Snowshoe Trail Maintenance - Edison

In-season maintenance of the snowshoe trails continued last week with a sweep of the Dutchman and Todd Lake Snowshoe Trails. Dave Alward, Kurt Keasy, Kelly Eager, Chuck DelCamre, Gary Evans, Bill Silliman, Christie Crowe, Dennis Damici, Don James and Bob Timmer headed  from the Dutchman Sno-park to the Common Corridor junction and then counter-clockwise to Todd Lake and return. The group raised several markers, trimmed for marker visibility and cut several saplings that arched across the track. No blowdown were encountered, though a few were clearly evident below snow level.

Looking at the height of the original markers on the Todd Lake Snowshoe trail, all of which were installed without ladders in January 2006 by Jim Davis and volunteers, one can ask how does the snow depth then compare with it today? Turns out that the Natural Resource Conservation Service has collected monthly measurements of snow depth at Dutchman since 1930  and at Tangent, near Meissner, since 1952. Their January 27, 2006 measurement at Dutchman was 119" versus an estimated 70-80" this week. The following chart shows their April 1st +/- measurements (the most continuous series) and a linear trend line for Dutchman and Tangent.

This Tuesday, January 30th, we will head to the Edison. Christie, Chuck and Kurt shoed the Edison Long Loop and Short Loop on Wednesday; all was fine. So, we will head west on Tangent and shoe the new AC/DC Snowshoe Trail to the AC/DC Shelter. Our goals for the day are to clear any blowdown, replace any missing reassurance markers, trim for marker visibility, and install the permanent junction sign at AC/DC Shelter. The snowshoe will be 5 miles round-trip and ~600' of elevation gain from Edison Sno-Park.

 Plans