Dirty Thursdays April 12 & 19

Thanks to volunteers for giving 31 hours of work the past two Thursdays, a re-route on the Cannonball is blazed and open for riding and hiking. If this trail is on your agenda, please check it out in both directions. Blueberry bushes are budding and things are really turning green out there.


This section is blazed in cooperation with the NYNJTC trail marking system. It is a connector to the main bike route (red) between Ringwood State Park and Ramapo State Forest.


New trail crossing the old fall line trail.





Thanks to:
Connie Farley
Bryan Carbone
James Bazzano
Henry Gozdz
Dennis Efinov
Mike Zusman
JD Dodd
James Wilbur

Art and Ellen

April 5 and 7 Trail Work

With all this wonderful weather, trail building progress has been outstanding! That being said, we really need rain as the ground is tinder dry very deep down. This is not typical for this time of year and forest fire danger is extremely high right now. Even if you do not see fire, if you see or smell smoke, please report it to the park (Ringwwod State Park (973)962-2240) or Forest fire service.



Thursday five volunteers finished up the next re-route on the Ringwood-Ramapo trail and are poised to start the next section. We will take a few week break on this trail and move to the Cannonball Trail for the next few Thursdays.

Today seven volunteers helped clear and bench cut several traversing turns on the Cannonball trail just north of the DPW site. The existing trail went straight down the fall line and had become nearly twenty feet wide. The new trail traverses the same hill. We plan to finnish this project on the next few Thursdays.


old fall line trail


new traversing trail

A lot got done done this past week. A big Thanks to our volunteers for 47 hours of work:
Henry Gozdz
James Wilbur
Tom Stanowski
Rich Gorman
Blair Stearns
Gail Dickard
Eric Ackerson

- Art and Ellen White

March 17 Work Day

Ringwood - Ringwood/Ramapo Tr: Next section worked was just beyond the intersection of the Old Guard Tr (green/white). A small group of volunteers came out on this beautiful March day and got the bulk of this section done. A gap was filled to bridge onto a big slab, and the bottom of the slab was built up with a rock ramp. Also a small set of stairs for hikers was built and the lead up was bench cut. Looking good and may be opened up after a few Dirty Thursday sessions.


Before


After


Bridged gap, stairs to right

Thanks to volunteers that put in 39 hours:
Henry Gozdz
Willy Wilbur
Marianne Santangelo
Ted Haack
Ryan Hogan
- Art and Ellen

Ringwood-Ramapo Trail Progress - 2011

2011 wrap up: For those following the Ringwood-Ramapo (red blaze) project, we (Jorba) have been making improvements to a long section of trail from the intersection of the (blue) bridge all the way up to The Old Guard Trail (green/white) intersection. The project started with two years of planning and approvals, and then three years of actual re-route trail building to date. This trail traverses and climbs through some very extreme grades and numerous rocky areas. When Art and I first took on this project, we knew it was ambitious. Trying to keep volunteers motivated to work on something that they may not be able to ride for years was tough, but I think we have finally crested over the top of that hill in 2011, as the route is open for riding and hiking.

Throughout 2011 our Jorba volunteers came out to work nearly every Thursday from May through September plus several weekend super work days, putting in over 500 hours of volunteer labor. During these work days we have had a plethora of memorable experiences on this special mountain. We have worked in extreme heat, in clouds of mosquitoes and in thunderstorms. We have witnessed beautiful water falls from a year of heavy rains. We have been blessed with beautiful sunsets and gentle breezes. Every Thursday has been spent with hands in the dirt and moving rocks to create a pleasing path for others to take. We hope you will take it.









Jorba would like to thank these volunteers for donating their time and labor to work on Ringwood trails in 2011:
Joe Azze
Jo Baldacci
Joe Benevento
Ty Benevento
Adrienne Blair
James Bazzano
Steve Brossok
Zsuzanna Carlson
Allen Clark
Jessica Clark
Jeff Coneys
Joaquin Conizales
Elizabeth Corrion
Jeffrey Dodd
Leigh Dodd
Bill Dove
Pattu Duffy
Tim Egan
Joe Esak
Lori Esak
Tray Esak
Mike Ferraro
Chris Focacci
Chris Garatti
Phil Germakian
Henry Gozdz
Thomas Gustainus
Tom Haines
Steve Kleiber
Manny Lugo
Dan Matthews
Kathy Maziarz
Chris Michaloski
Randy Miller
Frank OReilly
Tom Pannorei
Darlene Phillips
Joe Prebish
Michael Rossi
Marianne Santagelo
Jennel Santos
Conor Schaar
Joe Schaar
Brian Sniatowski
Tom Stanowski
Tahir Thomas
Steve Wagoner
Tara Walhart
Art White
Ellen White
James Wilbur
Ben Williams
Joey Wyckoff
Mike Zusman

Digging the Dirt

DIRT, as in soil, is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and mechanical processes that include weathering and erosion.

A TRAIL is a path with a rough beaten, dirt or stone surface used for travel.

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Trail Building at Ringwood State Park:
We are trail builders. I guess you could say: “We dig dirt”, like working in the dirt. We often wish we could find more dirt, but at Ringwood State Park, finding dirt is not as easy as you would think. You may think you see dirt on the ground, but if you start to dig, you will hit rock 9 times out of 10. So although dirt covers some of the ground, dirt is not an unlimited resource. We use it sparingly, and savor it in those special places.

The story of trail building at Ringwood usually has something to do with rocks. There are many rocks, and even if you think you have struck gold with finding dirt, the rocks come back to greet you later on. They are just a part of the land, and what many mountain bikers come to experience at Ringwood. Every autumn, the leaves will fall and decompose, mixing in with rocks making the surface new again. ... an ongoing cycle of perfection that we mountain bikers get to experience each year.

The Mission:
Whether we are riding or working on a trail, there is a mental and spiritual connection between the earth and our quest for flow. We are builders that do not just look to build a trail between two objects, but visionaries that try to find a way to blend the textures of the forest into the ride experience. All this needs to be done while the trail takes a path that water does not want to take first. This is how we see sustainable trail building.

Art and Ellen