Sagebrush personal hiking blog
About 20 volunteers from NMVFO joined 4 Albuquerque Open Space staff to build 0.2 miles of new trail in the Juan Tomas Open Space on the east side of the Sandia Mountains.
After roughing out trail with pick-mattocks through Gambel oak and pine, we used McLepds to make finishing passes on tread.
Afterwards. volunteers were invited to rehydrate and socialize at Don and Deb’s place, less than a mile away.
This is a continuation of projects from several previous years.
Six NMVFO volunteers hiked up Windsor Ridge Trail #271 from Cowles to Stewart Lake in the Pecos Wilderness, and camped for 4 days to do trail work between Stewart Lake and Spirit Lake, and beyond on Winsor and Skyline trails. The Pecos Chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen carried tools and equipment to the group camping site at Stewart, and back down at the end of the project.
We started with a rock-work project, placing boulders as stepping stones in a stream, using a rock web.
Most of our work was clearing deadfall, with a 2-person crosscut saw and Katana-Boys.
Good team, good conversations at camp.
Well I didn’t have to pack
“500 Miles”, Rosanne Cash, The List
I had it all right on my back
Now I’m five hundred miles away from home
I deny being a gearhead, and seem to be falling further behind the major backpacking equipment trends each year. One example: most thru-hikers on the CT have moved to hoodie sunshirts– I really should look into these for next year. Several of my equipment list items are the exact same pieces from my 2012 Gear List.
Here are some changes from my most recent published gear list:
Continue reading “CT2023 Gear”