This week marks the half-way point of the 2017 YCP season. The crew spent the first part of their week with the park’s vegetation crew identifying and removing invasive weeds. After two days, all YCP members can confidently identify musk thistle, houndstongue, and salsify, and they successfully eradicated them along Cottonwood Creek between the Lucas Fabian Ranch and the Taggart Lake Trailhead, and the Triangle X Ranch horse trail network.
Identifying and removing invasive weeds near Triangle X Ranch.
On Wednesday the team split up to accomplish a variety of different trail maintenance tasks. One group went to Jenny Lake to help spread dirt on renewed trails as part of the Inspiring Journeys project. Another group cleared down trees from the Open Canyon trail with cross-cut saws. And the last group went to Blacktail Ponds to continue building log steps, which the crew began last week.
The crew finished their fifth week on the job by cleaning drains on the trail leading to Surprise and Amphitheater lakes. It is hard to believe YCP has already been in session for five weeks. We look forward to seeing what this motivated group accomplishes during the second half of the season!