Tribal Youth Corps and Youth Conservation Program worked together last week to continue building a new section of trail near Grand View Point. The new route will connect the existing one to a new parking lot at Bug Canyon, just down the road from Jackson Lake Lodge. Building new tread through Teton dirt is slow-going and challenging work as the ground is generally very rocky and uneven. However, with a combined total of more than thirty TYC and YCP members, the normally sluggish pace was quickened and the crews completed a few hundred feet of brand new trail.
Installing new trail tread is a lot like building a fire line on wildland fire. Individual crew members typically line up a few feet apart and choose a section of ground, often on a hillside, to begin excavating and creating a bench that will become the finished product. Crews aim for a thirty-six-inch wide swath of trail to accommodate both foot traffic and horses. Tools of choice depend on the task at hand and the most new trail begins using a pick or pulaski, followed by finish work with shovels and a scraping/raking tool known as a Macleod.
TYC and YCP were happy to work along side each other and made great progress. They were also joined by a handful of volunteers from Jackson Lake Lodge as well as a group of nearly twenty volunteers from Scouts BSA. All in all it was a very successful day filled with teamwork and lots of smiles!