Walking the Trail

Myndi Manary pulls her one-year-old son, Gavin, in a wagon along the Twin Rivers Walking Trail in Culbertson.

CULBERTSON -- Cross the wooden bridge, walk along the path. Listen to the water gurgling in the creek, and the birds in the trees. Feel the cool breeze. Enjoy the walk, get some exercise.

The "Twin Rivers Walking Trail" that skirts the south edge of Culbertson and traces the Frenchman River is complete, and coordinators encourage area residents to "take a hike" for their soul and their body.

Coordinators Betty Cook and Milt Hegwood have been so impressed with the generous donations of time, labor, equipment and materials that have made the walking trail possible.

Cook and Hegwood and other volunteers are impressed with the amount of donated time, labor, equipment and materials needed to make the trail a reality.

The group was cautioned to halt their activities when several grant organizations indicated there would be no funds available until 2003. "We weren't going to halt," Betty said. And, as it turned out, they didn't need to rely solely on outside help for the trail's construction.

"That's what we're most proud of," Betty said, "that we did this with no outside money or labor. We did this all ourselves."

The path along the river was impenetrable when Milt, Betty and Boyd Miller and other volunteers started the project late last year and again in the spring. "We had four piles (of dead trees and underbrush) big as houses," Milt said.

Betty and Milt said the help of offenders from the work ethics camp in McCook was invaluable as they trimmed upper branches. "The work camp has been really good to us," Milt said. "They've even volunteered to come back again."

The asphalt path is eight feet wide, and can easily accommodate wheelchairs or bikes. Concrete benches dot the trail, and a picnic table sits at the east end, the one-half mile mark.

An archway of tree branches shades some of the path; the rest is in sunshine.

Betty wants to identify the many varieties of trees along the path; Milt wants to plant grass on the south side, which will become the border of a golf course.

Milt said Culbertson-area residents can be proud of their accomplishment in the walking trail. "There's not a thing here that belongs to me. There's not a thing here that belongs to Betty. It all belongs to this community."