Gap Mountain Trail Day

Fall is almost here, so it must be time for another work day on Gap Mountain.

There were two more rough sections on the North Trail that needed attention so we thought we would tackle at least on of them today.  Here is a "before" view of this section of trail.

As can be seen in this picture, a tangle of roots and rocks.  Hikers trying to avoid the mess have created an ever widening "trail" over this steep section.  Time for some attention here!

With the help of Bob Curley's crew from Massachusetts and several local workers, we amassed quite a work crew for this Saturday.  Bob's crew does extensive work in conjunction with the North Quabbin Trails Association and the Quabbin to Cardigan initiative.

We split into two crews, one for the major rock work in the eroded section and one for general water bar work on the steep upper section of the trail.  After the hike in to the work site, the crew immediately began gathering rocks and moving dirt (well, what little dirt there was to move, mostly roots and stones).

We finished up by early afternoon and returned to the parking lot just as the rain began.  After the fall rains and the leaves drop there should be a new base for new vegetation to take hold along this new section of trail and the area should be much more appealing to hikers.

Thanks to all that helped out today.  And also a thank you to Lee over at Monadnock State Park for lending the crew many of the tools needed for the heavy lifting today.

Monadnock Trails Week 2014

A group of volunteers assembles on the first day

This year's Monadnock Trails Week wasn't as hot as last years (thankfully), and it wasn't as busy (62 volunteers instead of 82), but it was very productive and, like always, a lot of fun.  The first three days were beautiful blue-bird weather with cool temperatures in the 80s, and we took full advantage of the perfect trail work conditions.  We constructed some waterbars and check steps on the Old Halfway House trail, worked on drainage and stepping stones on the Parker Trail, and constructed some new bog bridging on the Lost Farm Trail.  There were many returning volunteers from previous years at trails week, and also a good number of new faces.  All in all we put in more than 860 hours of work on Monadnock's trails... not too bad for five days' effort!

Goofing off on our completed bridges, Lost Farm Trail

Ray Jackson gives a bit of tool advice in the morning

Peeling logs for waterbars, Old Halfway House Trail

Volunteers (including land stewards the Bigls and the Stetsers) head to the Parker Trail for a day of work
 

Setting rocks in a waterbar on the Old Halfway House Trail

Getting a ride up the old toll road in the SPNHF truck

We had a crew of volunteers working all five days on the Pumpelly Trail, continuing work on the "Jacobs' Ladder" section of trail where crews constructed 50' of rock staircase last year.  This year 17 new steps were added to this section, which will require many years of work before the eroded rock-strewn slopes are converted to staircase.  The work is technical and very labor intensive on the Pumpelly trail, where crews are using trail winch systems called griphoists to move and high-line large rocks into position on the trail corridor.  Volunteers often work one or two days at the Pumpelly trail and then give themselves a "break" by working on other trail projects if they volunteer to work a third day.  Rare is the volunteer who toughs it out all five days of Monadnock Trails Week doing this heavy-duty rock work, but we always have a few!

The Pumpelly Crew on Day 5

Heavy packs and a long walk in and out for the Pumpelly team

Mike Zlogar is still smiling!

Another big project for MTW 2014 was replacement of decaying timber waterbars and check steps on the White Dot Trail.  The White Dot is basically the main thoroughfare up the mountain; this trail sees an incredible amount of use, and as a result it is very wide.  Waterbars and check steps that span the trail often have to be 25-30' in length... which means that timber drainages are far more convenient to install than rock waterbars.  We replaced about 15 waterbars and check steps on the White Dot during Trails Week 2014, and there are at least 30 that still need to be replaced or repaired.  There is always more work to be done on Mount Monadnock, and we're already looking forward to the 10th Annual Monadnock Trails Week in 2015!

Moving a peeled log on White Dot

Bart Hunter sharpens his saw for more work on the White Dot

These hardwood logs were incredibly heavy!

Len doing one of his favorite things

Morse Preserve Workday - Sunny Days Only Please!

Morse Preserve in Alton is one of our favorite places to hold a workday.  You really can't beat the views at lunchtime on this reservation!  That's why, when socked in clouds and thunderstorms were predicted for the first day we picked for this workday, we decided to wait for a more "appropriate" weather forecast.  Not to mention, it's no fun to be wielding metal tools on the exposed top of Pine Mountain in a lightening storm...

