It wasn’t cold – it was frigid this morning as twenty volunteers gathered at the Crystal Springs Marina for a day of trail building on Big Bear Mountain. Led by six trail-tested Traildogs, we had six delightful AmeriCorps Volunteers and eight enthusiastic Arkansas Wildlife Federation volunteers depart from the Marina starting at 8:30 this morning.

AmeriCorps and Arkansas Wildlife Federation volunteers Join the Traildogs on our last winter day on Bear Mountain

The air temperature at lake side was 23 degrees with a 10-15 mph wind out of the northwest. The Traildogs left early to do a little tree removal and user sign installation on the sixth and seventh sections of the trail. They removed two large trees blocking the eastern end of the sixth section on Little Bear Mt., then installed several user signs on the newly minted seventh section.

On the barge ride over to Little Bear Creek, water splashing over the front edge of the barge immediately froze our bow line and coated the front of the barge  with a thin layer of ice. Captain Dan Watson had to thread the barge through a group of half frozen bass fisherman participating in a tournament who had chosen the Little Bear creek area to make their first casts. Captain Dan is a pro and carefully threaded his way through the fishing boats without upsetting these hardy fisherman trying vainly to coax the half frozen bass up from their lairs below the thermo-cline.

Beta Dog Al and Gamma Dog Robert were waiting on shore for the second an third loads of volunteers at our moorage in Little Bear Creek at the base of Big Bear Mountain. We loaded the 4-wheelers with our day’s supply of food, drinks and some extra tools for the trip to the top of the mountain. The good hearted and strong trail supporter folks at the Shangri-La Resort had furnished sandwiches and fresh baked berry pies, which were lovingly loaded on these four wheel wonders. The good folks from the Arkansas Wildlife Federation had furnished drinks and other goodies to supplement the sandwiches and pies.

After a scintillating, body-awaking boat ride across the lake, everyone was ready for a hike up the mountain. Thirty minutes of hiking brought the herd of volunteers to the summit switchback area on the south slope. Most of the volunteers were enjoying the hike and expressing how good the warm southern sun felt. All the seasoned Traildogs knew were thinking “just wait to you cross to the north side”. As we passed over the summit we were greeted by an invigorating 10-15 MPH breeze to make the 26 degree air temperature bone chilling. We hiked on about a mile and half to the work site which was – no surprise – frozen solid. The young volunteers were undeterred and hacked away at the frozen ground, smoothing the tread and working the “angle of repose” on the up side of the trail.

Lunch overlooking Crystal Springs Marina with AmeriCorps and Arkansas Wildlife Federation Volunteers

Two hours of hacking and we had completed the final 600 feet of new trail.  After some picture taking, we retreated back to the switchback section on the south slope where we broke for lunch. Once we were on the south slope, it was like walking from a freezer into a warm room – no wind, and warm southern sunshine. The group fell on the food like a …  well, a pack of starving dogs. I heard a few forget the sandwiches to go directly for a slice of those pies, but within thirty minutes, most of the food was being converted into new energy.

The average age of the Traildogs is somewhere between 65 and 70, and they were definitely enjoying the bloom of these youthful new volunteers. After lunch we attacked a rework of the very steep last switchback, rerouting it to the right through a outcropping of solid rock that the Forest Service machine could not navigate. The vigor of youth was apparent when we asked the group to line the down side of the trail with boulders. If we dogs were doing this we would have labored to cover this steep slope by rolling, tugging, fighting and cursing enough rocks and boulders onto the slope to keep it from eroding. Before we knew it these young folks had formed a fire line and were passing rock and boulders down onto the slope like we would sprinkle salt on freshly fried eggs. After an hour, the twenty volunteers had converted the raw steep switchback into a gentle rock lined curve that any bike or hiker would truly appreciate.

We often hear in the news today that our youth have lost their zeal for everything but thumbing their communicators. We on the trail know better. These young people who joined us today are a credit to their young generation. To a person, they were a cheerful, hard working, dedicated group of volunteers who raised the spirits of old dogs. They were intelligent and personable, with a keen ability to coax a host of stories from long experienced Traildogs.

A special word of thanks to Wayne Shewmake and Ethan Nathe of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation for orchestrating the students volunteers from across the state to join our final day of trail building for this winter.  Another special thanks to the dedicated team of AmeriCorps volunteers for giving of their personal time to come over from their work at Lake Ouachita State Park to assist on the LOViT.

Many thanks to each of our volunteers today.

Jerry

We had seven volunteers today to assist in installing two trail benches and a rework of the steep switchback on the south slope.  Installing benches on this section is a study in logistics due to its remote location.  As we left the marina, we had seven volunteers, two 4-wheelers, four bench frames, sixteen bench slates, six 80 lb bags of quickcrete, a mixing pan, hoe, shovel, digging bar, and a post hole digger, along with four gallons of water, all of which had to hauled up the mountain.

New bench on Bear Mountain overlooking Crystal Springs Marina

We were fortunate today, as we did not run into solid rock when we dug the holes for the benches.  The first bench was installed on the south slope of the mountain overlooking the Crystal Springs Marina.  The second bench was installed on the north slope overlooking Hotel Island.

Following the bench installation, we had lunch on the south slope at the top of the switchbacks. The final switchback is very steep and difficult to hike or bike. After reviewing the site, we chose to hand dig an alternate path just to the right of the machine dug route.  This effort required moving a number of large boulders to form a stationary rock wall on the down slope.  We then filled in the path with small stones to level the tread and covered the stones with red clay, creating a first class tread with a significantly lower slope.

