Bald Mountain Trail Day Recap: October 25, 2015

This past Sunday, October 25th, CRAMBA volunteers met up with Paul Majchrowski, the Lead Worker for Bald Mountain Recreation Area, for another successful trail day. For years the segment of trail located between along Predmore Roads and Carpenter Lake on the Orange Loop of the North Unit between markers 13 and 14 (map) has been muddy and frequently impassible. The section downslope from what's commonly referred to as The Ranger's House (a DNR-owned house) was one of the worst spots.By clearing deadfall and reusing and improving existing, casually-created trails we were able to move the trail 3-6 feet above the wet area, establishing a route that should remain dry year-round. This will benefit all trail users including mountain bikers, hikers, runners, skiers, and dog walkers.While a few other wet spots remain, by working in partnership with the DNR, CRAMBA volunteers like you have fixed numerous problem areas, helping to make the trails at Bald Mountain better than ever.In additional to Paul, Adam Lepp, and the rest of the DNR staff at Bald Mountain, we would like to thank all the volunteers who showed up and worked to make our trails better:Tony McGee, Todd Parkinson, Kristen Barry, Jeremy Kozak, Paul Culbertson, Dave Jackson, Scott Cervin, Konrad Kucharski, Steve Vigneau, Dan Blodgett, Deanna Velasco, Rodney Gullett, and Mark Senyk.Thank you everyone! See you on the trails!(An album of photos taken by Kristen Barry, CRAMBA Treasurer, can be found here.)

Bald Mountain North Unit Trail Day

Bald Mountain Recreation Area, North Unit, has long been a local favorite trail featuring smooth, flowing, open routes and beautiful views. Unfortunately, it also has some low-laying muddy areas. On Saturday, May 9th, 2015, a CRAMBA-IMBA-led group of volunteers worked with the Michigan DNR to repair one of the worst and most visible problem spots. Just south of the main parking area at Harmon and Predmore roads (map) the old, collapsed drainage and unofficial patches were removed and replaced with a french drain system, raising the trail surface above the water table.The image to the right shows how it looked before the work was done.With 18 volunteers representing CRAMBA-IMBA, Metro Detroit Mountain Bikers, and the Friends of Bald Mountain Recreation Area, 90 volunteer-hours were worked, totaling $2066.40 in volunteer time† donated.This was CRAMBA-IMBA's first trail day working with the DNR at Bald Mountain and what we hope to be the start of a growing relationship that'll enhance the mountain biking opportunities throughout the park.Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help with the work: Matt and Karen Koneda, Mike Hartrick, Drew Williams, Kristen Barry, Scott Mackela, Rodney Gullett, Deanna Velasco, Lisa Apone, Mark Senyk, Pete Kresmery, Carl Moody, Steve Vigneau, Mike Webb, Konrad Kucharski, Chris Westerlund, Max Larroquette, and David Jackson.Particular thanks to:

• Adam Lepp and Paul Majchrowski, Michigan DNR at Bald Mountain Recreation Area, who arranged for the materials and with whom CRAMBA-IMBA has been working closely.
• Lisa Apone and Mike Webb for bringing both a vibrating compactor to pack the trail surface and pizza and water for hungry workers.
• Rodney Gullett and Deanna Velasco for getting mid-day food that kept our volunteers going.
• Pete Kresmery and Mark Senyk for bringing small tractors and trailers used to move the repair materials.

More photos from before, during and after the trail day can be found here. Thank you to Jeremy Verbeke, Lisa Apone, Kristen Barry, and Max Larroquette for getting pictures of the work in progress.† https://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time (2014 value)

River Bends Autumn Cleanup Trailday: November 16, 2013

Join CRAMBA-IMBA for an autumn cleanup trail day at River Bends on November 16th, 2013. Meet here near the trailhead (main parking lot off of 22 Mile Road) at 10:00 am.The focus of this trail day will be small tweaks along the trail as needed to get the trail ready for winter and next year. This'll likely include some work on the drop and berm, clearing deadfall, some leafblowing, tuning up crappy corners, and whatever else we identify during the day.We've got a Facebook event for this here to RSVP, and as always you can find all of the CRAMBA-IMBA events here on our calendar.See you there!

CRPT Trailday: Moving to Higher Ground

Clinton River Park, while very beautiful, is also very wet.   Aaron and Paul (CRPT Trail Coordinators) have spent hundreds of hours maintaining the low and wet trail, always on the lookout for higher ground.Paul found a couple of great new lines to replace a really low and notoriously wet section of trail.    So they set out to build it.18 volunteers showed up on a chilly Saturday morning, ready to work.And work they did.The walk-behind trimmer is a favorite for making quick work of cutting new trail.One of the new sections Paul flagged is along the border of the park.  The old trail was just some loamy double track.  This is a slight ridge and required some bench cut in wet clay.   A cache of broken concrete nearby allowed us to build a little retaining wall to hold everything in place.A big hole in the trail and a whole lot of extra broken concrete was the perfect reason to build a rock garden.And, of course, a fresh coat of paint for the trail signs!CRAMBA would like to thank Paul and Aaron for the hundreds of hours they've put into this trail.  We're into our 5th season now and even though it requires a lot of work, its a little gem amongst pavement.More pictures can be found on the CRAMBA Flickr Photostream

Stony Creek Trailday: Fixing the Snake

The winding, switchbacking singletrack leading to the top of Mount Sheldon is also known as "The Snake" (#15 - #25 on this map).The last section of this bit of singltrack is notorious for getting trenched out due to water runoff.  At a trailday a few years ago, broken chunks of concrete were buried for armoring and the problem was subdued.But, over the years, the buried concrete became exposed.So, Pete decided to hold a trailday to cover the concrete back up.And then, after discussion, the project got a little bigger.  Soon, we were removing the old concrete ..Digging a trench ..Replacing the concrete .. more strategically this time ..And covering it back up.The end result is an IMBA recommended drainage technique called grade reversal, or change in trail pitch.  On bench-cut trails, grade reversals help facilitate drainage and avoid channelling.  As water runs off, even if it does start to channel down the trail it will collect and drain at the lowest point, the point of grade reversal.  With the fully aromored section a bit lower than the rest of the trail, the water will follow the low line and run across the trail.Everything was covered up with a gravel/sand/quikrete mix that Pete and Mark have found to work very well for keeping trail from being washed away.  Additionally, any unwanted low spots were filled in and smoothed out.   And while we were digging trenches, Mark was busy filling in and cleaning up the very last bit of the climb.As if that weren't enough ... the crew rounded out the day by hauling dirt into some low and muddy areas in The Pines.A lot of work was done in a pretty short amount of time.  By 1:30, we were back at the parking lot, eating pizza as it was just starting to rain.  The rain should help the quikcrete set in nicely.Huge thanks to everyone who came out to help today:  Pete, Mark, Roy, Bob, Mike, Dave, Phil, Nick and Marty.

Stony Creek Trail Day 10/29

We'll be having a trail day at Stony Creek Metro Park on Saturday 10/29 @ 9AM.  Meet at the West Branch Lot B trail head.  We'll mostly being doing some minor repairs on sections of the trail needing some TLC.After the work is done, we'll be providing some lunch for all our hard working volunteers.If that weather doesn't cooperate, we'll be rescheduling for Sunday.  Look for updates here and on the MMBA.org forums.