Land Stewards and staff go over the task list

Our second try at hosting the Morse Preserve workday was perfect- bluebird skies and comfortable temperatures too.  A group of 9 staff and stewards fanned out across the property to get some work done.  Two volunteers went to prune dead wood off of several old field apple trees, in anticipation of using this reservation as the site of our annual spring Wild Apple Tree Release and Pruning workshop next March.  The pruners were undaunted by vicious tangles of multiflora rose (ouch!) and the height of some of the dead wood in these trees.  Jason and Len pruned off mountains of dead wood, and then Wendy helped finish off the process by removing the really big dead limbs with a chainsaw.  Sagging limbs were propped up with birch supports, and the trees are already looking happier in advance of their big pruning workshop debut.

Jason Morris climbs up to prune an old apple (photo by W. Weisiger)

Apple tree, post dead wood removal (photo by Jason Morris)

 Also on the task list was a lot of trail maintenance.  The trails at Morse Preserve pass through many open areas of early-successional habitat.  It is one of our goals at the property to maintain a rotation of early successional habitats (field, shrubs, and young saplings) for the many wildlife species that either need or use these areas.  But trails through these open areas grow in fast, even with regular use, so we spent a good portion of our workday brushing back the trail system.  Brush saws and loppers helped us do this, and we also spent some time popping up stump-sprouting roots where the trail passes through woods.

Suzanne removes trimmings from the brush saw from one of the open trails

Bella finds some shade (photo by Jason Morris)

Lunch was... well, amazingly beautiful as usual, from the top of Pine Mountain.  The only thing missing was that handful of ripe blueberries that you can forage on the top.  The trails are looking better than ever, however, in advance of blueberry season- so don't forget to stop by!

Bob and Bob take in the views at lunch

Sidney Butler Smith Workday

The Sidney Butler Smith Woodland is a beautiful little forest right on Tuftonboro Neck that sticks out into Lake Winnipesaukee.  Up until two weeks ago, I had never been there (believe it or not, with more than 170 properties to keep track of, there are still some that I haven't set foot on yet!).  But a recent inventory, along with some monitoring reports from our land stewards at Sidney Butler Smith, convinced us that it was time to have a workday there.  

Tasks for the day included replacing a rotting footbridge with a new, pressure treated model, installing some new signage, re-marking the trail system (which is a short loop trail perfect for local folks walking dogs or going for a trail run), and painting the gate.  With a crew of about 10 people, we were in good shape to get all the tasks done by mid-afternoon, even with a leisurely lunch in the forest.  Thanks to Jim and Karen for preparing us well for this workday and guiding stewards and staff  (like me) that had never been to the Sidney Butler Smith Woodland!

Ray tries out the new bridge (photo by Bart Hunter)

Sign Workdays 2014

Paul Groulx and Jason Morris at work

This year's sign workdays were as busy, noisy, and saw-dusty as ever.   The group on Day 1 included about ten people, only one of whom hadn't been to the sign days before.  We (staff) will take that as a good sign that volunteers keep coming back year after year!  People got right to work sanding, planing, stenciling, rasping, routing and staining, and by the end of the first day we'd gotten about 40 signs done through the first coat of brown stain.  Amazing!  I swear this group gets better and better every year.  For the first few years, Jason was the only one brave enough to route the signs, since free-hand routing does take some steady nerves... but this year we had 3 other volunteers routing at the same time as Jason, and I know there are others who want to try it next year.

Alan Cort routing a sign

Day 1 at lunch

The weather was less than beautiful to start Day 2 of the sign workshop, but the hive of activity continued undaunted.  The number of signs completed this year, from smaller trail markers to large wooden property signs, was a little more than 70 total.  Excellent job, and thank you to everyone who participated and loaned their power tools to the process as well.  The only thing left now is to paint a whole lot of white lettering... if you've got a steady hand to lend for that in the next few weeks, please shoot me an email!  We can set you up with some tunes and a brush and jar of paint anytime the office is open!

A little mid-work conference

New steward Mike Casino (the only newbie on Day 1) got right down to business

 Seth and Gale are our stenciling experts

Hiel and Todd run Todd's planer

Mike Carafiello routing away

The ever cheerful Todd

Beverly & Michael Bettencourt work on sanding

Fred in the new work shirt!

Jason and Mike collaborate on a unique triangular sign

Beverly staining a new sign

Chainsaw Safety

I have to admit, I didn't stay for much of the Chainsaw Safety and Maintenance workshop this spring, as I was busy wrapping up business from the annual Core Land Steward Training.  I do know that despite the blackflies and cool weather, a good group of stewards and members headed out with Wendy and Jake Bronnenberg to learn how to stay safe while operating their chainsaws.  No matter how many years people have been running a saw, they usually tell me that they got a lot out of this workshop, which is why we continue to run it twice a year!