Category: Trail Maintenance

By Doug Borthwick

This year, we increased our work on the High Rock Trail significantly, expanding to multiple scouting and trail building trips throughout the summer. A huge amount was accomplished thanks to the large number of hard-working and dedicated volunteers. Some of the key accomplishments in 2017:

• 27 km of new route scouted and flagged
• 5 km of new trail built or fine-tuned
• Four bridge sites assessed, 2 bridges built
• 45 volunteers participated in 8 separate scouting or trail building trips
• 23 return volunteers from previous year’s trips
• 22 first-time volunteers
• An incredible sense of accomplishment achieved by all!

June Scouting Trips – In June, our scouting crews covered a lot of ground by both quad and foot. They scouted and tested new access routes and assessed four bridge building sites. On foot they bushwhacked the same routes multiple times, sometimes on steep slopes with heavy brush on the lower elevations and almost thigh deep snow on the ridge tops. In the end they had mapped and flagged a 3 kilometre route for the 2017 trail crews. Eight additional kilometres were scouted and roughly flagged for future construction. At night the scouting volunteers rested their weary bodies around the warm campfire and discussed future planning. Even though the weather was often cold, windy and wet they always had a smile on their faces.

July Trail Building Trips – The first crew arrived at Dutch Creek on July 16, after a long five hour drive from Calgary, the last hour and a half over a slow going rough and bumpy road. After setting up personal tents, the crew spent the next four hours unpacking and setting up a comfortable camp and sorting through the multiple tools needed for the three different crews over the next 12 days. This year’s camp included two large shelters with the one for the kitchen being totally enclosed. A sheltered latrine was built and an outdoor shower was set up. The solar heated shower was much appreciated and a very popular luxury that all three crews took advantage of. There was little time left in the day but the crew was anxious to get working. One group walked a 4 km access trail, bringing the tools they would need for the next day’s work and assessed what they would be doing. A separate chainsaw crew brought their power equipment and were given instructions on the blazing and type and size of corridor that needed to be cut and brushed.

Day 2 saw the group again split in two. Both crews got specialty tool orientation and training after the daily safety tailgaters. One crew spent the morning clearing the trail to the location of a new bridge over a creek affectionately referred to as “Fred”. They then moved up to the new trail built last year to make some improvements. The second crew began the chainsaw and brushing work on a new section of trail. After 100 meters, the tread and finishing crew moved in and started the tread development on some steep side hill. Bodies and muscles were sore at the end of the day but all the team members were feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

During the evening debriefing the crew got some scary news from some quadders that a small fire was smouldering in the forest less than a half kilometre away. Some of the crew joined the quadders and brought along buckets to attempt to extinguish it. After pouring 100 five gallon pails of water on, it was still showing signs of life. The team used the satellite phone to call it in to the nearby ranger station. It was determined by the professionals that there was not an immediate danger of it spreading as it was in a fairly wet area with a nearby creek flowing on both sides. Two days later a team of firefighters flew in to totally extinguish it. The investigation revealed that the fire was more than likely started by a lightning strike from about 5 days previous and had worked itself below ground.

The final days of work saw the teams continue the clearing and building of new corridor and trail tread as well as helping the Alberta Parks crew put the sills in for the new Fred bridge.

The evenings were spent relaxing and story telling under the canopy and the crew was given a session on tying knots by Wayne, resident knot-tying expert. They all came away with a new appreciation of this skill. The final half day didn’t allow much time for trail building so most of the crew spent the morning hiking the trail built by last year’s crew, while a few crew members spent the day clearing and building a tricky switchback.

When the new crew arrived at noon, both crews got together for a barbecue and get to know each other session. Then it was time for the first crew to head home. This left plenty of time for the new volunteers to get out to the work areas and get their training, orientation and a start on their work projects. Seeing the amazing job the first crew had done, this group got right into it with the hopes their work could be as good. Work continued on the main new trail work as well as the Fred bridge site and improvements on the previous rough cut route done last fall for the next three days. Many on both the first two crews received some valued chainsaw training from an expert sawyer. Scott not only instructed them on safety, but proper cutting and falling techniques as well as explaining the saws working parts, use and care.

