Climber's Trail Day

Saturday was perfect November weather for working on trails. Cool enough to make hard work bearable and wet enough so that nobody was doing much climbing. A plan hatched on the climber's forum to work on the climber's trail up Cochrane lane worked well. Tool loans, wood donations, a crew of 10 solid workers and a small amount of anonymous cash made a lot of good happen.

Dom got us permission to drive the truck to the trail-head. Gold.

Once the trail heads up hill past the stream erosion has made quite an impact. Water runs directly down the center of the trail. Over time the trail has also gotten wider from people hiking around the water, which only makes matters worse. Also the stairs on the final steep 50' leading to the first aid box were getting in rough shape with many rotten treads and little goat paths leading off on all sides.

Over the course of the day, the crew put in 7 well built water-bars with french drains and did a lot of work on the staircase replacing rotten treads, smoothing the soil, and even installing some new granite steps. Everything looks great and works well. I really hope it rains next time I'm there just to see how much water it's all able to handle. Please use the intended pathway rather than skirt around side of it. This should go a long way towards controlling the erosion in this location.

Franca swears that she didn't just stand around drinking beer all day.

Adam's fort. Water does not get past this. 

Staircase in the process of being fixed. 

Would very much like to work similar projects at Sunnyside and the steps up to Lower Dawn Wall. If you missed your chance to work yesterday you'll probably have another opportunity.