PMBA hosted 2 separate crew locations for our July 2010 Volunteer Work Day on Sat 7/24 in the Wissahickon Valley Park. We had about 25 people come out and participate and loan their time on this unbelievably hot and humid day.
The main crew was stationed at the bottom of the new Golf Course Reroute of the main multi-user trail at the far south west corner of the park. This trail is shaping up really nice and the crew did some final tweaking to finish it. I absolutely love this trail, and going downhill is quite a treat. Going uphill is a challenge for sure, so work on your skills to get up and over about 6 rock steps. Go check out our work!
A special operations crew met at the Gorgas Lane intersection with the main trail on the Roxborough side of the park, and performed some much needed maintenance to the work performed a couple years ago. Water runoff from Henry Ave bridge and the neighboorhoods above continues to present challenges and create major erosion, but our band-aid work helps a lot. We added dirt to the insloped turn (berm) on the 2008 rerouted section, and closed some social trails that were routing users down a steep slope and creating an unsustainable path for water. We rerouted the water back into the proper area and moved some large trees to block the social trail which was confusing to park users, especially new ones.
At both locations, we built and finished fine-tuning several RGDs (Rolling Grade Dips.) Several teams worked on armoring the crowns of the RGD to prevent them from wearing down and failing in the future. As well as shaping and armoring nicks for better, smoother water outflows. This helps prevent back cutting and erosion from focused water flow.
Thanks to everyone that came out and devoted your free time to make our trails better for everyone to enjoy.
Thanks for posting this Lou. Jack (my 5 yr old son and I) really enjoyed getting out there, even with the heat. It was nice to give back to the trails I use so often. It was also nice to get my son involved with the process. Everyone there was incredibly nice to me and my son. I was concerned about bringing him at first, but it turned out to be a great experience for both of us. I hope to meet some more people the next time. Thank you for organizing these events and many more. I appreciate all the work you put into the trails, community and this website. Sage
I have two speeds, crazy and stupid