ERTS UPDATE
Feb 16th

We had a chance to try out the new, not open yet, Elk River Trail System (ERTS) Sunday afternoon, Feb 16th. One section we toured was from the Ivydale bridge North plus we tried out the section from Duck down (down river)towards Ivydale, about 7.6 miles.
First thing we noticed was none other than Jim Ryan out for an afternoon hike with his doggy.
ERTS is suppose to open on May 1st of this year according to the coffeehouse crowd. That open section will run from Nottingham Store in Duck down to just under the Hartland Bridge. Although progress is being made, there's a bunch more to be completed.

Like, up river from the Ivydale Bridge, right behind Cunningham Motors (but across the river), there was a big long slip at least 15 foot deep. See above. To span that gap, contractors are filling the void with used railroad ties. For those that have put off gathering those "free" ties for home use, too late. Looks to us like, all have been removed from Duck to Ivydale, as has all rails, plates and spikes. Most likely, all those old ties have ended up in this space or.....

Not sure what these railroad tie fences are or their purpose. They look nice, appear to be well constructed, and are something with long service life but.. are they barriers, water diverters or something else? The shot just above is where Paddy Ridge comes down to the Elk River. By the way, if you're planning on coming down Paddy, better have a stout four wheel drive. It's bumpy and red clay muddy big time!

Finishing up the bridges is still on the action sheet. This span has new treated timbers but no handrails in place. In this portion of ERTS, one other bridge is still in need of those handrails too.

   Here's the way we understand it's going to work. The Northern contractor crew will continue working its way down river while the Dundon crew starts North.
That Northern crew is now way below Ivydale with the rails and ties all gone. Some gravel is now in place for the really soggy areas.
The Dundon crew has everything out around old trestle near Newt Bragg's place. That crew has up river rails and ties out off the ground nearly to Two Run.
   Getting the 20 some miles between Duck and Dundon open by May 1st, that seems completely doable. As for Dundon to Hartland, hope the weather cooperates for the next two months. In that section from Hartland, we think there is a trestle, bridge in need of a major rehab.
   For those wanting to try out the trail, be on notice. You can walk, ride a bike or horse, from Duck to the Ivydale bridge without much problem. Be prepared for mushy conditions of course but, why not give it a whirl. There's hardly any gravel in place from the old Ivydale School South.
The section around Dundon, right now, it's a complete slushy swamp.
It's coming folks and in short order.