Bear Mountain
Our first day constructing section Seven started with a 27 degrees day as we rallied at the Crystal Springs boat launch. A clear sky was a welcome sight as we loaded all our tools and equipment onto the work barge the US Corps of Engineers had loaned us, saving the volunteers a four mile hike in and a four mile hike out from the newly dug trail. We motored by barge up Little Bear Creek, and thanks to the recent rains, Lake Ouachita has risen several feet, allowing us to motor to within a quarter mile of where section seven begins. We had six volunteers today and made good progress up the south slope of Big Mountain, finishing approximately 2/10’s of a mile of new tread.
The Forest Service dig began roughing in the trail late Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday evening had roughed in almost a half of a mile of new tread. The larger excavator is handling the steep slope of the mountain as we had hoped, despite hitting a couple of spots where we found solid slab rock under the veneer of light soil.
We rally tomorrow, Dec. 1, at 9:00 am at the Crystal Springs Café, where we will load onto the barge and motor over to the construction site. We are in a deep valley on the south slope of Big Bear Mountain and are enjoying the warm southern sun and almost no wind as we work on the trail finishing. We appreciate any and all volunteers who can spare a day to assit us in this challenging section. Bring plenty of fluids and a trail lunch if you can join us.
Attached is a photo of our team loaded up on the barge for the trip across the bay.
Thanks
Jerry