August Trailblazer Report
By Katrinka Westendorf
With the May Work Session having ben rained out , the group was eager to get back on the trails in June to perform some needed trail maintenance . The Lake Anita Louise Trail and the Twin Lake Trail were the targeted areas . As is usually the case in mid-spring , the vegetation had started to grow . The vines and invasive vegetation on the trail sides were beginning to impinge into the pathway . Bushes and tree branches were making inroads from the sides of the trail into the trail itself , and various weeds and grasses were rearing their heads in the trail beds . After gathering at the Hemlock Point trail head and having a short discussion of the scope of work , the group split into smaller crews of “ weed-whackers ” and “ pruners ” and began to tame protruding branches and vegetation along the pathways . A large part of the weed-whacking effort was concentrated on the east side of the creek before the creek crossing . Some trimming was also accomplished on the west side , toward the Bowl and along the sides of the Lake Anita Louise boardwalk . The final area that was weed-whacked was the entire length of the Twin Lake Trail ( part of this was done by a member who finished up after work session ended ).
Pruning work was performed along the entire length of the trails that were visited . At times task entailed a lot of stooping to cut back the invasive vegetation and vines as far as possible since they tend to grow quite quickly and will again be a problem within a month or two . The pruning crew also was charged with cutting back branches and limbs that were sticking out into the path and removing natural debris ( leaves , small branches , etc .) from the trail bed . After a very productive session by all the hard-working crews , the trails should now be easier for the users to traverse . Thanks to all for their efforts . They will be back out on the trails in the coming months to tackle other areas in need of light trail maintenance .
If you have any trailrelated questions or are interested in joining the group and helping to maintain the trails , the Trailblazers Committee can be contacted via email at LLATrailblazers @ gmail . com .
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