Submitted by Debby Gardiner-Some people may have already noticed that the Spirit Lake Trail is a hub of activity these days. A project is underway to upgrade and maintenance the trail. Work to be completed includes finishing the boardwalk at the back end of the trail, shingling existing and new boardwalks, installing larger culverts where necessary, clearing ditch lines, filling in low spots with gravel and falling danger trees.
The Skidegate Health Centre is sponsoring the project with funding provided by Human Resources Development Canada. A crew of six people is working on the trail. Mark Yaroshuk is project manager and Chuck Jones the on-site supervisor.
Work on trail will continue for approximately six weeks and people are asked to use caution when hiking. All terrain vehicles are being used to transport supplies and equipment and crews may also be using chain saws. It will also be necessary to close the trail, or sections of the trail, for short periods of time while danger trees are cut down. Closure signs will be posted on the trail. For your safety, and that of others, please observe all posted signs.
A big thank you goes out to the following people and organizations for their work on the project. Lauren Brown of the Skidegate Health Centre for sponsoring the project, hiring crews, preparing contracts, filling out stacks and stacks of paperwork (literally) and for not giving up! Debby Gardiner for doing field surveys and writing the proposal. Len Munt of the Forest Service for his support of the project, including staff time to work on the project and paying for the danger tree falling. Larry Duke and Brian Eccles (of the BC Forest Service) for their assistance with field surveys and providing technical and engineering advice.