Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024

Crew:
• Jim Houle
• Eric Russell
• Mike Madden
• Luis Cuadros
• Jen Medina-Gray

We parked at Jim Houle’s house on Sandia Haven at 8am and hiked 1 mile into work site. Tools included a rock bar, two sledge hammers, two rock slings, three dirt bags, plus the usual pick mattocks and McLeods. Got back to Jim's house at 1:30pm.

This area of drainage had eroded significantly over the years. The drainage in Cold Canyon during spring run-off fills a pond above an artificial dam leaving a large muddy puddle. The trail had been badly eroded and widened by hikers, bikers and horses. Someone had placed rocks and there was extensive debris down stream. When it dried, one can see the erosion effects, including the horse step at the far end. The trail entered steeply from above and exited sharply. The plan was to clear debris, raise the crossing and create a sort of “turnpike” with layers of rock and dirt. Large rocks were placed on either side, then the middle was filled in with medium sized rocks. The rocks were crushed by sledge hammer and smaller rocks placed on top. The final layer was dirt brought in from the steep trail on either end. The idea was that water will percolate under the structure, at the same time lowering the steepness and raising the middle dip.