During the day much knowledge of native plants and flowers was shared with the group by a crew member well studied in the field. It seemed like there was at least one outdoor plant expert on each of this year’s crews willing to share their knowledge and the other team members soaked it up. Back at camp each night, the crew members on this group were privileged to be in the company of three of the original GDT surveyors that had spent a full summer together in the early 1970’s scouting and laying down the original route. Their pictures and adventurous storytelling kept many of the team up way too late. This crew worked extremely hard during the day and at night bodies were sore. Luckily there was a yoga instructor among them and the nightly stretching sessions made getting out of bed the next morning an easier chore. This was a GDTA Signature Trip so all the food was supplied and meals planned. The well thought out meals were amazing, fresh, nutritious and plentiful. The cooks worked extremely hard preparing and managing this task as well as working side by side with the other crew members on the trail all day. Their energy and upbeat tempo inspired others on the crew.

On changeover day, the crew again split up with about half venturing out for a stroll on the 8 km of new finished and rough cut trail to see the totality of what had been done to date. Others found a great fishing spot on the creek and were given fly fishing tips. A half a dozen trout were caught and released.

At noon the final crew arrived from Calgary and another barbecue ensued. The boundless energy of the old crew seemed to rub off on the last team. After the second crew left, the new team headed out to their respective work sites to receive their instructions and get started. The new team was amazed at the quality of work done and how impressive the new trail looked. With new energy and enthusiasm they got their own projects underway.

This group split into four crews, one started construction of the new bridge at the Dutch Creek / North Fork Pass junction, one to finish the tread work and put the finishing touches on the new section the other crews had cut through, one to finish tread work on rough cut 2016 trail, and the last were finishing a kilometre of trail that had just had the chainsaw crew go through.

All the crews worked through the hottest weather for the next four days, and they were all very thankful for Lani who remained at camp, filtering fresh water for them all day.

At the end of the day, the teams met back at camp and were treated to fantastic meals organized and put together by Jocelyn, who had also spent her days digging new tread and trimming the overgrowth on the new trail before preparing the scrumptious feasts.

During the downtime at camp there were tons of activities taking place. One adventurous group spied a pool in the creek large enough to fully immerse themselves. Their screams were reportedly heard all the way across the BC border when they realized how ice cold the water was. For others relaxing in a lawn chair with a cold beverage was enough excitement after a long day with a Pulaski. There was creativity shown by this group also as one night, a number of them got together and Shannon taught them how to make dream weavers out of willow branches and other natural material from the area. They had a fine time as their merriment was heard well into the night. The time finally came to break camp. The last day was spent cleaning the campsite, breaking down equipment and packing it away. When they left you could hardly tell that 45 people had camped there for 12 days.

One of the most fulfilling things on these trips was seeing how the team members who had never experienced trail building changed over the course of 3 or 4 days. At the start some were timid and could hardly swing a rogue hoe let alone a Pulaski or axe. By the time each team had ended their stay, everyone had become competent and confident trail builders. They all took great pride in their work and really enjoyed the transformation of wild forest to finely groomed trail tread.

August Bridge Build – The new “Fred” bridge was originally planned to be completed by the July crews. Unfortunately there was an equipment breakdown and helicoptering in the big span logs was delayed until the last work day for the crews. The sill work had been completed, the spans were set and all the boards and attaching hardware left at the site. All that was left to do was build the decking and railing. Two volunteers, Doug and Rick, were sent out over a long weekend to see if they could finish the bridge. Things got complicated a bit as an ATV ban for the area had just been put into place. Getting heavy tools and gear to the bridge site was the issue. Doug and Rick were able to fit everything in a wheelbarrow and backpacks and slowly worked the load up an old quad trail 3 km to the bridge site. Once at the site they proceeded to decipher the engineering plans and put the decking in place.

The next day the posts and rails were cut to size and installed. There was a little trial and error involved and some of the installed pieces had to be disassembled and reinstalled for a better overall fit and finish. About halfway through on the second day the power supply’s ran out of juice and left Doug and Rick at a standstill. This meant they had to pack the rechargeable batteries all the way back to camp and use the generator to recharge them. It took nearly four hours to charge all of the batteries and it was late in the afternoon already. Not knowing how much more they would need the power drill, Doug and Rick walked back to the bridge site and worked late to get as much done as possible. The last day took them only a couple of hours to get the bridge complete and clean up the site. At the end of the day there was a lot of pride taken in the finished product. A great backcountry bridge that is second to none in strength and durability built with the help of Alberta Environment and Parks.

