Clear Views from Silver Mountain

The views from the top of Silver Mountain on the Forest Society's Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest in Lempster were much improved last week thanks to a crew of land stewards and staff.  Sue Lichty, the land steward for Ashuelot River, suggested the workday since the top of the mountain has been growing in steadily since the last time the view was cleared.  This turned out to be the Land Management interns' last day, so they ended on a high note with their chainsaws running all day!  We had about 5 chainsaws going and at least that many people with hand saws and loppers, so the work progressed quickly and we were done by 1pm... which was good, since the day was hot and we were all plenty tired by then.  Sue baked homemade cookies to share, and we ate them while enjoying our newly expanded view before hiking down the mountain.  Workday perfection!

Stefan Pouliot working at the summit

Bob Lyon hauls cut trees

Dogs loved the workday too

Sue Lichty in one of her favorite places

Check out Phoebe's Nable!

Phoebe's Nable on the Forest Society's Moose Mountains Reservation may win the prize for the strangest named mountain in New Hampshire.  No one I've talked to yet has been able to tell me what a Nable is, or what someone named Phoebe might be doing with it.  Nevertheless, it's one of the many great hikes you can find at our 3,000+ acre Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton and Brookfield.  Land Stewards Jason Morris and Scott Lavoice have been very  hard at work on this vast property making it possible (and enjoyable!) for hikers to explore all the wonderful out-of the-way vistas and scenic landscapes at Moose Mountains.  To that end, Jason recently directed our two Land Management interns, Will and Eric, for two days of view expansion on Phoebe's Nable Mountain.  The result is below, before and after.  If you haven't been to this property, you've got to check it out soon!  A link to Jason's blog is in the sidebar too- if you need any further convincing...

View at Phoebe's Nable- before

View at PHoebe's Nable NOW!!

High Blue Gets a New Addition, Trail & View!

High Blue Reservation in Walpole just got a little bigger and a little brighter.  A 59 acre addition to this forest was acquired by the Forest Society last month, thanks in large part to a single donor named Steve Grega who provided most of the funding to purchase the parcel.  The new piece abuts the original High Blue property, as well as Walpole's town forest, creating a very significant block of conserved land in this area.  The parcel also extend's High Blue's trail system considerably, adding a new 3/4 mile loop to the existing network of hiking trails.

Bud Ross, High Blue's land steward, is excited about the new addition!

Last week a crew of land stewards and volunteers, including Steve Grega himself, who had hiked this land for many years prior to his donation, gathered to clear and mark this "new" trail system, officially connecting it to the trails at High Blue.  We also spent some time clearing a magnificant view from the high point of the new parcel.  Now, visitors will be able to enjoy views to the west (on the original High Blue property) and also to the south and east (from the new addition).  As soon as I wrangle some photos of the finished view cut (I was working in another area when they finished up) I will post them here!

Walter Weeks trimming up the trail

Hiel Lindquist and Ruth Ward working in the view cut area

More Cleaning Up!

There seems to be no shortage of clean-up tasks this summer.  We went from hauling tires at Hedgehog Mountain one week to bagging up more trash at Hills Family Forest and Grandpa Watson's Woodlot the next.  Hills Forest and Grandpa Watson's Woodlot are relatively new Forest Society properties, on the Durham/Madbury line. We knew that there was a significant amount of dumped material to pick up there from previous visits to the property, but when our crew arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find that a good deal of it had already been cleaned up by some mysterious environmentalist or good neighbor group!  Still, there was a good half dump truck's worth of trash to keep us busy there, and we installed two new property signs for the reservations too.  Thanks to all who slapped on their rubber gloves for this one!

Gale Tobbe and her granddaughter Emma bag trash at Hills Family Forest

Loading it up

Someone does not appreciate "No Motorized Wheeled Vehicles" signs.... hmm.