Henderson Schedules Trail Clean up event March 21st, 2009

 

March 9, 2009 – UPDATE: Clean-up March 21st. , 2009 8:00 a.m. to noon; sign up at Equestrian Park. Come enjoy the desert trail and all the spring colors. Questions call 267-4050.

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Dec. 30, 2008 – City of Henderson Parks & Recreation Dept. has scheduled an annual trail clean up project along the River Mountains Loop Trail for Saturday March 21st.  We are looking for areas along the trail in need of cleaning. We usually break up into two or three groups of about 20+ and cover as much area as possible. The volunteer project runs from about 7:30 a.m. to noon. Check the Parks event calendar for actual times and location.

 

 

 One key element we need to remember this year, is for volunteers to stay within the work permit areas. The city pulls a permit with the Bureau of Reclamation  for a special event. The permit puts limits on the area to be worked during the clean up.  Special needs areas outside the trail corridor will be done by the City of Henderson with BOR permits.
Things to bring would include work gloves, good boots or walking shoes, a five-gallon bucket(makes for easy collection of smaller trash items ex. glass, bottles, cans etc). City provides trash bags, grippers, some gloves, some buckets, water to drink and snacks, transportation to and from the work areas via bus.

 

Safety on clean up projects is number one. We hold a tailgate safety talk before heading into the field. Broken glass, fire works, needles/drugs, unexploded gun shells, and nails in boards always watched for. We also need to be alert to wildlife such as snakes, spiders and desert tortoise that may live in and under some trash items we may encounter. We leave all wildlife alone…do not touch.

Picking up trash along trail

 

Loop Trail project brings biologist to town to help protect desert tortoises

Great Article in todays Boulder city View about trail construction of Segment #5 of the River Mountians Loop Trail.  Good discussion about desert tortoises.  This was an unbudgeted expense for the construction, but necessary.

follow this link to the entire article:

http://www.viewnews.com/2008/VIEW-Dec-23-Tue 2008/BoulderCity/25843818.html

Snow & Ice on trail ???

Dec. 18 & 19 – YES SNOW AND ICE ON TRAIL!  I can’t believe it either.  Bikers, joggers and hikers should beware of snow and ice on the trail.  Out in open trail should be clearing, but in shadows snow and ice could remain for several days.  Portions of the River Mountains near Railroad Pass experienced snow depths 8″ and more.  Slow down and be safe. 

If you got snow/trail photos please share will all.

Happy Trails are Safety trails…..rmltman

Rain & Snow brings Colorful Spring Bloom…

Are you ready?  Experience has shown that  good soaking rains and yesterday’s snow will lead to a very colorful spring bloom.  Depending on the amount of rain and the depth of water soaking in we could see flowers and grasses that have been dormant for the past several years.  The forecast for the next week or two gives us hope of more rain and now is the time.  My good friend, Jim the botanists , has told me this truth over the last several years. He is a park planner for the NPS, plus was born and raised here.

So the point of this post is to get you fired up for the spring bloom of 2009.  Should start in mid-March and last through May.

You can do you part by going out on the trail on every cloudy day and do the River Mountains “raindance”.

Un-authorized Roads and Trails to be studied

The Bureau of Reclamation and the City of Henderson to begin a study of unauthorized roads, paths and trails into the River Mountains. Over the last 10-12 years with the development of the SNWA pipelines, Water treatment plant, Powerlines and the River Mountains Loop Trail many new roads and trails have been cut into the desert and the River Mountains on Bureau of Reclamation managed lands. Some of the these roads are authorized for access and patrol of utilities by authorized vehicles.  Many more are not.  An inventory process has already begun by B.O.R. on both types of roads/trails along with dumps sites and environmental issues needing clean up. Along with help from the City of Henderson, and others; a plan will be formulated to restore the desert, remove unnecessarily roads and trails over time.  Wherever possible re-vegetation will be done to restore natural habitat. The hope is that through these methods and public education these areas can return to a natural state before man’s careless activities destroyed them in the first place.  The most active areas of un-authorized uses may require temporary use of k-rails, post and cable, and large  rocks until nature can take hold.