September Scouting Trip – It was a last second scramble to get prepared and meet at Chinook Lake near Coleman for the four volunteers in this trip, as a month long backcountry ban had just been lifted. The notice was short but they all arrived on time. On the first day, Dave, Brad and Peter scouted and flagged a 16 km route from Window Mountain Lake down to Chinook Lake. They were thrilled by the great views of the Crowsnest Pass area as the trail is going to be mostly above treeline here. During this same time, Doug scrambled up to Window Mountain Lake to do some exploring. Window Mountain Lake is a high mountain cirque that will most assuredly be a highlight on the future trail.

The next day they started southward from where the finished section of this year’s trail work ended. The day saw wet snow falling as they ascended the ridge and marked out 5 km of new trail. They were cold and wet at camp but were warmed by a propane fire back at camp. The last day was most memorable as fresh snow on the ground allowed them to see the plentiful tracks of a wolf pack as they followed 2 km up the ATV access route. Another thrill was the well defined and rather large grizzly prints as they re-entered the new trail corridor to do the final mapping. The snow had stopped but they were just as wet and cold at the end of the day from all the bushwhacking. That night around the fire a sense of satisfaction was felt as they now had flagged 5 km of new trail ready to be built next summer. See you all out there in 2018!

Thank you! – Thanks go out to all of our hard-working volunteers who built or mapped the trail this year, and all the special people who spent countless hours over the winter months getting official authorizations, planning and making sure these trips go as smoothly as they do. Well done!

Special thanks to our sponsors and partners: Alberta Environment and Parks, MEC, Teck, The North Face, and Stihl. Their generous donations and support were a huge part of our successful trail work in 2017.

From July 20-24, 2016, the Great Divide Trail Association sent in our largest crew ever to begin construction of the first new section of the GDT in thirty years. 26 hard-working volunteers worked to clear the forested corridor, establish tread and flag future trail in what will become the High Rock Trail section of the GDT.

Over 2 km of new trail was constructed over five days. This GDTA Signature Trip embarked on what will be a 5 year project to build 40 km of new trail and move the Great Divide Trail away from the Line Creek Mine in British Columbia into Alberta. (Photos by Jean-Francois Cianci, Jocelyn Wood, and Brad Vaillancourt)

The GDTA Volunteer Crew spent their first day travelling from Calgary to Dutch Creek where the Signature Trip base camp was set up.

The crew received introductory training to tool safety, learned more about the trail building objectives for the next four days, received jackets courtesy of GDTA sponsor, The North Face, and ate an incredible steak dinner with ice cream for dessert – fuel for the hard work that would start on Day 2.

Day 2 began with a hike down the end of the road, tools in tow, to the start of what will become the High Rock Trail. The morning was spent training the crew in the art of building new trail. CBC joined our crew on Day 2 to film and interview several of our volunteers.

After learning and practicing, the volunteers split into crews and began tackling actual trail construction. Quickly the crews began demonstrating their newly acquired trail building skills, clearing the large trees with Stihl chainsaws, and shrubs using Stihl brush saws, loppers and handsaws to open up the corridor along a flagged route.

As the corridor opened, a tread building crew followed behind with shovels and mattocks.

All the while, a crew of four volunteers worked on ditching a lower section of trail that sees constant flooding.

A great first day of work wrapped up with a good meal and relaxation around the campfire.

Day 3 began bright and early as the crews hiked back out for a full day of trail building. As rain came down, the two crews connected and 2 km of trail corridor was opened.

From here, crews focussed on creating a sustainable trail tread. The incredible GDTA volunteers completed the final touches on the brand new 2 km of trail at the end of Day 4.

This trail building trip was a success for the GDTA in large part due to the donations and support by sponsors including Mountain Equipment Co-op, The North Face, Stihl, Spray Lake Sawmills, Wi-Com and Great Canadian Superstore.

The enthusiastic volunteers worked hard because they had the fuel to keep them going, the tools to do the job and the passion for volunteering in such a spectacular place with other like-minded people. Thanks to all of our dedicated volunteers who participated in this year’s GDT Trail Building Trip and made it such a huge success!

