Friday, Jan. 13, we had nine volunteers, including Bill Pell and Chris Ham of the US Forest Service, joining in the finish work on the seventh section. The weather had improved significantly from Thursday with much calmer winds and a high of around 50 degrees. We are currently progressing through a relatively level area on the north slope of Big Bear Mountain. Because of Thursday night’s low temperatures, the ground was still frozen as we began work Friday and did not really thaw all day. Lunch break was relatively short due to the cool temperatures and the light wind rising up off the lake. We persevered and were able to complete the finish work all the way up to where the machines stopped last week. The USFS machine team was unable to work any of this past week but will be back on the trail next Tuesday, January the 17th.
This post consists of a series of articles that will chronicle work being done in January, 2012, on the “seventh section” of the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT). Click on the link below to read the full article, as each workday is chronicled by “Alpha Dog” Jerry Shields.
Looking at the incoming rain today (Monday) we are canceling planned construction both Monday, Jan. 9, and Tuesday, Jan. 10. We have also been informed by the Corp that the barge we have been utilizing is in for repairs. The weather map shows heavy rain approaching from the south. If we had to hike out suddenly, it is a six mile hike back to our vehicles. We will further evaluate the weather on Tuesday and will let everyone know of any changes to the construction schedule. Sorry for the delay. Jerry
We will restart construction of the seventh section of the Vista Trail Monday January 9th at 9:00 am. We will meet at the Crystal Springs Resort Café located at the end of Crystal Springs Road. We will once again utilize a barge to ferry our volunteers to and from the construction site just across the bay from the marina. This is our seventh consecutive year of construction resulting in over thirty miles of new hiking and mountain biking trails.
This post combines a number of messages and photographs from Jerry Shields and other Traildogs to document the work done on “the seventh segment”, which began along Bear Creek in the valley between Little Bear and Bear Mountain, and which will extend up Bear Mountain and along its summit eastward to Brady Mountain Resort. The following picture gallery contains photographs from each of the updates below. Dec. 1, 2011 Crisp morning, warm afternoon as we climbed the southern flank of Big Bear Mountain today with two new volunteers joining us. We had eight volunteers today: myself, Al G., Robert C., Mike C. back from Colorado, Chuck D., Derwood B., Dan W. and Doug P. We especially welcome Doug, our newest Traildog. Best weather yet, and by 10:30 we were all stripping layers of clothing as our efforts, plus the warm southern sun, had us sweating.
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 …Click to read the full article
Fellow Traildogs and Friends We are moving closer to our planned Nov/Dec dig on the southern face of Big Bear Mountain, just across the bay from the Crystal Springs Resort, where will begin construction on the scenic seventh section of the trail. The final plan calls for the Traildogs to join in the construction on Wednesday, November 30th, at 9:00 am. Our rally point will be at the parking area next to the Crystal Springs Resort Café. The Corp of Engineers have generously offered to loan us one of their barges to serve as transport to the work site, and the good folks of Crystal Springs Resort have offered a boat slip for the barge, both of which will save of hours of hiking into and out of our planned work site. This section of the trail will challenge all our trail building knowledge and skills but in the end …Click to read the full article