Step 1 To Re-Opening Old Trails - Trail Hike

Are You Interested In Attending A Trail Hike?

  • Total voters
    31
DRaider90

DRaider90

Uwharrie Off-Road Volunteering
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Location
Weddington, NC
The first step to working with the Forest Service to get some of the old trails re-opened is to educate ourselves about what trails are out there and their condition. If we do our homework we can bring more to the table than just the general concept. It shows the Forest Service we are serious about helping expand the OHV Trail System and keeping it open for future use.

The main focus/interest I have seen is in finding a way to get a connector trail open to resolve the issue of Daniel being an "No Outlet" trail. The old Gold Mine trail has a lot of hydrology issues, but using parts of the trail in combination with new sections up away from the stream beds is a real possibility. I know there are a good number of people that can help with this trail hike including those that used to ride these old trails when they were still open.

So lets get a date set. How does January 28th (Saturday), sound for a hike? It gives people a little over a month to plan for this, and it doesn't conflict with workdays that usually start in February. If that date sounds good we can move forward and start setting up a plan of attack for this hike.:driver:
 
Definitely interested. I can bring a camera to document our findings.
 
Hi, I have no clue what I'll be doing or where I'll be on that day. But I'd like to help. I have a 1/50,000 military map of the area and GPS capability that can do both Geo and MGRS coordinates. That would be helpful in marking out any new trails.
 
Don Layton sent me some old maps over and I will post them up later when I have them converted over. I used them plus one of the older maps to create this new map:

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/7421/newandoldtrails.jpg

(Linked to because its 1000x1000)

It has quite a few trails listed, some of which will probably be used in the new trail they are opening soon.

First off you have the closed part of the Gold Mine Trail. What I didn't know was from where the closed part intersects with Dickey Bell all the way to Rocky Mountain Loop is technically part of the Gold Mine Trail. Its apart of Dickey Bell now, but it used to be apart of Gold Mine. The part I am wondering about is if Gold Mine ends in the Cotton Place parking lot, or if the first part of Daniel is actually part of the old Gold Mine trail. I am sure someone that used to ride Gold Mine knows.

Then you have the CCC Trail and the Old Falls Dam Trail. It seems Falls Dam used to run all the way to near the Deep Water Horse Camp. If I am not mistaken the "new trail" they will be opening soon will be a combination of the CCC Trail, the Old Falls Dam Trail, and some new little sections inbetween.

You also have the Big Branch Trail which was rumored to be apart of the new trail opening, but looking at the maps I am starting to doubt that based on the description of the trail location I have gotten from the Forest Service.

2 other trails I also found where the Rudolph Trail, and the Rattle Snake trail. They may be horse trails for Forest Service Roads now, but they are interesting none the less. Part of Rattle Snake trail could in theory be used to bypass part of the old Gold Mine trail, then could be routed up back to Cotton Place parking lot.

Looking forward to seeing some feedback/opinions on these trails.
 
Happy New Year. Do any of the maps show where the hydrology issues are located at? I'm sure those areas are a no-go issue that would have to be worked around so no sence wasting time trying to get permission to run trails through there. Unless it could be bridged. Is this going to be a walk only recon? If we are allowed to use vehicles on authorized trails to get close to the proposed areas it would be a time saver allowing us to cover more ground and saving a few of us from having a heart attack. Is tree removal going to be an issue for the proposed new trails? I'm sure there is going to be some sawing involved to open new trails. This will be a big project if we get approval, gonna cost a few $$$, where will that come from? Thanks.
 
SFGator said:
Happy New Year. Do any of the maps show where the hydrology issues are located at? I'm sure those areas are a no-go issue that would have to be worked around so no sence wasting time trying to get permission to run trails through there. Unless it could be bridged. Is this going to be a walk only recon? If we are allowed to use vehicles on authorized trails to get close to the proposed areas it would be a time saver allowing us to cover more ground and saving a few of us from having a heart attack. Is tree removal going to be an issue for the proposed new trails? I'm sure there is going to be some sawing involved to open new trails. This will be a big project if we get approval, gonna cost a few $$$, where will that come from? Thanks.
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I don't have a map showing all the hydrology issues. But hydrology issues aren't the only ones we have to deal with. We have archeological sites, endangered wild flowers, bald eagle nests, etc. That is a big part of why we need to get out and hike the trails. To see what is out there and what issues we may be facing before we present ideas to the Forest Service.

To my knowledge right now it will be a hike only. I am going to talk with Deborah and Terry about maybe allowing us at least 1 motorized vehicle for emergencies/supplies etc, but its a long shot at best. The heart attack thing I can relate with, especially since I am not in shape by any means. I had to hike the bottom side of Daniel from the v-notch back up to the hill climb in the pour rain with Terry Savery on a workday doing trail inventory. I thought I was going to die. Anyway back on track.

There will be a lot of work to be done to re-open any trail, and it would involve completely new trail sections to by pass issues (especially if we are talking Gold Mine). This won't be a volunteer only project. Our goal is to get our homework done, and then present our ideas/findings to the Forest Service. We will help with anything we can, but a lot of the work will have to be done by them. Just consider the new trail opening soon has been just the Forest Service working on it.

So the Forest Service is all ready open to re-opening trails, so why not show the Forest Service our level of dedication to helping where ever we can by doing some leg work and presenting them with even more options for possible trail openings.
 
DRaider90 said:
So the Forest Service is all ready open to re-opening trails, so why not show the Forest Service our level of dedication to helping where ever we can by doing some leg work and presenting them with even more options for possible trail openings.
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I think you're looking at the the wrong way. It's a research/survey/documentation project. The FS should know where the sensitive sites are, they should know what the limitations for any prospective new trail openings are. What they may not have is a thorough document showing where abandoned roadbeds exist around Daniel Mountain. Map every old trail, every logging road, etc.

