07_01_2014 Dave and trail work in Eldo

Dave has been working with a trail building crew in Eldorado.  He took the camera on his last trip out there to document some of the work being done. It's pretty impressive.

This first photo shows the trail the crew is building. The crew is being paid by the park and is requesting volunteers (climbers) to assist. This was Dave's second time with this crew.

Pretty good looking trail going in. The trail is near Yellow Spur (I'll get Dave on here later to correct any errors I make in these descriptions).

Another look at the trail being built.

So how do they do it?  First, they have to find the big stones to use as steps. They are located in an unstable gully a ways away. You can see a worker in the gully; Dave is standing nearer the area in which the big rocks are being relocated.

In the wall behind the worker, you can see the rope anchored into the wall. The ropes are used to move the rocks - too big to carry especially on an unstable gully - over to where they will reside.

Another look to the point of origination.

Here is some of the anchoring system set up where Dave is.  You can see the winch-thingy used to tighten the rope to assist in getting the rock where it needs to be.

The transfer line is set up.  Look between the tree to see a large rock actually on the line being moved.

So how do they chose the rocks? In some (all?) cases, they have to cut them. This guy just drilled into a large rock and split it creating three stones that will be moved and ultimately placed in the trail stairs.

You can see the drill lines along the edges that assist in the splitting. And you can see the center drill hole...it is in the drill hole an expansion bolt is placed. That bolt attaches to the rope allowing the rock to be moved.

The expansion bolt is being placed.

A view of the rig

Here comes (there goes?) a rock!

Again...

Lunch break! This is some hard, tedious and slow work. Each day, about 6-8 rocks are placed. This is equivalent to two lines of stairs. You can see some rocks around this guy that have been moved over next to be placed in the trail.

This is some physically hard work!  Makes one appreciate even more the trails we walk on - especially those that have been enhanced.