Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum!
If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page.
Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.
so is this still a go on the 11th? ill be there if so. i was wondering if it would be a realistic goal to make it to, and possably do lunch at the center cluster of trees on the trail proposed in the planning fase?
i was thinking of bringing my small BBQ and making some grub. maby we could think about doing trail potluck? just a thought, im savy on the trail goodies. sandwiches just dont cut it.
so is this still a go on the 11th? ill be there if so. i was wondering if it would be a realistic goal to make it to, and possably do lunch at the center cluster of trees on the trail proposed in the planning fase?
i was thinking of bringing my small BBQ and making some grub. maby we could think about doing trail potluck? just a thought, im savy on the trail goodies. sandwiches just dont cut it.
Its still a go for me. I'm in for whatever. I'm not sure what needs to done with the equipment but I'm pretty quick on it. Hopefully we can accomplish more then what needs to be done that day. If anyone from Vancouver wants to ride I have some extra seats. Let me know.
I'm of course in still. And I'll be bringing a spare hand as well.
Icemans..... Aaron and I are pretty familiar with what needs to be done up there, but may need to do another walk thru to verify that our flags/markings are still in place, and where we put them. After that, we'll give you the direction you need, and we should be able to make good progress, the others can help along the way or come in behind the mini to help with whatever "finer" points that'll need to be done.
I'll have my pledge of $40 in hand.... will we need to meet somewhere before hand to fuel the equipment? Or will you take care of that on the way back (to replace fuel that was used....) lemme know.
Bronze.... whats on the menu, and what can I bring?
On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 9:09 AM, REBB Jahmaal <[email protected]> wrote: [FONT="]Aaron, I am currently off on weekends during the winter months but will try to shift my schedule to make it work. I would like to do minimal on the entrance until we can open it all. So, we need to get in onto our flag line at a location that is unnoticeable and can be easily blocked. I think we can get in midway and work on clearing the line. All of the water/ drainage control is done towards the end of construction so we will not spend much time on that at this time. I will see if I can bring a second mini ex to assist this project. On a side note, the trail is to remain closed until we are complete. There shall be no vehicle traffic on trail during construction. Once complete we will test run the trail and address any issues and make changes before opening it up for public use. We are in the wet/winter season and need to be conscious on our activity and not creating more work than necessary. As Sunday draws nearer, check the weather conditions. The snow level is predicted to drop to 2000 ft in the next few days and temperatures are predicted to be in the low 30’s-high 20’s. There is chance of snow showers today through Sunday morning. I will run up there tomorrow afternoon and let you know of the conditions. If there is snow on the roads at those upper elevations it can be very difficult to haul heavy machinery up there and also present a safety hazard. Again, I will inform you of the conditions tomorrow evening.
I just got word for my contact for the excavator that it broke today. All his other ones are scheduled for other uses. I asked if next weekend is available and he was going to check and see.
Its looking pretty promising that they are going to have snow up there anyway, and I am not going to tow a 10,000 lb trailer up there in that. Our truck has street tires on it and it does not do well in the snow. Sorry guys I guess crap happens.
Well, i understand and agree with you Icemans. I will see if and when jahmaal can get the mini up there to do it himself. If all else fails we will just have to wait til spring. I will let everyone know as soon as I get Jahmaal's next email.
.....oooooohhhh......sooo close!
Well, we still have the pledges, and I know Jahmaal isn't going to give up on us.
Worst case scenario is we start in the spring.... I can live with that. The soil will be nice and soft anyways, and we'll have steady progression moving into the summer/wheeling season with a freshly cut trail.
Sounds like good times to me!
.....oooooohhhh......sooo close!
Well, we still have the pledges, and I know Jahmaal isn't going to give up on us.
Worst case scenario is we start in the spring.... I can live with that. The soil will be nice and soft anyways, and we'll have steady progression moving into the summer/wheeling season with a freshly cut trail.
Sounds like good times to me!
I will be able to get the equipment in the future so don't get rid of the pledges. It just didn't work out this weekend. I was worried about the snow anyway. Let me know a head of time when odf is going to work up there and i will get it for then or before. Sorry guys!!
I will be able to get the equipment in the future so don't get rid of the pledges. It just didn't work out this weekend. I was worried about the snow anyway. Let me know a head of time when odf is going to work up there and i will get it for then or before. Sorry guys!!
So, here is Jahmaal's latest email. I know we no longer have the equipment needed for this to happen tomorrow, but I told you I would share this. So I am :
Aaron, It was snowing on us today but very little was sticking around. Roads were clear as of today. Whatever you decide please send me a confirmation. I plan on coming in on Sunday to check my e-mail.
