Trip Report: Hiking Trail Maintenance - Mill D North to Dog Lake


Hiking Trail Maintenance - Mill D North to Dog Lake
By Kyle Williams
HIKE 06/26/2021 NTD

The Forest Service is constructing a reroute of the Mill D North section between the Y junction and Dog Lake. Instead of traveling up the steep and erosion prone gully, the reroute traverses the slope west of the gully at a more sustainable grade. On Saturday June 26, 2021, Wasatch Mountain Club (WMC) volunteers helped the Forest Service trail crew with the construction of two bridges on the reroute. These bridges will allow passage over an intermittent streambed. Our task was to collect rocks (angular shape with a size between a softball and a football) for filling gabion baskets. These baskets are sturdy cages made with thick galvanized steel mesh. When filled with rocks, the gabion baskets will provide foundational support for the trail bridges. Unfortunately, there was not an abundant supply of rocks near the bridge sites. About 0.75 miles down the Mill D North trail, there was a plentiful supply of rocks. For our task, two WMC volunteers and two Forest Service crew collected rocks and loaded the rocks into a small trailer hitched to an ATV. A Forest Service crew person drove the ATV/trailer up the Mill D North trail to the junction with the reroute section. There, three WMC volunteers and three Forest Service crew unloaded the rocks from the trailer and transported the rocks to the bridge sites. This process was completed about 4 times. The task was an example of how teamwork involving two different organizations can complete tiresome work that is critical for the reroute of a popular trail. In addition, we got in a good day of hiking that featured beautiful wildflowers. The WMC participants were Kyle Williams, Will McCarvill, Chris Koch, Scott Flagg, and Dave Andrenyak. Forest service trail crew people working the activity were Matt Hales (foreperson), James Martinez, Thomas G., Matt M., and Izzy. Thanks to the Forest Service for rerouting the Dog Lake trail section and for coordinating the volunteer project. Thank you WMC participants for your hard work.




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