rainy morning today
got up and worked to try and get the kids dressed, fed, and out the door
initially I had intended to handle drop off... but lisa took on the task
so I leashed up the dog and headed across the street into the woods
business as usual
down the hill I could see that traffic was backed up on Beach Drive
in between the honking of impatient heavily irritated irritating drivers I could hear the sounds of the National Zoo
the chorus of the howler monkeys was within ear shot
as I walked I focused my attention on the monkey chant
having a few extra moments I repeated the short loop a second time with the dog
as I walked I tried to repair a few things on the trail
the monkeys could still be heard in the distance
there was one spot that caught my attention
a part I had worked on a few weeks ago
some work that I was proud of because it was subtle and natural looking while serving the desired purpose of controlling the hiker/runner/dog walker/dog traffic
a section that got dismantled by a friend and their good intentions
a copy cat with the best intentions
I need to meet up with the copy cat to get him on the same page
a few nights back I was trying to wrangle my boys from the car into the house after an outing somewhere
when I heard a shout from across the woods
it was jamie out walking his dog
we shared loud hellos in this hello from across the street
jamie told me in a proud tone of voice that he had just finished some work on the trails in the woods behind the rosemount center
still trying to get the boys into the house I gave a wave and a mention that I was stoked to see the work he had done
a few days later and I had not yet hiked that same loop so when my brother came over with his boys I worked a loop where we returned from the Melvin Hazel trail to cut through the section of trails where jamie had done his rogue trail maintenance
we crossed Beach Drive through a line of paused cars
I unleashed brutus then with an electronic bark of a park police officer I returned the leash to brutus' colar
with my heart rate already raised I was a tad frustrated when I got to the point where jamie had done his magnificent work
a week or two ago I had done a night hike with my old buddy tom
on that night tom assisted me with moving a large fallen limb
we dragged that limb and some other tree debrie to try and prevent some trail short cutting which has been causing an excess of erosion
the effort was done to try and replicate a natural setting
the day after the initial attempt I came into the woods with a rake and pushed some leaves in the area to make things not only appear more natural but for things to start working together
the logs and leaves could catch run off as well as block the short cutting hikers, runners, and dogs
well... jamie had taken appart my natural setting and reset things
the large limb was moved to a different part of the trail
while the logs parts were moved to the trail border
jamie and I have the same goals but jamie and I have a different set of visions
my efforts are to make the trails more sustainable
slow the erosion from the run off from the rain
slow the erosion from the hikers/runners who short cut trails or take turns too wide
jamie has built upon my efforts by lining this full little loop with sticks, twigs, and limbs flanking the trail on the left and right side
of course it helps... but I think that things could be more subtle and more natural
maybe only guiding the trail users at turns or points of possible confusion
not setting borders for each foot of trail
been expecting to run into jamie so we could try to work as a team rather than as two independent efforts
have not seen him I suspect we will cross paths on a hike in the next few days
then we can share our independent visions with the other and then put our objectives on the same page
got up and worked to try and get the kids dressed, fed, and out the door
initially I had intended to handle drop off... but lisa took on the task
so I leashed up the dog and headed across the street into the woods
business as usual
down the hill I could see that traffic was backed up on Beach Drive
in between the honking of impatient heavily irritated irritating drivers I could hear the sounds of the National Zoo
the chorus of the howler monkeys was within ear shot
as I walked I focused my attention on the monkey chant
having a few extra moments I repeated the short loop a second time with the dog
as I walked I tried to repair a few things on the trail
the monkeys could still be heard in the distance
there was one spot that caught my attention
a part I had worked on a few weeks ago
some work that I was proud of because it was subtle and natural looking while serving the desired purpose of controlling the hiker/runner/dog walker/dog traffic
a section that got dismantled by a friend and their good intentions
a copy cat with the best intentions
I need to meet up with the copy cat to get him on the same page
a few nights back I was trying to wrangle my boys from the car into the house after an outing somewhere
when I heard a shout from across the woods
it was jamie out walking his dog
we shared loud hellos in this hello from across the street
jamie told me in a proud tone of voice that he had just finished some work on the trails in the woods behind the rosemount center
still trying to get the boys into the house I gave a wave and a mention that I was stoked to see the work he had done
a few days later and I had not yet hiked that same loop so when my brother came over with his boys I worked a loop where we returned from the Melvin Hazel trail to cut through the section of trails where jamie had done his rogue trail maintenance
we crossed Beach Drive through a line of paused cars
I unleashed brutus then with an electronic bark of a park police officer I returned the leash to brutus' colar
with my heart rate already raised I was a tad frustrated when I got to the point where jamie had done his magnificent work
a week or two ago I had done a night hike with my old buddy tom
on that night tom assisted me with moving a large fallen limb
we dragged that limb and some other tree debrie to try and prevent some trail short cutting which has been causing an excess of erosion
the effort was done to try and replicate a natural setting
the day after the initial attempt I came into the woods with a rake and pushed some leaves in the area to make things not only appear more natural but for things to start working together
the logs and leaves could catch run off as well as block the short cutting hikers, runners, and dogs
well... jamie had taken appart my natural setting and reset things
the large limb was moved to a different part of the trail
while the logs parts were moved to the trail border
jamie and I have the same goals but jamie and I have a different set of visions
my efforts are to make the trails more sustainable
slow the erosion from the run off from the rain
slow the erosion from the hikers/runners who short cut trails or take turns too wide
jamie has built upon my efforts by lining this full little loop with sticks, twigs, and limbs flanking the trail on the left and right side
of course it helps... but I think that things could be more subtle and more natural
maybe only guiding the trail users at turns or points of possible confusion
not setting borders for each foot of trail
been expecting to run into jamie so we could try to work as a team rather than as two independent efforts
have not seen him I suspect we will cross paths on a hike in the next few days
then we can share our independent visions with the other and then put our objectives on the same page