I let him know we were without the equip. And unless he could get the ODF mini excavator up there we were canceling the work party.
Aaron I know you guys are going up for the solve clean-up, but I wanted to let you guys know my offer still stands. When we are ready for the equipment let me know. Preferably a couple weeks in advance.
Aaron I know you guys are going up for the solve clean-up, but I wanted to let you guys know my offer still stands. When we are ready for the equipment let me know. Preferably a couple weeks in advance.
DUDE THATS AWESOME!
I think we still have some funds around from the last time we passed the hat for gas money..... (gonna have to look into that)
Aaron and I are going to be re-hiking (if possible) the new route and determine a rough idea of when we'll be able to get up there to start the first cut-in.
Jahmaal will most likely need/want to be a part of it, if for nothing else, but to supervise.
Since this trail is (currently) closed, getting it done and re-opened is a high priority on the ODF's "to-do" list.
We'll have a better idea of what we'll need to do (if anything) before the official work parties begin, after Saturday.
DUDE THATS AWESOME!
I think we still have some funds around from the last time we passed the hat for gas money..... (gonna have to look into that)
Aaron and I are going to be re-hiking (if possible) the new route and determine a rough idea of when we'll be able to get up there to start the first cut-in.
Jahmaal will most likely need/want to be a part of it, if for nothing else, but to supervise.
Since this trail is (currently) closed, getting it done and re-opened is a high priority on the ODF's "to-do" list.
We'll have a better idea of what we'll need to do (if anything) before the official work parties begin, after Saturday.
Sounds good. I cant wait to get this going. Just let me know what they say for a time frame, and what were doing. This way I know what machine to bring.
Sounds good. I cant wait to get this going. Just let me know what they say for a time frame, and what were doing. This way I know what machine to bring.
I went digging for this and have created a sort of "state of the trail" report so that everyone can get up to speed as to why we're doing what we're doing and all that has gone into it so far.
Some of our members have joined in after all this went down and arent familiar with what happened and what we have planned.
I will of course be updating this thread after our work party this coming Saturday June-1.
Due to rock and tree harvesting operations in the hillside...Saddle Up was Closed "Indefinitely" as of July 2012......
These operations were not only done earlier than scheduled, but also led to the trail being scraped and filled in for heavy equipment transport.
Myself and Aaron (AwesomeXJ) have met with Jahmaal Rebb from ODF on several occasions, to make an assessment on the current trail condition and discuss ideas of how to move forward from here.
There was a company that was doing drilling and blasting in that area for a little while and a rock pit has been developed. Part of this blasting, had created a fischer in the hillside, which was one of the main reasons for the closure. Once the blasting was completed Jahmaal evaluated the trail then determined how urgent a re-route is needed. Aaron and I have stepped forward to facilitate the design process of the new trail.
What we are planning so far... is a more broader modification to the trail as a whole, rather than focusing on just the upper trail and hill climb that is now filled in (and fractured due to the blasting.)
There will be a new trail center line and routing, sediment traps, irrigation and so on. We have come up with a well planned design that sets saddle up apart from the other trails and should make it more of a focal point at TSF. The current black diamond rating will be kept, and it has also been decided to attempt a tie in with Firebreak 5 later on.
This rebuild of saddle up will not be done in a day, but we are hoping the actual rebuild will be done so that it is low maintenance and sustainable.
As I mentioned before, there was a company doing rock harvesting near the hillside adjacent to Saddle Up. The contractor in charge of blasting the hillside to harvest said rock filled in the hill climb to move the blast hole driller to the top of the hill. Here's how it looks now for people who are familiar with what this trail used to be:
When they blasted they de-stablized the whole hill and now there is a large crack that runs along the left side of the trail.
It is because of the large crack and subsequent smaller fractures (causing a potential for harm to the public) is why Saddle Up is closed to ALL traffic. There are boulders stacked at the entrance on the hill climb side and a huge log at the other now....the hill climb is filled with gravel anyways, making it more of a driveway than anything now.
This is the new area we have available to us to make the new trail. We will be cutting a completely new trail. We will be keeping it single Black Diamond and Double Black Diamond. The trail will be built in 2 parts. This side being the more pressing trail due to the current hill climb being taken out of commission. and another section to tie this side in down to the top of FB5, to be completed later.
We received the TOPO maps from Jahmaal and put together a work party to route and flag the new trail. (thank you Keith & Aaron for your instrumental help in this part of the project.)
Reforestation crews came in and replanted the most of the hillside after we set our initial center-line and new trail boundaries.
After our initial trail marking hike, we once again met with Jahmaal, and finalized the centerline..... only a few adjustments were needed, and overall, our concept for the new Saddle Up is going to be implemented.
