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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2016
Happy Trails: A walk through the hidden gems of the peninsula
be alert enough to yield to the
quicker moving bikes.
Haldeman said Upper Josh’s
Trail “is probably the one that
has people most excited.”
And no one ever seems to
tire of the ishing options on
the lake. The 35-acre expanse
is dotted with three docks and
a ishing platform; each often
illed with anglers looking to
hook trout, perch, blue gill and
large-mouth bass.
Ilwaco Parks
and Rec adds
to in-town
adventure
options
By DAVID PLECHL
EO Media Group
ILWACO, Wash. — Hike
along the new and improved
Black Lake trail system and
you’ll meander fern-lined lanes
past several massive old growth
stumps. You might see frolick-
ing deer, jumping ish, blue her-
ons, hawks, berries, and (hope-
fully not) any curious black
bears.
“I think it’s one of the hid-
den gems of the peninsula,”
said Ilwaco Parks and Recre-
ation Chairman Nick Halde-
man as he bounded down a
freshly etched trail with his
black lab, Magpie, in tow.
Ilwaco’s Parks and Recre-
ation was created just six years
ago, but since then, the all-vol-
unteer commission has steadily
been working on city cleanup
and park improvement projects.
Haldeman, who joined in 2010
and rose to the chairman posi-
tion in 2013, has made adding
easily accessible, in-town rec-
reation options a top priority.
Black Lake and City Park
are the main beneiciaries of the
efforts, he said, mainly because
they are the only parks within
city limits. That allows Parks
and Rec to concentrate on a
few major projects for the big-
gest impact.
Haldeman, who also serves
as a ireighter-EMT with
Paciic County Fire District 1,
and is a captain with the Ilwaco
Volunteer Fire Department,
estimates he regularly puts in
10 and 15 hours a week on the
Black Lake trails project.
Sustainable trails
The aim, Haldeman said, is
to build “sustainable trails” that
won’t need a lot of long-term
upkeep. To do that, he’s fol-
lowing U.S. Forest Service and
International Mountain Bik-
ing guidelines. The trails were
drafted out before any boots
hit the ground. Haldeman and
volunteers then lagged out a
rough corridor and settled on
inal re-routes.
Trailblazing means irst
removing large shrubs, roots
A ‘community’ park
David Plechl/EO Media Group
Ilwaco Parks and Recreation Chairman Nick Haldeman checks out a newly maintained trail with his black lab, Magpie.
and rocks that pose a hazard,
said Haldeman. Then vegeta-
tion on the trail is scraped down
to the bare mineral soil. A slurry
of pine needles and loose dirt is
added to give a proper walking
surface.
Haldeman even built a lit-
tle foot bridge out of rough-cut,
rot-resistant Western red cedar,
with the help of Ilwaco Mid-
dle School shop teacher Steven
Blake. It’s all part of that long-
term mind set.
“This bridge will be here in
50 years,” he said.
A good portion of the trails
that criss-cross the hills above
Black Lake were laid out in
the ’90s, but unfortunately, not
very well.
The problem with some sec-
tions, Haldeman explained, is
that the trail just followed the
descent of the slope. Not sus-
tainable. Water will run down
the trail, erode the surface and
create muddy, slippery condi-
tions. Trails should ideally run
perpendicular to the grade of
the slope. To do that, a “bench-
cut” is made on the uphill side
of the trail and then material is
pulled down. Done right, water
runs over the top of the trail
and over the embankment, not
down the trail like a stream.
Haldeman showed one steep
and notoriously muddy 150-
foot section of Josh’s Trail that
has now been completely cir-
cumvented and replaced with
a switch-back route that means
less muck, a better hike, and
some newly accessible views
of Black Lake.
Other
additions
and
re-routes mean one can loop
out from the parking lot on the
east side of the lake and hike
Josh’s Trail without ever hav-
ing to set foot on a gravel log-
ging road. Improved signage
and trail maps that give visi-
tors a better sense of how to get
around and navigate the inter-
locking trail system are also in
the works, said Haldeman.
Eager riders equal
busy builders
Marc Simmons, the for-
mer principal of Ilwaco Middle
School, was looking for some-
one to teach mountain biking
during the popular Pathways
program.
The outdoor curriculum
gave students a chance to learn
things like mountain biking,
archery, or horticulture; some-
times setting up shop along
a ridge on Josh’s Trail where
an “outdoor classroom” of
wooden benches awaits.
Haldeman threw in his hat
for the job of mountain bik-
ing instructor and was quickly
leading groups of more than 20
middle-school students along
the trails weekly, for over two
years.
Safe bike handling skills,
bike maintenance and trail eti-
quette, were all covered. Rides
clocked in at anywhere from 3
to 10 miles and Haldeman said
over 100 kids passed through
the program, which he added
is, unfortunately, “up in the air.”
“I would like to see it come
back,” said Haldeman. Because
of Black Lake’s close proxim-
ity to Ilwaco’s schools, he sees
the park as an ideal and rare
resource for hands-on, outdoor
education.
Volunteers from CLEAN,
students from Naselle Youth
Camp, community members
and loads of Ilwaco students
have all helped build and main-
tain the Black Lake trail system.
“The cool part is, once they
come out here to build a trail
and see what it’s all about, they
take ownership of it, and they
become stewards of the park,
and stewards of the trails,”
Haldeman said.
