Trail Clearing Again

Previous post on this topic: Trail Clearing

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been carrying my hand saws on my favorite Sandia Wilderness trails and trying to clear as much deadfall from the trails as I can.  I took care of one tree on the Agua Sarca trail that has been bothering me for many years and others that had recently fallen.  I was dissappointed to see that on one wilderness trail that I had not visited since 2021, no one had bothered to perform any trail maintenance at all.  There were already established trails around the downfallen trees.  While it’s upsetting that people would make a new trail and not just move the obstacle, I guess I look at it as an opportunity to explore beautiful country, stay fit, and do something positive for the community.  In other words – a perfect retirement activity.  I do wish there were more trail users that would contribute to the maintenance of the Placitas area wilderness trails.  There appears to be people helping to maintain more popular trails around the Sandia Summit but these USFS trails that I frequent are almost completely neglected.

Below are before and after pictures of the larger trees cleared from the wilderness trails just in the past week.  Exception: the first two pics are from about 2 months ago, when we cleared several trees from the Sandia Crest trail about 5 miles up from the Tunnel Springs trailhead.  I didn’t bother to take pictures of many dozens of smaller dead branches that were removed as I walked up and down the trails.  With the number of falling trees & debris, this work is required each season to keep the trails clear.  The pics you see here represent about 60 miles of hiking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a lot of work and it was all done with folding hand saws.  No power saws are allowed in wilderness areas.   With recent drought conditions and insect infestations, there will be plenty of tree work to do on these trails for the forseeable future.  As of this post 21-October-2023,  the following trails have been completely cleared from trailhead to the point indicated.

• Osha Springs to just past the Penasco Blanco intersection
• Agua Sarca complete
• Oho del Horno complete
• Sandia Crest from Tunnel Springs Trail head to Ellis Bench (north of Del Agua bench)
• Palomas peak complete from Faulty Trail starting at Sandia Cave parking
• La Luz from mile 5 to summit (last 2.5 miles of the upper trail)