Herb's final loop construction!

[SteveK]

It's 8AM Sat.

I'm packed up and heading for Herb.

Meet up main lot at 9AM, after that my truck will be at the far end of the dam and you can find me at the red 1 mile marker on the trail.

[Larry_K]

The Homestead Loop is going to be a great addition and should blend in perfectly with the rest of the existing trail system. I measured it out at .72 miles today, so the 10 mile barrier is fixing to get broken! I think I'm gonna go pass out for a few hours now.

[SteveK]

The loop is cut in , now I need to groom. I'll start that phase tomorrow morning.

Here's a couple of pictures from today's work "party". Great thanks to the guys!

THIS IS WHERE THINGS WILL GET FUN...IT'S THE START OF A BENCH CUT.


THE ROAD CUT IS THE LEVEL AREA BEHIND THE GUYS; I'M STANDING TAKING THE PICTURE ON THE TRAIL ABOVE THE BENCH


A SWITCH BACK IS BEHIND ME, YOU CAN SEE THE TRAIL AHEAD OF ME GOING UPHILL


THE GANG


Very pleased to see that the total trail length is now over 10 miles!
These pictures unfortunately do not portray the steepness of the embankments.

[Ariel29er]

Thank you all! Looking forward to seeing your hard work first hand.

[Jrkimbrough]

Nice!!! benchcutting is always a fun job, especially after you are finished! Thanks to all who helped! *cheers*

[muddymatt]

Total length is at 10.6 miles from the Lot without going below the Dam.
The new section is cut but will get tweeked a little more I'm sure.
Thanks Steve, Alan, Adam and Larry
Matt

[Damian B]

Did someone say switchbacks?

Can't wait to check it out.

Thanks for all your hard work guys!

[Bullet]

I got to check it out first hand today.....SWEET!!!!

thanks for the Hard work!

.

[SteveK]

I will be out of town next week end so no work for a couple of weeks.

The enterance and exits need to be cut back and groomed but the main loop is ready to ride.

Hand tool work for the next month will result in some nice trail.

You "hucksters" need to take a look at some possible drops and climb outs at the road cut area.

P.S. The trail will give you a work out due to the "mulch" coveriing most of the tread, the pine straw is the worst but we'll get it off eventually.

[Larry_K]

The entrance and exits need to be cut back and groomed but the main loop is ready to ride.

Is it minor enough that a cheap yard rake and garden pruners would do ok? I may try to get out there sometime during the week. Also, I'll try to see if my wirecutters will work well on that barbed wire sticking out on the switchback climb.

[Ariel29er]

Awesome! Provides for me a nice challenge on the easy parts. Thanks Steve.

[SteveK]

Larry,
I think Alan got the wire late this afternoon.

Any kind of trail work at the entrance and exit would be great!

[alanB]

Yes , I was able to remove the barb wire. Brad C., Steve informed us that you have 2 or 3 of the forrestry tools (rake on 1 end and blade on the other). If you do, you can call me at 359-8792. I can get them and work this weekend.

Thanks Alan

[Larry_K]

Cool, thanks Alan. Wasn't sure if my cutters would work well but was gonna give it a try. I'll dig through the shed and see if I still have that heavy duty rake, if so I might be able to do quite a bit at the entrance & exit Wed/Thu afternoons. Alan, if you want to try getting enough tools for two I may be able to come out a bit Saturday morning. The forecast is calling for possible storms Tue & Fri so might find out real soon if we'll have any trouble spots in the couple of low areas.

[Larry_K]

I took an extended lunch and made it out for a bit. The entrance & exit are clear and should be easily seen, I also marked them with some yellow tape just to make them stand out a bit more.

The exit is currently a little tighter than I'd like but there's a bit of climbing just before the end of the loop so it's not a high speed spot. It's not as tight as it looks in the pics though, there's enough room that you can swing wide when you hit the main trail. We could make it more of a sweeping turn but we'd have to take down the small 4" wide tree in the middle of the 3rd pic. The first two pics are of the entrance, and the second two are the exit (going ccw).