T’WAS A MUDDY mess on a trail in a Jefferson Country park soon to be open to equestrians that fueled Bob Hoyle’s desire to build a new footbridge.
A Back Country Horsemen’s Buckhorn Range member with his wife, Judith Hoyle, he invited me to see the nearly completed bridge off Camp Beausite Road in Chimacum.
Because I was going to be hiking through the woods to meet him, I brought along my rambunctious grandnephew Isaac Stromberg, age 5.
I’d never been to Camp Beausite before, but thanks to Google Maps I had no problem finding it.
Finding the area of forest they were working in proved to be a bit more of a challenge because the camp’s parking lot appeared deserted.
It was with a bit of trepidation that Isaac and I started down the closest trail.
I found myself thinking, “There are acres of forest here. This could take hours.”
Then I recalled seeing a lone shovel laying on a small patch of grass next to the road on our drive in, so back in the truck we went, driving down the hill until we found it.
A closer look at the thick line of trees revealed a tiny opening for a narrow trail.
Finding the group
Off Isaac and I trekked down the winding dirt path until we finally heard some voices at the bottom of a hill.
It was close to 3 p.m. when I arrived to find four tired souls and a Land Shark (a gas-powered wheel barrel) spreading gravel around the base of a partially completed foot puncheon.
For years this 64-acre stand of old-growth cedar sandwiched between Gibbs and Beausite Lakes — both recreational parks owned by Jefferson County — was owned by the Department of Natural Resources.
In it is a recreational mountain biking trail system built and maintained by the Quimper Trails Association (QTA) that draws biking enthusiasts both near and far.
When the bikers and other folks in the community heard the DNR had plans to log and clear-cut the beautiful old-growth forest down, they protested.
Jefferson County, as with many rural areas, prospers on the influx of tourist money and the region’s beautiful natural resources are an important attraction.
No one, locals and tourists alike, enjoys looking at clear-cut land and so a land swap deal was worked out between the DNR and Jefferson County.
Multi-use trails
Once it officially opens it will offer two multi-use trails. One will connect the two lake parks and large perimeter loop trail. Another interior trail being built by QTA will be for cyclists only.
“I was told it’s going to be a one-way only single-lane track through the woods,” Bob said. “Sounds like it’s going to be a very cool bike trail.”
Lake Gibbs is a Jefferson County Park offering trout fishing. Camp Beausite is another park, but one that’s operated by several Kiwanis clubs.
It’s known for offering summer camps for adults and children with disabilities.
Bob, already a veteran trail builder through his association with the Buckhorn Range chapter of Back Country Horsemen, started working on the bridge project almost two years ago.
First he researched the type of bridges approved by Washington State Parks and then drew up a plan based on a Type 3 puncheon bridge he found in a forest service manual and applied for a grant to pay for the building materials.
He said BCH Peninsula Chapter member Tom Mix “gave me a lot of valuable advice on how to build the bridge and get the project done.”
Mix and fellow member Del Sage have spent many volunteer hours engineering and building bridges in the Pacific Northwest’s National Parks.
Selfish reasons
Bob said he wanted to help build the bridge and a new multi-user trail system for selfish reasons: “We live about a mile down the road. When this trail opens we will finally have a place to trail ride without having to trailer our horses to get there.”
As an equestrian myself I certainly understand the value he places on being able to just saddle up and take a peaceful trail ride through the trees.
He originally figured the BCH was going to do all the labor on the bridge, but then the QTA found someone with an excavator who volunteered his services to ready the land.
“It was a huge help, so then we just needed to come here and put the bridge together,” Bob said.
By the time I arrived at 3 p.m. on a Saturday the group was clearly tired after starting their morning at 10 a.m. by digging trenches for the four 6-foot-by-6-foot railroad ties — the bases for the bridge — to rest on.
“I’m an optimist, so I thought we’d be totally finished by now,” Bob said with a weary smile.
“These beasts had to be set, squared and leveled correctly before we could move forward,” he spoke almost lovingly of the timber as he plopped down on one and firmly patted each side with his leather-gloved hands.
While I was asking Bob questions about the bridge to share in my column, Isaac was peppering Bob with his own:
“What’s that for?” he asked, pointing to small squares of wood.
“Those little guys are the spacers that go under those 4-by-4 curbside railings to hold them up off the ground,” Bob said.
“Hey, what’s this do?” Isaac asked as he picked up one of the spikes.
Bob stood patiently answering us both until Isaac picked up his three-pound stubby sledgehammer and looked for a spike to pound.
“No, no, that’s too heavy for you,” Bob said and then he let Isaac try to hold it, but the tool was indeed too heavy for Isaac to lift.
He told me the Saturday prior there were eight fellow chapter members who worked on getting the supplies down to the site.
Labor intensive
What made it more labor intensive is the QTA requested they not use horses to pack the materials, fearing the hooves would mess up a well-maintained bike trail.
“We’re talking huge slabs of lumber and lots of crushed rock,” Bob said and he was grateful the Buckhorn Range chapter owns a Land Shark motorized wheel barrel.
“Even with the Land Shark it was difficult, but without it I didn’t know how we were going to do it.”
“We pretty much had to hand carry all this heavy lumber and maneuver it down the trail to the site,” Judith said.
During the week Judith commutes to work in Seattle where, “I normally spend my working day sitting down.”
As the group’s official gopher (go for this or get that) she said, “I can’t count the number of times I’ve walked up and down that hill.”
And by late afternoon, on her second Saturday in a row working on it, she was tired.
However, at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, Judith will be among those volunteers who can look back at the completed bridge with satisfaction and feel good about all the work they’ve accomplished.
“Just look at our pictures on Facebook and you’ll see how we got it all down here,” said the ever-enthusiastic Bob.
Pictures can be seen on the Buckhorn Range chapter’s page.
After much pestering Isaac finally convinced me to hike further up the trail while Bob turned his attention to pounding rods of rebar through pre-drilled holes in the railroad ties and deep down into the ground to hold them in place during times of heavy use, such as 1,300 pound horses walking over it.
Preparation is key
Good preparation is important to Bob, so he pre-cut all the timber and pieces of wood, laying them out in his arena and then setting them together to make sure everything fit.
He marked and numbered each piece, even predrilling most of the holes before taking the pieces down to the site.
“Now I’m making sure all my marks are lined up so I can start spiking it in.”
For many years now the Hoyles have been among the volunteers who help give horse rides during the Camp Beausite NW summer camps for those with disabilities.
Last year, Bob launched what became a successful a Go Fund Me page to purchase round pen panels.
The now completed large round pen features a beautifully built ramp to aid those with disabilities get on the horses.
View the completed project on the Buckhorn Range Chapter of BCH Facebook page.
Smiles make it worth it
“Seeing the big smiles on camper’s faces when they ride is so justifying,” Bob said. “We can’t help but enjoy it.”
A big smile crossed Judith’s face as she told me about one camper this year who was, “so overjoyed to be riding a horse for her first time.”
Bob returned Sunday to finish installing the top planks and graveling the approaches.
On Monday, he installed the curb rails which finished the project.
Event
• Baker’s Stables show — 10 a.m. Oct. 28 at 164 Four Winds Road, Port Angeles.
This is the first in the winter schooling show series.
Contact Dana or Tom King at 360-457-6039 or 360-460-7832.
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Karen Griffiths’ column, Peninsula Horseplay, appears the second and fourth Sunday of each month.
If you have a horse event, clinic or seminar you would like listed, please email Griffiths at kbg@olympus.net at least two weeks in advance. You can also call her at 360-460-6299.
