The good news: I managed to get in my first day of trail work. Along with hiking, it feeds my mental & physical elements. Today's efforts were on a trail near Topanga that hadn't been worked in about five years.
Here's an example of our work. The picture above is how it looked when we arrived. There are grasses and dead undergrowth that have reduced the effective width to almost nothing, which has also blinded hikers to the drop-off along the left side. Shrub and tree growth has also hampered the ability for people to get by.
It takes multiple tools to complete the work. We used McLeods to whack away the grasses and thin branches and shrubs. Pruning shears and hand saws cut away thicker branches and tree limbs. Once we established 3-4 feet of width, and at least 7 feet of height clearance, then rocks were positioned along the precarious edge segments. The cuttings and deposited into areas where they won't be obvious to see.
The end product should still and feel look like a mountain trail. We're not trying to create sanitized paths here, just safer ones. Most importantly, how people see the trail is important. The eyes lead the body, so we trim and shape to steer hikers away from potential safety areas.
All in a day's work.