Trail work at Makoshika

Some of the kinds of trail work we did at Makoshika:



Put in some steps as a temporary solution to a washed-out bridge.



Put new steps in on slopes.



Rerouted eroded trail that was built too steeply uphill.

Volunteering at Makoshika State Park

I finally did something I've been interested in for a while - went on a American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation. This one was in eastern Montana, an area I had never been to before, despite having spent a fair bit of time in the western part of the state.

(To be accurate, I did once drive from Billings to South Dakota, so I had passed through part of eastern Montana. But I didn't see much.)



The above photo shows the flight from Billings to Glendive, where the park is located.



Here you see a typical scenic view within the park. Notice that there are very few trees. It's not a good place to find shade.



These caprock formations are common throughout the park. All these hills and formations are a strange contrast, because they are quite fragile, yet they've held up for a long time. Trail building is hard, because the ground probably won't hold up - yet the park is a rich source of dinosaur fossils.

I'll talk more about the trail work in another post.