Waubonsie State Park and Biodiesel

The Trail Crew spent the majority of the year's remainder at Waubonsie State Park, a park nestled in the Loess Hills of southwestern Iowa, near the town of Hamburg. The Loess Hills are a very unique landform, found only in parts of Iowa, Missouri, and China. The fine particles of the soil allow for the formation of narrow ridge tops and step-like terraces, and can also support vertical cuts into the hills without erosion. These features combine form a very unique visual aesthetic, and make Waubonsie a one of a kind park for outdoor enthusiasts (and outdoor work crews).



A beautiful view from Sunset Ridge at Waubonsie State park

Trail Crew's work at Waubonsie consisted primarily of refurbishing tent pads that had aged into disrepair. These wooden platforms provide a level and elevated location for people to comfortably pitch their tents. Our job was to jack the platforms up, remove the old supports, and then install new ones. Meanwhile, we also constructed and painted numerous wooden balusters to support a newer and more secure railing. As Trail Crew always attempts to use "green" methods whenever possible (and save taxpayer dollars), much of the wood used during this project was salvaged and recycled from structures that had been torn down.







The tent pad seen above, as well as several others in the park, needed replacement supports and stairs. Seen above, Delilah, JB, and Ceith salvage wood from other structures and cut it into the needed components. Meanwhile, Adam and I cut off the overlapped edge of the pad.

The installation of these balusters was delayed by a winter storm, which prevented us from reaching Waubonsie during the second week of December. We returned to the (newly snow covered) park during the third week to finish the work that we began, namely cutting and attaching the railings, and then securing the balusters. We also assisted with some upkeep around the park, including vehicle maintenance, plumbing, and the application of salt to the roads.




Our return to Waubonsie was greeted with a great deal of snow and colder temperatures. Though this made our work more difficult, it certainly added to the aesthetic appeal of the park. A friendly poker game helps us relax after a hard day's work (here I show off my winning hand: a 4 of a kind on the flop, a 1 in 4,164 chance).

With two tent pads completed, and a third ready to be refurbished, we decided at the end of the week that we had reached a good stopping point. Steadily dropping temperatures and freezing rain began to complicate our work and tools, and other projects required attention. However, we plan to return to Waubonsie after winter ends, to finish what we started and to help them with further projects on their wish list.

Our final (partial) work week in December was spent at the Big Creek shop, where we learned about our biodiesel project and the various processes and steps that are involved in the production of biodiesel. This gave us time to leisurely transition into our week off for the holidays.

For our first project in the new year we will be renovating a newly acquired house, along with the accompanying property, near Green Valley State Park in southern Iowa.

Shop Week

Due in part to stormy weather and Thanksgiving, for the week of November 23rd we decided to spend some time at our "home base", located in Big Creek State Park near Polk City, Iowa.  Aside from paperwork, meetings and planning, we spent some time in our shop cleaning vehicles, sharpening shovels, cleaning and putting away tools, and fixing a trailer.  The last time we were at the shop we learned how to use a cutting torch (as part of fixing said trailer), and this time we learned to weld.  We used both a stick (arc) welder and a mig welder, and we welded scraps together while practicing different angles and patterns.

JB shows the crew how it's done

JB explains some of the finer intricacies of the craft to Delilah while Ceith watches

Ceith and Adam watch Delilah in action

Adam tries it out

 

Ewan takes a turn

 

Delilah welds together the many pieces of scrap the crew has welded so far

 

Tada!  An impressive sculpture, complete with each crew member's name

And with that, the trail crew is ready to weld together our recycled trailer, and anything else that may come our way.  Our next stop for the first week of December is beautiful Waubonsie State Park in Southwest Iowa, where we will be putting railings around tent platforms, possibly participating in a prairie burn and helping out with whatever else they may need!

Pictured Rock

Our second major project this year was the construction of a flagstone terrace at Pictured Rocks Park, in Jones County, Iowa. This was Trail Crew's second project at this site, as last year's crew helped build an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) approved trail for persons who require the use of a wheelchair. Both projects have been created primarily to accommodate visitors to the nearby Camp Courageous of Iowa. Camp Courageous provides recreation and respite care to individuals with special needs, including outdoor recreation for those with limited mobility. The trail that had been previously constructed allows such individuals to easily visit a nearby cave, and our goal for this latest project was to enhance this trail by creating a stone terrace at the beginning of the trail. This terrace will serve as a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing staging area for those preparing to embark upon the trail, and also includes educational signs about notable features in the surrounding area.

Our first day was spent preparing our work site by leveling the ground upon which the terrace would be built, and then placing a smooth base of gravel to allow for proper rainwater drainage.

The site where we constructed our terrace. The ground has been leveled and the gravel base is about to be graded.

We also made minor repairs to the trail, and assisted a fellow DNR work crew with the construction of a pavilion only meters from the terrace. We did this primarily by constructing a small limestone retaining wall. Limestone blocks were cut squarely to fit those adjacent to them, then set in place with rebar.

