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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