Trailwork with the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council at Charmlee Natural Area in Malibu on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

Photos of VenturaCountyTrails.Org. Click on an image to see it full size.

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Crew leader Greg points out the first area that needs attention...
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...steps will be built to ease passage through here.
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Looking back from further down the trail, we can see the people working on the new steps at the top left of the photo.
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Continuing along the trail
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Stopping to check the map
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A couple of people stay in this section to clear out some brush that's narrowing the trail
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This section is where we put in the majority of the work. The water was running straight down the trail, making it rocky...
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...and cutting a huge rut for several hundred yards.
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Building a diversion to get the water off the trail so it doesn't erode it any more
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We leave a smooth section on the uphill side for mountain bikes to get by
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Building another water diversion a little way uphill
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Across the way, Burt is clearing the trail with a weed whacker
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The finished water diversion, from above it...
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...and from below.
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The water diversion anchored by large rocks with an uphill bike bypass
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Another water diversion further downhill
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Burt with his weed whacker
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After being whacked, the trail is consistantly wide
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Working to widen another section of the trail
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Cutting back bush and evening out the tread
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Disposing of some debris
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This section of the trail took the most work. The rut was too deep to fill in, and even if we did, the water would just dig it out again. Instead, we cut into the bank, leveling it off and effectively moving the trail over a couple of feet. The old rut was still there to carry water away.
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The "new" trail is starting to take shape at the top
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We started at the top and worked downhill
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The top section is looking pretty good!
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We cut the brush back from the new edge so it wouldn't overgrow the trail and force people back into the old rut
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You can see the old rut here and how we left it
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Adding some finishing touches
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After we finished, we had several hundred feet of firm, smooth, rut-free trail!