After a lot of thought, time and effort, our idea of revising the Eastside map and trail signs is close to becoming reality. Our current (old) map defies logic and is too confusing. Our volunteer traffic engineer (he lives in Portland, OR) is close to finalizing the details on the new Eastside map.

Once the map is ready to go, we'll send it to the printers where the maps will be laminated. The ALL NEW TRAIL SIGNS (165 directional signs!) were printed in August using a heavy gauge aluminum material with a reflective yellow coating - they're waiting to be put in place. Soon we'll need a few volunteers to remove the old maps and signs, and put up the new. Watch for an email message seeking volunteers for that task.

‍This past weekend, we couldn't help jump starting the process of erecting the new signs. With rain in the forecast, we decided to go ahead and put up the new maps and signs on the trails furthest from the warming house that tend to become soft and muddy during damp weather. New signage was placed yesterday on most of the intersections on the trails named "Far East" and "Otter Slide".

Each intersection requires one map, one sign with the 'number' of that intersection, and each diverging trail receives one sign that identifies where that trail is headed. There are 45 intersections on the Eastside. That equals lots of maps and directional signs. Follow this link to view the new maps. Take a few minutes to appreciate the many features of the map. Here are just a few...

• You'll notice the core loop is a bold black line that's numbered sequentially using blue highlighted circles.
• If you look carefully, you'll find kilometer markers at each km along the 11 km length of the core loop. (While we were zooming around the trails this weekend, we also put up the necessary posts with their km markers along the core loop.)
• When you venture off the core loop, you'll see that all the side trails have names; and their intersections are grouped into A1-A5, B1-B5, and C1-C7 based on proximity.
• We've already marked and signed the intersections that will be developed when the 'FAR EAST' trail is completed.
• Instead of a red dot to show 'You Are Here' we've switched to red arrows.
• We've even designed the map to be functional for individuals that are red/green color blind.

Overall the trails are in great shape. Bug activity is low, fall colors are exploding, this is a great time to enjoy the trails!

Whew! Our annual trail work day accomplished a lot. Over the first weekend in October (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) twelve volunteers each donated several hours of their time. With the goal of having safe clear passages for skiing, they...

• Chainsawed about 25 trees for removal (a localized storm on September 22 produced fairly widespread damage to our trail system)
• Removed fallen trees, limbs, and branches; and bothersome rocks
• Brushed the trail margins to maintain wide passages for skiing
• Shoveled to create a smooth ramp approach for the bridge at #31
• Filled a section of eroded areas with ten straw bales that were separated, compacted and retwined
• Shoveled to fill eroded segments adjacent to straw bales
• Felled trees to serve as "corduroy" at a deep eroded trench
• Moved lumber in anticipation of bridge repair
• Placed reinforcement cable at our bridge that is undergoing repair
• Broomed off the roof of the warming house

We're very pleased to have that above list out of the way. Many thanks to the helpers this past weekend: Dan Bale, Mike Cragg, Ron Jasperson, Shane Klein, Peter Neal, Jan Paulsen, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, Jerry Schneider, Jason Sirek, John Waldron, and Jerry Wilkes. And a huge thank you to all of you that have helped with the many tasks this past summer (mowing, tree removal, equipment repair, equipment storage, eradicating carpenter ants, fixing the doors of the warming house, etc). If we tried to list all your names, we'd miss some. Please know that your volunteer efforts are greatly appreciated!

This is it! This is what we work for during summer trail maintenance, and wait for as we watch the weather forecasts in November and December. The weather changed in late November, colder temps finally arrived and the very wet trails began freezing as we began grooming in early December. We started skiing December 10th after grooming some of the trails closest to the warming house. By mid December, cold weather allowed more grooming and we've enjoyed surprisingly good skiing for this early in the season.The weekend of December 23-26 (and the following week) became a groomer's challenge. We were all set to groom late the evening of December 23rd. That evening the Hills received 2" of very sticky snow, and the forecast called for lots of rain on December 25th. By group consensus, we decided to avoid grooming the December 23rd snowfall, let it sit and hope it would absorb the forecast rain. Mild temps all that weekend culminated in 0.7" rain the evening of Christmas Day, followed by falling temps and A MAJOR WINDSTORM on December 26th. We're glad we allowed the December 23rd snowfall to rest without grooming. It magically absorbed the December 25th rainfall. After the December 26th windstorm, temps fell the week of December 26th, and our groomers spent loads of hours clearing tree-falls and branches. And skiers helped by flicking and flicking and flicking the sticks. As the New Years weekend approached the trails were in good shape, and skiers from near and far marveled at the quality of the skiing in the Hills.

