There’s a new trail going in on Badger Mountain and you can help!
New South Side Badger Mountain Trail (pic courtesy Friends of Badger Mountain)
The new route runs along the south side of Badger Mountain. There’s no official name for the trail but Friend’s of Badger Mountain Trailmaster Jim Langdon would love some helping hands to make lighter work of the project.
Dedicated Cleanup Crew (photo courtesy Jim Langdon)
Here’s an e-mail I got from Jim about progress and help needed on this new trail:
We have completed the third week of work on the new Badger Mountain trail. Thanks to the skilled excavator operators, Ken, Dennis, and RJ, the trail is now rough cut past the 1.8 mile point. A little over a half mile to go! And Ken was out every day we worked!
Pitching Dirt on the New Trail ( pic courtesy Jim Langdon)
Thanks also go out to Charlie, Chris, Diane, Dirk, Heng, Karen, Kayle, Mike, Monte, Shaun and Terri along with the Juvenile Justice crew for coming out last week. Hauling, raking and flinging dirt is a hard and dirty job. You all mastered it and made mounds of dirt go away. A really big thank you goes out to Lisa, Ray, Pietro and Steve for each helping multiple days! With the small crews we had this week, the work has mainly been out near the excavator so we have been skipping around a bit. The graveling was advanced on Tuesday and Sunday to nearly the half mile mark. I also must announce a setback. The Badger Buggy has a broken idler wheel (part of the track system). It will be out of commission for at least a week. We hope to drag it into the shop this week for a more detailed look.
Skipped Rocky Part, Excavator on Trail (pic courtesy Jim Langdon)
The plan for weekdays this week is to continue with the rough trail cut using the mini-excavator and cleaning up the rough trail. There is some rain forecasted for later this week so that could help. On Saturday and Sunday we will be doing more of the smoothing out of the trail, trimming it to its correct width and working on adding the gravel. We are renting the excavator and we pay for it sitting there or not so we are working until 4 or 5 PM every day. People can volunteer for mornings or afternoons if they would like. Work is using the McLeods, buckets, shovels and rakes and maybe a pick mattock if we are in a rocky area. The meeting location can be at either trailhead so you will need to sign up to know where it will be. Work starts at 9 AM. Please send me an email at Trailmaster@friendsofbadger.org or call me at 943-3992. Please bring work gloves, water, lunch and snacks, and dress for the weather forecast. All tools are provided. There is only limited work available for pre-teens. Third revised tentative schedule: (It will still take as long as it takes!) Completed digging - Friday, April 4th (unchanged) Trail completed - May not complete it this spring, I need a lot more help Trail open for use - Maybe this fall - please do not use the trail before it is completed! Grand opening ceremony - To be scheduled Note: I have changed my mind on when the trail will be opened. We have more of the soft dirt than expected. That is a good thing/bad thing. The good is that it is much easier to dig. The bad is that when dry it can easily turn to a flour like dust with only a little traffic. So I do not want the trail to be used until we get gravel on it. Trail facts as currently laid out 2.44 miles long 25 feet elevation difference end to end (higher on east end) High/low difference of 125 feet Total gain/loss of 541 feet Not yet named, got an idea? Send it to badgerplan@co.benton.wa.us with "TRAIL NAME" in the subject line Thanks for wanting to help with the Badger Mountain Trails! Jim Langdon Trailmaster, Friends of Badger Mountain Trailmaster@friendsofbadger.org 943-3992