August 15, 2016 at 3:50 p.m.
RASTA volunteers do summer trail work
RASTA volunteers do summer trail work
This June, RASTA volunteers took the lead to construct a 64-foot elevated boardwalk above a wetland on the Cassian Ski Trail west of Rhinelander, the group said in a press release. The boardwalk will help protect the wetland and allow skiers earlier access to the trail then has been available in recent years.
For the past several years, an open water portion of of the wetland on the Cassian Ski Trail didn't freeze over until mid or even late January.
"That prevented us from getting grooming equipment past the wetland, closing 14 miles of skiing on one of the most popular ski trails in the area because of the open water," trail grooming coordinator Dennis Zielinski noted.
The boardwalk was built of treated dimensional timbers, bolted together with stainless steel bolts and supported on iron pipes augured into firm substrate beneath the bog. RASTA supplied the materials and guidance. A crew from McNaughton Camp provided most of the labor. "It turned out well. We couldn't have done it without them," said Zielinski.
RASTA is also continuing to improve and expand the Washburn Silent Sports Area mountain bike trail. Last summer, volunteers completed work on about 2 miles of the South Loop and Kathy's Loop trail reroutes needed to make the trail more sustainable and ride-able. They also began work on the new Lee's Loop. It will require several hundred more hours of work using both the mini Bobcat and hand labor to "finish" it this summer. When done it will add over three more miles of intermediate level mountain bike trail to the existing almost 10 miles of trail that start at the Perch Lake Park and/or the Wash burn Lake Road trailheads, the release states.
RASTA volunteers are also putting the finishing touches on the snowshoe/hike trail that was mapped, signed and flagged last year. They are now painting blazes on trees along the trail corresponding to various sections of the trail, like Lake Loop (blue) and Kathy's Loop (green).
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