Poto: Hewen's Creek

[bhollen666]

Three wooded sections were weed-whacked today to open them up and cut down on the overhanging branches and poison ivy: the section with the wooden walkways, the middle two sections with the log piles. A few trees were taken out today too, in order to speed things up a bit on some faster stretches. The trail is in pretty good shape in comparison with past seasons. As P_Thomas wrote, there's so much growth that our primary path that we had worn in is now covered with new growth.

Unfortunately the mosquitos and deer flies are out in full force now! Dope up if you wanna avoid those nasty deer fly bites on the under sides of your arms or the backs of your legs as you ride.

[dnale]

Parked at Hewens Creek and rode up to Rolling Hills. When I got back and was loading a guy in a truck pulled in with a bed full of yard debris, branches, etc. I hung around waiting to see if he was going to dump it in front of me. He got out of the truck and walked down the trail so I snapped a couple of pics with my phone of the bed of the truck and the license plate. Don't know who I should report the suspicious activity to. He came back to the truck and started it up. I figured I could at least make him stay in the woods with the skeeters for a while. But when he came back he sat there. It probably took me close to 15 minutes until I figured he was *beep* bent on waiting me out. So if someone know who this might be of interest or who should get the pics, please let me know.

[bhollen666]

Unfortunately if you didn't watch him do it then there's probably nothing that can be reported. I don't like that people are dumping yard waste there, but at least that would break down. It's way better than the other crap that I've seen dumped there; microwaves, construction leftovers, etc. The park and parking lot are maintained by Ypsilanti Township Recreation Department, which you could contact numerous ways from this URL: http://ytown.org/government/township-de ... recreation

[dnale]

I'll be sure to contact someone there tomorrow. The gate was wide open so he or anyone could drive way in. If those were his intentions hopefully he at least had some bug bites out of it.

[ChrisInYpsi]

Road this trail for the first time tonight. Well.... part of it. I got screwed up somehow and got dumped out on Hitchingham Rd. Not sure where I went wrong. But the sections I did ride were really fun. Kudos to the folks who maintain it. Next time I'm gonna print out the map and bring it with me so I don't make another wrong turn.

I then rode across Bemis to Rolling Hills and looped that real quick. Had an absolute blast - those two trails make for a nice night out.

Also picked up a thorn in my rear tire somewhere, but it help enough air to make it home about 3.5 miles away. I'll fix that up tomorrow night.

Anyway - kudos on the trail. I'll be back often.

[P_Thomas22]

First time I rode Hewens I did the same. Before the part that jumps out on Hitchingham road maybe 100 ft or so, you have to bust a hard left back the other way which heads to the north part of the trail then over to the west and back down. By chance were you there this evening? I was just leaving the parking lot and someone else was pulling in with a bike on the back??

[ChrisInYpsi]

Yep, I was there this evening around 8:00 but I ride there from my house. I'm only about 3.5 miles away. I'm embarrassed to say that I got messed up again on the trail, but this time in a different spot. There are a few forks in the trail where I'm not sure which way to go. I had the map folded up in my seat bag but didn't feel like stopping to dig it out.

I'll get it next time.

I rode over to RHP again and looped that afterwards. Great fun!

[bhollen666]

Trail mowed again today; double wide and then a third pass down the middle on the low setting to chop up any thorns. Still a few face slappers, but every time I stopped too long to prune them them the mosquitos and deer flies charged me.

To the two riders who rode passed me on the mower today, sorry I couldn't stop to talk and waved you on. I didn't want to shut off the mower for fear it wouldn't start again and I didn't want you to get attacked by the bugs either. Hope you had a good ride.

By the way, this spring has raised a bumper crop of poison ivy. Be careful out there!

[P_Thomas22]

Rode it today. Must of been just after you finished, thanks, was surprisingly quick for being so flat and bumpy. Well Done! The deer flies and mosquito's were very bad though. Was even getting bitten through my jersey on my back!

[ChrisInYpsi]

Rode it this afternoon. Was nice with the grass clipped - thanks. I agree about the skeeters and flies: tons of them esp if you stop for a moment.

This is my first year riding the trail so this may have been brought up before, but has anyone given consideration to installing signs at the trail intersections (like RHP perhaps) to help new riders find their way? I'd be willing to make/donate laminated signs and posts if there is any interest. The other night there were a number of local teens milling around so I'm not sure if they'd last long, but they'd be helpful for newbies like me... Let me know if I can help.

[P_Thomas22]

My first year as well chris and I know they have put signs up before and as you suspect, the local youths just tear them down. Since its not a patrolled park its not easy for it to be regulated. At least they arent messing with the log piles...

[bhollen666]

We've tried stakes with laminated pictures just like Rolling Hills, but they didn't last two weeks before they were ripped out and thrown in the woods. We then tried those yellow flags and most of them were also ripped out. Someone was nice enough to put some of them back, but they are usually torn out. We suspected it was a bunch of locals who used to hunt the park before the township bought it. It's been a few years now and we've not seen as many of them as there have been before. Maybe they've finally given up or we've finally struck some kind of balance in the park.

We suggested to the township that we paint marks on some trees, marking different points on the trail with the letters that we tried for the location markers, with green when you are facing the correct direction and red or yellow in the opposite way. We recommended this to the township but never got a response.

[c0nsumer]

Try 4" x 6" pieces of Coroplast nailed to trees about 8' up. (Stand on a milk crate while and nail them in above your head.)

The ones that I put in place have lasted almost a year at River Bends. Info about them can be found in this thread. I'm getting more made up and they are going to be used as our permanent signage. If you've got any questions about them or how they were done, let me know.

[ChrisInYpsi]

Bummer about the previous experience with the signs. Perhaps enough time has passed that we could try again? As I mentioned before I'd be happy to help pursue new signs. Not sure how that stuff works here with the MMBA trail coordinators, but if there's anything I can do please let me know. Make signs/stakes, stop by the township office (I'm a Twp resident & taxpayer), etc.....

You just don't want me installing the signs since I've ridden the trail 3 times and gotten mixed up to varying degrees each time.

[bhollen666]

Eastern loop completely cleaned up this weekend. Tons of grape vines, thorns, and poison ivy were cut back and chopped up with the mower. Took out more trees and shrubs that were on the inside of turns slowing things down. It now rides really nice and fast. Unfortunately the new section in the north west corner is closing in already; riding through today ripped a lot of flesh from my forearms. You might want to avoid it if you're not into pain.