Sat 7/12 West Ridge Trail; Logs & Hikers & Bridges, Oh My!

Today's crew was two: Ben and TM Craig. We toted pick, shovel, screw gun, and hammer uphill around 0930. We also lugged 2 2x6x8' KD premium planks. We came to log steps uphill of the flat beyond Firepond Brook around 1015. There we recovered logs we left there on our last workday 7/3, an 8' and a 6' peeled fir.  They replace  steps we built there in 1989. Mind, others there we replaced in 2022 and earlier. A wide trail  means much woodwork in New England. While we were setting logs, three ascending hikers offered to lug the planks up to the bog bridge. They are Gabriella, Rog, and Ro... They were as good as their word.  Thank them all.

We reached the 1986 bog relo by noon. After lunch we used about half an hour to remove the old rotting 2013 planks and screw down the new ones. The R&R itself took about ten minutes, then we pulled 16d nails from the old planks for recycling and threw the planks into the woods to finish rotting.

Of special note: the 2013 planks sat on sills 2' long cut from landscape timbers. Being in a bog and wet all the time, they were still sound. We turned them over and screwed new planks down with deck screws.

Our work being done, Ben and his dog Hank hiked to the summit, and I walked down. 2 x 8 hr = 16 hr.

Next Saturday we are back on this trail, with a great variety of tasks  Sat 7/26 we are elsewhere.

All the Best,

Craig Sanborn,  CHVTC
Trailmaster.