Tuesday Trail Talks: July 30, 2024
Moving into Late Summer
As we close out July we look forward to new trail opportunities to bring to Natrona county. We are still on schedule to finish the advanced trail in the next couple weeks and then move to the biggest trail addition in the KayLinn Master plan. This trail will be the McMurry Mountain Park outer loop. This trail will require all our efforts for the most of the remaining build season, however, we still will have maintenance days available to provide trail upkeep throughout Natrona county and including Duncan Ranch.
We are happy with what has been completed this trail season. To date we have designed, constructed,and completed the new trail (Transistor) at Duncan Ranch, two new trails on Casper Mountain (Mine Shaft and Fools Gold), and are nearly 50% complete on the new advanced trail (New Spillway). On top of that we have had the amazing opportunity to lead multiple work days with over 500 volunteer work hours. Our trails are all in great shape and have seen many hours of maintenance from our trail director and board members. Please consider following us and signing up for our newsletter. This will also give you immediate information on Central Wyoming's trails as it becomes available.
Thank You to everyone who supports our community focused mission and help grow CWTA.
Day 5 Trail Update
We had another great build day and volunteer event with CAMBYR. We were able to get most of the alpine sections roughed in and raked. We were also able to start on trail finish compaction and raking. Most rock work is complete with some trail lining to be performed in the coming days. Firebreak reinforcement is nearly complete as well and should be completed today. Phase 2 of the project will hopefully start late this week. This area has heavy downed trees and requires a lot of saw work for the trail corridor to be opened up. Temporary trail closure signs are in place. Please refrain from using this trail as the construction continues. We will continue the build updates as we progress on this new section of trail. See you on the trails!!
4 S’s of Trail Building
Every group event we provide a briefing on what we will be working on and daily goals. We also focus on the 4 S’s. This helps connect everything we do and build a solid foundation to work on.
SAFETY
Everything we do ties back to Safety, including the other 3 S’s. We focus on a new safety topic every event and fix what we see from the previous build events.
SUN
The Sun is always a topic to discuss and we use this opportunity to discuss sun exposure safety, dehydration, and heat emergencies. As the days get shorter we also discuss the time and direction the Sun can provide.
SWING
One of the most important safety items to discuss is tool swing. Proper spacing and having a good situational awareness is vital to trail building safety. We discuss proper tool carrying position and tool usage.
SLOPE
We tie this to safety as this is the type of terrain we work on. Slips, Trips, and Falls happen a lot. We also teach proper slope of trails (including grade) and instruct/enforce different trail building features that help shed water and lead to a sustainable trail system.
If you would like to learn more on these topics please consider coming to a Monday Night Trail Build. They are scheduled every Monday starting at 6. Location is TBD.
Duncan Drop Complete
The newest trail feature at Duncan ranch has been completed and is open for use. This section is accessed off or T-Trail and will have a new sign up calling it “A-Line”. This is an advanced trail feature, but is rollable!! We recommend that you site-walk the area before committing to the drop. We estimate that you can drop 4-7’ depending on the speed that you enter the section. Have fun and be safe out there!
Trail Report
Casper Mountain Trail System
Miner loop - dry, clear; some erosion in spots
Mine Shaft (new) - dry, clear
Fools Gold (new) - dry, clear
Eadsville - dry, clear
Copper - dry, clear
Dungeon - dry, clear
Pinball - dry, clear
Nelly’s - dry, clear; some erosion
New Spillway - CLOSED
Bridle Trail
West - dry, clear
East - dry, clear; significant erosion
Upper Main Loop - dry, clear; erosion
Upper Loop - dry, clear
Rotary Park - dry, clear
Cable Route Overlook - dry, clear; heavy erosion
Platte Creek
Dry, clear; erosion in spots
Duncan Ranch
Duncan Ranch Loop - dry, clear
T-Trail - dry, clear; A-Line Drop OPEN
Transistor - dry, clear
Muddy Mountain
Open, dry, clear'; high erosion areas
Forest Service crews on site doing fuels work
Glendo
dry, clear
All trails are open