Just saw this shared from a friend. Looks like the wall of the chute gave way.
Ure updates
- Thread starter erymer
- Start date
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That sucks. They are going to shut the whole place down with this nonsense going on. We better enjoy while we can and before we are all wheeling at the mall with the jeep peeps.
roadstr6
SILVER Star
It's a wonder that chute hasn't started falling in before now. It's basically a dry riverbed coming down off the mountain. When it rains, it washes and undercuts the sides. I wouldn't categorize it as a hazard though. The FS should take the areas most likely to cave, proactively knock them in and slope them and let the trail stay open. How hard would that be? I wouldn't think it would take much at all. A mini excavator could knock it out in a day.
^^ Exactly. s***, the club could probably fund the rental of a mini-x to do the work.
We need to DIG into this. That trail needs to stay open.
- Thread starter
- #7
yeah I wouldn't think it would take that much but who knows. When I was at the Summit with Overt we responded to a call in that area. We went down the chute and I was surprised. I heard there was a crew working the trails during the off season. Apparently the crew did some grading work as the ride down the chute was smooth. All the ruts had been filled in. Now I also know there was a tree that basically came down on the chute that was on the edge of it. Not sure if that was part of the affected area or not. Definitely interested in see what Kurt can find out.
Record numbers this past year and on track to be just as bad this year.
Sorry, just seeing this post now. I had a feeling this was going to happen. We removed a huge stump and root ball during the last work day because it fell across the chute. All day we stood in the chute and the walls are probably 10-12 ft high and falling down. The massive amount of rain didn't help either. I was in Troy today but I didn't see this posting or I would have stopped in and talked to Terry. I know she mentioned getting a small bull dozer to improve the chute but that was before the side collapsed. I will drive down and talk to her in person. Stay tuned.
That’s not something a mini is going to do in a day. That’s a whole day for a good size machine. If renting a machine and fixing trails is actually a viable option, it’s not really that much more to get a full size machine. The cost of all that mini equipment is pretty crazy for what it is.
I wrote to Terry and this was her reply.
Hi Kurt – I talked to Marc Holbert about the trail on Monday and he said it is not as bad as people were making out. It was a very wet day (Sunday) and the folks that got stuck were inexperienced. All of us recreation folks are up in Knoxville so we can’t go out to the site. I did ask the OHV trails contractor to make this trail a priority and to get the maintenance done soon. Since we haven’t been able to go out and check it we have not closed it. I’ve attached some pictures for you. Thanks a lot. Bye - Terry
I personally have not been on Dutch John to see the trail since the work day. I have attached the pictures to the URE workday thread.
Kurt
Hi Kurt – I talked to Marc Holbert about the trail on Monday and he said it is not as bad as people were making out. It was a very wet day (Sunday) and the folks that got stuck were inexperienced. All of us recreation folks are up in Knoxville so we can’t go out to the site. I did ask the OHV trails contractor to make this trail a priority and to get the maintenance done soon. Since we haven’t been able to go out and check it we have not closed it. I’ve attached some pictures for you. Thanks a lot. Bye - Terry
I personally have not been on Dutch John to see the trail since the work day. I have attached the pictures to the URE workday thread.
Kurt
- Thread starter
- #13
Thanks for the update Kurt.
fourtrax
SILVER Star
From Terry Today. Work day moved to the 27h.
Hi Everyone – I hope you’re all doing well. This week the recreation staff has been off-site all week at training so we haven’t been able to get everything prepared for this weekend. Our OHV contractor has not made it over to Dutch John or Dickey Bell Trails yet. I know there are a lot of issues on Dutch John Trail and OVERT has pulled several people off the trail this week. Thanks a lot to the OVERT folks for pulling these folks off the trails. I appreciate it. Our contractor will be moving over to Dutch John Tr on Monday and I asked him to do the maintenance on Dutch John Tr next week since it is going to be very rainy tomorrow. With this weekend being Easter (sorry I didn’t check that earlier) and the storm that is coming through tomorrow I’d like to cancel this weekend’s work day and move it to April 27th. I know some of you were already planning on coming up this weekend. I’m hoping the storm tomorrow doesn’t do too much damage. If it is treacherous this weekend I’d suggest folks stay off the trails this weekend. Mike & Emily will be patrolling the district and I’m going to have him take his chainsaw with him. If there are issues of trees down on the trails or roads let them know while they’re patrolling and they’ll try to get to them.
For Saturday, April 27th we’re planning on finishing putting up guardrail at the top & bottom of the Dickey Bell Trail hill climb. We’ll always clear downed trees & limbs if needed and pick up trash. Meet at the Uwharrie Hunt Camp at 9 am to get started. All of the posts & guard rails are staged at the Flatwoods Trailhead.
Enjoy your Easter weekend. Thanks for all of your help. Bye - Terry
Hi Everyone – I hope you’re all doing well. This week the recreation staff has been off-site all week at training so we haven’t been able to get everything prepared for this weekend. Our OHV contractor has not made it over to Dutch John or Dickey Bell Trails yet. I know there are a lot of issues on Dutch John Trail and OVERT has pulled several people off the trail this week. Thanks a lot to the OVERT folks for pulling these folks off the trails. I appreciate it. Our contractor will be moving over to Dutch John Tr on Monday and I asked him to do the maintenance on Dutch John Tr next week since it is going to be very rainy tomorrow. With this weekend being Easter (sorry I didn’t check that earlier) and the storm that is coming through tomorrow I’d like to cancel this weekend’s work day and move it to April 27th. I know some of you were already planning on coming up this weekend. I’m hoping the storm tomorrow doesn’t do too much damage. If it is treacherous this weekend I’d suggest folks stay off the trails this weekend. Mike & Emily will be patrolling the district and I’m going to have him take his chainsaw with him. If there are issues of trees down on the trails or roads let them know while they’re patrolling and they’ll try to get to them.
For Saturday, April 27th we’re planning on finishing putting up guardrail at the top & bottom of the Dickey Bell Trail hill climb. We’ll always clear downed trees & limbs if needed and pick up trash. Meet at the Uwharrie Hunt Camp at 9 am to get started. All of the posts & guard rails are staged at the Flatwoods Trailhead.
Enjoy your Easter weekend. Thanks for all of your help. Bye - Terry
Eric, Thanks for posting this update. I lost power last night for a few hours and didn't see this until this morning. I'm going to post it in a new thread so it moves to the top.
Kurt
Kurt
