Bear Creek Trail Photo: Jan 19, 2010

This is a photo of the Bear Creek Trail just west of Garth Ave. Soft and muddy!

Hinkson Creek Trail Photo: Jan 19, 2010

Hinkson Creek trail is also fairly muddy with only a few portions of the trail in decent shape. Here's a photo of the trail coming upon the Hinkson Creek bridge.

January 19, 2010 Trail Conditions

It's finally starting to thaw from our recent cold spell and that means that the MKT, Hinkson and Bear Creek trails are at their muddiest mess. The trails are certainly usable, but count on getting your shoes partially covered in gray grime and if you're on a bike, make sure you have a windbreaker or jacket on that you don't mind having the traditional biker's tell-tale mud stripe up the back. In fact, you may want to consider a water repellent finishes (DWRs) for your favorite jacket. A DWR product, such as ReviveX makes cleaning that mud spray just a bit easier.

Here's a photo of MKT Trail near the Stadium Blvd parking lot. This shows the typical trail conditions found throughout the trail system.

Friend of Columbia's Parks Passes Away

There will be a memorial service today at Riechmann Pavilion to celebrate the life of Dr. Jim Whitley. The service is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm. Complete obituary is posted at the Columbia Tribune and the Columbia Missourian.

Jim Whitley served on various parks and recreation committees most recently providing native plant expertise on the Flat Branch Park development and on the MKT Trail Vegetation Management Committee.

Park staff often utilized Jim for expertise on native plant selection and management, especially in terms of aquatic plants. Jim was a extremely valuable contributor regarding the aquatic plant selection and management at Stephens Lake Park. In addition to his noteworthy expertise, Jim often donated or provided at nominal cost hundreds of native shoreline and aquatic plants which were planted around the shore lines at Stephens Park, Auburn Hills, Louisville Park, Twin Lakes and many other Columbia park ponds, raingardens and waterways.

In 2006 Jim graciously agreed to assist with the fledgling volunteer program the Columbia Aquatic Restoration Project or CARP. The CARP program was design to help build community support and assistance in maintaining healthy, sustainable lakes and ponds in Columbia Parks and Jim served as mentor and educator to both park staff and volunteers.

Jim's legacy to the parks will always be seen in the bold purple blossom of the pickerel weed, lovely nodding white flowers of lizards tail and the rigid dark green of the square stem spike rush.

Fire Pit in Stephens Lake Park

For all of those that like to enjoy a bonfire on a cool fall night or a simply as a place to warm during winter sports, Stephens Lake Park is the place for you.

Located near the Collins Shelter, the department constructed a 3-ft diameter fire pit. This pit, designed to meet all state and local laws regarding recreational fires may be rented or used on a first come first served basis. Wood for the firepit is provided by the Parks and Recreation Department and is kept on site only during the winter sports season.

When there is 4-inches or more of snow, park staff may be available to assist with starting fires in the pit. During these cases, trained Forestry staff may be seen utilizing the same fuel that they use in their driptorches. A driptorch is a tool used in wildland firefighting, controlled burning, and other forestry applications to intentionally ignite fires. This fuel, often representing a mixture of about 30% gasoline with 70% diesel, is commonly used in driptorches. Often you'll see Forestry staff using controlled burning to manage or assist the development of native prairies at the Forum, Grindstone, and Garth Avenue natural areas.

For the public, the use of gasoline is strictly prohibitive as a fuel to start the fire. As the below fire pit rules indicate, the department recommends that paper or manufactured logs be used to ignite the fire.

1. The fire pit is considered part of the Collins Shelter and is not available to others if the shelter is reserved. If the shelter is not rented, it is available on a first come, first served basis.

2. The Collins Shelter is used as the warming area during the Winter Sports Season. Therefore, the shelter and fire pit is not available for rental during winter sports activities such as sledding, ice skating and cross country skiing.

3. Columbia Fire Department permits are not required.

4. It is the responsibility of the renter to provide fuel for burning. State laws dictate that only natural materials such as aged logs may be burned. Items such as pallets, scrap lumber, treated lumber, tires, leaves, etc, are expressly prohibited. Logs shall be limited to three foot (3’) in length.

