Because I was able to devote a solid three hours to the trail work today, I took my time going out. It was time to clip off all the little vine sprouts trying reclaim the ground. Also, the increasing traffic has packed down the soil enough to expose a few trip roots, toe-stubbers too stiff to ignore. I did remove a couple of trees, but they were in the way for walking and jogging. I have a couple more I will probably take out eventually.
That took over a half-hour, but I get to my work spot in good shape. It was mostly clipping little stuff with the machete. There were two dead trees I decided to move. The first was already starting to hollow out, so it wasn’t that heavy. The second was more work, but doable. Because the path was already somewhat pre-existing, it was awfully easy for about 150 yards. By that time I was dog tired and ready to quit.
About that time I ran into the thorn vines again. The last hundred yards of woodland and grassland I have to hack through will slow me back down, because the thorns are quite thick — sometimes five or six per square yard. That’s along with the other underbrush and grass. Still, I think I can get out into the open again in about 75-100 yards.
This will put me at a major stopping point, because the route I’m going to use coming out is already mostly clear. I’m pretty much forced to follow the path used by four-wheelers because there is no other place a path can go without using a bulldozer. About a quarter mile or so and I’ll be back into the “jungle”.
