Trail Conditions

Whew! Our annual trail work day accomplished a lot. Over the first weekend in October (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) twelve volunteers each donated several hours of their time. With the goal of having safe clear passages for skiing, they...

• Chainsawed about 25 trees for removal (a localized storm on September 22 produced fairly widespread damage to our trail system)
• Removed fallen trees, limbs, and branches; and bothersome rocks
• Brushed the trail margins to maintain wide passages for skiing
• Shoveled to create a smooth ramp approach for the bridge at #31
• Filled a section of eroded areas with ten straw bales that were separated, compacted and retwined
• Shoveled to fill eroded segments adjacent to straw bales
• Felled trees to serve as "corduroy" at a deep eroded trench
• Moved lumber in anticipation of bridge repair
• Placed reinforcement cable at our bridge that is undergoing repair
• Broomed off the roof of the warming house

We're very pleased to have that above list out of the way. Many thanks to the helpers this past weekend: Dan Bale, Mike Cragg, Ron Jasperson, Shane Klein, Peter Neal, Jan Paulsen, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, Jerry Schneider, Jason Sirek, John Waldron, and Jerry Wilkes. And a huge thank you to all of you that have helped with the many tasks this past summer (mowing, tree removal, equipment repair, equipment storage, eradicating carpenter ants, fixing the doors of the warming house, etc). If we tried to list all your names, we'd miss some. Please know that your volunteer efforts are greatly appreciated!

This is it! This is what we work for during summer trail maintenance, and wait for as we watch the weather forecasts in November and December. The weather changed in late November, colder temps finally arrived and the very wet trails began freezing as we began grooming in early December. We started skiing December 10th after grooming some of the trails closest to the warming house. By mid December, cold weather allowed more grooming and we've enjoyed surprisingly good skiing for this early in the season.The weekend of December 23-26 (and the following week) became a groomer's challenge. We were all set to groom late the evening of December 23rd. That evening the Hills received 2" of very sticky snow, and the forecast called for lots of rain on December 25th. By group consensus, we decided to avoid grooming the December 23rd snowfall, let it sit and hope it would absorb the forecast rain. Mild temps all that weekend culminated in 0.7" rain the evening of Christmas Day, followed by falling temps and A MAJOR WINDSTORM on December 26th. We're glad we allowed the December 23rd snowfall to rest without grooming. It magically absorbed the December 25th rainfall. After the December 26th windstorm, temps fell the week of December 26th, and our groomers spent loads of hours clearing tree-falls and branches. And skiers helped by flicking and flicking and flicking the sticks. As the New Years weekend approached the trails were in good shape, and skiers from near and far marveled at the quality of the skiing in the Hills.

The Blue Hills Trail -- entirely non-motorized -- has more than 20 miles of trails that require year round maintenance. Our most important bridge was heavily damaged in a late May deluge, then dismantled in August while staging the repair. Every picture tells a story: the attached photos first show the damaged bridge; then show the workers on the 14th of September when the bridge was rebuilt (bridge building photos courtesy of Dan Bjugstad); and some modifications from the workday on October 1st. Thanks to these guys for rebuilding the bridge: Dan Bjugstad, Mike Cragg, Ron Jasperson, Frank Lowry, & John Waldron. Thanks to Lamperts of Ladysmith for donating the lumber for the stringers. This bridge (as well as another bridge and several culverts) received quite a bit of attention during the annual work day on October 1st. The trails are shaping up now as we enjoy fall and look forward to winter skiing.Many many thanks to our numerous volunteers!

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Winter 2015-16 arrived late, detained by a strong El Nino event. The Blue Hills Trail had two months of good skiing, shared by many fun visitors to the trails. Unfortunately, mother nature brought the ski season to an abrupt end in early March. Many thanks to all our supporters and volunteers that make this trail system so special.Here’s a bit of a recap:

