The Mad River Riders and other recreation associations are assessing damage to local trail networks after a weekend deluge wreaked havoc on local trails.
Bob Kogut, Mad River Riders board president, said that after the May 17 flash flooding event, the organization closed its trails until those trails could be assessed. In some cases, he said repairs were already underway by volunteers.
“There was some localized damage from that rain over the weekend and we basically closed everything so we could assess. We’re going to reopen a lot of it because it was really localized so just a couple trails,” Kogut said.
Impacted trails reflected the trajectory of the short and intense rain burst with the Revolution Trail above American Flatbread and Good Night Irene over by Butternut Hill most impacted. The Riders will complete their initial ad hoc review of trails, reopen those that were not impacted and work on repairs to those impacted. There is a cadres of local trail volunteers working and the Riders also have trail stewards who will be addressing larger problems if they are found, Kogut explained.
During extreme weather events like this, Kogut said Riders stay in touch via a group text message chain where they are reporting in on what they see near them, providing eyes and ears on the situation in almost real time.
“One family went out and did a bunch of work on Revolution Trail, fixing some of it which is something we all do, as volunteers and then that work filters back to our trails committee and we have our paid trail crew every summer. This is like the third or fourth year we’ve had them and we’ll direct them to some of the areas that require bit more professional work,” Kogut said.
Asked what trail repair involves, he said mostly it’s about making sure there’s good drainage on trails because problems arise when water has no place to go and puddles up.
“We try to make our trails perfect but, it's a slow process,” he added.
Kogut clarified that a perfect (or close to perfect trail) side-slopes a little bit and has a properly hardened surface, the right grade, the right amount of rocks, and not too many places where water and leaves accumulate.
