This morning I participated in my first trailwork experience. I joined with about 25 other people and the SDMBA for some trailwork at the Canyon Rim Trail at Black Mountain.
We met at the main parking lot off of Carmel Valley Road at 8:30 a.m., and after signing in and getting some basic instructions, we were off to work.
We split into 5-6 person teams and each were assigned to a section of the trail. My group consisted of me, Dave Wenk from SDMBA, Evan, Janel, and Mike. We were tasked with armoring an approximately thirty foot section of trail that had become rutted and eroded from the recent rains. Having never done trailwork before, I was a little tentative at first, but Dave and Evan were experts and gave good instruction and oversight.
When we started, the trail looked like this in my section:
We began by digging what was essentially a trench down the middle of the trail where the rut was. The trench was about two and a half feet wide and a foot and a half deep. Evan and Janel manned the picks (which everyone called "pulaskies") and I manned a shovel. So they would loosen up the dirt along the trail, and I would shovel it into a pile just off to the side.
After the trench was fully dug, we placed large rocks, most about the size of my head or so in the trench. Mike and Janel essentially set up a quarry just off the trail with rocks they found all over the place. They found as many flat rocks as possible, and we placed them together like a jigsaw puzzle in the trench so that they would form a solid foundation for the trail.
After a couple hours of getting the rocks placed perfectly, we then backfilled the trench with the dirt we had removed and tamped down the soil as much as possible. When we were done, you wouldn't have any idea the entire section of trail was laden with rocks underneath--it just looked like a normal section of dirt singletrack. Amazing!
From there we went to help another group who had tackled a larger, more difficult section and was a little behind. A group of about 12 of us all worked together to find fill dirt and smooth over the section that they had been working on.
At that point it was about 12:15, and we hiked back up to the main parking lot where we were going to have the post-work raffle. I love free stuff. We were first treated to mini-Clif Bars and packets of Clif drink powder that Andy had brought. I also scored a free water bottle from Black Mountain Bicycles, who sponsored the day by donating the swag for the raffle. And that was all before the raffle itself!
They had all the swag lined up along the bed of Dave's truck, and each time they called a person's name that person was allowed to go up and take their pick of the remaining items. They had tubes of chain lube, spare tire tubes, some other trinkets, and what I thought were the two best items; (1) two tubeless tires and (2) a Specialized E.M.T. survival kit that included a nylon under-seat bag, Specialized SK EMT Tool with 3, 4, 5 and 6mm Allen keys, tyre lever and Phillips-head screwdriver, and Specialized FlatBoy glueless patch kit with 6 patches.
Since I don't run tubeless tires, I had my eye on the EMT kit from the beginning. My name was called about 8th or 9th, and each time I saw someone go over to the row of swag and pick it up, I got anxious. I tried to tell myself that there were several tire tubes left, and I could always use one of those, but deep down I really wanted the EMT kit. I mean, if I had that, I wouldn't have had to pump my flat tire up 6 times on my last ride! I could have just patched it!
Finally they called my name, and the beautiful kit was still there. Happy day. I grabbed it and retreated back to the circle of people still waiting to hear their name called. It was all I could do not to open it right there.
As I was leaving Dave also told me to grab as much of the Clif drink powder as I wanted, so I scored about 8 packets or so, which was cool. I didn't do the trailwork for the swag, but it was really neat to get some free stuff for doing something that I would have done anyway. And with finances the way the are, free stuff is particularly welcome at the moment...
It was a great morning. I met some neat people, did worthwhile trailwork right near my own backyard, got some awesome swag, and was home before 1:00 p.m. I didn't get a ride in because Rachel and I were taking care of William and Christine while Adam and Pamella went to Disneyland for their anniversary. But we had a great afternoon and evening with the kids, so it was worth it.
I would absolutely do trailwork again, and hope to get a chance to do it again soon. Looking at my calendar and the SDMBA calendar, I may not get a chance in April, but hopefully I will in May. In fact, I would gladly sacrifice a ride to do trailwork again, which surprises me a little. It was just that good of an experience.
(All pictures courtesy of Dave Wenk with SDMBA. You can see all of them here.)
EDIT: The SDMBA writeup is here.
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