Category: Trail Projects

The Sandia Nordic Ski Club organized a trail project at their ski area, near Ellis Trailhead, the second of a series of Saturday half-day projects that I learned about through FOSM and NMVFO volunteers. This is my first project with the friendly people at Sandia Nordic, and will not be my last.

We lopped and sawed small limbs and logs, and widened trail corridor to an average of 10 feet, in preparation for a FOSM sawyer crew coming through later, and removed logs stacked parallel to the lower side of the trail to make a more natural appearance that will drain better and be more sustainable.

NMVFO returned this year for a one-day project on Porvenir Trail along Beaver Creek, surrounded by picturesque cliffs.

My team hiked up about 5 miles to the junction with Hollinger Trail, and cleared 15 blowdowns and lopped on the way back, meeting the lower team.

Continue reading “Porvenir Canyon Trail 2021”

Over 19 volunteers from the NMVFO, Backcountry Horsemen Gila Chapter, and Southern NM Trail Alliance teamed up from May 19-24 to work on trails in the Railroad Canyon area in the Gila National Forest near Emory Pass. We car-camped at Iron Creek Campgound, and Dave and Rifka from NMVFO were cooks for the project.

Dividing into three teams, sawying, lopping, and tread, we worked on East Railroad Canyon Trail and Gallinas Canyon Trail. Past burns had caused blowdowns, brush growth, and trail erosion that required a good deal of re-benching.

Continue reading “Railroad Canyon 2021”