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Post by azdrawdy on Mar 8, 2009 7:51:21 GMT -5
We did a mini-SMC ride Saturday. Partly to get some miles in, partly to get a grip on trail conditions after the rains last weekend. I will post on TC and SC in separate threads.
Pretty normal for Wine, it got hit hard. Lots of areas where the creek over-ran the banks and pushed debris on the trail itself. Mounds of debris, several trees, tree tops, branches, etc completely obscuring the trail. Areas where you have to leave the trail and walk around.
From the 283 parking lot, the issues start after you go down the deep ravine (probably 2 miles in?). From that point it gets nasty, and stays nasty until you get within a mile of Key Road. It's going to take chainsaws, Pulaskis and McCleods. And, of course, people. The thick mud will dry, but the debris will have to be removed.
The last time this happened (I believe it was the weekend of December 12th), it took two chainsaw attempts (one by me, one by JT) and a bunch of faceless hikers to get everything in order. This time it is worse.
Workparty anyone?
MD
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Post by imnav8r on Mar 8, 2009 8:20:24 GMT -5
Except for the weekend of the 21st and 22nd you can count me in!
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Post by ted on Mar 9, 2009 8:02:15 GMT -5
John, Workparty dates will be discussed at the meeting tommorrow night. With two chainsaws and 5-10 people it might take 1 or 2 workparties to get things cleared. 10-20 people would be better.
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Post by imnav8r on Mar 9, 2009 8:32:39 GMT -5
Roger. I agree with the 10 - 20 people...the more the merrier!
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Post by ted on Mar 9, 2009 11:57:31 GMT -5
Who's Roger? And don't call me Shirley.
There's already a party scheduled, but I don't know when.
Whomever the administrator is that may be responsible for the calendar function on this site....could we get it going?
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Post by azdrawdy on Mar 9, 2009 12:06:57 GMT -5
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Post by seenvic on Mar 9, 2009 14:20:09 GMT -5
We did a mini-SMC ride Saturday. Partly to get some miles in, partly to get a grip on trail conditions after the rains last weekend. I will post on TC and SC in separate threads. Pretty normal for Wine, it got hit hard. Lots of areas where the creek over-ran the banks and pushed debris on the trail itself. Mounds of debris, several trees, tree tops, branches, etc completely obscuring the trail. Areas where you have to leave the trail and walk around. From the 283 parking lot, the issues start after you go down the deep ravine (probably 2 miles in?). From that point it gets nasty, and stays nasty until you get within a mile of Key Road. It's going to take chainsaws, Pulaskis and McCleods. And, of course, people. The thick mud will dry, but the debris will have to be removed. The last time this happened (I believe it was the weekend of December 12th), it took two chainsaw attempts (one by me, one by JT) and a bunch of faceless hikers to get everything in order. This time it is worse. Workparty anyone? MD Is it bad at the ravine? Or just after that reroute is over and you pick up the trail near the stream again?
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Post by Timothyjames on Mar 21, 2009 19:12:15 GMT -5
Road wine>turkey>wine today and here is whats left to do.
4 specific places need clearing/moving.
#1: The first down tree is semi-ridable in my opinion. the only reason it might be worth moving/cutting is because of the angle it sits at might cause some slippage and falling. I chose to step over.
#2: downed tree a bit after the rock garden area. It wasn't rotted so I couldn't get it to budge...plus when i decided to give it a shove I had already ridden the length of wine and turkey out and back.
#3 tree hanging diagonally across the path. Heading out you can dodge it with a bit of effort and luck i guess but staying on path would be tough. On the way back i got ballsy and tried passing it again..nope..square to the top of my head. Probably been knocked out without a helmet. So i nominate it for the /chop
#4 is the bridges. The first displaced bridge looks like its been that way for a while and there is an evident ride-around there but the clay was very moist and it took me a bit of struggling to walk the bike up it. the second bridge just needs some people power to move it back in balance although it is ride able and seemingly safe. I went over it both directions and didn't feel any instability.
There were approximately 6-7 areas of overflow debris that I cleared by hand. Mostly rotten logs, nothing that weighed more than a couple hundred pounds and was easy to roll/shove out of the way. The 'stick soup' as I call it about halfway through the trail is pretty mulch like but it is ride able. I did it about 5 times to test it out, easier coming back for sure. This can be moved but its mostly drift and junk and would probably benefit from a pitchfork since I moved everything that was large enough to cause an obstruction.
Beyond that its just twigs and shrubbery that tear at your legs arms and face as you go through. So a pair of loppers and a 6pack might be in order for whomever wants to walk the distance. Turkey Creek had one large tree down towards the turnaround but its right at a switchback and I'm thinking it wouldn't be necessary to move it since you can just turn left there anyway.
my .02
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Post by azdrawdy on Mar 22, 2009 20:43:45 GMT -5
Kudos to timothyjames and Jon Taylor for their work at Wine this weekend. Between the two of you (and without the knowledge that either of you were out there!), you two got a bunch done! The one huge thicket of flood crud was cleaned and chainsawed out by JT, and that was indeed a big job.
That said, we did a Sumter Metric Century ride Saturday and can say that other than the trail work needed on Wine, the rest of the 63.5 miles is in great shape. A downed tree here, a downed tree there. That's it, with the exception of WC.
I sincerely hope we get a good turnout on April 11 for this workparty. We will need both DRs going, both Stihl Extended Length Hedge Trimmers going, and a half-dozen people to clear debris. More info (and volunteer requests!) in the very near future.
MD
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