Buffalo Mountain

Tagger on the Mountain

Hard to believe someone would be so insensitive to the natural beauty to do something like this.

They started at the trail head by the parking lot, marking trees, rocks, and the small picninc bench by the switchback.

This is just short of the summit..

Ed Sutton with Gustavo

This is the trail breaker Ed uses to cut the initial trail, and groom the slopes to define run off patterns and width. It a marvelous piece of equipment. The crew will be on site for a couple of weeks. Come on up and say "Hi" We talked about getting some wire fencing carried up with the equipment, to make a deer-grazing-proof encloseure near the trail. Our volunteers could actually construct the enclosure once the fencing was there. A good educational project to show visitors the impact of the deer population. I told Ed we have our volunteers standing by to help.

Ed Sutton Carving Funiture With Chain Saw

This was an old oak that had to be cut, but Ed saved the stump for something useful! Nice work, Ed!

Toro Dingo On the Prowl

This is the clean up machine that does the finishing work after the trail bed is cut by the heavier equipment. They always start at the top, and work down so gravity can help as they move earth and rock. These machines have a narrow footprint to keep the trail width down.

Upper End of New Trail

This is the new trail as it comes into the junction below the summit. Heading SW down the south face of the Buffalo.

Trail Dynamic's Ed Sutton's Crew, Starts Trail Work

Trail Dynamics started work this week on the new switchback trail running across the SE face of the Buffalo. It will start near the present switchback below the kiosk, the area the old locals call the Rattlesnake Den, and rejoin the present trail at the junction of the present trail and the old fire trail, a couple of hundred yards below the summit. That final portion of the existing summit trail has already been upgraded.

Summit Trail Contract Let

Just got this message this morning from Claiborne.. Here is the description of the work to be done.

Jack,
fyi - the Buffalo Mountain trail work contract has been awarded to
Trail Dynamics. Trail Dynamics constructed trail at Grassy Hill NAP
in Franklin County. They are a good company with an excellent track
record with DCR. I'm not sure of the timing of the work yet, but
they are supposed to complete work no later than October 1, 2007. I
will make sure that Trail Dynamics is in communication with Bill
Gordge and his Greenways trails group and can make use of some
Buffalo Mountain Volunteer Stewardship Commitee labor as part of the
project and help meet our match for the Virginia Recreational Trails
Fund grant.

See:
http://www.traildynamics.com/

Hope all's well,
Claiborne

Surveying a New Summit Trail

DCR is lookimg into restoring the present trail to the original mountainside, while creating a new footpath along the south slope. This would start at the hairpin turn below the present kiosk, and traverse up the south slope, maintaining a 10% slope, until it would intersect the final hundred yards of the present approach to the summit. A RFP will be published shortly, and I'll post it here, as well as on the bulletin board at the Buffalo Mountain Store. In addition to our DCR guys, we were joined by Bill Gordge, of the Mid Week Trail Crew, which has done extensive work on the AT section here locally, as well as the Grassy Hill Natural Area Preserve. (Bill's the one in check civvies) He might bring his volunteers up to help, and qualify us for more volunteer matching hours, needed under the federal funding.

Summit Drinking Station

Every rain shower fills these depressions besides the benchmark reset pin. This is at the very top of the mountain, and serves as a drinking station for the ravens. Sometimes you'll see their feathers lying about...

Extending Posts and Cable Around Parking Lot

The off road folks are really tearing up the shoulders on the trail, especially around the barriers. Here's a shot where the chestnut log is across the trail just below the information kiosk.

I joined Al Cire and Clairborne Woodall in stringing some cable through the steel pipes alongside the parking lot to close off more of the 4WD access points. Here's what they've done around the bolders just as you start up from the parking lot.

Here's a shot of the cabling..