USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences

Now that we had our trail completely flagged, it was time to start brushing. Brushing is basically just removing any branches, bushes, trees, cacti, leaves, rocks, grasses, etc. that lie directly in the path of the trail or are within a foot or two of the trail. Getting the prickly pears (cactus species) out of the way is crucial, because nothing can ruin a hike quicker than getting a couple cactus spines in your leg. Charlie and Chris Baker showed us the tools and techniques used for brushing. For our trail we have handsaws, pruners, loppers (giant pruners), and a bow saw. We walked up the trail and brushed as we went, using the loppers for twigs and small branches and saws for bigger branches. The cactus was a bit trickier; to remove them you have to chop them up with the loppers and then use two big sticks like chopsticks to take them away. Or the alternative is to impale the cactus with a handsaw and then carry it off. One of the major problems associated with trail-building is the creation of social trails: trails that are not part of the planned trail but are created by people looking to take shortcut or go a different way. Chris taught us that the creation of social trails is undesirable because it takes away from the structure of the original, planned trail. They can cause erosion and confuse hikers about which is the proper way to go. So to discourage the development of social trails we block off any possible sites with brush that we have already cleared, mostly cacti and large branches. Charlie told us that even chopped up cactus pads can take root and regrow if placed in a new location. So we used the removed brush as kind of both a physical and psychological barrier, since most people will choose the path that contains the least cactus. To remove the grasses on the trail you just kind of shuffle your feet to get it out of the ground, and later we will use rakes to fully clear a path. However it appears to me that simply walking up and down the trail repeatedly is doing a large part in removing the grass that is in the way.
After lunch we all drove over to Emerald Bay, a nearby cove and a popular tourist destination, to examine two examples of trails that were not planned well. Both lead from the road down to the beach in pretty much a straight line. The problem with this is that is causes channelization and erosion of the trail, since water will always gather in it and travel vertically down to the beach. The first trail we went down was so bad that it was closed off to the public. It was pretty much vertical, and at least 2-3 feet entrenched between ground on either side due to the erosion over the years. The other trail wasn’t much better, and it was the only way to get up and down from the beach. It was eroded to the point that there wasn’t even any dirt left on the trail; we had to climb up and down rocks in a ravine to traverse the path. Seeing those trails in Emerald Bay really drove home for me the importance of low-impact trail design. It’s definitely good that we took our time planning and flagging our trail, because I would be embarrassed if it ever ended up like the ones at Emerald Bay.