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On Thursday I headed out to River Bends with Spencer Wood, the Eagle Scout candidate who built the trail head kiosk and is working on the trail signage. He and I placed a bunch of WRONG WAY signs along the single track clearly illustrating it as one-way trail, and signs were also placed along the two track. All placed signs are color coded to match the map, and the directional signs match the directional arrows. This is a really big step in the construction of the trails, as it establishes the trails with permanent signage which matches the published map and the forthcoming trail head information.
Conveniently we were able to arrange it so that the temporary signs placed last November could be reused (in place) in most areas, reducing the need to remove signs and the effort and associated waste. The seasonal loops (blue signs / route) is currently unridable and thus not completely signed, but this should be done within a couple weeks; hopefully some time after next weekend.
Here’s a few more photos of the new signs:
· In the parking lot at River Bends getting ready to hang more trail signs.
· Start of Phase 1 of the single track at River Bends showing the entrance to the single track (yellow signs) or multi-directionality of the two track (green signs).
· Wrong way sign on a stake at the end of the normal single track due to there being no trees to affix it to.
· Sign indicating the start of the two track at the current end of the asphalt path at River Bends.
· New signs (yellow and blue) at the beginning of the seasonal loops at River Bends.
I’ve always wondered about signage screwed into trees like this, how long can they stay up before they either need to be repositioned or removed because of damage from tree growth?
Brian McPherson: I think it’s a few years. When nailing signs to trees it’s common to leave the nails sticking out a good quarter inch beyond the sign itself, so there’s plenty of room for the tree to grow and push the signs outward.
I was at one park (Midland City Forest) where the signs were simple laminated paper, and they were puckered and unreadable, as the tree had grown out around them and folded them over. I suspect that these will slowly be ripped off the nails and then fall off if they aren’t replaced in time.