We are rescheduling Thursday’s planned workday on Hickory Nut Mountain to tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb 7th.  We will be doing the finish work on the “Old Fire Tower Spur”.  This 1/2 mile spur starts at the Hickory Nut Mountain Trailhead sign and goes up the north face of the mountain to the old tower site.  We are currently designing two trail interpretive signs for this site.  We will meet at the trailhead sign at 9:00 am.  The trailhead is located atop Hickory Nut Mountain, just west of the Hickory Nut Mountain Vista.

Here are some additional photos of today’s work.

Jerry

We had five volunteers today who chose to take a chance of iffy weather.  As we motored slowly across the bay, draped in fog so thick we could not see the mountain, I thought we looked like some dust storm refugees with the barge loaded with muddy 4-Wheelers and our volunteers in their trail work clothes, back packs and old life jackets.

A warm and foggy day on the seventh leg of the LOViT

Once across the bay, we unload the 4-wheelers and begin ferrying volunteers to the top of the mountain.  The going is steep, especially on the old logging road we utilize to shorten the trip to the top. Once at the summit, we must motor almost two more miles to our work site.  This requires several trips to carry all our volunteers across the face of the mountain.

As the fog lifted today it was if a curtain had been lifted to reveal a stunning new painting.  The lake below is broad and deep blue, offset by the emerald green islands with their white shorelines.  The views from this section of the trail are truly special and the best of the of the Trail, including Hickory Nut Mountain Vista.

Bad hair day on the LOViT, and no hat!

Weather permitting we will be on the trail again tomorrow, Thursday, Feb 2nd, and we will be looking for the elusive groundhog to let us know how close spring is this year.  We will depart Crystal springs Marina again at 8:30 am.

Thanks
Jerry

Rain! Rain! Go Away! – Due to the heavy rains in area, we are cancelling work until next Monday January 30th. We are closing in on the US Forest Service machine team due to a very difficult area of rock outcroppings slowing their efforts.

LOViT Termination point near Lake Ouachita's Blakely Dam

Today we met with the Corp of Engineers at the Blakely Mt. Dam site office to determine the end point for the trail. After reviewing the area just south of the new office building just above the north face of the dam, we chose a site on a rock bluff that overlooks the intake tunnel for the power plant and the north face of the dam. After eight years of planning and seven years of construction, we are rapidly approaching the completion of the main trail. It is our plan to have a information kiosk at the termination point that will provide information about the trail and the history of the lake. Attached is a photo of the dam with the bluff just to the right and above the intake structure.

LOViT Section 7 Termination Point Near Old CCC Site

We also visited the termination of our current construction on section seven that terminates at Brady Mt. Rd. Unfortunately, this termination point is right in the middle of where last May’s tornado passed through, downing thousands of trees and thereby destroying the canopy we treasure. However, and fortunately, this end point is right at an old Civilian Conservation Corps (“CCC”) improved spring site. The CCC folks built a stone walk and stairs down to the spring in the mid-1930’s. There is already a parking area there, making it a natural trailhead site. Attached is a photo of the old spring.

Next Monday we will again start at 8:30 am and rally at the Crystal Springs Café parking area. We will have the now-repaired US Corp of Engineers barge to ferry our volunteers to the base of the mountain. Pack you trail lunch and plenty of fluids and join us. If it is raining, we will not be working.

Jerry

Due to the heavy rain Jan. 25, also predicted for Thursday, Jan. 26, work is postponed until Friday, Jan. 27.  As usual, we will meet Friday at the Crystal Springs Cafe parking area.  The boat will leave at 8:30 sharp.

Tuesday, Jan. 24, was beautifully clear, giving the team terrific views of Lake Ouachita from the new Section 7.  The photo gallery here shares some of those views and gives you an idea of where we are along the proposed trail.

 
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Beautiful January weather and a crew of seven made for a great day on the trail.  Those of us who started on this trail seven years ago have often talked of what we thought the trail on Big Bear Mountain would be like.  We were afraid that the foliage would block the view or that the terrain would be to steep but neither has occurred.  The views from the mountain are just amazing as we keep pushing the trail east just below the summit of Big Bear Mt.

Today we could clearly see Bird Island directly north of where we were working.  At this elevation it clear how the USACE chose this valley to create this beautiful lake.  The Lake sits between two ridges of low mountains that make a perfect bowl, without levis, that allowed the lake to form once the dam was in place. We continue to be amazed at how consistent the mountain face is making the trail construction so much easier without having to constantly find ways around deep valleys and steep drainages.

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Friday, the old adage of “When the going gets tough the tough get going” fit our volunteers as we gathered at the Crystal Springs Marina in a dense wet fog that had descending on the area overnight.  Cold weather in a dense fog are not ideal trail building conditions as we motored slowly across the water for the long hike up to our work site.  Our seven years of trail building in all manner of weather conditions told us this would a “Mudder”, meaning the freshly dug soil would stick like molasses to our tools and would quickly make each boot feel like it weighed ten pounds. We reminded some of our new Traildogs before departure to add a plastic sheet or trash bag to their day packs to provide a place to sit for breaks and lunch.

Hoping that the noon sun would burn off the fog or at least lift it off the mountain, we hiked the two miles up the mountain from where we moored the boat on Little Bear Creek. Talk was at minimum as we lugged our day packs and some new tools up the old road that serves as a short cut to the new tread, with the heavy fog quickly drenching our hooded outer wear.  Even our fit seasoned volunteers find breath a little shorter as we approach the summit after coming up over 500 feet in elevation in less than a mile.

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