Dig stoke, who else likes to play in the dirt???

[evdog]

Storms have continued regularly. Some days too wet to do anything but dig drains. So I've done a lot of that....




Cleaned up a bunch that looked like this. Had to cut down the edges of all the bike ruts so the water could drain out of them. Tossed clumps of grass and goopy much where people were riding off trail to make those lines extra unattractive




After....doesn't look pretty but the main path through is now solid not soft, and water is actively flowing over the trail not sitting there




Good thing I washed these the day before.

[Clownshoe]

Stopped by my project on the way home from skiing. My tool stash was partially melted out so I took it as a sign that I should clean out some drains and start a rock pile



This part of the trail goes through a super swampy section. I've been slowly adding ditches and culverts over the years and it rides really nice now. I get a lot of satisfaction from this piece of trail because it was a full mudpit at first, and I've slowly transformed it into a nice dry section of trail over a couple of years. Because this is SW British Columbia, it involved excavating 3 feet of black goo to get to the good dirt underneath, and then ditching everywhere.

This winter the local kids stole a nice piece of PVC from a mega mansion construction site to make a rail slide, then abandoned it in the woods. I repurposed their rail slide to replace a ratty old culvert that had a similar origin story. The broken green pipe is the old one, the blue pipe is the new one

It was a full length culvert, and I didn't have a saw, or the desire to go home and get one, so I just dug a mega ditch and buried the whole thing. Gotta go back and add a bunch of rocks and gold to finish this bit off, but the ground is still pretty frozen so harvesting rocks and dirt is still a bit of work.


Got a bit muddy.

[jm2e]

I hope people appreciate your efforts. That looks like un-fun to work in.

[raisingarizona13]

I hope people appreciate your efforts. That looks like un-fun to work in.

Especially in ski boots!

I guess Clownshoe is staying true to his poster name!

I get those pedal maidens off my feet right after that last lap before that sip of beer ever gets close to my lips!

[Clownshoe]

I hope people appreciate your efforts. That looks like un-fun to work in.

The photos make it look worse than it is. I find it I get the drains and ditches running while the snow is melting then it’s easier on me later. There’s definitely something entertaining about getting that muddy, especially if I have a couple of beers along the way. At this point only the ditches are visible, and the trail is still snow covered.

As far as people appreciating the work, I totally get stoked when I see the local neighborhood kids riding my trail. I try hard to keep it single black, and to make it ride good on a DH bike or a trail bike. It’s my way of giving back to a trail network that I’ve enjoyed for a couple of decades. It’s pretty inspiring how much work is done by volunteers in our valley and the variety of trails that people are building.

Working in ski boots is kind of ridiculous but it just so happens that I can ski by this spot on my way home from a day on the mountain. I like the novelty of it. There’s usually only a couple of weeks where the lifts are still running, my ski out is still viable, and the bottom part of the trail is melting out. This day I actually went up and skied a few laps but the main focus was going to work on the trail. I made sure I had work gloves, beers, and other necessary supplies for a couple hours of ditch digging.

[raisingarizona13]

The photos make it look worse than it is. I find it I get the drains and ditches running while the snow is melting then it’s easier on me later. There’s definitely something entertaining about getting that muddy, especially if I have a couple of beers along the way. At this point only the ditches are visible, and the trail is still snow covered.

As far as people appreciating the work, I totally get stoked when I see the local neighborhood kids riding my trail. I try hard to keep it single black, and to make it ride good on a DH bike or a trail bike. It’s my way of giving back to a trail network that I’ve enjoyed for a couple of decades. It’s pretty inspiring how much work is done by volunteers in our valley and the variety of trails that people are building.

Working in ski boots is kind of ridiculous but it just so happens that I can ski by this spot on my way home from a day on the mountain. I like the novelty of it. There’s usually only a couple of weeks where the lifts are still running, my ski out is still viable, and the bottom part of the trail is melting out. This day I actually went up and skied a few laps but the main focus was going to work on the trail. I made sure I had work gloves, beers, and other necessary supplies for a couple hours of ditch digging.

Nice, that actually does sound like fun.

I kid but I actually do run to get those dang things off my feet, especially after a ski tour. My feet are getting old, maybe older than I actually am.

[Clownshoe]

Yeah these ski boots are so banged out that they are going in the garbage after this year. So they ski like shit but they’re super comfortable. Also why I don’t mind walking in ankle deep mud

[jackstraw]

One thing I've noticed about all trail builders...They're addicts, therefore batshit crazy. But hey, its better than heroin!

[evdog]

One thing I've noticed about all trail builders...They're addicts, therefore batshit crazy. But hey, its better than heroin!

Can't argue with that. I worked today until it was too dark to see, then walked the long way out to check out a couple trails to see how conditions were after the storm a few days ago. Verdict - not good. Storm was 3 days ago and I've never seen this much water on the trails before!. Couldn't help but dig a bunch of new drains. Didn't get back to the truck until 1030.

[evdog]

Last storm a few days ago dropped maybe 1.5-2" over a couple days. Gave it a couple days to dry out before coming back out.


The DG is already drying out on top but dirt was perfect underneath. The trail drops down through the gap in the rocks on the right, and there is a catch berm where I'm standing. The line on the left is an old moto trail that goes straight up the ridge.




I normally wouldn't work on it but it channels water and messes up the runout of the rock roll. So I added two drains above and one right at the bottom of the rock. Should stop ruts from water going forward.

After. The line is through that gap. It's a bit rough and you have to drop in at the right angle or risk clipping a pedal. Added a few feet to the berm as well.