Many of these un-authorized roads and trails lead to other un-authorized uses such as desert dumping on Federal BOR lands; striping and burning of vehicles; target shooting near housing; endangerment of desert tortoise and big horn sheep; violation of PM-10 dust regulations; etc.

One thing I have learned is patience…it took ten years to do the damage and it will take even longer to fix it. So let’s all do our part.

Detention Basin Construction Impacts Trail

May 5th -2009 – It was noted during a safety tour of trail in Henderson that the tortiose fencing discussed below has been moved back from the trail where it is no long a safety issue.  The truck crossing now has stop signs up and there are lots of trucks hauling gravel on an hourly basis so beware.

March 2, 2009 - Over the last week or so fencing has gone up along the trail for about 100-yards. BEWARE this could be a safety issue. We are working through the City and the contractor to be sure all safety measures are in place. The tortiose fencing has also blocked off an ATV off-road vehicle path to the foothills which has been pushing them on to the trail. Please notify HPD if you see this happening at 267-5000(option #1 – give description and direction).

Tortoise fence edge of trail 2/09

January 20th, 2009 - A brief update. At last weeks Planning Commission meeting the variance was approved to allow the rock crushing operation to move ahead. Commissioners found it less of an impact to crush on site than remove material through the neighborhoods.  Rock crushing activity to start Feb. and last up to 18 months.  My hope is they are good neighbors for the trail and its users. Lets keep our eyes open…

December 10th, 2008 - Starting week of 12/15/08 construction equipment will start arriving and setting up for the construction of Henderson’s Northeast C-1 Detention Basin located just east of the trail in the foothills of the River Mountains. Construction activity will be near mile marker 6.5 and 7.0.   The contruction period is for 15 months or until about March 2010.  “So beware of equipment crossing the trail and rocks on the trail”

The contractor is “Capriati Construction Corp.”  Along with the detention basin there will be a rock crusher on site processing aggregate for the work. Per maps available from the City a channel will run along the foothills east of the trail to collect run-off from the mountains sending it to the detention basin; from there an outfall will go under the trail in undergo round pipes to the C-1 channel following the Ithica St. alignment.  Ithica St. is supposed to be the ingress/egress access for this project.

The project manager for the City Public Works assures us that they will keep the area watered down for dust and will clear the trail daily of any rocks.  If problems develop or the trail deteriorates please let us know by calling either 267-4050 or 365-2191.

 

Detention basin Map 2008

The “Three Sisters” a Biker’s Challenge…

Who or what are the Three Sisters?  They are three mountain ridges all in a row at the north end of the loop between mile marker #6.5 and #8.  These three were given their names by bike riders in the Annual Silverman Triathlon. There average grade is around 15% up & down. For the causal rider they offer good views of east Henderson and the Las Vegas valley.  We have looked at moving this segment into longer switch backs to reduce the grade, but the riders see it as a real challenge and goal to be able to make it over the top with out stopping.  This last year we had several riders come in to Aid Station #10 boasting that they had made the “Three Sisters.”  Some of the local riders also refer to them as the “Three Bitches”, but we prefer sisters.

Middle Sister courtesy of Furman

Silverman Triathlon Gallery Three sisters etc>.

Three Sisters signs top of hill

Middle Sister courtesy of Furman

Silverman 2007 Three sisters riding climbing

Silverman 2007 Three sisters looking uphill

Three Sisters view of at Lake Las Vegas north

Bike rider downhill on middle three sister heading north. photo by P. grube march 2009

Desert Big Horn Sheep use the trail, too…

The River Mountains Loop Trail is home to many users groups. The oldest users were here long before the trail was dreamed of.  The photos below were provided courtesy of Paul Grebe, Green Valley Cyclist and a RMLT member. Photos were taken November 24th around milepost #15. These three Rams have seen some years as the horns are nearing full curl.  There have been reports of other sightings along the trail by other users. 

Desert big horn Sheep by Paul G.112408

Their have been several reports of small herds up around the SNWA.

Big Horn on RMLT by Paul g. 112408