Rerouting the Maston Trail

Rerouting the Maston Trail

Finished reroute of Maston Trail

After we finished the quick reroute, we walked down the hill to take a look at the Maston Trail where it crosses the road into #13. We needed to reroute it so that the intersection was right where the bridge over the gully starts, but the terrain was not in our favor. We decided to clear out an area so that we can build some steps in the future, and ensure that the trail comes straight across the road.

Clearing the way for steps

Future site of steps

Our happy gang

Because our crew is so awesome, we finished up very early. What to do with all our extra time? Why, let’s go up the hill to the workshop, and reclaim another room from the privet scourge!

Clearing out the second room of the workshop

Clearing privet is fun!

Making progress on the second workshop room

So how 'bout that chainsaw?

Nice shirts, guys!

All in a days work. Thanks to everyone who came out to help, and to all our great volunteers who are making this park extraordinary!

BONUS: The ziplines are coming…..

Sneak peek of the Zip Line construction

Here’s a quick video interview of our VP, Nick Timkovich, talking about RMP and the trail run.  Videos come by way of mRuns.com (thanks, Suman!):

Parts of the park will remain closed for construction of new roads, more trails, and exciting guest amenities, so we have even more to look forward to.  But in the meantime, the entire eastern end of the park — the part where we’ve been hiking and enjoying ourselves for the last few years — will be open to the public.  The Friends of RMP are currently helping the Park Staff install trail markers and guideposts, and construction of a parking lot is underway.  We will have a firm date to announce shortly, with lots of great events surrounding the opening.  This is a huge step forward, and we hope everyone plans on making a trip to Red Mountain Park !

Check out a great article plus pictures and video from Tom Spencer at the Birmingham News here:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/09/alabamas_red_mountain_park_pla.html

The race starts at 8:00 AM at our normal meeting spot (map here).  Click here to let us know you’re coming and for more details!  Jim ‘n Nick’s will be providing food and refreshments after the run.  The event is free and open to the public, and donations to the Friends of Red Mountain Park are encouraged in lieu of an entry fee.

Runners enjoy RMP, December 2011

We are SO EXCITED that the park is opening, we are throwing a party!  The Bottletree is graciously hosting us, and it will be an excellent occassion to hang out and have a good time.

Some great bands are performing for us:

• The Delicate Cutters
• Two Bit Hoodlums
• Great Book of John!

Tickets are $10, available online or at the door, and all proceeds go towards the volunteer efforts of the Friends of Red Mountain Park.  We hope to see you there!  The Bottletree’s address is 3719 3rd Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35222.

We’d like to give special thanks to our lead sponsor, Alabama Outdoors.  If you need outdoor clothing or gear during the holidays, go check out our friends over there either in store or online.

Let us know you’re coming on Facebook!

Trail Opening Celebration on Dec 9!

The Friends of Red Mountain Park are pleased to announce the schedule of public hikes for fall 2011 - spring 2012. Each hike will occur on the 3rd Sunday of the month from October to April.  Guests will enjoy improved trails and access new areas of the park, so please join us for these free events and tell your friends!  The park will be open during many of these dates, and we will continue to host our hikes to give guests the opportunity to learn more about the park’s development plans, mining history, flora, fauna, and points of interest.

Hikers at RMP!

Dates for the upcoming public hike series are:

• October 16, 2011
• November 20, 2011
• December 18, 2011
• January 15, 2012
• February 19, 2012
• March 18, 2012
• April 15, 2012

We will be offering three route options for each public hike to accommodate a broad range of visitors. We are in the process of expanding the trail system with some great volunteers, so whichever route you take will highlight a variety of trails and points of historical interest! Which route you choose depends mainly on your fitness level and the amount of time you want to spend at the park.

• Short hike - easy to moderate - 1.5 miles (1 hour)
• Medium hike – easy to moderate – 2.3 miles (1.5 hours)
• Long hike – moderate with short strenuous sections – 3.5+ miles (2.5 hours)

The trails are a combination of old rail beds, jeep roads, and new single track through the woods. You will be accompanied by volunteer guides who will be pointing out historical features and answering questions about the park. Please bring water and wear good walking shoes or boots. Dress appropriately for the weather.

If you or a group you are involved with has ideas for more focused events, please email us and tell us all about it!

Each hike will depart from the Frankfurt Drive cul-de-sac at 2pm. Please see the Park Tours page for more details.

With perfect weather and good company, we started by digging out the ends and levelling the ground to prepare for the blocks that will support the bridge.

Nick clears the ground for the blocks that will support the bridge.

While we dug, scraped and smoothed the ground, another group of folks prepared the wood materials.

Janet marks the wood for mounting the joists.

We used joists to support the planks that will be walked on.

Once the frame was built and bolted together, we installed the cross-bracing and started laying the planks.

Mary and Janet drop the first plank into place.

The design of the bridge included two steel rails to mimic the tracks that once covered Red Mountain.  In fact, this part of the Quarry Trail used to be a tramway for the skip cars that moved the iron ore from the mine entrance to the main line that transported it to the blast furnaces.

The bridge is finally taking shape.

The gentleman in yellow is Gabe, a Boy Scout with Troop 97 who will be building another bridge on Red Mountain Park later this year as part of his Eagle Scout Project.  It will be part of the 100 Eagles in 10 years effort, to have 100 Eagle Scout Projects completed within the first 10 years of the Park’s creation.

Once everything was in place, it was time to hammer it down.

Graham loves to hammer.

While the boards were nailed in place, we dug post holes and mounted 4×4′s on each corner, then filled the holes with concrete to solidify the bridge in place.  Note the dust flying in the picture above.

Almost.  Done.

The planks are down with rails in place and the final post hole is filled with concrete.

And we’re done!  Another successful project.

It works!

Many thanks to Jeff and Janet Newman for drawing up the plans and spearheading this effort.  Once again, they have made Red Mountain Park a better place to be.