Trailkeepers of Oregon Work Party - Douglas Trail

[Ryan Ojerio]

Thanks to all the volunteers who joined up with TKO to work on the Douglas Trail on Saturday. We opened up the first 1/2 mile so you can see the trail now. The colors were fabulous and the weather was perfect for diggin' and loppin'.

The day had a dicey start at the Eagle Creek "trailhead" we came upon a carload of young men with automatic weapons. Luckily my Obi-wan Jedi mind trick worked on them "this isn't the shooting range you are looking for...move along" Actually they were polite and once they realized there was a trail there they packed up and left saying they didn't want to endanger anyone.

After hiking down the old road that is the start of the Eagle Creek trail, we started work on the Douglas Trail. For the first 50 ft. we did a clinic on tread reconstruction using the pulaski and McLoed to restore the outslope so water doesn't run down the trail.





Then we kicked it into lopper mode to brush out the corridor.



TKO had a work party here three years ago, its amazing how quickly the vegetation has grown back. Walking through the brushy sections when the leaves are wet is like going through a car wash.

Before


After


A typical brushy section of the trail






We used a grass whip to cut back the Oregon grape, salal and sword fern were it was crowding over the tread. Its nice to be free to look up the Eagle Creek valley off in the distance rather than having to watch your feet for hidden trippers.




Thanks everyone for a fun and rewarding day!

[Splintercat]

Awesome work, Ryan! I recognize some Portland Hikers among the volunteers, too -- that's cool! The before-and-after shots are outstanding, and especially your comment that a work party had been up there just three years ago. It really helps hikers appreciate how much maintenance a trail like this requires in order to be there for our much-needed weekend hikes. Thanks!

Tom

[pdxflowergirl]

The TKO work party was a fun and educational volunteer experience. Ryan and the two volunteers with lots of trail maintenance experience did an excellent job of showing the newbies how to use the different tools and the standards for a hiker/equestrian use trail. Looking forward to the next one in spring, which should be about the time my muscles recover. Just kidding! Swinging the grass whip is an excellent upper body workout. I'm excited to reap the rewards and hike the Douglas Trail up to Wildcat Mountain. Will definitely wear bright colors again (I'm the one in red).

[seemore]

This was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience for my first TKO work party. (Me in the white hat.) I really enjoyed getting to know the others in the group and learning about trail maintenance. Ryan, you are a great teacher and team leader. I look forward to many more work parties.

Bob (aka seemore)

[AlexanderSupertramp]

Thank you for your work folks!!! Ryan is one of the coolest people you could ever hope to meet, and an excellent ambassador for the trails!

[Thum]

great job everyone, glad you didnt have any trouble with the guys with guns. I'd love to do some work on the trails when your group goes out next time.

[roadtripmom]

Thank you so much for your hard work. The trail looks fabulous !