Horse riders clean trails

Five trucks rolled into Superior on Saturday, June 12, each with a horse trailer in tow. The vehicles were headed up to the Thompson Creek Trailhead just outside of Superior. But these horsemen and women from around Ronan didn't come all the way down just to go for a leisurely horseback ride. Rather they had come to spend the day clearing branches off the trail and spent the day working to open the trail up for other users.

Carol Johnson from the Superior Ranger District station said that that the group has worked on opening trails up in Mineral County for years. In the past, they've worked on opening up the River Trail as well as the Flatrock Trail. Johnson said that they also packed in close to ten yards of gravel for the River Trail as well.

Arriving at about 9 a.m. on Saturday, the group, the Mission Valley Back Country Horsemen, wasted no time pulling the horses and a couple of pack mules from out of the trailers. They started brushing down the animals, putting on blankets and saddles. The pack animals were done up with boxes to carry in tools that included chainsaws, gasoline, oil, shovels and axes.

David Crawford said that this was the first time that the group had worked on the Thompson Creek Trail. He said they've been working at maintaining and clearing trails for around 30 years.

"It's very seldom anyone knows were here," Crawford said. "We're sort of in and out. Some projects will take a couple days of work, others only take a day."

Crawford said that the purpose is simple: to open the trails up for everyone who uses them. He said the work on each trail varies, but on the Thompson Creek Trail they were cutting branches, clearing fallen trees and opening the pathway.

On Saturday, they found that there were a lot of downed trees and limbs on the trail.

"We sawed a lot of timber," Crawford said. "We didn't get it all done and are going to have to come back. We got back to out to our trailers about six o' clock. We sawed for a good six hours, but there was a lot of down fall on the trail."

Despite the work that had to be done on the trail, a lot of the members of the group were looking forward to having a good day with good people.

"It's absolutely a blast," Scott Kiser said. "This is a fun group of people."

Kiser brought his horse 15-year-old horse named Homer to ride, while Rickie, his mule, was charged with packing in equipment.

Larry Ruffatto and Paula Weaver said that even with the work to be done there's nothing like spending the day on a trail on horseback.

"I just like being with the folks and with my horse," Weaver said. "You get to see the beautiful countryside and the wildlife."

Ruffatto agreed. He brought along his two horses, Ripper, 21, who he rode, and Sasser, 22, who also packed in equipment. Both horses have seen many riding seasons and trail work days. Ruffatto said that seeing the trail and countryside from the top of a horse provides a unique angle that you might not get otherwise.

"I just like getting out in the woods. It's a change of pace," Ruffatto said. "(From the back of a horse) you have more time to look around. You rely on the horse to get you there and you don't have to worry about where you're stepping as opposed to if you were on foot. You don't have the noise of an ATV."

Johnson said that the group has been tremendous help to the district as there's about 400 miles worth of trails running through the county. With trail maintenance dollars short, Johnson said the group, which has been a volunteer group in the past, have "been wonderful to work with."

"They've done a tremendous job," Johnson said.

Johnson said that it is important to keep the trails open and safe for use as the primary use of the trails is to provide recreation opportunities for people whether they are hiking, biking or using stock. She said that access to trails also become critical for access to fires. Hunters also use the trails regularly.

Johnson said trails are maintained every three or four years usually, while ones that are more popular and provide access to lakes in the area are maintained every year.