Bear Mountain Construction – Feb. 6, 2012 – Bear Mountain Benches
We had seven volunteers today to assist in installing two trail benches and a rework of the steep switchback on the south slope. Installing benches on this section is a study in logistics due to its remote location. As we left the marina, we had seven volunteers, two 4-wheelers, four bench frames, sixteen bench slates, six 80 lb bags of quickcrete, a mixing pan, hoe, shovel, digging bar, and a post hole digger, along with four gallons of water, all of which had to hauled up the mountain.
We were fortunate today, as we did not run into solid rock when we dug the holes for the benches. The first bench was installed on the south slope of the mountain overlooking the Crystal Springs Marina. The second bench was installed on the north slope overlooking Hotel Island.
Following the bench installation, we had lunch on the south slope at the top of the switchbacks. The final switchback is very steep and difficult to hike or bike. After reviewing the site, we chose to hand dig an alternate path just to the right of the machine dug route. This effort required moving a number of large boulders to form a stationary rock wall on the down slope. We then filled in the path with small stones to level the tread and covered the stones with red clay, creating a first class tread with a significantly lower slope.
We are rescheduling Thursday’s planned workday on Hickory Nut Mountain to tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb 7th. We will be doing the finish work on the “Old Fire Tower Spur”. This 1/2 mile spur starts at the Hickory Nut Mountain Trailhead sign and goes up the north face of the mountain to the old tower site. We are currently designing two trail interpretive signs for this site. We will meet at the trailhead sign at 9:00 am. The trailhead is located atop Hickory Nut Mountain, just west of the Hickory Nut Mountain Vista.
Here are some additional photos of today’s work.
Jerry