Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Don't try to tell Lud McCrary that!  We routinely BUILD, repair, and 
maintain horse trails with hand tools.  We recently built one mile of trail 
with a chainsaw, a Pulaski, and a McLeod, in that order. While Lud's brother 
builds beautiful trails with his trail machine, he does spend quite a bit of 
down time repairing the machine.  Lud and I never have down time due to 
machine failure, and I can surely work off a few pounds building trails!
As Ed mentioned on this subject, it just takes more people, or a couple of 
people a little more time.  Several of the trails in Big Basin State Park 
near us have been built by hand labor by the YCC (youth conservation corps, 
I think it is), who come in for the summer, camp out, and build trail.  It 
took them two summers to build a trail that Lud and I believe just the two 
of us could have built in a summer of weekends.  The YCC did manage to hide 
the brush they cut, while Lud and I just toss it over the side of the 
bank.....not as tidy.  Near our home, we built a mile of trail through raw 
wilderness....manzanita, mostly....It took us from December to April, 
working Saturdays and Sundays, with a few lovely evenings followed by a late 
dinner thrown in.  We LOVE building trail.  The trail I just described is 
still in good shape.  We cut water bars in the winter, and repair the spots 
the cows break down.  The cows, deer, raccoons, and just about anything else 
on two or four feet use this trail.

Barbara



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sisu West Ranch" <ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Laney Humphrey" <laneyhh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 6:49 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] Fw: Support Recreational Riding and Right-To-Ride


> "... there is no
> way to maintain and repair trails for horse use using only hand tools..."
>
> We (the Bitterroot Back Country Horsemen and the USFS) do it all the time. 
> It just takes many more person hours, and thus the cost is greater.
>
> Ed
> Ed & Wendy Hauser
> 2994 Mittower Road
> Victor, MT 59875
>
> (406) 642-9640
>
> ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx



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