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Trail-making is the best fall fun!



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 17th 10, 11:12 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
jeff potter
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 191
Default Trail-making is the best fall fun!

I'm having a blast lately in a local vacant woodlot. I just stroll
thru, looking at the terrain and tossing aside deadwood in the way of
the trail that's already there but just doesn't know it.

As I go forward, I leave trail rolling out behind me. Fast and low/no-
impact.

What fun!

At first it can be hard to see the trail amid a chaos of blowdowns,
but if I look and move around enough, suddenly there it is!

I did a quick pre-scout stroll of the whole loop to see if it could
work. Then I clear a quarter mile of the big dead stuff. Then I go
through again and shuffle my feet through the leaf litter and kick up
dead sticks and toss 'em, to finish it off. It's singletrackish and
uses the shape of the land to give the best skiing possible.

My approach gives a quarter mile an hour. I bet that ranks right up
there for fast trail-making!

....And it's a good workout, too!

I've set it up in places so it swoops down into small valleys then up
the other side to do an airplane turn back down, like a pump track.
It'll have great momentum.

I also route for the best views and the best trees. It's great to find
a hill with a perfect beech tree at the top. Or to approach a big bog
vista along a knoll overlooking it. Each area of the forest seems to
have its best features, coolest terrain, views and trees: I make sure
the trails takes in all of them. It's not even hard!

I love doing this in November because the leaves are down and I can
finally see for quite a ways within heavily wooded areas. The woods
have opened up and I'm enjoying what I see! The air is also getting
crisp. I hear geese overhead. It's good. (Now to add some rollerskiing
to the mix!)

Some of these woods have trails in them that people hike on already --
those trails are established on old logging 2-tracks that made a flat,
boring loop through the woodlot. They don't know what they're missing!
What's nice is that the hikers won't even notice the ski tracks
heading elsewhere so we won't have walkers in the tracks. They'll
stick to their hard-trampled trail.

I'd kinda like to use my new sections for running and bikes, too, but
I'm impressed by how many babyheads there are out there, and big
roots, too. If I pop a rock outta the way then there's an ankle-
twister hole. Bulges and divots seem equally as bad, so I just scuff
leaves aside so roots and rocks can at least be seen. But for skis a
mound of leaves OVER rocks and roots is the answer -- they get covered
with snow and freeze and make a humped base over the obstacles. Hmm. I
could bring a folding army shovel next time and move rocks then fill
in the holes.

--JP
http://outyourbackdoor.com
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  #2  
Old November 18th 10, 03:49 AM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
gr[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 52
Default Trail-making is the best fall fun!

Ahhh...... trail maintenance! I combined mine with dog walking...
multitasking!
gr


Jeff Potter wrote:
I'm having a blast lately in a local vacant woodlot. I just stroll
thru, looking at the terrain and tossing aside deadwood in the way of
the trail that's already there but just doesn't know it.

As I go forward, I leave trail rolling out behind me. Fast and low/no-
impact.

What fun!

At first it can be hard to see the trail amid a chaos of blowdowns,
but if I look and move around enough, suddenly there it is!

I did a quick pre-scout stroll of the whole loop to see if it could
work. Then I clear a quarter mile of the big dead stuff. Then I go
through again and shuffle my feet through the leaf litter and kick up
dead sticks and toss 'em, to finish it off. It's singletrackish and
uses the shape of the land to give the best skiing possible.

My approach gives a quarter mile an hour. I bet that ranks right up
there for fast trail-making!

...And it's a good workout, too!

I've set it up in places so it swoops down into small valleys then up
the other side to do an airplane turn back down, like a pump track.
It'll have great momentum.

I also route for the best views and the best trees. It's great to find
a hill with a perfect beech tree at the top. Or to approach a big bog
vista along a knoll overlooking it. Each area of the forest seems to
have its best features, coolest terrain, views and trees: I make sure
the trails takes in all of them. It's not even hard!

I love doing this in November because the leaves are down and I can
finally see for quite a ways within heavily wooded areas. The woods
have opened up and I'm enjoying what I see! The air is also getting
crisp. I hear geese overhead. It's good. (Now to add some rollerskiing
to the mix!)

Some of these woods have trails in them that people hike on already --
those trails are established on old logging 2-tracks that made a flat,
boring loop through the woodlot. They don't know what they're missing!
What's nice is that the hikers won't even notice the ski tracks
heading elsewhere so we won't have walkers in the tracks. They'll
stick to their hard-trampled trail.

I'd kinda like to use my new sections for running and bikes, too, but
I'm impressed by how many babyheads there are out there, and big
roots, too. If I pop a rock outta the way then there's an ankle-
twister hole. Bulges and divots seem equally as bad, so I just scuff
leaves aside so roots and rocks can at least be seen. But for skis a
mound of leaves OVER rocks and roots is the answer -- they get covered
with snow and freeze and make a humped base over the obstacles. Hmm. I
could bring a folding army shovel next time and move rocks then fill
in the holes.

--JP
http://outyourbackdoor.com

 




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