Trail maintenance time! This time I coerced my colleague Shaula into joining. She was really excited about hitting the trail -- and she still came along despite staying up until 2am dancing, and then driving some friends to join the STP bike ride at 4am.

The directions to the trailhead left a little to be desired so we were a few minutes late. They gave Shaula a quick review of the safety rules and then we were off! The group seemed to be smaller and more experienced, but it was hard to tell. We hiked about a mile into the woods and then started planning the day.

A landslide had eaten away a good quarter mile of trail, and so a new trail had been built above the slide. The route was picked and it was already seeing good use. Because it was a new section there wasn't much in the way of erosion to repair. Instead, our task was to provide the finishing touches to ensure it would last, be used properly, and not turn into a muddy mess.

The crew leaders were very committee-minded. We'd come across a potential problem -- say, a depression in the trail that would turn muddy in the rain -- and they'd open up the floor to suggestions. We'd debate back and forth, make a decision, and then a few people would stick around to realise the plan.

Shaula and I began the day by digging out a rotten stump that the trail ran over. The theory is that as the stump rots, the trail will sink and eventually create a depression. Depressions are bad because they get muddy, and people walk around the mud, and then the trail gets wider and causes more damage to the surrounding forest. The remedy? Dig out the stump.

Down, down, we dug... hauling out shovelfuls of rich red duff. We ended up digging a good two feet into the ground before hitting solid brown dirt again. Then, we called in the bucket people and proceeded to fill the hole with good dirt. The dirt was first carried up from a section of the trail that was being regraded, and when that ran out we went over the former trail, the site of the landslide, and filled our buckets from the gravel under the uprooted trees.

After an hour or so of digging our section of trail was beginning to look pretty good -- at least from a structural point of view. Aesthetically, it left something to be desired. The answer? Landscaping! We headed down the trail a bit and uprooted some big ferns, then planted them alongside the trail. Ostensibly, they were to keep people from walking off the trail and cutting the corner, but in reality they just made the trail look way better. We added some haphazardly strewn logs and voila! Just like Mother Nature.

Lunch time! We walked back up the new section of trail, collecting the various work parties and admiring the progress made so far. We set up among the upturned roots of the landslide and the crew leaders past around chocolate while I dove into my hummus. One of the volunteers told stories about all the secret places he knew in the cascades -- and he knew quite a few. Various little hot springs were talked about but he carefully avoided giving us specific directions -- some things are too good to make public.

After lunch we hit the trail again. One of the crew members mentioned brush-clearing and I carefully steered clear of it. I already knew of the seductive pleasure...and besides, they didn't have any brush whips -- just saws and shovels. I urged Shaula in the direction of the brush clearing party and went back to near where we'd been working in the morning.

I had pointed out a potential trouble spot on the way to lunch and so I was given the task of fixing it. It was a depression in the trail, with no obvious drainage options. The remedy? Fill it up. Three of us spent the next hour or so tramping back and forth to the landslide, filling our buckets with good solid gravel, and dumping it on the trail. After smoothing and grading the depression was gone and we had a good solid drainage story. Plus, the bright brown gravel looked really nice.

Well, time to call it a day. The trail looked much better all along the new section. Drainage looked great and several sections had been regraded or filled. A switchback had been regraded and widened and a small barrier had been built to discourage shortcuts. We collected up the trail teams, rejoined the old trail, and headed back to the trailhead.

One problem, though. Where was Shaula? The mystery was soon answered when I found her halfway back to the trailhead and up to her elbows in mud. It seems her team had found a small culvert completely filled with mud. Water was running over the trail instead of under it. They had dug it out and emptied it and were now laying fresh fill over the repair. The repair job, and the amount of mud on each of the volunteers, was truly impressive. Not wanting to partake of the filth, I continued back to the trailhead.

Pop and cookies were passed out at the trailhead as I waited for Shaula's return. She finally arrived, weary and covered in mud. The verdict? She enjoyed it, but next time she'll make sure she gets enough sleep the night before.

Filling: a new trail maintenance skill to add to my repertoire. We did a lot of it this time out. It's certainly effective, if just slightly fatiguing...