We'll incorporate some sort of width/capability filter into the area right after the entrance. The actual entrance is on the other side of the hill to the right, off the spur road that intersects the road that the old trail entrance was off of. The "staging area" just before the filter of the new trail, is just to the right of the large stack of logs you see below.
This is looking into the area that will be the first stage of the new trail. This is taken from 2/3 of the way up the old trail, looking in towards the new first section.
Here you see Aaron eye-balling sight lines and surveying the lay of the land during our finalization hike with ODF:
We made our way up and across the natural grade of the hill side, taking advantage of the stumps as boundary markers, zig-zagging our way to the central part of the area you saw in the pictures above, thru and around stumps, over hills and burms. There in the middle of all that, we have designed what we think will be the main obstacle we're building into the trail, making it a new destination spot in the TSF, you'll see it in the video, and I'm sorry I didnt take as many pics as I would have liked, but the video will explain it all.
In a nutshell it'll be a two-line face or hill climb. The face climb portion is a zig zag entrance to a sheer face between two large stumps, when its done it will rival Waterfall. The hill climb line will be to the right of that and will be less intimidating, but still quite hard, Both will join together in a flatter area where there will be enough room to turn around, or for two way traffic. (...we're also talking about making a loose rock bypass that will be in no way a walk in the park, closer to the road from all of this that will join into the next portion of the trail.....)
The trail narrows again, angles slightly down (to join in with the aforementioned bypass) then back up again thru more stumps, and over a slight hill before you come down and curve around to enter the wooded area.
This pic is looking down into that section - the wooded area is to the left:
The wooded area offers excellent shade, and is sure to be a destination spot for those who want a good place to break for a while and eat lunch or just get out of the sun. This winter proved to be a harsh ride for this little wooded grove, as we will have lots of blow-down to deal with before we can proceed. From there you'll continue on to what will be the most challenging length of sustained hill climb on the trail. The grade is at least as steep as the old trail, of not more so. There will be off camber spots, and a couple slight turns to prevent a balls out skinny pedal run to the top. We've planned to tie into the old trail up at the top - roughly at the 1/2 way point - of the ridge line, where we discussed the possibility of making the rest of the run a "rock garden" of sorts. Similar to what you will find on the top of Hogsback. 1 foot to 2 foot diameter rocks tightly packed into a small field (100 yards long maybe...) from there you will exit the trail thru another filter.
This will conclude phase 1 of the build, the next phase will be to delete the exit road, move the quad/bike trail tie-in back another 50 yards or so, and cut more Saddle Up thru the woods to tie into Firebreak 5. That will be done at a later time however. The focus right now is getting this section done and open.
Here is an aerial photo with a VERY rough estimated sketch of how the new phase 1 of Saddle Up will be routed. (dark blue bold line)
After finalization, here's the new mark-up, (as I mentioned, not much changed)
From the ridge line, near the top of the OLD hill climb looking down to the rock quarry. (trust me thats a looong way down)
Here is a RE-HIKE of the whole new trail, in its entirety, to give you at least somewhat of a visual reference of whats to come.
My camera isn't the best, and footage never does the real thing much justice, but here it is none the less. (yes I AM a bit out of shape) http://youtu.be/vHZVyzUiAZM
[/QUOTE]
Most of these pics are from the summer of 2012..... we were up there in late April, and assessed the current condition of the area, to determine how to proceed with the work parties and cut in of the trail. A few other NWC members (Kenny, Jeremy, and Dustin) were along for the ride and got a tour of the new trail.
This last winter was pretty hard on the area, and we have a lot of blow-down and brush clearing to deal with.
The work is going to be hard, but with enough man power and dedication, and of course with the help of the heavy equipment, we should have this open for wheeling this summer.
I just wanted to post up a status report for the trail, no big deal.
I ran it via quad yesterday. First off I got to say. Props to AwesomeXJ, NW-99-XJ, Mopar440, Kenny881, ODF and ALL the others that had a hand in on this. The trail is going to be epic! it will rival ALL the rest in the forest for popularity! IMO we wont have any problems with water runoff until next year. there are some sections that make me scratch my head on how and where it will be opened up for jeeps. I think that will be a fun bridge for us to cross once we get to it.
We do however have two substantially large trees down over the trail near the bottom entrances/exits (there are 2 now) I could not bypass them in a legit manor on the quad and was forced to turn it around. it will take a BIG saw to cut these things up and get them off of the trail. My fear looking at all the loose sediment still on the trail, is that with the trees down over the trail, we wont get the tire traffic we were looking for to help the process along. I'm willing to help, but I don't have much more than a couple able hands to help with.
Once again, this trail is going to be one of the best in the forest. I cant wait to get my jeep on it.
atriot:
