Trail-building recognized with volunteer award

By Ryan Christensen

The great outdoors called, and Harold Haugen has heeded it.

A member of the Draper Trails committee, Haugenwas recognized by REI for his service building and maintaining trails in the Draper area. The project Haugen most recently orchestrated, and for which he was recognized, was the completion of a one-mile trail from the Orson Smith trailhead to the Bonneville Shoreline trail.

“We’ve estimated that project took close to 3,000 man hours and hundreds of people to complete,” Haugen said.
Haugen, fellow members of the trail committee and a team of volunteers that included a total of 41 different Eagle Scout project groups worked on the trail every Saturday and some weeknights last summer.

“We show them how to do it, give them examples of a section of trail that has been done and then let them go to work. And they put in a lot of work,” Haugen said. “

Most of the labor involved clearing brush and shoveling to level the dirt and make a clean trail. Building fences “to help make sure people stay on the trails, and prevent erosion” were also part of the project, said Haugen. “One Eagle Scout project was just carrying the [fencing] materials up the mountain.”

Trail building requires the use of interesting tools such as the ‘Pulaski’ and the ‘McLeod. The Pulaski has a head with a single bit axe one side and a heavy grubbing hoe on the other. The McLeod is a Scottish tool consisting of a large hoe on one side opposite a toothed rake. Both of these pieces also are standard wildland firefighting equipment.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Haugen said. “I find it quite rewarding. It’s fun to get out and it’s one way I can help out a little bit.”
He doesn’t remember if he received a certificate for the REI recognition award, but he appreciates the “very nice jacket” that came with it. “I wear it almost every day. [But] that’s not why you do it, for the recognition. But at the same time, it’s nice that someone sees it and appreciates it.”

Nevertheless, Haugen said he would have rather received “a slap on the back and a kick in the butt and get back to work.”
Haugen, who is on a first-name basis with Forest Service personnel, also has been involved in many other projects to build and maintain trails, most of which have originated from his own ambition.

A previous project included obtaining a blasting permit to clear large boulders from a trail. Another found Haugen “running around to all the antique shops to find old [timber] saws” to clear fallen aspen and pine trees blocking the Big Willow Trail because the Forrest Service does not allow the use of chain saws in wilderness areas.

“It took six months just to get the tools to cut the trees,” says Haugen.

Haugen encourages Draper residents to enjoy the mountains around them. “There’s a lot that can be gained by getting out and getting up in the hills. If we could have more of our youth out and walking around…their lives would be a little bit better.”
If anyone is interested in becoming involved in the works, they can contact the Draper Trails Committee by calling Draper City. “There are a lot of good people involved and they are a wonderful group to work with,” Haugen said.