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Randy
Member
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Went hiking at Rancho San Antonio recently, and was amazed at what I saw in the form of trail maintenance on the Black Mountain trail. At several points along the steepest portions of the trail, apparently a bulldozer was used to create water runoff, ostensibly to protect the trail from erosion damage, and probably to keep standing water off the trail. The dozer technique actually gouged a couple of feet deep into the trail tread (surface) and pushed that soil and rock off the edge, plowing through to form a ditch. Ironically this technique, or should I say this total lack of any effective technique, has probably done more damage to the trail than years of unattended normal erosion would have done. Had they only left the trail alone, it would have been possible to use some of the loose rock nearby, and some manual sweat equity, to create a proper “water bar” at the same locations. I have done enough trail maintenance to know what good trail maintenance looks like, and this is crap. The worst I’ve seen.
(Edited by Randy at 7:19 pm on Dec. 9, 2007)
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Total Posts: 147 | Joined Sep. 2004 | Posted on: 7:17 pm on Dec. 9, 2007 | IP
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NorthBayHikesPaul
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Those are called swales, they are super water bars. I also do a lot of trail maintenance in a park near my home, and the water bars need to be cleaned out every year. Horses and bikes fill them with gravel in the summer, and the trails become creeks and then gullies if the water bars aren't cleaned out. That's a lot of maintenance. The swales are deep enough that they can go years, even decades without being cleaned out.
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Total Posts: 32 | Joined Aug. 2007 | Posted on: 10:19 am on Dec. 16, 2007 | IP
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Randy
Member
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I understand. I had realized that this was done to facilitate water runoff, but it seems really too extreme to me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m just grateful to have a trail at all.
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Total Posts: 147 | Joined Sep. 2004 | Posted on: 12:36 pm on Dec. 18, 2007 | IP
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Bay Area Hiker Discussion Board
Black Mountain Trail
