The bridge to somewhere - part 1

Trail maintenance and creation is one of the many things on our winter list of projects (and general all season to do list).  The winter is when we do the most walking, skiing, snowshoeing, etc., so we notice when the trails need some help.

The Grouse Trail (named so because we almost always flush a grouse on the trail) is a short 20 minute loop that starts and ends at our house.  We commonly use it for a quick 'get the dogs outside' walk if we're in a hurry or feeling particularly lazy.  It is also just a nice way to start or end the day.  The one problem with the trail is that it gets really wet and swampy near the field, regardless of the season.  So we decided we should build a bridge over the small 'ravine' to circumvent the muddy area.

When we moved into our house, there were several telephone poles between the house and the river as a small building down by the dock used to have power (for oyster farming).  The poles have long since been disconnected from any power source, but they were still dotting the landscape (and our view).  I looked quickly, but I couldn't find a photo of our field with them still in it.  The short of it is that we spent a day cutting down the poles and removing all the old cables.  We then realized that we had the perfect bridge material -- they're straight, sturdy, and they sure won't rot any time soon.

The difficulty with building a bridge here is that it requires the tractor since the poles are heavy….but….the reason for the bridge is that it is always wet and muddy.  Using the tractor in this location is very much less than ideal because it makes huge ruts in the mud that just don't go away on their own.

Enter polar vortex.

This super cold, snowy winter has provided us with the perfect conditions for driving our tractor through what is normally a muddy mess.

Charlotte's booty in the late winter sun….I mean, the stream bed across which we're building our bridge.  The goal was to use the winch to pull the poles across the bed and let them rest there until the snow melts and we can get them into their final locations.

Two poles chained up and ready to be pulled across.

In the interest of full disclosure, it didn't go as smoothly as this leads you to believe.  We were thwarted first by the tree just to Anna's right of the pole and had to drive the tractor back to the field, pull the poles back a bit, drive the tractor back to where it is in the picture above, and re-pull the pole across.  It pretty much landed right where we want it, though.  We only finagled it a little bit with the peavey.  Also, Baxter is trying REALLY hard to get Oliver to play with him.  Oliver is nonplussed.

Both poles in!  We're going to let them stay there until the snow melts and they settle down -- and, NO, there is no chance they're going to settle into the stream bed….none whatsoever.  Really….ok, I'll admit there's an EXTREMELY small chance.

Even though it's all blurry, there is something I really like about this photo so I'm including it.  Maybe it's the juxtaposition of the dogs, the tools, the light….I don't know.  I just like it.

The plan for after the snow melts is to get the poles secured using stones so they don't settle into the stream bed with shifting seasons.  After that, we'll cut and secure boards all along the top to make a mighty fine bridge.  We'll save that part for part deux of the bridge building endeavor.

Clearly, we made some ruts, but it was MUCH less than it would have been if it wasn't cold and snowy.  And apparently, Baxter really enjoys mud.