Turkey Trot out - April 11, 2018 - City of Loveland Natural Areas

Our second whack of the season and it was not shabby at all. We had a visit from a gaggle of turkeys just walking on through our project with no real concerns about 11 volunteers on the trail. Amazing – this place is starting to become Dr. Doolittles animal ranch. What a night! Big crew – lots of hard work and we made it all the way to fallen tree. That means we are out of the field work for next week and into the woods by the river. We will start on the construction of causeways. We used the wheel barrows last night and that made a big difference getting rid of the cuttings. We actually filled in the bad truck ruts. The landscape out there is really going to benefit from some of these rearrangements of soil.

Members: Dean, Brandon, Hans, Bob V, Navy Bob, Connie, Kathleen, Andy, Michael, Denny, Scott   Hours:   4.5

RESULTS:   462.5 feet of finished/prepped trail base at 36” wide

ROSES:
·       Great large crew again!
·       Weather was fabulous again – 82° F at the start and then cooled
·       Awesome to see the van out and onsite
·       Cooler weather than expected
·       Pushed to designated ending point for the evening
·       Wheel barrow brigade worked great – lots of loads dispersed
·       Denny got a feather in his hat
·       Work site was beautiful in all respects
·       Brandon showed up!  OMG!
·       Lots of work done and to spec
·       Turkey trotted passed us
·       Herons still giving us a great show in the tree south of us
·       No accidents or injuries!
·       Great cooperation in learning our techniques moving soil/duff away
·       Good team work with moving tools and packs down the line as we advanced
·       Fun break on the fallen tree
·       Photos all over the place
·       Good water breaks
·       Great ‘rut rakers’ that stepped forward to do that task
·       Sharing of food stuffs is rather fun
·       Good sweeps and finalizing trail and the work
·       Fun time at McGraffs
THORNS:
·       Some tools are placed on ground incorrectly
·       Sizing – make sure we cut the bench as prescribed and watch for pinching
·       Keep an eye on our timing for finish
BUDS: 
Notes: Ask COL about crusher fines delivery and placement, ask about spraying weed kill on bare earth, and ask about rolling in the crush with heavy rollers?
Well we got the field work done and it went faster with less people too. I guess we had tool talks last week and staggered walk-ins that might account for this. Honestly, 463 ft. of trail in 4.5 hours is still great accomplishment! And the best part is we are out of there in the early part of the season – the fields are full sun exposure. Good job! Now on to the river and trail construct over there. I heard we need to be getting those stones out before the river rises; otherwise we may be calling ourselves – CATSfish!  Becoming – ‘wetcats’ especially if we have to drag these stones from the rising waters. We got plans.
Are you not out with us? Our next few weeks should be rather interesting putting together this river piece – especially raised trail. Allergies and nose issues I noticed were plaguing some of our volunteers. Remember the pollen from the grasses and other vegetation is responding to spring. I would suggest nose sprays and even wearing a buff over the nose/mouth area for a while if necessary. Bandannas are great to have in your pocket too, for various reasons.
Sunsets, birds, critters and sounds of the water await those CATS that can make it out, and of course the sounds of Bob yelling all time about something.

Link to Photos: Click Here.

On the trail,
Bob Johnson

Go here to sign up for events: http://trailcats.org/volunteer
E-mail:  info@trailcats.org     bob@trailcats.org
Location: Loveland, CO, USA

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