TRAILS: 2.5 hours: 12:15 PM to 2:45PM

Finish-grading of East Hill trail heading up through RMZ unit #3.

Carved and finish-graded the bottom 110 feet of the East Hill trail on the upper south side of the creek in RMZ unit #3, from the creek crossing up towards the Great Cedar Snag. Cut a fairly straight, moderate angle up the steep slope, eliminating the embedded wood chunks, humps and depressions along the way. Left two large wood chunks in the path that will have to be chain-sawed out. Large old logs lying parallel on the downhill side of the path provide much needed support. Without the logs as backstops, the downhill side of the trail has a tendency to slough off. The trail bed needs to be primarily carved INTO the hillside, rather than relying on the fill dumped to the OUTSIDE, which inevitably settles lower over time.

Before and After: East Hill trail.

The roughed-out route on the left is too lumpy with a lot of ankle-twisting side slope. The finished grade on the right has a consistent rise with a level cross-slope for stable footing. Many of the overhanging sword ferns  were removed, as they tend to grow into and obscure the trail.  This is a steep hill that we climb at a gradual angle to minimize erosion. This photo looks SW up the slope from the upper creek basin.

Finished East Hill trail looking back down to the creek.

Notice the big old log on the left (downhill side of the trail). It is firmly embedded into the hillside, and it provides a valuable support for the trail, allowing it to be widened here. We really need to carve into the bank to get a firm trail base, but fortunately the soil is soft and can be easily worked with simple tools like a pointed shovel. A few big wood chunks remain in the trail (behind the yellow axe), which will require a chainsaw to remove.

TRAILS: 2.25 hours: 10:00 AM to 12:15 PM

Finish-grading of East Ridge trail in North Side unit #5.

Carved and finish-graded 60 feet of the lower section of Eastern Ridge trail in North Side unit #2. Dug out stumps and rocks, shoveled dirt from high spots to low spots to create a smooth grade one to three feet wide. Maintained a fairly straight trajectory, occasionally diverting around or highlighting interesting features like bleached corkscrew roots and nurse logs. This trail showcases a lot of the wood “architecture” of this forest, both dead and alive.

The end result of carving and finish-grading East Ridge trail.

It can be challenging to find an attractive, natural-looking route for a trail, especially in steep and lumpy terrain. This section of the East Ridge trail had some nice wooden architecture on both sides to frame and direct the trail down the slope. I dug out most of the stumps and rocks to create a smooth grade, but sometimes a unique feature like this exposed corkscrew root is worth incorporating into the trail to pause the flow like a log in a stream.

Finish-graded East Ridge trail, looking uphill.

I stopped the carving at a point where the trail heads sharply uphill to the left (in the middle of the picture). I may re-route the trail on a more gentle grade, perhaps via a switchback up next to the  ancient cedar stump on the right. I don’t want to expend the effort and hack up the landscape until I have evaluated all the route options. The section I cleared was a “natural” route, pioneered by elk, so it made sense to turn it into a formal trail.