Enter The Dog Days

 02 Aug 2009 03:49:26 pm

Checked the calendar today, and had to look twice to make sure the date was correct....August 2nd....wow! Time goes so quick when it wants too. Let’s see, only 4 1/2 months until my service with the MCC is complete. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
This week was spent working on the North Country Trail. You may have heard of the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail before, both run north and south along their respective coasts. The North Country Trail will run/ runs east-west across the United States. Check out more information about the trail here if desired http://www.northcountrytrail.org. We are doing what is called digging tread. That involves clearing the trail of any organic matter and making it a dirt surface. Also we level it out if it is on a hillside, and try and manipulate the way water will flow off of the trails with devices called water bars. Water bars are essentially gutters that you dig into the trail to get the rain water off the trail and out onto the forest floor to eliminate as much erosion as possible.
Here is a pictorial explanation…
Some members of the North Country Trail Association Went through and marked out the trail with a leaf blower and some marking tape. So here is what we start with…

Next a Minnesota Conservation Crew comes along. Equipped with tools like pick mattocks, rock bars, McClouds, and the very popular Pulaski. Each weapon serves its purpose, but my favorite is the Pulaski. The end that you can see is an axe handy for chopping roots, and the end that is in the ground is very useful for digging up the soil.



Now Take a couple of guys that aren’t afraid to get dirty (sorry for the blurry picture).



And they produce this masterpiece for all of the hikers to enjoy….



Whether you are a through hiker (which I think there are two people through hiking the NCT this year) or just out for a short stroll in the woods, you will be walking on solid ground with no trip hazards.
We worked with another MCC crew from Park Rapids, MN. Also my two field assistants and my district manager came out and worked too.



I came home every day tired and dirty, but the days went really fast. Here’s one other cool picture that I snapped from this week.



So that was the week. This weekend I got to visit the county fair and see a pretty good rodeo. Only a couple of guys covered their bulls, but it was still a good time. It was nice to be around the rodeo crowd for a little bit.
This week we are heading back to the place we were just at with the four wheeler trails for a 5 day week… Hopefully we stay mostly dry. Hope everyone is doing good, and enjoying what’s left of their summer….For those of you that have to go back to school soon HA HA!!!! Sorry I had to. Take care guys and gals!

Category : General | Posted By : paul | Comments [2] | Trackbacks [0]