Mile Markers

for the Elk River Trail

Rocky using the carsonite post driver.

The measuring wheel at work on the trail.

Phil and Robert taking a break from carrying the posts and the tools used to install them.

Fourteen mile down and one to go!

One mile down and fourteen to go!

[Profiling the work of the Kansas Trails Council]

Since the Kansas Trails Council came into existence there have been many instances where the Council has worked closely with local, state and federal agencies to improve or create trails in Kansas. The most recent example of this kind of cooperation is the installation of carsonite mile markers on the Elk River Trail at Elk City Lake.

Rocky Shire suggested the idea to the Board of Directors at their August 1999 meeting. The fifteen-mile trail has been measured and marked by more or less temporary means to this point and Rocky felt that the casonite markers would be an attractive and more permanent means of marking the miles on the trail. He felt that the mile markers would be especially significant because it is a nationally recognized trail and gets frequent usage by people from many parts of Kansas and from other states. The board discussed the matter and agreed that it was a good idea provided that the Corps of Engineers approved of the idea. The board agreed to fund half of the cost of the markers if the Corps would share the cost. Rocky visited with the Corps manager for Big Hill and Elk City Lakes and she readily agreed with both the idea and the shared cost of the markers. The general consensus was that the markers would be beneficial to both hikers and Corps personnel alike.

The KTC forwarded a check to the Corps office at Big Hill Lake and the carsonite posts and decals were ordered. In January Rocky picked up the posts and a distance measurement wheel from the Corps office and he and his brother Robert installed the posts on the first nine and one-half mile segment between the east trailhead next to the dam and the Oak Ridge area. Carrying the posts and the equipment needed to install them through the nine plus mile segment turned in to a daylong test of stamina and determination to finish that segment. Their reward for this effort was the satisfaction of having contributed something worthwhile to a trail that other KTC members and volunteers had already devoted hundreds of hours to building and maintaining. The pay amounted to about two days with bodies that were sore from head to foot.

Rocky enlisted the help of a good friend and hiking partner in Independence, Phil Morris, to help him and his brother complete the project in early February when they installed the carsonite posts on the five and one-half mile segment between Oak Ridge and the trailhead on Highway 160 just south of Elk City. Rewards and payment for services rendered? They were same as those mentioned earlier.

This project is by no means unique or special in terms of the work of the Council, but it is very representative of the work ethic, dedication and consideration for the trails of Kansas by KTC. It is also representative of the rapport that exists between the Council and county governments, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and the Corps of Engineers. Over the years KTC has managed to win the respect and cooperation of these agencies in the construction and maintenance of trails on public lands.

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[Thanks, Robert and Phil, for your hard work and contribution to yet another effort of the Kansas Trails Council.]