• A very wet summer/fall 2015 made for difficult trail mowing; and created significant challenges due to trail erosion. In October this included one heavily damaged bridge that was successfully repaired; and abandoning another damaged bridge by rerouting a trail section (this trail revision necessitated bulldozing and hand labor). Twice we also repaired extensive trail damage from illicit off road truck traffic.
• After a discouraging warm, rainy December 2015, the trails finally received a couple inches of snow on December 24th. Another 2" of snow on December 28th allowed our groomers to start working.
• As cold weather arrived in early January, wet spots began freezing. Careful, meticulous grooming then created good skiing throughout January despite minimal snowfall. By the middle of January, conditions were mostly very good to excellent even though the base was thin. A heavy snowfall on February 2nd allowed grooming of the entire trail system and provided excellent conditions until icy trails developed following a record warm day on February 27th.
• This year's "Blue Hills Trail Fun Day" was loads of fun: a potluck full moon party on Saturday January 23rd that was very well attended. We enjoyed temps in the 20s, a roaring campfire, drum circle rhythm, great food, and good skiing conditions despite the moon hiding behind an overcast sky.
• On a warm February 19th, it rained more than half an inch; and on the 20th the trails were saturated wet and very soft after two days with temps above freezing. A skier injury on February 20th led to a local fire department rescue that required the use of a tracked ATV. The rescue was successful, but unfortunately the equipment left deep ruts that closed down about 2 miles of the groomed trails. After repairing one limited portion of the damage, we were able to use a detour of the core loop that kept everyone happy.
• With temps predicted to skyrocket beginning March 5th, we looked at the weather forecast and then groomed one last time on March 1st. Grooming equipment went to summer storage on Friday March 4th, we skied that weekend and then enjoyed one last morning of good classic skiing on March 7th as temperatures pushed 60 degrees later that afternoon.
• From December 24th through February 23rd, we received only 24 inches of snow; by early March the total for the season was only 30 inches, easily the lowest seasonal snow total since we've kept records beginning in 1999.
• We groomed a total of 36 times - and felt lucky we had enough cold weather to enjoy ourselves.
• This winter of 2015-16, we've once again enjoyed sharing the Blue Hills Trail with visitors from near and far. Thanks to everybody that helps spread the word regarding the beauty of this trail system.

A huge 'shout out' to our groomers. Equipment break downs and mechanical problems were handled efficiently & never compromised the grooming. Thank you to our primary grooming team (Steve Gest, Adam Brockman, & Jesse Wimer) - and to our occasional groomers (Mike Cragg, Ron Jasperson, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, and Dave Putnam) - for creating great memories the winter of 2015-16! A sincere thank you to our diverse group of members, volunteers and supporters - you're the best.

January 2, 2016 cross country skiing on the 'Gravel Road' at the Blue Hills Trail

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The annual fall banquet for the Blue Hills Trail Association, Inc. (BHTA) was held Saturday, November 7th at Lehman's Supper Club in Rice Lake. While bidding on the numerous silent auction items, this group of silent sports enthusiasts enjoyed camaraderie, libations, great food, and Dr. Bob Inman's dynamic slide show presentation ("Wolverine Biology and Conservation") describing ground-breaking work applying GPS tracking in the study of wolverines. The GPS technology that Dr. Inman and his wife applied for the first time to wolverines revealed the amazing capacity of the species to move through rugged terrain and the vast multi-state scale over which conservation of wolverines must occur. After a delicious buffet meal, master of ceremonies (Patty McGown) turned the floor over to BHTA vice president Ron Jasperson who summarized the many significant events impacting the Blue Hills Trail this past year, including: the huge number of volunteers helping throughout the year; the tremendous all-season usefulness of the 2014 John Deere Gator with Camoplast tracks purchased spring of 2014; and a very good ski season during the winter of 2014-15 that attracted more 'out-of-the-area' skiers than ever. Ron reported the trails are in good shape as we head toward winter, and noted that fundraising this fall has been very successful. He was pleased to note that the Blue Hills Trail Association, Inc. remains financially solid. To honor a few of our many volunteers, two special awards were presented: Patty McGown and Nels Curnow accepted the "2 Busy 2 Pee" traveling trophy (a porcelain urinal) honoring their numerous contributions of time and energy. Then Dave Olsen was honored for his many years maintaining the pit toilets - he received the golden clothespin award. Following Dr. Inman's presentation, prizes valued at more than $5000 were distributed to the attendees -- including Mark Bittner winning the raffle for the Spring Street Sports $250 gift card, and Erik Ostenso winning the raffle for the New Moon $250 gift card. Our many donors graciously give back to their communities -- when the opportunity arises, be sure to offer them a sincere thank you. Colder weather's overdue, get your skis ready!

Cross country skiing on a wide, smooth, beautifully groomed ski trail is a pure delight. Recently (probably the weekend of October 10-11) a truck illegally drove on a significant portion of the core loopf the Blue Hills Trail and created deep ruts on these soft, damp, and muddy sections that are prone to erosion. We'd like your help catching this person. Please read on.

