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John (far left) and his volunteer crew at camp.
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John Sugden recruited four volunteers for his Community Action Project
(CAP) to work with three members from the Nez Perce National Forest
Service Trail Crew from July 9-16, 2007. The trail they cleared was
near the West Fork of Rapid River adjacent to the Hells Canyon
Wilderness in the Seven Devils. The Hells Canyon Wilderness is in the
western portion of the Nez Perce National Forest near Riggins, Idaho
and the Salmon River.
His crew worked 10 to 15 miles of trail in a hot south facing burn at
elevations between 4800 and 7200 feet. The work consisted of
installing drainage features, repairing tread, and brushing. The
drainage features included water bars and grade dips and these features
break up slopes to decrease the carrying capacity of water running down
and off the trail. The tread repair was required because burned out
stumps left holes of various sizes along the trail. Holes were filled
with rocks of various sizes to repair the tread. In the burn, the
primary brush cleared was Ceanothus, a sturdy bush with waxy leaves,
while out of the burn a 600 foot section of trail was cleared of thick
ponderosa saplings.
Five volunteers provided 208 hours of on the ground service excluding
travel time. With the three Forest service employees and five
volunteers, 30 rock bars and 80 grade dips were constructed, several
hundred large and small holes were repaired, 300 feet of new trail were
constructed, and several thousand feet of new trail were reconstructed.
Seeing the team work well together in a special and inhospitable place
to help the forest made this trip a success. |
The crew ready for a day of work (John far right).
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A breath taking view of where John and his crew worked.
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