Looking at it from above




Added some drains above the rock roll as well. The dirt up there sucks, it's sandy/silt and won't hold together once it dries.




It's beautiful out there right now. Super green




And flowers are out




Trail survey results on the hike out:




None of these were problem spots before the last couple storms. Unfortunately those storms came mid week followed by a couple days of sun heading into the weekend and people couldn't help themselves but come out and ride. That left ruts in all these wet spots that now won't drain, so riders start going wide to avoid the mud and just turn it into a fucking mess. We've now had a couple days sun heading into the weekend. Can't wait to see what it looks like come Monday....

[jackstraw]

^CA is wet!

Couple blowdowns...so another skinny...why not?

[evdog]

Back at it again this afternoon.


This section was getting a little tired and overgrown






Cleaned up the overgrowth and the run-in and re-did the berm




I love this feature. It's such a mind fuck. You can't go wide or you'll hit your handlebar on the outside rock. You can't go too fast or too tight because it seems like you'll smack your head on the rock leaning inward.

This slows you enough you can't just cruise over the off camber rock behind, and it's so off camber your pedal stroke has to be timed perfectly.




Fixed up a few other sections and that's it for this trail.

[jackstraw]

More blowdowns, more skinny. Almost done with this one.

[raisingarizona13]

More blowdowns, more skinny. Almost done with this one.

That thing looks sick jackstraw. Are you going to take the top down or leave it natural?

[jackstraw]

I'll leave it natural. It's pretty fresh so the bark should hang on for a bit which is nice and grippy. It's low consequence, so when the bark does go I may just leave it.

With the number of trees we have its constant maintenance vs new builds and every time a tree comes down I figure might as well add another feature. Windy af today, so here we go again. The tree my bike is leaning against is dead so that one could be next.

[ironhippy]

With the number of trees we have its constant maintenance vs new builds and every time a tree comes down I figure might as well add another feature. Windy af today, so here we go again. The tree my bike is leaning against is dead so that one could be next.

when I was looking at your picture I thought "looks like there's another one ready to go"

I have trails in an older forest and it's constant deadfall removal. I actually had a string of several years where it wasn't "that bad" and I kept waiting for them to come down at once.

that happened in December, I cleared as many as I needed for fat biking, but the trail currently goes over a number of trees that are going to have to be removed when the snow melts.

[LeeLau]

Love those skinnies jackstraw

[jackstraw]

Thanks Lee!

Finished the cleanup and opened the trail close to the original line. Added a little rock so you can bump and land on the skinny transition exit ramp if wanted...or just ride around the skinny exit.

Entering the skinny from this side takes a little back tire hop to make the turn.

[jackstraw]

Came upon this in the middle of our trail during the morning ride.
So went back after...and another skinny. Little leverage and some rollers got the job done

[evdog]

Lots of digging lately.

Our last batch of storms was 8-9 days ago and we have gone from most waterlogged trails I've ever seen to bone dry in some areas. Have been trying to make the most of it and working areas that dry out first.


I normally don't work on b-lines but this one needed help. The main line is straight down the rocks on the right side.






Filled in rut down the transition here.




No before shot but this section had some rocks poking out and people were cutting inside, widening the trail. Re-contoured it and added more rock on the inside to encourage people to use the original wide line.

[evdog]

Different area...total mess.


This spot has never flooded before but the last couple storms changed drainage patterns in a lot of places.




Drained the pooled water, which made for a huge improvement. Unfortunately people had already made a huge mess. Mud will probably take a couple weeks to dry up. At least now a line has been worn in through the area.




Another spot... sediment deposited during storms finally filled a stream channel completely and sent water down the trail rather than across it. Result - mud pit. All of this was clay/silt deposited by the storm water.




It was deposited over a layer of sand so it was easy to scrape off the muck. Only took 15-20min to clean this section up. I spread the muck off trail on the grass to block the go around. Not a lot we can do to prevent this from recurring as this is in a flat field with no other way for it to drain now that the stream bed is full.




I hate working on sections like these. But you have to, or we're stuck with whatever mess is left behind hardens like cement and we're stuck riding over it for the next 8-10 months.

[rip]

If anyone in SW colorado is interested in joining our trail crew, (or has a son or nephew that could use some hard manual labor), we've got one or two openings on our trail crew here in Telluride. 18-27/hr doe, outdoor carpentry skillz preferred. Trail checks daily..

https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe02/ats/...cws=38&rid=508

[LeeLau]

Started working on my 3 year old trail to bring it back to loaminess. Very satisfying

[ironhippy]

Started working on my 3 year old trail to bring it back to loaminess. Very satisfying

I'd like to thank you for this idea. I've been doing it for a few years out here in New Brunswick after seeing one of your posts.

I dig up a section of trail, fill it in with dirt and then add a few inches of loam on top. The loam helps mitigate any moisture for the rest of the season, especially during the freeze/thaw sections in the fall. Dirt tends to crystalize into annoying frost heaps, but the loam will soak up the moisture and provide a nice surface on top of the frozen dirt.

I also much prefer the look of the loam vs. brown dirt that's out of place in a mature forest.

[Clownshoe]

Lee,

I’m very interested in your re loaming techniques. Can you expand on them?

It looks like you’re mainly using “red rot”, which I’m assuming is in endless supply where you’re working.

Any suggestions or tricks you can share? Are you just dumping buckets of “loam” onto the trail or is there more nuance to it?

I’ve got my eye on a couple sections of my trail up the highway from where you are that I’m going to try this on.