The Blue Hills Trail -- entirely non-motorized -- has more than 20 miles of trails that require year round maintenance. Our most important bridge was heavily damaged in a late May deluge, then dismantled in August while staging the repair. Every picture tells a story: the attached photos first show the damaged bridge; then show the workers on the 14th of September when the bridge was rebuilt (bridge building photos courtesy of Dan Bjugstad); and some modifications from the workday on October 1st. Thanks to these guys for rebuilding the bridge: Dan Bjugstad, Mike Cragg, Ron Jasperson, Frank Lowry, & John Waldron. Thanks to Lamperts of Ladysmith for donating the lumber for the stringers. This bridge (as well as another bridge and several culverts) received quite a bit of attention during the annual work day on October 1st. The trails are shaping up now as we enjoy fall and look forward to winter skiing.Many many thanks to our numerous volunteers!

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Winter 2015-16 arrived late, detained by a strong El Nino event. The Blue Hills Trail had two months of good skiing, shared by many fun visitors to the trails. Unfortunately, mother nature brought the ski season to an abrupt end in early March. Many thanks to all our supporters and volunteers that make this trail system so special.Here’s a bit of a recap:

• A very wet summer/fall 2015 made for difficult trail mowing; and created significant challenges due to trail erosion. In October this included one heavily damaged bridge that was successfully repaired; and abandoning another damaged bridge by rerouting a trail section (this trail revision necessitated bulldozing and hand labor). Twice we also repaired extensive trail damage from illicit off road truck traffic.
• After a discouraging warm, rainy December 2015, the trails finally received a couple inches of snow on December 24th. Another 2" of snow on December 28th allowed our groomers to start working.
• As cold weather arrived in early January, wet spots began freezing. Careful, meticulous grooming then created good skiing throughout January despite minimal snowfall. By the middle of January, conditions were mostly very good to excellent even though the base was thin. A heavy snowfall on February 2nd allowed grooming of the entire trail system and provided excellent conditions until icy trails developed following a record warm day on February 27th.
• This year's "Blue Hills Trail Fun Day" was loads of fun: a potluck full moon party on Saturday January 23rd that was very well attended. We enjoyed temps in the 20s, a roaring campfire, drum circle rhythm, great food, and good skiing conditions despite the moon hiding behind an overcast sky.
• On a warm February 19th, it rained more than half an inch; and on the 20th the trails were saturated wet and very soft after two days with temps above freezing. A skier injury on February 20th led to a local fire department rescue that required the use of a tracked ATV. The rescue was successful, but unfortunately the equipment left deep ruts that closed down about 2 miles of the groomed trails. After repairing one limited portion of the damage, we were able to use a detour of the core loop that kept everyone happy.
• With temps predicted to skyrocket beginning March 5th, we looked at the weather forecast and then groomed one last time on March 1st. Grooming equipment went to summer storage on Friday March 4th, we skied that weekend and then enjoyed one last morning of good classic skiing on March 7th as temperatures pushed 60 degrees later that afternoon.
• From December 24th through February 23rd, we received only 24 inches of snow; by early March the total for the season was only 30 inches, easily the lowest seasonal snow total since we've kept records beginning in 1999.
• We groomed a total of 36 times - and felt lucky we had enough cold weather to enjoy ourselves.
• This winter of 2015-16, we've once again enjoyed sharing the Blue Hills Trail with visitors from near and far. Thanks to everybody that helps spread the word regarding the beauty of this trail system.

A huge 'shout out' to our groomers. Equipment break downs and mechanical problems were handled efficiently & never compromised the grooming. Thank you to our primary grooming team (Steve Gest, Adam Brockman, & Jesse Wimer) - and to our occasional groomers (Mike Cragg, Ron Jasperson, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, and Dave Putnam) - for creating great memories the winter of 2015-16! A sincere thank you to our diverse group of members, volunteers and supporters - you're the best.

January 2, 2016 cross country skiing on the 'Gravel Road' at the Blue Hills Trail

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Cross country skiing on a wide, smooth, beautifully groomed ski trail is a pure delight. Recently (probably the weekend of October 10-11) a truck illegally drove on a significant portion of the core loopf the Blue Hills Trail and created deep ruts on these soft, damp, and muddy sections that are prone to erosion. We'd like your help catching this person. Please read on.