More options, more use
Haldeman often comes
to the trails to walk Magpie,
do routine maintenance, and
occasionally rip around on his
mountain bike; a passion he
discovered while at univer-
sity in Bellingham. Between
classes, close proximity to Gal-
braith Mountain presented the
prefect opportunity for some
fat tire fun.
“When I moved to the pen-
insula, I wanted to keep riding
my bike,” Haldeman said. “I
didn’t see the opportunity, so I
had to build the opportunity.”
Visitors will be pleased
with better hiking surfaces, less
mud, and for the two-wheeled
thrill seekers, some pretty sweet
jumps and bumps created with
the input of local bikers. But
novice riders need not worry,
as each “technical trail feature”
also has a “ride-around” option
that allows cyclists to just keep
cruising.
“Since we’ve installed the
new trails, we’ve seen a deinite
increase in their usage,” Halde-
man said.
Through informal conver-
sations with visitors, he said he
thinks more people are com-
ing from Clatsop County, just
to seek out previously untapped
options in the region.
All together; Black Lake
Trail, Salamander Trail and
Josh’s Trail all present visitors
with just over 3 miles of hik-
ing and biking options. Motor-
ized vehicles and horses are not
allowed in the park. Dogs can
be off-leash, Haldeman said,
but owners need to be vigilant
about picking up what the dogs
may leave behind.
He said he’s not too con-
cerned about conlicts between
bikers, hikers, dogs and jog-
gers, especially considering
the current levels of relatively
modest use. He said there are
plenty of mixed-use trail sys-
tems around the state that see a
lot more activity, and still avoid
regular conlicts.
Nevertheless, its import-
ant for anyone using the trails
to exercise a certain level of
awareness. Bikers should know
they are on a trail shared with
walkers, and hikers should
Ilwaco’s City Park celebrates
its 100th birthday this year, and
the old boy is showing his age.
When surveyed, Ilwaco
residents repeatedly said they
wanted to see major improve-
ments to the long-neglected
green-space. Haldeman said
the goal is to make the park,
“a place where people want to
spend time.”
While the survey showed
that local desire for something
better was abundant, Haldeman
wasn’t quite sure stakehold-
ers would be prepared to back
up their building dreams with
Benjamins.
Astonishingly,
locals
quickly raised $150,000 in
fewer than three months.
Ilwaco Merchant’s Asso-
ciation, the Temple Founda-
tion, Port of Ilwaco and Ilwaco
Saturday Market provided the
heavy hitting. Tons of individ-
ual donors also steeped up to the
plate, and a matching grant bat-
ted in the total $300,000 needed
for phase one of the project.
Haldeman was humbled. “It
was pretty impressive.”
Right now, he said the cen-
tral issue is that the elements of
the park that get used the most,
like the playground, are far-
thest from the parking lot, and
wedged into a poorly lit corner.
In the new layout, the play-
ground equipment will be
replaced with a modern set-up
and moved closer to parking.
Lighting will be improved. The
little-used tennis court will be
removed. The grass softball ields
will be leveled and replanted. A
new walking trail will skirt the
perimeter of the park, and irri-
gation, landscaping and parking
will be totally revamped.
Haldeman said city ofi-
cials are weighing a slight name
change for City Park’s grand
re-opening, slated for late this
fall.
“We’d like to call it Ilwaco
Community Park,” Haldeman
said. “That’s really what it is.”
Museum: Collection has been growing for more than 50 years
Continued from Page 1C
Others are one-of-a-kind
pieces, including the bell from
the USS Astoria and an alco-
hol bar from the USS Ore-
gon, which have both been on
display.
Row upon row of boxes
contain objects yet to be sorted
and shelved, such as lags,
chart maps, port lights, gillnet
ishing equipment and untold
reams of historical documents.
“It can take years to get
caught up on a collection of
this size,” Pearson said.
In a nearby boat haul, the
museum keeps dozens of
antique watercraft built and used
throughout the region; the oldest
is an authentic Native American
dugout made circa 1895.
The museum has been col-
lecting for more than 50 years,
so many of the objects that
were newish when acquired
have become antiques.
This is especially true of
marine electronics, which
become outdated fairly quickly.
The museum has several spec-
imens of LORAN (long-range
navigation) equipment, a form
of pre-GPS navigation.
Touching history
Part of the challenge of
curating a museum is to
make the most of the objects
available.
This involves using “tar-
geted” pieces, the ones that
tell the fullest story of the
Columbia River and its place
in Paciic Northwest maritime
history.
A fresnel lens from a North
Coast lighthouse, for exam-
ple, is a great ind. But a lens
that actually saved sailors
on the Columbia River over
many decades, and that ig-
ures into many maritime sto-
ries, is ideal.
Matthew Palmgren, the
museum collections manager,
said that being able to per-
sonally interact with history
every day is probably the best
part of his job.
“To see and feel and — of
course, through a linen glove
— to touch history, in a safe
way,” he said, “that’s a big
perk.”
Pearson added, “You can
study history and learn it, but
then to actually see the objects
— connecting with (those)
really brings it to life.”
Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian
In the Columbia River Maritime Museum’s boat haul, Matthew Palmgren, the collections manager, shows off the top
section of a retired buoy from the Buoy 10 salmon fishery in Astoria.
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