We had five seasoned Traildogs join us on the trail today. We were able to finally complete the finish work on the east end of the seventh section; the “seventh section” runs across Bear Mountain from Little Bear Creek on the west to Brady Mountain Road on the east. The work today included armoring the wet crossing at the east end trailhead on Brady Mountain Road and completing the final finish work of cutting roots and raking out the new tread on the final 1/3 mile of the new tread. The east end of the Trail at Brady Mt. Rd. is seeing a great deal of usage as the word spreads about this new section. Parking is becoming a safety issue, with folks trying to find a spot near the trail to leave their vehicles. This road is a very busy road, so all users should especially careful when parking …Click to read the full article
It was a windy day on the mountain as five Traildogs began the final days of finishing work on the mountainous seventh section. We are working just north of the massive tornado blow-down area of May 2011. Tens of thousands of trees were ripped, torn, twisted and destroyed along the northern portion of Brady Mountain Rd. Finding a usable route for the trail was a real challenge, but thanks to the tenacity of U.S. Forest Service personnel, we successfully have threaded the trail between tornado damage and private property. Job well done! The wind today blew in another treat as we working. Suddenly, the air was filled a distant aroma that could only be described as manna from Louisiana, when up the mountain an apparition bearing a foil covered pan of smoking hot Cajun Sausage Bread appeared. Georgia Cavanaugh, Cajun Cook Supreme, brought the Traildog volunteers and the Progressive Trail …Click to read the full article
Today was a day of accomplishments as five Traildog volunteers pushed the trail finishing work over a half a mile west where we joined with the finish work that was completed last month when we were coming in from the west by barge. After a mile and a half hike up the mountain this morning, we set our goal of reaching the point where we ceased operations November 30. A great deal of the tread we were working required only minimal finishing, but there were several extended areas we describe as “gravel pits” that are covered in small to medium stones after the machines finish the new tread. These gravel pits are a pain to finish and require a great deal of fire rake work, followed by root pruning. We did take time to build two rock cairns from some of the moss covered boulders the machine crews had uprooted. …Click to read the full article
We completed another 1/3 of a mile today on Big Bear Mountain, continuing to work our way back to our previous stopping place Nov. 29 when we were coming into the work area from the west. The Progressive Trail Design team has now pushed the trail to within eye-shot of Brady Mountain road. There remains another quarter to a third of a mile before the trail is expected to exit the Forest onto the road, and this last bit of tread will be steep, rocky, and difficult to cut. But, it’s getting there! Today’s work was often in very rocky areas, but toward the end of the day, we broke into an area where the going was relatively easy. The views remain spectacular as we continue to climb, but we will soon be back to “moguls” as we traverse the north side of the mountain just below its summit. Along …Click to read the full article
Only seasoned trail builders show up when the day starts at 19 degrees. Today our four Traildogs competed another 1/4 mile of finish work on the seventh section. We parked on Brady Mountain Road, just north of where the seventh section will intersect the road, and hiked up to where our machine crew from Progressive Trail Design were busy carving out the final mile of the seventh section. It only required a hike of about 25 minutes to intersect the roughed in trail. We are working back west toward where we stopped last week while the machine crew continues on east. The trail is mostly soil, clay, and small stones and is not difficult to work. We’re hoping to make good progress tomorrow. We are about a mile east of where we stopped last week. The machine crew is less than a mile from Brady Mountain Road. We will meet …Click to read the full article
Friday we reached a key milestone for this fall’s dig – the halfway point of the planned 4.2 miles of new trail, along the northern face of Big Bear Mountain. The portion of the seventh section is a rolling, winding trail that snakes along just below the northern summit of Big Bear Mountain as it goes around large rock outcropping, boulders and old growth hardwoods. The completed product, as you look back on your finish work, has a beautiful, natural patina of fresh earth and fallen leaves. The new trail looks like it belongs there and is an enhancement to a serene stretch of remote woodland overlooking the sparkling waters of Lake Ouachita. The new Traildog Vista that peeks through a wide break in the forest canopy is a must stopping point for any user and will be one where a million Kodak Moments will be shot. At the end …Click to read the full article
Lake Ouachita Vista TrailPosted on by Al Gathright
Nov. 28 It was an eerie start to the day as a dense fog hung low in the Crystal Springs Marina Basin. Capt. Dan expertly steered us to our destination. Four Traildogs groomed .27 miles. The total distance of new groomed trail is now 1.41 miles. The Traildogs also removed a dead tree near the new bench at Traildog Vista. The crew from Progressive Trail Design is about a mile ahead of us. Now that the crew is back on their pace, they predict a Dec 7 completion date. They have about 1.5 miles remaining. USFS staff, Tom Ledbetter, Jake Raines and Chris Ham were on the trail today. Their mission was to replace trial course flagging that recently disappeared. Thursday and Friday will be the last work days until the dig crew reaches Brady Mtn Road. It is currently a 4 mile ATV ride one way to our work site. …Click to read the full article
We had four volunteers today who assisted in the construction of the newly-christened “Traildog Vista” on the seventh section of the trail on Bear Mountain. We installed a trail bench and utilized the native stone of the mountain to enhance the site. We cleared brush and two dead spars which opened up the sweeping view of Lake Ouachita far below. The Progressive Trail Design machine crew continues to gouge out new tread and are now past the rifle range located at the base of the South slope of the mountain. The Traildog volunteers have now completed one and two-thirds miles of the newly dug tread and are only about two feet behind the machine team’s mini-excavator that trails the lead Sutter trail dozer and mini-skidder machines breaking down the down slope debris and cutting the angle of repose. We are canceling tomorrow’s planned work day to allow the dig team …Click to read the full article
Today we had our first milestone of this fall dig by completing the first mile of finish work on the second leg of the seventh section. Perfect fall weather and five volunteers worked the freshly turned tread following our machine team that puts us 3.5 miles from where we moor the barge each day at the bottom of Big Bear Mountain. We are getting plenty of exercise getting to and from the work site. I can’t say enough about the lake views from their section of the trail. Imagine the view at the Hickory Nut Mt. Vista stretching 2.5 miles along the ridge of the mountain. We have chosen a particularly scenic overlook that we would like to christen as “Traildog Point.” Also today I had and excused absence from the trail work to take part in an awards ceremony at the Federal Building in Hot Springs where the Traildogs …Click to read the full article
Friday was another fine day on the trail with unseasonably warm weather and clear skies. We had four Traildog volunteers who pushed the finishing on the newly dug tread another 850 feet giving us 1/3 of a mile of new trail for the week’s effort. As we were storing our tool cache at the end of the day we noticed a large hollow log on the North side of the trail. Large, hollow logs are often encountered, except deep back in this log we could see two reddish eyes peering out with the look of a local resident disturbed by the hub-hub of our construction. Our best guess was a small raccoon had made the log its home against the cold weather that is coming our way. We assured it we would be our of the neighborhood after just one more day of work. We will return to the mountain …Click to read the full article