Exjackly

Well, the work yesterday was fun.  I joined with other volunteers to help prepare the cross country ski trails in the area for the upcoming winter.  My group had 8 people total, so we were assigned a 2 mile loop of trail to work on.

Half of the group went to work on Ralph’s Trail, a 12 foot wide groomed trail that works its way up to the ridgeline.   I led the other half over to the Ridge Trail which completed the loop, but which is not wide enough for the grooming equipment to get in to.  Even so, we found a few trees that were blocking the trail sufficiently to need removal and a lot of brush to be cut back.

The work was not too hard and the distance felt pretty short, even considering the extra exertion clearing brush causes.  On the Ridge Trail, most of the trail blazes were in good shape, so we replaced fewer than a dozen markers the full length.  It is nice seeing those trails now and realizing that they are now more easily accessible for winter recreationists.

The only down side was the thick smoke.  Idaho is in the midst of fire season, and this year has been a difficult one.  The smoke yesterday was thick enough that you could clearly see the haze less than a ridge-line away.  This, despite that fact that we were a significant distance away from the nearest active blaze.

Hopefully the firefighters can remain safe for the rest of the season, few additional buildings are claimed by the fires, and that nature gets the help from us to prevent serious erosion issues from arising in the burned-out areas.  If that can all happy, I am confident that within a few years, a healthier forest will be growing where nothing but skeletons and ash are now.