This article was originally published in the July/August 2023 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. Subscribe today for similar features on ultra training, racing and more.
Heavy April rains bring muddy May trails. Shortly after the 2022 McDonald Forest 50K, Oregon State University Research Forests (OSURF), owners of the land where the race course is located, asked the race directors to repair the trails. The co-RDs, Mike Rosling and Anne Miller (my mom), Clem LaCava (former RD) and I showed up one morning to begin work. OSURF directed us to Bomb’s Away trail as that was in the worst shape. In the process of making repairs, we fixed the tread, raked out drains and removed debris that had piled up on the lower edge of the trail. The morning after, OSURF felt we had done enough, but I thought we should continue. A few other runners were interested in trail repair, and many of the other trails in McDonald Forest needed some attention. Some trails were used in the race while others had developed muddy spots from winter use. It didn’t matter why the trails were in bad shape, the point was, there was a group of people interested in making the trail system better. Why not take advantage?
Our group was back at it the following Tuesday. This time, we had six people and worked on Bonzai trail. We proceeded to fix the tread, rake out drains and clear debris. By the time we were done, the trail was in better shape than before the race. In some spots, our work went beyond repairs and was focused on making improvements.
The Tuesday trail work crew braves the snow in McDonald Forest near Corvallis, Oregon.
For the next two weeks we continued working on Bonzai. This trail was built during the height of the pandemic and suffered from limited volunteer opportunities, resulting in sections that didn’t receive the attention they needed. We fixed that. By early June, the entire trail network was looking good, and runners and trail users were excited about the improvement. OSURF was, too.
With the existing trails in good shape, it was time to turn our focus elsewhere. In April, OSURF started building a new trail, Hole in the Bucket, which would significantly increase connectivity in the existing trail system. We began working on Hole in the Bucket in mid-June. We started out clearing the trail corridor by cutting back branches and brush, clearing downed trees and raking away debris to create a corridor where we could build a trail. Most volunteers got poison oak at this point, but they still kept coming back.
As progress continued through June and July, we began benching sections of the trail. Progress was slow as the summer sun turned the dirt into concrete. Despite the less-than-ideal building conditions, we continued to make slow and steady progress on the trail.
The Condor 25K is run every October and each year, the race directors change the course to add new sections of trail. Hole in the Bucket was a long way from being complete, but it was possible to connect the upper portion of the trail to a logging road. If OSURF would let us do that, then we might be able to get the upper part of the trail completed in time for the race.
Trail work includes more than just clearing debris. Sometimes framing is used to prevent trails from eroding over time due to weather and excessive use.
The Condor race directors proposed the idea to OSURF, and they were willing to build the extension to a logging road. If we were to use the trail in the race, it needed to be completed to OSURF standards, and there was a lot of work to do. With that added motivation, more people started volunteering on Tuesday mornings. Over the next five weeks, local runners put in over 137 hours to get the trail completed in time for the race.
After the Condor 25K, trail work continued. With rain and colder temperatures arriving in the fall, the crew size diminished but did not disappear. We worked in heavy rain, on frosty mornings and once in the snow. Progress on the trail was bolstered by the return of weekend trail work days starting in November. By April, Hole in the Bucket was almost complete and the full trail was three times as long as the section that was used in Condor 25K.
In May, we took a quick pause on Hole in the Bucket to prepare the trails for the McDonald Forest 50K. After the muddy race in 2022, OSURF decided it was a good idea to spend time before the race clearing out drains and fixing soft spots in the trails. That extra effort (and better weather) led to significantly better course conditions this year.
By the end of May, the entire Hole in the Bucket trail was complete. At that point, the local runners had contributed over 700 hours of volunteer work on the trails. We frequently worked with the OSURF Core Volunteers, a group of about a dozen retired folks who have been volunteering in McDonald Forest on Tuesdays and Thursdays for over a decade. Now, over a year from its beginning, Tuesday trail work days are still going strong.