5. Combustible fuels such as gasoline, diesel or kerosene shall not be used to start or keep fires burning. Charcoal lighter fluid, paper or manufactured starter logs are recommended.

6. It is against City of Columbia Ordinances for any person in a park to damage, cut, or remove any tree or branch in a park. Therefore, renters should not expect to find burning materials in the park.

7. Fires must be kept with the boundaries of the designated fire pit. State laws require that recreational fires may be no larger than three foot by three foot (3’ X 3’).

8. It is the responsibility of the renter to extinguish the fire upon completion of the event. A frost proof water hydrant is located near the shelter. It is recommended that the renters should bring a 25-foot garden hose or a 5 gallon bucket for fire control and to extinguish the fire. No hose or bucket will be provided by the City. The water hydrant is locked and renters must check out a key on the last business day prior to their event.

9. All logs that have not been burned must be removed by the renter. Logs that have been partially burned may be left in the fire pit.

10. Straw or hay bales are not to be used for seating and/or decorative purposes.

11. All fires will be inspected by the Park Ranger to insure compliance with the above policy.

Why don't we remove snow from trails? Cross Country Skiing!

After each snowfall, someone usually calls in to request that we send in the snow removal team to plow and remove the snow from the trail. We then politely explain that while crews will clear the parking lots at the trail heads, it is our policy to not remove the snow from the trails.

Why?

After each snowfall, someone usually calls in to inquire if they can go cross country skiing on the trails. The answer to that question is "yes" and it is an activity that the department strongly encourages. Cross country skiing is a terrific way to enjoy Columbia's trails in the winter. As with all outdoor activities, cross country skiing can take your mind off the stresses of the daily grind and allow you to spend some quality time with family and friends or just enjoy a solo, quiet time on the trail. It's also a great low-impact aerobic activity, enabling you to burn up hundreds of calories per hour without straining joints such as ankles and knees.

The one concern of using the trails for cross country skiing is the gravel or aggregate surface of the trail. Most of Columbia's trails are gravel and if the snow isn't deep enough, the rocks could scratch and gouge your skis. So, be sure to inspect the trail prior to heading out. Usually, any snowfall of 4-inches or more will allow you to ski without many problems.

If you don't want to use the trails, all of Columbia's parks are open for cross country skiing with the exception of the two golf courses. Unlike the parks, the golf courses are closed during times of snow accumulation. The entry gates are locked and the parking lots are not cleared of snow.

The best parks for cross country skiing include Stephens Lake Park, Cosmo Park, Cosmo-Bethel Park, Albert-Oakland Park and of course many of the smaller neighborhood parks.

Rock Bridge State Park also has some designated cross country ski trails and information may be found in their latest "The Bridge" newsletter or by calling the RBSP office at 573-449-7402.

Twin Lakes Dog Park -- Council Report

First of all, a special thanks to the 35 or so of you that took the time to come out to the Twin Lakes Shelter for our dog park planning meeting on October 28, 2009. We did not know what to expect in terms of numbers and were very pleased with the turnout.

If everything goes as planned, there will be a report about the creation of a "winter dog park" at the Twin Lakes Recreation Area (TLRA). As a Council report, we are informing Council members about the plans for this coming winter. We indicate that for the months of December 2009, January 2010 and February 2010, we will be opening the former swimming lake area of the Pirates Landing aquatic facility as a temporary winter dog park. The current dog park will be closed as an off-leash area (OLA). In the spring, we will conduct a second dog park planning meeting to see how it went and evaluate whether or not to continue this practice.

This report also presented a copy of the proposed rules and regulations that were handed out at the dog park meeting and posted on our website. We reported some of the concerns that were brought up at the meeting and indicated that we would continue to work with the users to develop a final set of guidelines or rules of etiquette.

Once the Council agenda is set and released to the public, we will post a copy of the Council report and all handouts for everyone to see.

Thanks again for your help!