How do those trails get built?

[Paul Wagner]

Yesterday was the last day to do trail work this year. I did a total of seventeen days.

This last section was “armoring” a trail in a new park in Napa, not yet open to the public. We’re focusing on the sections that are going to be wet after a rain, and deeply setting large rocks—because the trail will be used for MTBs as well as hikers and horsemen. And those MTBs really chew up a muddy trail. Note the size of some of the rocks in these photos, and how we wedge them all in together tightly. Demanding work, but we were a great crew, and got the job done!

There were two different sections like this–plus another section where we actually built it a small ramp/jump for MTBs who wanted to “get a little air.”

It’s all part of a large vision for these parks and their use.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TenVXxvNFRxZnNcJ6

[JCH]

Enjoyed seeing the skill/technique used to place the stones…and how all of that is hidden once construction is complete.  From now on I will think of that every time I hike.

[David Gardner]

Great work, and thank you Paul. Very similar to the way the Romans built their roads, many of which are still in existence.

[Terran Terran]

That’s some work there. Them rocks will hurt you. Nice job.

[Paul Wagner]

We do try to be careful—after all, most of us are doing this in our free time.  But remember what Archimedes said:

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

We do use leverage, rolling, tipping, etc.  Lifting only as a last resort!

[Terran Terran]

I did that work for years. Friends that got seriously hurt, got hurt at home when they let their guard down.
Some of my favorite work has been done by crews such as yours. It’s more organic.  I used to walk the flumes above Banning. It was like a boardwalk with water. Built in 1913 and repaired over the years. There was one spot signed “the zoo crew”. There’s a spot along the Kern River where someone spent many a day just doing random art work. Here’s one that I got to work on. Also a picture of the flumes after the Cherry fire.

[Paul Wagner]

That artwork looks a bit like Kokopelli on acid!

[Terran Terran]

Good description.
They made a documentary on it. Small film crew. It was an Australian “artist” who drew a squiggly and got United Nations sponsorship. Every once in awhile he’d pick up a rock and they’d film him. It was fun. There was 3 architects from Israel. One of them originally from Iraq. I got to know them pretty well.. I think it was 80 tons of stone. 25 masons. It took about 2 weeks.

[Paul Wagner]

Oof.  The last time I went out there were just three of us, and we built about 40 feet of trail.  And that was an all day job!

[Terran Terran]

But you’re doing everything. You can see our Pettibone tracks. We had laborers bringing everything. All we did was stack. All I did was corners. It was on sacred land. We weren’t allowed to dig at all. One of the architects was a curator at the Holocaust museum in Israel. Pretty gal. I’d just talk to her all day and stack stone. It was fun. Not near as hard as what you’re doing. I’ve seen work like yours on the trails. Even in the wilderness. . I admire what goes into it. It just has more character. It serves a purpose and its artwork. It will be appreciated for many years.
Watch your back. Lifting with your knees is overrated. Heavy is heavy, even with levers. Don’t hurt yourself.  That’s why I use trekking poles today. Worn out back.

[Terran Terran]

https://www.andrewrogers.org/land-art/usa/rhythms-of-life-12/

[Terran Terran]

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/rhythms-of-life-land-art-rhythms-of-life/zwWBR_yu8dh_Iw?hl=en

[Paul Wagner]

“Watch your back. Lifting with your knees is overrated. Heavy is heavy, even with levers. Don’t hurt yourself.  That’s why I use trekking poles today. Worn out back.”

Levers mean that you DON’T use your back–but yes, we do lift with our knees for the smaller rocks.  I have arthritis in one knee–so that seems to be a self-limiting factor on weight.  Meanwhile, all this work has to be good for any latent osterporosis–which at my age is now a concern!

[Terran Terran]

It’s a nice job you’re doing.

[Dan]

It’s a cobblestone trail?

[Paul Wagner]

We’ve taken to calling it a Roman road,  because the large boulders and cobbles get large gravel raked over them (and into the cracks) which helps “cement” everything in place.  And then a thinner layer of smaller gravel goes on top of that, which tends to “seal” the surface and limit erosion.

All for a bunch of mountain bikers! (and a few hikers who make it this far.)

[Terran Terran]

Leave a couple high ones, so they’ll know that you were there.

[Author]

Posts