We will have 2 project sites – a bridge site and the Hamiln Road trail construction site.
We need 10 volunteers to help build a bridge on Section 1 at Raven Ridge Road. Please RSVP to me about the bridge and I will send you the meeting location near the Falls Lake Dam. If you have strong carpentry skills this project site is for you. RSVP to Jeff Brewer – jdbrewer@bellsouth.net
NEW – Meeting Spot - All interested should meet at the dead end of Hamlin Road. Take I-85 North to Red Mill Road exit and turn left and travel 3 miles and turn right on to Hamlin Road. Look for the MST Signs.
Important things for the workday.
The Falls Lake Task Force leaders recently had a meeting to discuss our weather policy for workdays. If the workday is canceled it will be posted on the website (Falls Lake page) by 9:00 PM the day before the workday. A mass email will also be sent out after the website is updated about the cancellation.
The forecast is currently looking great for Saturday. If you are new at trail work please let us know and we will pair you up with an experienced person.
What you will need.
- Work clothes and solid shoes or hiking boots.
- Plenty of water
- Lunch
- Work gloves, if you have them (If not, we have some)
Work Safely. This is the most important thing, and our main goal. In particular:
Use tools carefully. If you do not know how to use a particular tool, or what to do in a particular circumstance please ask. Do not work too close together and be careful with rakes, shovels, and mattocks to avoid hitting the person next to you. When walking past another volunteer, please say something so they know you are there. Do not lift anything heavier than you can comfortably lift
Know you own limits. This is not a race. We will be working on and maintaining this trail for years to come. Take plenty of breaks. Make sure to drink plenty of water, even when it’s cold outside.
Remember that building trail is not like walking on a finished, well maintained trail. There are holes in the ground to step in, branches to trip over, thorns, wasps, poison ivy (fortunately not too much of that on this segment of trail), ticks, chiggers, and other hazards. Please be cautious.
Have a good time. This is a scenic area. There are box turtles, heron, woodpeckers, deer, beaver, and other wildlife in this area as well as scenic views of the lake.
We have the tools that will be needed.
The trail route is marked with orange/red construction flags (wires stuck in the ground) These stake flags mark the route of the trail for construction. We only need to make the trail tread 2 feet wide.
Particular tasks for this workday.
Cutting branches and logs across the trail:
We have clippers, small saws, and a chainsaw for this purpose. All of the chainsaw work needs to be done by a certified person at the workday. In general, while standing on the trail you want to cut branches back to an arms length on both sides and above your head. When clipping a branch that extends over the trail, try to cut the branch at the trunk of the tree or bush. When there is a small tree or bush in the trail, do not cut it at the ground, but cut it ~3′ above the ground to make it easier to dig out/pull out. Cut off at ground level they will tend to grow back from the roots. When cutting branches, please drag them off the trail. In particular if you end up clipping poison ivy, make sure to drag it well off the trail with the clippers.
Dragging logs off the trail.
There are a significant number of logs and branches lying across the trail route. These need to be dragged to the side. Many are so rotted they can most easily be removed with a shovel.
Trash
We have trash bags to pick up trash along the way. Fortunately this part of the park is relatively clean so we will not have too much trash to remove. The main trash that we want to try to remove on this workday is the barbed wire and other fence wire that in places crosses the trail. Please wear leather gloves and safety glasses and use caution in cutting wire. We will carry the trash out to one of the ends of this trail or it can be carried back to the trailer.
Raking the trail
It is necessary to rake the trail tread clear of leaves, branches, other debris so that we know where we need to level the trail, fill holes, etc. Please use caution while raking to avoid poking others with the rake handle.
Pulling out small saplings from the trail tread
There will be some small saplings in the trail tread. If these are cut off they tend to grow back from the roots, so we need to either pull them by hand (if they are very small), dig them out with a mattocks, or if they are up to an inch in diameter, pull them out with the weed wrench.
Filling holes
These need to be filled if they are within the 2′ wide trail tread, or if they are within several feet of the trail on either side. We have shovels and buckets for this purpose.
Leveling the trail tread
Walking across the side of a hill is tiring. The finished trail tread should be, in cross section, close to level. We have mattocks and rakes for this purpose. On this section of trail we cross multiple drainage dips, and have quite a bit of side hill trail to build. In addition to the side hill work, much of the trail route has various lumps and bumps that need to be leveled.
Stream crossings
There are multiple small stream crossings along this route. We will not be working on these on this workday, but in the future we plan to build small bridges across several of these.
Sincerely,
Jeff Brewer
