Cyclone Lookout
From Debo Powers . . .
The annual hike to Cyclone Lookout on the evening of the longest day has become a North Fork tradition. Hikers will meet at the junction of North Fork Road and Hay Creek Road at 7:30pm and carpool to the trailhead. This is a fun evening watching the sun set and returning to vehicles before dark.
Participants are asked to bring snacks, insect repellent, bear spray, and headlamps. The hike will be led by NF Trails stalwarts Janet and Dick Leigh.
Moran Basin Trail (Trail 2) in Flathead NF, July 2014 – W. K. Walker
The latest (June 19) Forest Service Trail Condition Reports for the Hungry Horse and Glacier View ranger districts have been posted to the website Trail Conditions page.
These reports contain a fair amount of useful; information. Besides trail conditions, they include trail numbers, their official names and end-to-end mileages.
Hay Creek Road slump, April 2017
UPDATE: The road was reopened on May 26, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.
According to the Flathead National Forest’s Facebook page, The Hay Creek Road is closed due to a slump a short distance from its junction with the North Fork Road. Depending on when repairs are made, his could be a real problem for our spring activities in the Hay Creek drainage.
A road slump up Hay Creek Road #376 has caused closure until the road dries out and repairs can be made. Please be cautious when driving on roads that are saturated with water due to snow melt and run off. If you find damage to roads when you’re out and about, please let us know so we can evaluate conditions and make necessary repairs when conditions improve.
Moran Basin Trail (Trail 2) in Flathead NF, July 2014 – W. K. Walker
This press release by the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Region came out on March 14, but no one noticed it right away. Needless to say, we’ll be following up on this.
Short version: The public has until April 5, 2017 to submit ideas and comments “to help identify trails that will be part of a U.S. Forest Service effort with partners and volunteers to increase the pace of trail maintenance.” It looks like Kent Wellner at kwellner@fs.fed.us or (406) 329-3150 is the primary Northern Region point of contact for this.
Here’s the full text of the release . . .
Release Date: Mar 14, 2017 Missoula, MT
Contact(s): Scott Fenimore, 406-329-3047, Kent Wellner, 406-329-3150
Partners, volunteers integral to addressing maintenance backlog
MISSOULA, MONT. – The Northern Region is inviting the public to help identify trails that will be part of a U.S. Forest Service effort with partners and volunteers to increase the pace of trail maintenance.
Nationwide, the Forest Service will select nine to 15 priority areas among its nine regions where a backlog in trail maintenance has contributed to reduced access, potential harm to natural resources or trail users and/or has the potential for increased future deferred maintenance costs.
The Northern Region manages more than 28,000 miles of trails enjoyed by residents and visitors alike and includes opportunities for year-round motorized and non-motorized trail use of all types. In the Northern Region, volunteers and partner groups contributed approximately 112,000 hours of service maintaining trails in 2016.
”We’ve already received some ideas from our partners,” said Northern Regional Forester Leanne Marten, “and we’d like to hear more. Our volunteers and partners help make this Region great and are critical components to the trail maintenance program. We look forward to hearing from additional organizations and individuals in the coming weeks.”
Moran Basin Trail (Trail 2), mile 2, Flathead NF, July 10, 2014 – by W. K. Walker
This was an interesting find. “99% Invisible” is a professionally produced podcast “about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about.” Recently, they focused on the U.S. national trail network.
This a two-part article. Links to both segments are below . . .
The U.S. National Trails System‘s 30 Scenic and Historic routes alone span over 50,000 miles, longer than the entire Interstate Highway System. Extending across all 50 states, the National Recreation Trails network contains over 200,000 additional miles of public pathways. A person could walk these trails continuously for years and still experience only a fraction of the total system.
Sustaining public trails throughout the nation is a herculean task coordinated by various federal agencies (including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) as well as state-level organizations, like the California Conservation Corps (or: CCC). In turn, these agencies rely on a huge number of paid and volunteer workers to create and maintain both federal and state trails nationwide.
Trail 2 Maintenance, July 7, 2016
The North Fork Trails Association is pleased to announce that Trail 2 is now open. Randy Kenyon, Alan Peura and Bill Walker removed all the downfall and brushed the trail out a bit on July 7.
Trail 2 is a popular trail running from Moran Basin Road to Coal Ridge, the location of a number of old lookouts, including the 1928 “Coal Ridge Patrol Cabin.”
We were in a hurry to clear the trail because there is an upcoming hike along Trail 2 to Coal Ridge in conjunction with the Montana Wilderness Association’s Wilderness Walks program on July 16. See the NFTA schedule at https://nftrails.org/calendar/#activities for details, including a registration link.