Mid-State: Bennett Park

[dauber76]

The fall clean up is complete, every thing blown clean, face slapper cut out (I think I got them all), logs cut, etc.

It was nice seeing the state board out riding yesterday, I hope you enjoyed our trail.

David

The trail was in great condition. Nice job out there folks!!!

[jacked]

BP is wonderful right now. For snow shoeing that is. I have hit both jungles and north shore/BC. I will cover the pines this morning and hopefully the hardwoods and trillium by the end of the weekend so that all the trails can easily be found. The areas that we have walked more than once are all rideable. So grab your shoes and come play in Bennett Park, the more folks that walk/ride them now, the better the ride will be on the morning of the EXPO.

David

[jacked]

My son got me a life is good shirt for Christmas that say "Not all who wander are lost". Well after this mornings adventure in the Pines at BP I can honestly say "But I am!" I lost track of the number of times I lost the trail or was just cutting new trail. With little to no undergrowth and a mess of snow it is a challenge to find the trail. I finally bailed out on the old walking path before I cut to many new trails.
I 'll try it again on Saturday running the trail back wards.

David

[bike00]

With the upcoming pre-Expo ride next Sunday, and having never ridden Bennett Park, I was wonder what the trail conditions are like?

[number2]

The trail is in great condition accept for a few nagging mud holes that will be fixed with earthen bridges when they dry up and I find some time to fix them.

[jacked]

Thanks for the update Marty.
With trying to keep the mortgage paid, ice boating, and now a lovely head full of snot, I have not been able to be out there since the expo. Are the limbs by the bridge cleaned up yet?

David

[arng2007]

Trail Conditions on April 9th, 2009 2:41pm

I just got done snooping around and scoping out the park, the trails are still a little muddy in a couple spots but nothing to sloppy.

Unfortunatly, the recent snow storm and wind knocked down a lot of trees and debris into the trail and on the trail head. I've cleared out quite a few smaller trees and brush by hand, but without a chainsaw and some sheers I wasn't able to do much. I plan on heading out again with some equipment to walk the trail and clean up more. Unfortunatly I'm headed to Texas for 2 weeks and won't return until April 27th.

Just a warning to anyone that is looking to ride in the near future. Most of the smaller trees can be rode around however there are a few large ones that can't be avoided. If you are able to, bring a small hand saw to help clear out.

[jacked]

The hardwoods have two very large puddles in them that cross 2 to 4 different trails. I would recommend going around them. The end of Trillium Road where it crosses the channel, is as one would expect still very wet (the channel is full), I would recommend dropping onto the two track to take you to the car bridge and then on to North Shore.

Flip - It was nice meeting you on the trail yesterday. Thanks for riding BP.

David

[jacked]

We had a few downed trees, one at the end of the pines and a big one that fell across the river and blocked the North Shore. I removed both of those today or at least enough of them to clear the trails. The big one on the NS is another tree we get to ride under.
The ponds in the Hardwoods are slowly starting to drain/dry up. The one in the Gully is now only crossing one section of trail. That is rideable, but wet. I did not check out the other one in the center of the HW, but if it goes like last year it will take awhile to dry up, and it was probably 10 times larger this year.
Hopefully in the next week or so, we will have up a little more signage up, especially on the North Shore and the connector between the Pines and the Hardwoods. Use caution when you are heading west on the connector as that is a multi use section of trail, and there is a blind spot when going down our "big hill" that can startel pedestrians. So give a shout when dropping down the hill. Signs there will be up as soon as we get them made.

The next thing to be done is to finish the marque. If you are interested in helping, please send me a pm with your contact info and I will put you on the volunteer list. Still working on a date for the build.

David
BPTC

[jacked]

I rode the whole thing this morning, first time this year.... I have been letting living get in the way of life..... Morning rides at 7 are a great way to start the day.

As posted else where today, I finally saw the female Pileated woodpecker as she guided me through the hardwoods and trillium road. Very impressive.

There is a tree down across two sections of trail in the pines, that should be gone soon.

The under growth, especially in the jungle is starting to get thick, but still pleasant to ride. Get out there soon before the trails get there first trimming/sanitizing of the year.

Speaking of sanitizing, if you have some time in the next week or so and have a weed wacker, I could use some help mowing it back. PM me if you can help out and what sections you will hit.

There are still some wet spots in the hardwoods. Lake GiGi (as I have affectionately named the larger of the puddles) is residing, but still covers three trails. Actually only two, but the mud bath are still open on the north east corner of it. Rideable, but but muddy, and would best to let it sit a while. The same goes with the puddle in the gully, please let it sit a while longer. There are temporary reroutes for both puddles. Please go around them. There are a few wet spots in the north east corner of the hardwoods, solutions for repair or reroutes are in the works.

David
BP TC

[jacked]

One positive thing about Burchfield being so wet is that more people are riding Bennett! The trail is in great shape. Still wet in a few spots in the hardwoods, but those are drying up nicely. Normally I would have had to trim back the trails at this time of year, but with the number of riders it is being kept clear. The one bamboo like section of the jungle definitely could use some trimming and there are a fair number of face slappers here and there, but overall, it is in great shape.

David

[bleve]

Rode Bennett yesterday and there were still a few slick sections (especially in the first section where the ground is covered with a lot of vegetation) but only one or two areas that were really mucky in the hardwoods. I give kudo's to the trimming crew as there's a tough battle against the plants going on. I know I hit some thorns and nettles in various spots. I don't know if my weed whip would do any good in some spots, any talk of a trail day? There's two non-passable trees across the trail if I recall correctly.

[jacked]

Those two trees in the pines are non passable to me, but I seen a few riders not even blink at their presence.
Unfortunately I will not be having a actual trail day until July. I have a wedding next week (mine) that is consuming a fair amount of time, and that is a good thing.
Should you or anyone want to run a weed wacker down some of the thicker sections please do. Please PM me before hand.

Thanks,

David
BP TC

[bleve]

Congrats on the wedding, I guess that gives you a pass from trail work ;) Per the trees, I don't know when I'm heading back down to Charlotte but I do have a chainsaw I can try to use on them if you want them gone.

Also, I forgot to mention my odd encounter. I had just crossed the bridge and entered the short riverside trail heading back to the parking lot. I was kinda distracted by some yelling kids on the paved path and with the heavy growth the trail was kinda hard to see. I came around a slight bend in the trail and there were two baby racoons cuddling in the middle of the path! Kinda caught me off guard, put a foot down to not run them over and then when I thought about stopping to check them out I thought about momma being somewhere nearby and not wanting to get attacked so I kept on going.

[richcon40]

Rode the trail yesterday afternoon for the first time. Very well designed trail! There are a lot of miles packed into the small space. Great twists and turns to challenge you. We were glad we found this one.