Since the official opening on August 21, only once have a driven by or walked on the Canyon Rim Trail and not seen at least one user (and in the course of a work day I drive by at least four or five times...). So far I've noted trail use by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center for a flower hike, a Girl Scout Troop on a scavenger hunt, a private school PE class, the Wednesday Walkers, and the local Mountaineers Club. The trail seems to get as much use as I had hoped, and for a wider variety of reasons!
Other major summer trail projects were: clean up of old water bars on the Perimeter Trail behind Arizona Avenue; widening and rerouting sections of the Water Canyon Trail (YMCA Youth Conservation Corps [YCC]); inprovments to the Woodland Trail off Arizona Avenue to behind the golf course (YMCA YES Corps); clearing of locusts from the first 1.5 miles of the Mitchell Trail; improvements to the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail (along the north fence of the airport) to make a nice loop with the Canyon Rim Trail (YCC); culvert installation at the start of the East Fork Trail near the Roundabout (a work in progress, my first culvert install); drainage improvements on the South Bench Trail near the old Pueblo Wastewater Plant (YCC); drainage improvements on the Ranch School Trail below the Aquatic Center; and clearer markings on the connecting trail between the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail at the Pajarito Cliffs Site and the Camp Hamilton Trail (cool trip idea: East Park, Pueblo Canyon Rim to Camp Hamilton, to Pueblo Canyon Road to Tent Rocks Trail and to the Aquatic Center--you could close the loop on pavement.
I'll focus on White Rock trails in October and November--improvements on the Rim Trail and maybe tackle the big ruts along the River Trail that I've been avoiding for 10 years.
Post a comment if you have any spots that need work. I'm keeping a running map of more-than-one-person jobs that I hope to be able to display here on Google Earth or Google Maps--once the weather forces me inside for a day.
Troop 122 hiked the Mitchell Trail to the dam and up Guaje Canyon about 1/2 mile this weekend. The trail itself looked good although the locusts were encroaching quite a bit in places on the drop down into the canyon. There was one new tree across the first section of the trail on our return although it does not really block the path. We also hiked the Canyon Rim Trail loop last weekend and enjoyed it - especially the section running north of the airport.
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