Ohill Trail Maintenance

OVERVIEW

In the Fall of my first year at UVA, I would walk the winding wooded trails that go around the sides of Observatory Hill. I would go alone and with friends, on bike and on foot. I felt (and still do) very strongly about those beautiful trails, which gave me many a quiet time to gather my thoughts in the rush of my new life under those shady walkways.

A couple of times I would get lost and forget which trail would lead to where. One thoughtful day, I decided to build a small cairn (pile of stones) to mark to myself one specific trail. The action within itself was small, but it got me thinking about other people using the trail and wanting to improve it for others who might be hiking after me. I thought, “Wow! Wouldn’t it be awesome to bring real good to Ohill?” I fantasized about making an impact on the outdoors community so close to home I cared so much about.

So fastforward.

The Service Committee was formed at the beginning of Spring 2014 with some of my closest friends at UVA, and one of our biggest missions was to do trail work at the one and only Ohill.

But it wasn’t so easy. UVA was embroiled in the midst of a complicated legal conversation about whether or not trail maintenance, which hadn’t been done since the late 1990’s, was just too dangerous for the university to allow. A little more than a year ago, I attended a meeting with the President of CAMBC (Charlottesville Mountain Biking), the Head of Facilities Management at UVA, and a representative from the UVA’s Attorney Office to negotiate the Outdoors Club’s involvement in future trailwork.

But it still didn’t happen.

It took a whole other year, and another meeting to finally be able to do trail maintenance.

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***AND NOW WE CAN!!!!***
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This Saturday from 9-12am we’ll be teaming up with Charlottesville Area Mountain Biking Club, to finally start fixing up these awesome trails so close to home! This project has meant a lot to me, and I really hope we can proudly present CAMBC a solid group of people.

All you need to bring is yourself (in clothes that can get dirty) and about a liter of water.
The weather looks absolutely gorgeous, and the club will be providing a $5 lunch, PER PERSON!!!!

So give back to the outdoors community that has given to us so much. In the best way!!
Matt Harrington