A tenacious gang made about 60m of trail through some pretty tough ground today, an awesome effort indeed!
The run from switchback 5 to 6 is on a very steep side slope, some of the steepest in the whole trail. And at no extra cost it did include a fair amount of rock.
The usual menu was devoured:
Ripping gorse and barberry out of the ground,
Smashing rock with picks,
Lopping pestiferous vegetation near the trail and beyond,
and benching a trail of curvy swoopy excellence with grubbers.
Just another normal North Face dig day, except that for the first time, the end of the beginning is in sight !
Next up we have only 20 m to bench to the switchback: the ground is all cleared and waiting. The switchback itself will be a challenge: situated on that steep side slope, with big surface rocks.
But we have seen far far worse before and overcome it, so very very soon the whole trail will be ridable.
The view from switchback 6 at about 11am:
And a few hours later:
In the late afternoon I was called to a photo opportunity: the last stump in the middle of the trail was to be removed. Fittingly, it was both gorse AND barberry:
And bye bye stump!!
So now for thre inevitable map: only the yellow and dotted bit to go before the trail is ridable:
It will still need heaps of fettling before it is finished, but riding, walking or running the trail will only help pack it down .
Next up, weather permitting, is Tuesday evening, which could be a historic occasion!
Cheers.