Rockvember Work Day (IMPORTANT!)

DRaider90

DRaider90

Uwharrie Off-Road Volunteering
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Location
Weddington, NC
This will be a unique hurdle to overcome seeing that the Rockvember event is scheduled the same weekend as the Forest Service work day. Now this could go 2 ways.

1: Could help the work day. With all those people being out there it could get more people involved.

2: Could hurt the work day. Most people would probably rather attend the festivities than work on the trails.

That is just one hurdle we have to cross. Next one is increased traffic. Thinking about this work day is actually one of the things that inspired the "Raising Awareness thread". With all those people out there on the trails, it will be pretty congested all ready. That means working on the trails will be an interesting feat. All the cones/signs will come in EXTREMELY handy, but we will still have safety/traffic issues.

Especially if we are putting up guard railing or any more labor intensive maintenance. Consider dragging guard rail from the parking lot, traveling between installation spots, and moving a Bobcat (if we have one) will involve at lot more coordination.

It is doable, but this is going to take more advanced planning than a normal workday. Being able to capitalize on the bigger crowd being there as an advantage will be the biggest hurdle before the safety/traffic issue. Because if we can set up a canopy or such and get more people signed up/involved it will be worth the extra headache.

So lets get the brainstorming going early so by the time November rolls around we will be more than ready for the challenges ahead.
 
Since it's a ways off could we work with the FS to maybe not do guardrails that work day?

Something that would be awesome would be to set up the canopies/tent(s) and have people come by,IF THEY WANTED TO, we could hand out trash bags, get them to sign in, and count them towards the work day. We could have flyers and information to hand out, or maybe it could be a two pronged attack. A work crew and an info/tent crew spreading the word since traffic that day would be considerable.

Just spitballin here.
 
Tell me what I can do to help!
 
TSM_88YJ said:
Since it's a ways off could we work with the FS to maybe not do guardrails that work day?

Something that would be awesome would be to set up the canopies/tent(s) and have people come by,IF THEY WANTED TO, we could hand out trash bags, get them to sign in, and count them towards the work day. We could have flyers and information to hand out, or maybe it could be a two pronged attack. A work crew and an info/tent crew spreading the word since traffic that day would be considerable.
Just spitballin here.
Click to expand...

I thought about avoiding putting up guard railing but then I thought about the other options. Picking up trash on the trails would cause even more traffic jams etc then putting up guard railing if you think about it. At least with guard railing we are in one spot or another for a period of time. Picking up trash involves so much stop and go it would be a bigger pain. At least that is the way I see it in my head working out. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

I like the two pronged attack idea. It would go a lot further to impact people if they could sign up and also see us out there working. To show that we don't just have people sign up and do all the work, we get out there and work too etc etc.

@Terry: I will be sending you a PM soon when I hear more from Chris. :beer:
 
So putting up guard rail and picking up trash are the only 2 things that need work in all of URE?

Could the work crew help in other areas? Parking lot clean ups ? Main road trash pickup?

Other site/area work efforts 4x4 folks have traditionally not participated in?
Horse Stuff
Common area?
Campground Maintenance?
Etc...
 
yager said:
So putting up guard rail and picking up trash are the only 2 things that need work in all of URE?

Could the work crew help in other areas? Parking lot clean ups ? Main road trash pickup?

Other site/area work efforts 4x4 folks have traditionally not participated in?
Horse Stuff
Common area?
Campground Maintenance?
Etc...
Click to expand...

Parking Lot Clean Up: This is an option. Most of the parking lots are fairly clean due to lack of use, with the double parking lot being the exception (on the lack of use part). It wouldn't take up an entire work day though, if maybe an hour to check/clean all the parking lots if we split up.

Main Road Trash Pickup: This is an option. But you again have the same issues to deal with that you have on the trails. Only traffic is going 25mph+, and the parking spots are even more limited. With the way people fly through there it will take a very coordinated effort to pull it off. I would like to see us be able to do it, but it depends on having a good sized group.

Campground Maint., Horse Stuff, Etc: None of this has been mentioned to me by Terry (FS) or Janet (Arrowhead). I just tried giving her a call to ask but no answer. I will call again (possibly a couple times) before 4:30pm (when they close) and send out an email if needed.


Because the reality of the situation is work days usually involve the following:

Cleaning drainage ditches/etc
Repairing Log Bridges
Cutting Down Trees
Putting up Guard Rail
Marking Trails with Orange Blaze Diamonds
Cleaning Up Trails
Conducting Trail Inventory

That is it. Beyond that we are getting into territory not covered in normal work days. I have talked with Terry about doing road work, heavy duty trail repairs, parking lot repairs etc, but that is as far as its gotten. We will be covering a lot of new ground in our efforts that expand beyond the normal work.Most of the groups don't even consider a lot of the stuff listed outside of normal trail work. Don't get me wrong there is more than enough normal trail work to do, we still do need to focus on it.


Beyond all that the bottom line is we shouldn't let an event keep us from getting the work done that we need to do. We are there working on the trails to help keep them open, if the people riding the trails don't like it maybe they should stop and help instead of getting upset/frustrated because they had to wait a minute or two.

If anything lets use this as an opportunity to create a multi-pronged attack like TSM mentioned. I know like I mentioned we have hurdles to get over, but its not an impossible task.
 
Why don't you talk to eagleswarrior about setting up a canopy/booth at the rockvember event to raise awareness about the work days? I'm sure he would love the idea.
 
cltdba said:
Why don't you talk to eagleswarrior about setting up a canopy/booth at the rockvember event to raise awareness about the work days? I'm sure he would love the idea.
Click to expand...

2 weeks ago I got a PM from GotLime? (Chris) talking about getting Rockvember involved in some trash clean up during the morning of one event. Then I went back and checked the trail work day schedule I got from Terry (FS) and low and behold I noticed the work day corresponds with the Rockvember event. Because GotLime? mentioned Eagleswarrior (Daniel) and himself were brainstorming ideas. So I sent him a PM back, but haven't heard back from him. I guess it is about time for me to send a message over the Eagleswarrior and get his direct thoughts on it.
 
I apologize if you were looking for a reply for me. Let me find the email.

I'm just an interested observer though, This is Daniel's baby. I'll do whatever I can to assist, but you should contact him directly regarding Rockvember.
 
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