After an amazing signature trail maintenance trip on the Aldridge Creek Trail in BC, five keen volunteers continued the trail maintenance spree on the Alberta side of the Divide from July 22-25. The small, but enthusiastic crew hiked for four days from Owen Creek Canyon to Pinto Lake and out over Sunset Pass, clearing trail that had seen recent fire, wind and flood damage and adding blazes and cairns to guide hikers through the wilderness. Covering a distance of about 40 kilometres on the Great Divide Trail, the trail crew hiked over four high alpine passes, along cascading creeks and next to classic Rocky Mountain rock walls, while they performed significant maintenance on about half of this section of trail along the way.

Our first day began with a thunderstorm wake-up call but fortunately the rain subsided by the time we were gearing up for the day. We began our work with a gradual climb alongside Owen Creek Canyon, clearing 6 km of trail from built up wind and deadfall from a previous wildfire in the area.

After a full day’s work the crew decided to put the saws and loppers away and hike to camp below the first of three passes ahead of us. After blazing a confusing junction at kilometre 6 (future hikers: go left at the junction and hug the creek!) we discovered the upper section of Owen Creek trail had been badly washed out. With a bit of rock hopping and scrambling alongside the creek we settled in an elusive alpine meadow camp with beautiful views.

Our second day was focused on hiking through the alpine where there is no trail to maintain. We made it over the first pass (2460 m) and down the other side to have lunch at the spectacular upper Michele Lake.

 

Michele Lakes, along with several other alpine lakes on the Great Divide Trail, happen to be some of last remaining refuges for the Golden Trout. The fish is a native of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California and was introduced into the alpine lakes along the GDT. Now that it has been fished out down south, it makes our northern lakes all the more precious.

After lunch we made the trek over the second pass of the day to the highest point on the Great Divide Trail at 2590 metres!

There are a few cairns placed on this section to guide hikers and the route-finding is fairly straight forward. After running down the other side, we made camp at Waterfalls Creek. As we hung out by the fire in the former outfitters camp, we were treated to rainbow views as rain showers and sunshine took turns passing over us.

Our third day was a bit grey, but still saw us hiking through magical wilderness. We marked the crossing of Waterfalls Creek where the established trail continues and cleared the trail up until it fades away above the treeline.

After a morning of clearing trail in the subalpine, we broke through to alpine hiking over the third pass (2460 m) under the watchful eyes of two Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. After scurrying down the other side for lunch, the rain settled in as we headed towards Pinto Lake.

The rain continued all afternoon as the crew cleared deadfall and brush on seven kilometres of trail until they were soaked to the bone. The rain let up as we made it to the established campground at Pinto Lake and we spent the evening discussing with pride all we had accomplished over the past three days around a cozy campfire.

On day 4, we strapped on our packs for a final day of hiking out over Sunset Pass into Banff National Park. It was a lovely bit of trail up graded switchbacks over the pass. On the other side, we contended with overgrown willows, but barely noticed as we were struck by the mountains surrounding us. After a few more switchbacks down to the trailhead and a bit of car swapping, we said our good byes and headed back to civilization.

It was a productive trail maintenance trip with many scenic rewards to keep us motivated. Our three days from Owen Creek to Pinto Lake is typically completed by thru-hikers in a single day and we hope our efforts made it a little bit smoother for future hikers straddling the Great Divide. Happy trails!

From July 15-19, the Great Divide Trail Association partnered with the Hornaday Wilderness Society, the trail operator for the Aldridge Creek Trail. 18 volunteers worked to re-establish the trail from the Aldridge Creek trailhead to Fording River Pass, repairing and building trail tread, and removing brush and fallen trees. [Photos by Jean-Francois, Evan, Bill and Brad]

A washout on the Kananaskis Powerline Road necessitated a last minute relocation of our basecamp but the new site proved to be even better.

Dan, our kitchen coordinator and camp chef, thought that ice cream would be a good idea on this year’s trip. But when all of the ice cream started melting on Day 1, everyone chipped in to make sure none went to waste.

 

The lower section of the Aldridge Creek Trail was washed out in 2013 when a massive flood increased the flow of the creek exponentially. After the flood, only remnants of the original trail remained on the huge gravel floodplain.