Ewan cutting limestone for the retaining wall


Ceith cutting rebar to hold the retaining wall



Delilah shows off our completed retaining wall

The remainder of our two weeks at Pictured Rocks Park was spent constructing the flagstone terrace itself. This was a long and involved process, in which each stone was meticulously hand cut to fit those adjacent to it with minimal gap between them. It was accomplished by placing the edge of one flagstone upon the edge of another, so that they overlapped a small amount. A gas powered saw was then used to cut through the overlap, creating matching edges that fit snugly together.




JB, Delilah and Adam cutting flagstone for the stone terrace (note the visible overlap technique mentioned above)

Once the stones were cut to fit, the gravel base upon which they were placed was adjusted to eliminate any wobbling and to ensure that each stone was level with those adjacent to it. The gaps between stones were then packed with sandy filler, providing further stability. Sign posts were placed in the ground, and two limestone benches were constructed within the terrace. Finally, a single course retaining wall was constructed in the same manner as earlier and the adjoining trail was elevated and re-graded to match the terrace.





While the work required for this project was taxing and tedious, the project itself was a very rewarding experience. The number of hikers and climbers passing us as we worked indicated that the terrace would likely see a satisfying amount of use. In addition, knowing that Camp Courageous would be able to utilize our terrace revealed to me just how diverse the people are that benefit from the work of the Trail Crew and the enrichment of our state parks.

Spirit Lake/Okoboji Area, Continued

After wrapping up our big project in the area early in the week, we stopped into a couple of different areas to tidy a few things up.  Our next stop was at Miniwaukon Beach, a beautiful, rocky beach on Spirit Lake.

 

This area had a gorgeous picnic shelter, steps and benches all made from the stones and boulders on the beach, built by the CCC in the 1930's.  Unfortunately, many of the stones in the steps and benches had come loose, and a few rude visitors dislodged some of these stones, making the benches not really benches anymore.  We repaired some of the worst ones, but I think it would take another week up there to get it back to like-new shape. 

We sort of neglected to take before pictures, but here's an after that shows the new stones in place.

This was a fun project because we got to wander around looking for stones on the beach to fit the holes we had, then we chiseled out some of the extra concrete/mortar, sometimes cut/chiseled the stones themselves, then secured them in once we achieved a perfect fit.  

After Miniwaukon, we headed over to Fort Defiance State Park, where we needed to place a bridge over a creek.  The forest we were working in was one of the most beautiful I'd ever seen in this part of the country.  All of the trees were vibrantly yellow, and the ground was also covered in yellow leaves.  It reminded me of pine forests out West because there was so little undergrowth that you could see through the forest for a very long way. 

 

We were in a very deep valley, and for that reason the creek at the bottom receives a lot of rainwater, and the banks around the existing bridges are constantly eroding away.  We thought about supporting one of the banks with concrete bags (which eventually get wet and harden over time) but faced with high water levels we decided to place a new bridge (which was a recycled dock) on an alternate route.  After placing the bridge, we used our posi-track skid loader to dislodge some of the boulders in the creek and piled them against the edges of the bank to help slow the erosion. 

First Project!

After having met only once before during a paperwork session mid-October, the 2009-2010 trail crew headed out to the Spirit Lake/Okoboji area on October 18th for their first project.  The crew leaders are Michael, who works for the DNR, and JB who's a trail crew veteran.  The trail crew consists of Ceith, who worked trail crew this previous summer, and Adam, Delilah and Ewan, who are trail crew newbies.  The first project was to build some steps and a platform on a hill adjacent to a bike path that runs near Marble Beach on Spirit Lake.  From the top of the hill there's a great view of the landscape, including some pretty boggy/wetland type areas.  By building a path/viewing area, the number of people tramping through the native prairie to see the view will decrease, and passerby will be able to enjoy the area more.

The view from the parking lot near our work site

Day one was a travel/planning/strategy day, and day two brought the tough work.  The first step was to dig up the entire area for the steps/path and then the viewing area.  The viewing area at the top was the most challenging because we needed a level oval, and the top of the hill was anything but level.  Once we leveled it off we also needed to create sort of a subtle apex at the middle, so we could channel rainfall off to the sides instead of directly down our steps.  Additionally, we made sure the steps meandered down the hill in a 's' shape to avoid the fall line, again to prevent water from channeling directly down our path.

Here you can see some of the excavation going on while other crew members work to start the steps.  The steps consisted of cutter ends with flat pieces of flagstone on top, coarse gravel underneath and fine gravel on top.

Unfortunately, the rest of the week brought a lot of rain, so we only finished about 2/3 of the steps, and got pretty close to leveling the view area at the top.

We returned the next week to some beautiful, much milder weather and finished quickly in a day and a half. 

 

Our first project together, completed!