Ryan Jordan

Manual Trail Maintenance

Sometimes we forget that trail maintenance in Wilderness Areas, like travel in Wilderness Areas, is non-motorized.

That means trail crews are using cross-cut saws and axes.

It warms my heart whenever I run across an axe-cut blowdown on the trail. It reminds me that Wilderness Areas are wild for a reason, preserved from contamination by motors, and home to Real Trail Crews.

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Photo: Ryan Jordan, July 2009, Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Sigma DP2, f/2.8 1/250 sec.