Photos (below) show some of the damage, as well as the route traveled. It's been an incredibly wet summer here in the Blue Hills. So... imagine driving your truck on really soft ground just after the frost is out, and that's an example of some of the damage. To access this non-motorized trail and create this damage required:

• Driving past an official "No ATV" sign
• Driving through a route used by an active logging operation
• Driving around a Rusk County Forestry gate
• Removing encroaching brush on a rarely traveled logging 'road'
• Driving past a non-motorized sign at the boundary of the trail system
• Driving on a long section of smoothly-mowed, wide trail while creating deep ruts (section 24-3 on map)
• Passing two more non-motorized signs (at map points 4 & 5)
• Driving on 100 meters of a very soft section of trail (trail section 5-9), creating very deep ruts, then turning around
• Then driving 80 meters on a different even softer muddy trail section (trail section 5-6), creating even deeper ruts, and turning around
• Leaving by the same route used to access the trails

Make no mistake. This damage was not the result of a logger accidentally driving off course; or a County Forester out marking trees. This driver was way out of bounds, and clearly knew the actions were illegal. Keep your ear to the ground. Perhaps we can catch the responsible party. Any information should be reported to the Rusk County Sheriff's department: 715-532-2200. Or contact the Blue Hills Trail Association Inc (BHTA) at bluehillstrail@gmail.com. The BHTA is currently working with the Rusk County Forestry department and the Wisconsin DNR to help repair the damage prior to ski season.

Good news! Northern Wisconsin's Blue Hills Trail has a new hill. On September 17th, a heavy downpour triggered flooding that created a washout of one of the bridges on the core loop of the Blue Hills Trail. This bridge is located about 1 km northeast of the warming house. Due to the nature and location of the washout, bridge repair appeared unmanageable. After brainstorming to find a fix, and looking at multiple options, a bypass trail (200 meters in length) was discovered through an area previously unexplored. This bypass seemed especially desirable because not only would it avoid a meandering creek and bypass the damaged bridge - it also would bypass a gradually failing culvert, and another bridge susceptible to high water. Here's a description of the work accomplished the past two weeks:

• Flagged the trail revision.
• Installed silt fence.
• Dozed the new route.
• Raked, shoveled, and leveled the rough spots.
• Removed rocks and tree roots.
• Spread grass seed (annuals and perennials).

The section of revised trail replaces a straight section of trail and "flows" nicely to avoid the oxbow of the nearby creek. It even adds another small hill to the Blue Hills Trail. Pictures show installation of silt fence prior to dozing; then the newly dozed trail on the day the grass seed was spread. Many thanks to our silt fence crew: Steve Gest, Pete Grassmann, Kent Meng, Gale Otterholt, Tom Paulsen, Steve Schleppegrell, and Jonathan Stanley. And thanks to the raking and grass spreading crew: Ron Jasperson, Jan Paulsen, and Tom Paulsen.

Each autumn, the Blue Hills Trail Association Inc coordinates a single work day to prepare the Blue Hills Trail for the coming winter cross country ski season - and fall hunting. After working hard to mow and maintain the trails through a very wet summer, this morning the work day crew was greeted by brilliant sunshine and a nice display of fall colors. The trails are well mowed and providing good hiking even though somewhat damp. On October 1st, two of our volunteer members already spent the day aggressively brushing out the Westside trails - helping set the stage for the official work day. Then this morning, one of our best ever work day turnouts showed seventeen hardy souls ready to go at 9 a.m. After a brief planning session in the warming house, we split up into seven different groups, and each of us spent about three hours on trail work (that's about 51 hours of total labor if you're counting). Today's accomplishments:

• Cleared the entire Westside of remaining brush and encroaching limbs; placed all new maps at each of the Westside intersections (highlighting the fact that the Westside is now non-motorized).
• Cleared the 12km EastSide core loop (and adjacent trails) of rocks, downed limbs and encroaching branches.
• Removed a big logjam from under one large bridge; reinforced a couple bridges.
• Trenched an area of standing water to better promote drainage off the trail.
• Identified some additional downed trees in need of chainsaw work.
• Cleared 2/3 of the snowshoe trail of encroaching limbs and downed trees; placed brand new easily identifiable signs along the snowshoe trail.
• Relined the urinal in the men's pit toilet.
• Tidied the warming house: washed the warming house windows and skylights; cleaned the tables; cleared pine needles from the roof.
• Cleaned the cobwebs from the warming house furnace & turned it on for the day; it's set to go when the winter ski season arrives.

Many thanks to our work day volunteers: Sam Behrends, Dan Bjugstad, Carolyn Chatterton, Roger Gray, John Kann, Jenna Lisowe, Dave Olsen, Jan Paulsen, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, Steve Schleppegrell, Jerry Schneider, Jonathan Stanley, Phil Strop, John Waldron, Cathie Woita, Paul Woita, and John Ziemer.