Forest Society Land Stewards BLOG: Rock Work Training Days at Moose Mountains

"Griphoist UP!" The Forest Society has been hosting a series of trailwork training days at our Moose Mountains Reservation in Brookfield and Middleton, to give volunteer land stewards a background in how to safely participate in projects involving construction with large rocks. The trainings are funded via a generous grant secured by the Forest Society from the Fields Pond Foundation, an organization whose mission is to "provide financial assistance to nature and land conservation organizations that are community-based and that serve to increase environmental awareness by involving local residents in conservation issues." With this funding, we're accomplishing two goals at once: the first is to build a new, sustainable hiking trail to the summit of Phoebe's Nable (a local mountain); the second is to provide land stewards an opportunity to learn about rock trail construction in a relaxed and accessible learning environment.

Nate Preisendorfer and Jim Harnett position a rock that has just come down the highline

So far, we have held two training days in September, where small groups of stewards helped construct part of what will be a rock staircase on the new Phoebe's Nable trail. Large rocks had to be excavated from the nearby surroundings, and were moved to the staircase site along a "highline" cable strung between two trees, pulled by a trail winch/pulley system called a "griphoist." Participants learned about basic operation of the griphoist, safety aspects such as where not to stand in relation to components of the griphoist/highline system, and the steps involved in building a staircase from scratch. One of the most common mistakes that beginners make when they try to build a rock trail structure, such as a waterbar or staircase, is using rocks that are too small for the task, according to instructor Nate Preisendorfer of North Star Trails. "For this project, we're looking for rocks that are at least three feet wide and a foot deep," he said, "three to four-hundred pounds minimum." Those are very big rocks, so mechanical assistance to move them is a necessity. The best news? When a rock staircase of this caliber is completed, you can expect it to last hundreds of years.

Volunteers excavating rocks from where the staircase will go

Land Steward Jason Morris scales a tree to set one of the ends of the highline

Instructor Nate Preisendorfer (far right) gives a safety briefing before using the griphoist

Jim Harnett and Scott Lavoice operate the griphoist

Stewards who have participated in the first round of training days were very enthusiastic about what they learned and the great sense of accomplishment they got from moving and setting rocks that big and heavy into place. We'll be holding four more rock work training days at Moose Mountains this Fall- October 11, 12, 18 and 19 - if you're interested in trying this type of work, be sure to contact me to save your spot on one of these crews, as spots are limited each day.