The Skyline Trail, will span 6.3 miles along the ridge-­‐top between Snow King Mountain and Game Creek Divide, delivering iconic views of the Tetons and Cache Peak for hikers, runners and mountain bikers.

Skyline Trail Connected, not Finished

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After a ton of hard work by everyone involved the crews made a rough connection on the Skyline Trail this week.  I emphasize rough!  The trail is passable and we encourage people to go explore it but to heed all closures and instruction by the crews working on the trail.  There are several switchbacks where crews could roll debris onto the trail below and when they are working the trail may not be passable so plan that into your outings.  Know that crews will be continuing to work into the fall to cut the backslope, rake the outslope, and narrow and improve the tread.  The photo above illustrates the full bench cut the trail machine made so it didn’t roll down the side of the mountain and as he works his way back the machine and handcrews will be improving the backslope and slightly outsloping the trail for better drainage.  Both of these will narrow the tread behind the machine and we will end up with a nice singletrack trail.  Thanks to everyone who has helped so far and feel free to stop while you’re out there and help the crews for a few minutes, I hear they also love cookies…

Skyline Trail Update

The Skyline Trail Project is moving along nicely with 2.5 miles finished on the western side from Ferrins, and on the eastern side from Game Creek there is 2.5 miles of rough trail done with the first .75 miles finished.  This past week we had 4 crews working on the trail, the Montana Conservation Corp crew out in front clearing the corridor and removing deadfall and brush, Dane behind them cutting bench with the trail machine, and a group from Wilderness Adventures working with the Friends of Pathways Youth Trail Crew working on finishing the tread and the back cut and out slope of the trail.  Our hope is with good luck and no rocky sections hiding just under the surface, that we will have a rough connection made by the end of the month and will continue with finishing work on the trail into the fall.  The biggest thing the trail needs right now is rain so cross your fingers and do some rain dancing.  Thanks to everyone who has helped with the trail so far, we wouldn’t be this far along without all of your support!

Skyline Collage-01

 

 

Skyline Trail Kick Off Dig Day September 19

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As we step into Fall it has been a busy time on trails.  We had 2 volunteer groups working this week on the trails in Cache Creek.  The Roads Scholars from TSS helped brush cut and install drainage on neighborhood access trails near Henley Dr. and the Community School helped haul gravel to a turnpike by Bridge 4 on the Hagen Trail.  The BTNF crew has installed 32 rock waterbars this week on the Continental Divide Trail, that is maybe one of the most grueling tasks on trails so a big round of applause to them.  The FOP Ambassadors are out looking for trees that blew down in the micro burst on Friday, let us know if you see any out on the trails by calling 307-733-4534 or posting a photo with the #jhtrails.  You should see them out at different trailheads with the FOP tent, come stop by and say hi.  One lady last week was so happy with her new bike bell that she rode home and brought them back coffee!  Friends of Pathways has also been busy prepping the new Skyline Trail for the Kick Off Dig Day coming up on September 19th.  If you would like to help come out to Snow King at 9am that Saturday for a ride up the Summit Chairlift to help us dig the 1st mile of trail!