Our crew cleared boulders and debris and re-established the trail in the lower valley. This work involved the use of shovels, mattocks, saws and loppers.

A new crossing of Mud Creek was built, good for hikers and horses.

The upper section of the Aldridge Creek Trail was overgrown with alder, often completely disappearing beneath the encroaching brush. Two Stihl brush saws and hours of sweat and hard work were needed to clear more than 3 kilometres of trail corridor.

We had expected it to take 2 days to clear the overgrown trail but it ended up taking 3 full days to re-establish the trail up to Fording River Pass.

On Days 2 and 3 of our trip, we were greeted by 4 happy thru-hikers, all excited to see us clearing and repairing what had been a notoriously bad section of the GDT. We met Gian and Laura on Thursday and Erin and Elizabeth on Friday. Check out Erin’s blog where she writes about her experience meeting our GDTA Trail Crew.

And at the trailhead we installed our first ever routered GDT sign!

Thanks to all of our dedicated volunteers who participated in this year’s GDT Trail Maintenance Trip. Your hard work and enthusiasm made for a hugely successful trip!

Special thanks to our sponsors for making our trip possible: The North Face, MEC, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, Stihl, Spray Lake Sawmills and Superstore – Thank you!

Twenty-one volunteers spent four days (July 24 to 27, 2014) working to repair damage to the Great Divide Trail caused by the June 2013 floods and re-established the trail from Tornado Saddle to the ridge crest north of Hidden Creek. Two bridges over South Hidden Creek were built, trail and cairns were constructed up to Tornado Saddle and the entire 16 kilometre section of trail was cleared and re-blazed.

The trip got off to a rocky start on Day 1 when the Bobcat carrying much of the camp gear got stuck in a bog and took the work of a dozen volunteers and almost two hours to get it unstuck.

At the same time, it started to rain and the temperature dropped, resulting in some icy sleet and a cold, wet trail crew. But the situation quickly improved when the Bobcat returned with a load full of dry, warm clothing, a fire was started and steaks were grilled for dinner!

After tool use and safety orientation in the morning on Day 2, the volunteers were divided into three separate trail crews:

Bridge Crew – built two bridges over South Hidden Creek. This work involved strong backs and creative minds to get the logs across the 12 metre span over the creek. The logs were stripped clear of bark, secured to the sills, and covered in linseed oil and wire mesh.

Clearing/Blazing Crew – removed brush and fallen trees, and blazed the trail to the ridge crest north of Hidden Creek. This work involved using a chainsaw to cut fallen trees, polesaws and loppers to remove brush and re-establish the trail corridor, and painting blazes on trees to mark the route.

Saddle Crew – established the trail from South Hidden Creek to Tornado Saddle. This work involved using mattocks and shovels to build switchbacks up the steep slope below Tornado Saddle, piling of rocks to create cairns, and paint blazing of the cairns to mark the route.

Three GDT signs were placed on the trail at junctions with ATV tracks.
Thanks to all of our hard-working and enthusiastic volunteers who participated in this year’s GDT Trail Maintenance Trip!

Special thanks to our sponsors for making our trip possible: The North Face, MEC, Cervus Equipment, Stihl – Thank you!

Major trail work took place during July 2009.  A newly formed volunteer group dedicated to the ongoing maintenance of the GDT, the Friends of the Great Divide Trail, spearheaded the effort by recruiting new volunteers, obtaining permits from the Alberta Government, and arranging for donations of food and the loan of power tools and equipment.

The GDT route through the upper Oldman area had seen little or no maintenance since the mid-1980s and many trail users reported losing the Trail entirely near the old Galena Mine.  During a 4-day outing, ten volunteers from Alberta and BC constructed a new log bridge over the Oldman River, and carried out tread work and brush clearing for several kilometres in each direction. New paint blazes were also applied throughout. The weather was ideal, the scenery was fantastic, the bugs few, and the camaraderie was great! Everyone went home feeling a huge sense of accomplishment.

This slope below the Galena Miracle mine is a spot where hikers have often had trouble staying on the Trail.

In September 2006, members of the Great Divide Trail Association and the Alberta Wilderness Association, with help from several Pathway Connectivity employees, did bridge construction across Baril Creek and trail clearing up to Fording River Pass.  The entire Baril access trail was also re-blazed.