Fw: [at-l] links to my recent NH and PA pics

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

>"...In the beginning" properly built trail is entirely mineral soil.  The
>organic matter is what the trees and other plant life deposit - AFTER proper
>trail is built.  You're supposed to know that......." think Jim.

I can only report on what we in Maine do. And what Myron Avery and the folks he
recruited to build the trail in the 30s did. The trail never would have gotten
built had they stopped to dig away the organic matter. I once chatted with the
guide who lead Maine trail pioneer Walter Greene over the Barren-Chairback Range
in the mid 1930s. I asked him about the difficulty of trail building before the
age of power saws. "We didn't build trails as much as we found trails," I was
told. "We liked to find animal paths and make them passable by knocking off
branches."

 When Maine relocated 170 miles of the trail during the decade of the 80s. We
 were a little more modern. We cleared trees and brush to a four-foot width. But
 very little, if any of the organic layer was removed.

 I can't quickly find my ATC trail construction and maintenance book, but the
 ATC field book, that came out this fall reports that evidence of a proper
 treadway is one "covered with leaf litter."

 The field guide, however, provides insights into the Pennsylvania rocks. It
 urges maintainers to be on alert for erosion. "Compaction alone may cause a 2
 to 4 inch gully. If a gully is deeper than that ... it is actively eroding."

 ATC adds, "The trail should wear lightly on the land, with minimal disturbance
 to the surroundings...." I find it interesting that the only excavation
 mentioned in the field manual is that needed for new construction on steep
 sidehills, and as needed to drain water away from the trail.

 As for Jim's contention that "it doesn't matter what boots you wear on the
 trail. You'll do exactly the same kind of damage." Read carefully. He is
 technically right. The same "kind of" damage results. It's just that some boots
 produce more of that "kind of damage."

 Weary