I've taken the liberty of copying in full (minus privacy edits only) the email I just received from Blue Mounds Park Manager Kevin Swenson.
The tl:dr is the staff will now use the beginner section reroute to determine trail open status after rainfall.
(For those of you who have not followed events, the park staff has been using the mud holes on the first section of the beginner trail at Blue Mound to determine if the trails should be open or closed after a rainfall. Gary initiated the idea, and we put together a quick proposal to reroute the bad section of of trail a few weeks ago. We opened the new trail last weekend.)
RE: Bike Trail Reroute for Beginner Section
From: Swenson, Kevin M - DNR
To: hougaswd <>
cc: (to park staff)
Date: Mon, Oct 27, 2014 11:49 am
Walt - Thanks for the update. We will move to inspect the new section instead
of the old section and the Overlode section moving forward to determine the
status of the MBT.
Thanks again for all you hard work.
Kevin M. Swenson
-----Original Message-----
From: hougaswd
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 11:34 PM
To: Swenson, Kevin M - DNR
Cc: William, Gary
Subject: Bike Trail Reroute for Beginner Section
Hi Kevin,
The reroute we started last weekend is roughed in as of Wednesday October 22nd.
We will do additional finishing work on the new trail next year, but it can be
ridden safely now. In particular, the new trail is much drier than the original
trail and is much less slippery.
Also, the streambed crossings are fewer, shorter, and better built than the old
ones. We did not get very far with ditching and filling the trail in the areas
with silty soil due to the excessive depth of black dirt. However, the area in
which the new trail lies is much better drained than the original trail, and I
am cautiously optimistic that it will perform adequately for the immediate
future.
Gary and I will be in on Saturday to finish closing off the old trail.
I request that the park staff no longer use the original bike trail between the
trail head and Pleasure Valley trail to determine the suitability of the trail
for riding after rain.
I recommend the new trail should be used to determine trail open status instead.
If you are not happy with using the new trail for that purpose, or you want to
discuss anything about the rerouted trail, and how well it represents the trail
as a whole, I would be pleased to discuss the matter with you at your
convenience. I would be happy to walk the new trail with you.
I am pleased with the work we did, and I am confident it will be a big
improvement to the bike trails in Blue Mound State Park. Thank you for your
speedy approval of the proposal, I hope that you will find our work
satisfactory.
Walter Hougas
cc to Co-Trail Stewards