Photos (below) show some of the damage, as well as the route traveled. It's been an incredibly wet summer here in the Blue Hills. So... imagine driving your truck on really soft ground just after the frost is out, and that's an example of some of the damage. To access this non-motorized trail and create this damage required:

• Driving past an official "No ATV" sign
• Driving through a route used by an active logging operation
• Driving around a Rusk County Forestry gate
• Removing encroaching brush on a rarely traveled logging 'road'
• Driving past a non-motorized sign at the boundary of the trail system
• Driving on a long section of smoothly-mowed, wide trail while creating deep ruts (section 24-3 on map)
• Passing two more non-motorized signs (at map points 4 & 5)
• Driving on 100 meters of a very soft section of trail (trail section 5-9), creating very deep ruts, then turning around
• Then driving 80 meters on a different even softer muddy trail section (trail section 5-6), creating even deeper ruts, and turning around
• Leaving by the same route used to access the trails

Make no mistake. This damage was not the result of a logger accidentally driving off course; or a County Forester out marking trees. This driver was way out of bounds, and clearly knew the actions were illegal. Keep your ear to the ground. Perhaps we can catch the responsible party. Any information should be reported to the Rusk County Sheriff's department: 715-532-2200. Or contact the Blue Hills Trail Association Inc (BHTA) at bluehillstrail@gmail.com. The BHTA is currently working with the Rusk County Forestry department and the Wisconsin DNR to help repair the damage prior to ski season.

Each autumn, the Blue Hills Trail Association Inc coordinates a single work day to prepare the Blue Hills Trail for the coming winter cross country ski season - and fall hunting. After working hard to mow and maintain the trails through a very wet summer, this morning the work day crew was greeted by brilliant sunshine and a nice display of fall colors. The trails are well mowed and providing good hiking even though somewhat damp. On October 1st, two of our volunteer members already spent the day aggressively brushing out the Westside trails - helping set the stage for the official work day. Then this morning, one of our best ever work day turnouts showed seventeen hardy souls ready to go at 9 a.m. After a brief planning session in the warming house, we split up into seven different groups, and each of us spent about three hours on trail work (that's about 51 hours of total labor if you're counting). Today's accomplishments:

• Cleared the entire Westside of remaining brush and encroaching limbs; placed all new maps at each of the Westside intersections (highlighting the fact that the Westside is now non-motorized).
• Cleared the 12km EastSide core loop (and adjacent trails) of rocks, downed limbs and encroaching branches.
• Removed a big logjam from under one large bridge; reinforced a couple bridges.
• Trenched an area of standing water to better promote drainage off the trail.
• Identified some additional downed trees in need of chainsaw work.
• Cleared 2/3 of the snowshoe trail of encroaching limbs and downed trees; placed brand new easily identifiable signs along the snowshoe trail.
• Relined the urinal in the men's pit toilet.
• Tidied the warming house: washed the warming house windows and skylights; cleaned the tables; cleared pine needles from the roof.
• Cleaned the cobwebs from the warming house furnace & turned it on for the day; it's set to go when the winter ski season arrives.

Many thanks to our work day volunteers: Sam Behrends, Dan Bjugstad, Carolyn Chatterton, Roger Gray, John Kann, Jenna Lisowe, Dave Olsen, Jan Paulsen, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, Steve Schleppegrell, Jerry Schneider, Jonathan Stanley, Phil Strop, John Waldron, Cathie Woita, Paul Woita, and John Ziemer.

Each autumn, the Blue Hills Trail Association Inc coordinates a single work day to prepare the Blue Hills Trail for fall hunting, and especially the coming winter cross country ski season.  After last winter's heavy snows, the past six months have been unusually wet, and after a couple days of more rain, this morning the work day crew was greeted by 1" of wet snow on the leaf tops.  Thanks to a dry spell in July and August, the trails are nicely mowed and provide nice hiking even though very wet. Despite chilly temps near 40 degrees F, one of our best ever work day turnouts showed sixteen hardy souls ready to go at 9 a.m. After a brief planning session in the heated warming house, we split up into seven different groups and spent ~3 hours on trail work each (that's about 48 hours of total labor if you're counting). Today's accomplishments:

• Cleared the entire WestSide of downed trees and encroaching limbs
• Cleared 90% of the EastSide core loop of downed trees and encroaching limbs
• Identified some additional downed trees in need of chainsaw work
• Cleared the snowshoe trail of encroaching limbs, & identified downed trees that need chainsaw work
• Put a new roof (metal) on the men's pit toilet
• Washed the warming house windows
• Cleaned the cobwebs from the warming house furnace & turned it on for the day; it's set to go when the winter ski season arrives.

Many thanks to today's volunteers: Sam Behrends, Mike Cragg, Roger Gray, Lori Gray, Janelle Gruetzmacher, Tyler Gruetzmacher, John Kann, Jenna Lisowe, Frank Lowry, Dave Olsen, Jan Paulsen, Tom Paulsen, Steve Poethke, Steve P, Jonathan Stanley, and John Ziemer.