The Douglas Creek Trail needed a lot of work when our group first showed up. It was overgrown, branching out in every direction, and in many places there was almost no trail. To begin, we cleared as much trail as we could. By lunch time (with the amount of work that was completed), we realized the quality of work that was needed for the trail would not be completed by the end of the week. We had a new problem other than the heat.

By lunch time only about 1/4 mile of the trail work was completed, but the trail was assumed to be a bit over 8 miles long (though we found later that the trail was more like 10 miles long.) Of course, the work we had done was in the morning when it was cooler. Now it was afternoon and we were all extremely fatigued and the weather was only getting hotter. Our situation became either:
- Work quickly, but inefficiently, and cover a further distance along on the trail, or
- Work at a slower pace, being more efficient, but not completing the entire trail.

The decision that we made was to work more slowly. This way we would avoid exposure to the hot sun, and our work would be more permanent since we were clearing more than just weeds. The weeds would have grown back within a few months before many people would even have a chance to use the trail. We clearly defined where the trail was by making a visible path. In certain places where you did not know which path to choose, we blocked off the alternate route, making it apparent which was the real trail.

Along with simply defining the trail, we tried to clean up several key points to make it more accessible and easier to traverse. For example, at the first creek crossing we spent all day building steps leading down to the creek from surrounding rocks and boulders. We placed sturdy stepping stones in the creek to walk across, and we also built a few more steps on the other side.

Overall, we cleared as much of the trail as was feasible. The reality is, most people only hike a few miles on a trail. Only the most serious hikers would go the full 10+ miles. So, we tried to make it as pleasant a hike as possible for casual hikers, but more experienced hikers still have a challenge ahead if they so desire.