That's where spending an afternoon walking the mountain would be beneficial. It doesn't have to be some big group. In fact, you'd be more productive (and cover more ground) by splitting up. As many groups as you have GPSes.
 
Shawn said:
I think you're looking at the the wrong way. It's a research/survey/documentation project. The FS should know where the sensitive sites are, they should know what the limitations for any prospective new trail openings are. What they may not have is a thorough document showing where abandoned roadbeds exist around Daniel Mountain. Map every old trail, every logging road, etc.
That's where spending an afternoon walking the mountain would be beneficial. It doesn't have to be some big group. In fact, you'd be more productive (and cover more ground) by splitting up. As many groups as you have GPSes.
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I agree we should document as many old trails, logging roads, etc, and I have been thinking about the idea of splitting up. It just depends on how many people show up, and how much equipment (GPS etc) we end up with. But at the same time I don't see an issue with while we are out there documenting anything we may find. Because things do change over time, and only god knows the last time the Forest Service has been out on those trails etc. The Wild Sun Flowers might have invaded certain areas, there might be new Bald Eagles Nests, etc.

As far as what was mentioned about doing the trail hike while the trails are open, it depends on what area we decide to hike. If we hike Gold Mine the only benefit would be eliminating the short piece of Dickey Bell to hike back to the road. Hopefully we can at least split into two groups and work from both sides in. That would also mean we could park vehicles on both sides to transport people back and forth instead of having to back track.

The one long shot of a project I would like to do when the trails are open is with a GPS map all the closed trails and Forest Service roads that we can find. And if possible do so on motorized vehicles. But getting the permission to ride closed areas of the Forest possibility is slim at best. So until then hiking on foot will have to do.
 
It's not that much ground to cover. You can do the whole thing on foot.
 
Shawn said:
It's not that much ground to cover. You can do the whole thing on foot.
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Cool and if you have a newer smart phone with sat capability you can get the "Grid Nav" application that has Lat/Long and MGRS capability. It's user friendly and easier to use then most most GPS systems.
 
Keep us in the loop on this.... if A hike is going to happen any idea of a time table and itinerary?
 
I would be glad to add my background experience with this project. One thing with these hazards is they have propably been mapped at some point. They do not typically do updating mapping unless something big changes. Granted the migration of some of the hydrological features may not have changed much, but the plants and wild life has. I personally always wanted to get a map that was not to busy that showed the streams and the trail crossings. Stream crossings are HUGE in my line of work and can make or break a project. With all this said us going out and GPSing out all the hazards and giving a buffer and put all this information on a map with the trails will help on picking the routes to take. See yall the 28th if I can remember.
 
If we have this number of people committed we will be doing the hike. The basic idea would be to meet up in the morning at the Outpost, probably 9AM-10AM then head to the Cotton Place trail head and get started. But for it to be successful (worth our time) we will need a good GPS for mapping, someone that knows the old trails would be beneficial, someone with a background in hydrology (cough...kenny...cough) would be good, and someone taking pictures.

I messed up my back at work recently so I will be slow going at best out there, but I will go for it as long as we have the people/resources to make this work.

So of the 17 people "interested", who all can show up for the hike and what equipment/resources can we put together? Let stick with Jan 28th, meet up/breakfast 9AM at the Outpost.
 
I'm probably not going to make it now. I'm realizing how much work I still need to get done on our house before we put it up for sale in about 6 weeks. I probably shouldn't even be going to the Flats this w/e. I'm bummed, because I really want to participate in this.

Later,
Danny
 
i cant go that weekend but i think its a great idea, and would love to join in on it.
 
johnnie walker said:
I will be there with my dad. Cameras? I can carry water and snacks, as I don't have much to offer but wanted to support the reopening of trails/new trails
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Cameras for logging photos of sections/issues etc are needed yes. Anyone and anything they can contribute is needed. :beer:
 
Definitely someone with good hand writing for notes. Good cameras to document areas of concern. This is the safety side speaking but whenever we are out there people should wear bright color clothing. The gps units will be the big thing. Get all this info on a topo map will make things easier to deisgn erosion control measures for the trails to protect the streams. I look forward to this project. I will ask our to see if we can use our GPS unit, but do not hold your breath. See you in 2 weeks.
 
I have been talking with Scott Fields about this (he used to coordinate the Volunteer Workdays) and he said he will be showing up also. He has a good knowledge of the old trails, and helped shape most of the trails as we know them today. He actually hiked Gold Mine by himself last weekend all ready, so he has a head start. So we have someone that knows the trails and has trail building experience, to lead the group.

With Kenny going we will have someone with a hydrology experience to help in that area, which is a huge plus. And we have a couple people it seems that plan on going that will be bringing cameras etc so that also a step forward. We still need someone with a GPS, and anyone else with resources they think can aid in this hike.

So everyone that plans on attending please post up if you haven't so we can get keep up an idea of how many people and what resources we will have.:driver:
 
Hi, looks good for me and a couple of other Buddies to show up. I/we have GPS capability, digital cameras and I should be able to have a 1/50,000 military map of the area. I can make copies of the map for the area we area looking at. We work on Ft. Bragg so we cannot always control our schedules. I should have a solid answer by next week. Thanks.
 
I have actually hiked some of those old trail beds ..... curiosity got the better of us.
One place to look at is Rattlesnake. Follow it from DB to the end of the ridge. Look for the cross. Seriously creepy.
We have seen a few places that even though they have "softened up" over the years, you can tell they could've been really nasty.

Matt
 
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