Trail Projects – Page 41 – Sagebrush Trails

Segment 86 November 2020

I returned to my adopted section of the Continental Divide Trail for an overnight backpack to do final trail work of the year. First, I replaced a metal trail sign on NM13 between segments 84 and 85, at the request of the CDTC.

Then I parked at the northern terminus of my Segment 86 near Surprise Tank, and spent the day lopping, clearing 20 drains, and moving or sawing 13 deadfalls. The northern mile of the segment is getting overgrown with grass and rabbitbush(?), and I scraped the tread with a McLeod as time allowed, but much more needs to be done.

I camped near a water tank just beyond Erman Well, now dry. Darkness really comes early this late in the year, limiting my work day. The next day I finished surveying the last two miles of my segment, suffering from braided trail from cattle.

I hiked back the entire 11 mile segment back to my car to finish. For my next trip in the spring, I need to clear more grass on tread, and fix some ditched trail sections in the heights, and block more braided trail. Rolling dips need to rebuilt as well.

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Black Range CDT Reroute III 2020

Four volunteers joined two staffers from the Continental Divide Trail Coalition to work on a trail reroute in the Black Range. We met Thursday afternoon across from a cabin near the base of Lookout Mountain, along dry Chloride Creek, after a challenging 4wd drive. Our camp was shaded by Ponderosa pine and tall Gambel oak, unlike the low shrub typical in the state. On Friday we did finishing touches, tread-work and lopping, on new CDT trail created by recent projects.

Red Canyon Trail 2020

NMVFO volunteers gathered for one day of trail work on Red Canyon Trail (and spur trail to the hiker trailhead) in the Manzanos. Three of us camped out the night before at Red Canyon Campground, and we all gathered at the trailhead for our morning briefing.

Along with sawing and lopping, we were allowed to work on tread– my first project with a MacLeod and pick all year! Rolling dips just do not show well in my photos, but we installed at least 10 water diversions today. The trail was trenched out in several places, and reroutes may be required someday.