I was out on the Ice Age Trail again this morning, this time at the north end of the Table Bluff segment to help three other people with trail maintenance. A few of the “dips” (drainage ditches) on the trail had eroded or were clogged with silt or both, so we cleaned them out and tidied up the trail leading to them so falling rain would once again be directed off the trail instead of down it.

After about three hours maintaining the trail, we spent about an hour looking for a new route for the north end of the trail. The trailhead (entrance) to the trail would remain in the same place, but we wanted the first half-mile or so to follow a more gradual descent around the natural curve of the hillside. The goal was to give hikers a more scenic view of the surrounding hills by staying on or near the topo line around the hill. But, just as important, we wanted the trail to have better natural drainage and to make maintenance easier in the future for volunteers.

About one-hundred feet from the trailhead, we walked off the trail into waist-high grass, heading for a small cluster of oak trees. One of our group had an app on his phone that showed him our elevation; we tried to descend as gradually as possible while finding a route through the grass and trees that would give us the best scenic view. We moved south to a grand old oak tree, where we turned west to head toward the edge of a high bluff. We stopped short of the bluff where a dense thicket of raspberry canes blocked our view, which was just as well because we didn’t want to get any closer to the edge of the bluff. If the trail eventually ends up here, though, some unlucky trail-building crew will probably be tasked with removing that thicket!

Continuing along the top of the bluff, we made our way down along the hillside to a basin at the bottom of the hill. Walking through the undergrowth was much more difficult here. The grass was shoulder-high, full of burrs, and the undergrowth was thick with the tangled, barbed canes of raspberries. It’s been a while since I’ve bushwhacked through undergrowth like this, and although I spent a lot of time picking burrs out of my clothes afterward, I was having a lot of fun while we were doing it!

This was only the 2nd time anyone had walked an alternate route down the hill here. I was given to understand they’ll walk it at least a few more times looking for the best route. When they think they have one or two best ideas, those routes will have to be reviewed and approved. What we looked at today may end up being the re-routed trail, or it might be somewhat close to the new trail, or it may be nothing like the new trail at all! But we got a good look at the hillside and the surrounding terrain and it gave everyone lots of ideas for a new trail.