me. I do donate money, but I don't have the time or the back to help build. So thanks!!!

raisingarizona · Sep 8, 2019

Donations make the dream happen!

Rock work from yesterday. This turned out really good. The little up and over makes for a good climbing feature, a slow roll on the down or a small drop with more speed and it’s perfect steps for hikers. I love it when a a rock worked section works so well for different user groups!