A remote hiking trail in Southern Oregon is back open after a volunteer-led restoration effort.
The Illinois River National Recreation Trail in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness was devastated by the 500,000-acre .
The proliferation of brush, erosion and fire-killed logs called 鈥渏ackstraws鈥� made the trail basically impassable following the blaze.
Members of the Siskiyou Mountain Club the trail, which connects the Oregon communities of Selma and Agness.
鈥淚t was like whack-a-mole,鈥� said Gabriel Howe, the group鈥檚 executive director, in a statement announcing the reopening. 鈥淵ou鈥檇 clear one section, and 10 or 15 miles down the trail, another trail section would fill in.鈥�
Howe as part of the restoration work in 2008 alongside a group of volunteers.
The 30-mile National Recreation Trail is a challenging, remote hike, traversing the northern portion of the 180,000-acre Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
The trails were originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
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