The WHAT: The park has wanted to bypass the lakeside trail that the fishermen use for a considerably long time. It was flagged some time ago, and we had waited on approvals which are finally here! So we are going to start building this trail!
The WHY: The lakeside trail is unsustainable, and really not that much fun or that long. It is the small narrow segment on the south end of the lake that goes between the dam and the campground touching the lake side. Fishermen crowd thenselves along this narrow trail for extended periods of time. The bypass will connect the end of the dam with the orange trail further up the hill, which will bypass the lakeside trail leaving it to the fishermen and the perennially wet areas of the lower orange trail. Eventually the orange and this new trail will be blazed red, and the hugely steep and eroded portion of the red that drops off the escarpment will be permanently closed. This will make the red longer, sustainable and more fun. The race course will use this new trail, so we would like to finish it by spring.
The HOW: There will be corridor cleaning, bench cutting, and rock aligning. The trail is going to have to go through some pretty rough areas, so some special things need to be built. There is a rock garden which we will need to build a rock path through. Think the new blue reroute in the watershed. Similar, but not nearly as long.
The BENEFIT: No new trail has been built in Greenbrier in a long, long time. Over a year ago, I submitted a proposal of several trail segments that will link up existing unused trails, and extending into currently unused area. The proposal is in several phases. This would be the first phase. The park agreed to move ahead in this phase. A good showing of quality and swift trail building will show the park that we are serious about moving forward with the other phases of the proposal. A decent turnout of hearty workers is essential to this success. There are some incredible areas that we can hopefully expand into.
The WHERE: Directions to the park are here: Instead of meeting in our usual location by the boat ramp, we are meeting at the south end of the parking lots across from the Visitors Center. Not the tiny parking lot forthe VC, but in the big lot towards the beach. Enter the park, bear left at the split, and turn into the big lot just before the campground gate.
There will be tools to use, please bring the usual water/snack/gloves/warm clothes, and be ready to get dirty! RSVP’s appreciated email: phil_vw(at)yahoo(dot)com
