Saturday was the first of what could be many workshops on trail training and maintenance around the city that officials hope will rejuvenate water-logged and brush-blocked paths to establish new routes through some the region’s most popular outdoor sites, said Jeff Weinstein, a trails and open space specialist with the city of Glendale.
“The No. 1 enemy of trails is water,” he said. “We want to clean them up.”
Inviting the public to help dig new trails and clear brush was as much an effort to instill a sense of ownership for miles of city-run trails that traverse places like Deukmejian and Brand Park as it was a cost-saving effort by a cash-strapped city, Weinstein said.
But before participants could hit the trails, they had to learn about their task, including the three tools that would be made available to them later in the day.
Tasked with introducing the brush-clearing axes and rakes was Hans Kiefer, a trail crew leader for the Concerned Off Road Bicyclers Assn. As he extolled the virtues of safety first and trail maintenance second, Kiefer told the crowd about the Pulaski, a dirt-loosening tool with an ax blade on one hand and grub hoe on the other; the McLeod, a flat, square-shaped blade with a cutting edge on one side and a rake with widely spaced tines on the other; and the Hand Pruner, an oversized set of shears primarily used to cut protruding roots and small branches that encroach on trails.
Kiefer demonstrated how to hold the instruments and their different uses, stressing that a safe trail blazer is a happy trail blazer.
“We’re all out here to have fun,” he said with the Pulaski arching over his shoulder. “You don’t want to put someone’s eye out.”
