School Trail Going In!

​BATS volunteer Nan Fey calls the new School Trail “a dream come true.” Nan, who lives adjacent to Bayfield School, started thinking about a trail from the school down the west side of the Big Ravine to the Gil Larsen Trail as far back as 2000 when she worked on the City of Bayfield’s plan for the Big Ravine. She and the early planners recognized the great possibilities for connecting students with the beauty of the Big Ravine. “We pondered the possibility of a School Trail—but we knew it was going to be steep,” Nan said.

​With funding from the Bayfield School District, the Bayfield Community Education Foundation, and the Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation, and under the leadership of Will Krift of Trails Anonymous, Nan’s dream is happening! BATS volunteers started work on the School Trail the week of August 16. But as Nan predicted, it’s been challenging. “You kind of have to laugh at all the issues we’ve been through,” Will said.

​What kinds of issues? “We have extreme terrain, roots and rocks, and ground hornets.” Will said. “What isn’t there on this project?” Sam Hughes, who with his wife Lizzie, is the new owner of Blue Vista Farm, showed up early on a recent morning with a “monster chain saw” to help remove a tree that posed a risk to the new trail. “The tree was dead and the trunk was split and it was going to fall,” Will said.

“There’s also a lot of construction necessary to get to where we can put in a dirt tread,” Will said. Constructed elements include steps, hand rails, crib wall, and a bridge. The stairs and crib wall are anchored with sections of rebar that have to be driven five feet into the (very dry) ground with a sledge hammer.
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​Despite the many trail-building challenges, the School Trail will be ready for use when students return in early September. They will be able to walk out the door and down the trail to enjoy the sights and sounds of the creek’s waterfall. There will be a student contest to come up with a new name for the trail, and students will design and create the trail signs. Dedication, sponsored by the Bayfield School District, will be later this fall.

​Fortunately for the BATS crew, CAMBA—the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association—agreed to loan the services of Brady McCluskey to help Will with the trail. Brady elaborated on the challenges: “There are a lot of big rocks where they’re not supposed to be,” he said. “But we find ways to deal with them. I just spent two hours with an angle grinder with a diamond wheel on it to remove one rock.”

​Many thanks to the City of Bayfield, the Bayfield School District, the funders, Trails Anonymous, Blue Vista Farm, CAMBA, and the BATS volunteers for making Nan’s dream come true!