The Friends of the Sandia Mountains (FOSM) led a trail crew up to continue work on the Cienega/Armijo Trails Improvement Project (CATIP). July 4 being a holiday, I didn't expect many folks being up for a trail project and only advertised to those expressing an interest in an outing. A small set of tasks was defined with the goal of being off the trails before noon.
A crew of seven volunteers showed up for the morning session: Claudia Bergsohn, Lorna Morrow, Jenny Blackmore, Pat and Mike Madden, and Betsy and Bob Galloway. Whoa! Women outnumbered the men on this trail crew! Mike and I were out-gunned and had to hustle to keep up...
One of the primary tasks was scouting future work. To complete Section TC06 requires another 0.07 miles of trail to be built. On June 20, 0.18 miles were built and another 0.12 miles were completed in tougher terrain on June 27 so we should easily finish TC06 on July 11. The crew pin-flagged the remaining section so we'll be ready for next week.
FOSM's trail building on TC06 will connect to a section built by the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps last year. Today the crew completed a short section of that trail which was not finished last summer. There are a few other parts of the trail needing follow-up work. There were the usual tasks: pulling out a few large rocks, cutting backslope, removing oak and roots, and leveling tread. Luckily we were in the shade for the heavy work.
Later, towards the top of TC06 we removed one tree and cut another one off the trail. We also met some hikers heading up towards Canoncito Trail who contributed to walking in the unfinished section.
The last task was hiking to Faulty Trail to assess further work needed along the way. There is another relatively short reroute to be completed and some repair and maintenance to the existing trail. We were back at the vehicles by 1130. A little warm but it is July and there was some breeze.
So we're making good progress on CATIP. Soon we'll be installing new trail signs. Always fun planting posts in hard, rocky soil.
All pics in the attached by Betsy Galloway.
Bob Galloway