Waterbars are probably the most over used trail repair used. Very few should ever be installed. Gawd, I wish these folks would open a book on trail building/repair.
I agree Mike, my favorite is those conveyor belts they used to use and the wood poles across the trail that turn into limbo poles years later. Dean
Soul_Control and Draheim18 stepped up to make some improvements on the SJT. We met at the lower lot at 1:00pm and hiked up the trail, looking for problem areas as we went. Our original intention was to fix some poorly built waterbars... and they were truly lame. But with massive amounts of rain in the forecast, we decided to leave them in place until after the storms. Joe had ridden the trail recently and mentioned a washed out turn about a mile up. This is one of those blind, off-camber turns where descending riders (who don't know the trail) end up going off the edge. We decided to decrease the radius and flatten the trail surface. We even banked and bermed it a little and added some guide rocks. It should flow better now.
Thanks to the other STR members who expressed interest in helping out. We'll be heading out there again, to fix those waterbars and clean up the switchbacks a bit. Hopefully that'll fit with more people's schedules. Anyone who wants to lend a hand should send me a private message, and I'll keep you updated. Thanks again to Jon and Joseph-- you guys were awesome. One more time..
I've never understood why someone would leave those things sticking up like that. Maybe they're worried about vampires.. One of our goals is to remove the spikes (or at least pound them into the ground) before someone punctures a lung.
