Steady progress on the Palisade Plunge Trail continues. This week, crews realized that portions of the trail that were initially thought to be an easier section to cut trail on, are actually on bedrock covered by a couple inches of dirt and loose shale.
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| The warmer weather is starting to bring out summer creatures. |
Work crews describe breaking through the bedrock with pickaxes and rock bars as reminiscent of work chain gangs would perform.
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| Crews break through bedrock with hand tools. |
Some crew members have begun hiking over four miles while hauling approximately a hundred pounds of gear and power tools to get to their job site.
Crews report that even with power tools when breaking through bedrock sections, they are only averaging about four to six feet, an hour.
While tackling these strenuous conditions and steep slopes, crews managed to finish another 950 feet of new trail, leaving them at milepost 28.18.
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| A Palisade Plunge crew member hikes over four miles while hauling approximately a hundred pounds of gear and power tools. |
To date, a total of 12.64 miles of trail has been completed, and a total of about 0.19 miles of rough-cut trail is left to be hand finished. This leaves just over four miles to go before completion of phase one of the trail. Phase two will begin this year, weather permitting.
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| Week 29: steady progress on the Palisade Plunge Trail continues. |
