Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Day Of Learning


Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

Doug Turner, Jake Erhardt, Lee Fairbanks, and I had an educational morning on the trail at Mines and Meadows. We learned that the posts and signs that we installed to educate/deter motorized vehicle riders a couple of weeks ago are generally being respected, but that there's always one clown who'll ride a motorcycle up the North Country Trail, right past the signs in place, and all the way up into Gamelands 148.

So, in seeking to rectify this by adding MORE educational signing, blocking posts, and dead brush and trees to close off possible access points, we learned that a disassembled pick-mattock makes an excellent mini spud bar and tamper. We also learned that Lee can yell a warning pretty loudly when he has to, and Jake and Doug can run pretty fast when called upon to do so (Jake bound for New York, Doug heading for North Dakota. They're fast!!). Sorry, really not trying to kill you guys . . . 'nuff said about that.

My thanks to these guys for coming out on a gray morning that threatened rain to try to keep the trail walkable through there. A good morning with good company. A few pictures from today start here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2112233060098879960iGkETk

Hope to see you Thursday morning at Gamelands 285.

Dave Brewer

Monday, September 27, 2010

Trail Work Plans - Recap From the 26th


Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

Running a little late on getting the plan for this week out - I was trying to get a handle on the weather forecast before deciding on what we should attempt. I won't complain too much because we could certainly use the rain they're calling for today and tomorrow. Here's the plan for Tuesday and Thursday mornings:

Tuesday, September 28th, we'll go back out to the Mines and Meadows section, leaving from Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 AM, and spend some more time putting in some more Carsonite posts and maybe a "kissing gate" or two to try to keep the motorized vehicles off the trail. We'll park at the upper campground area at the ATV resort. Come to Jata's earlier for breakfast if you'd like. Pouring down rain - we won't go out. A little rain here and there - we'll head for Mines and Meadows.

Thursday, September 30 we'll meet at the Sterling Road trailhead at PA Gamelands 285 at 9:00 AM and spend a couple of hours working on digging new sidehill trail away from Indian Rock hill and back towards the trailhead. I'll bring the tools - it should be a beautiful, sunny, autumn morning on the North Country Trail.

We had a good trail work session at the Gamelands last evening, with Eleanor Fairbanks, Rick Ostheimer, and I getting thirty-five yards of quality sidehill put in towards the trailhead. My thanks to those guys for coming out. The ground there seemed to be pretty tough, with rocks and clay to contend with, but the positive side of that is that the trail is going to be durable and hold its shape. A couple of pics from yesterday (starting towards the bottom of the page) are here http://community.webshots.com/album/577334854UNgKrW?start=180

The coolest thing about yesterday's session is that we got to meet two different sets of hikers using the trail. Five years ago I'd be excited to meet up with one or two people over the course of a year out hiking at the gamelands. This season, I've encountered people just about every time I've been there. The new shelter at Watt's Mill and the trail at Indian Rock are making a positive impression and word is getting out about what is going on with the North Country Trail. Also, in the limited time I've been out to Cemex this year I've encountered a couple of walkers and signs of a lot more trail usage. Appreciate everything that everyone does to keep this venture moving forward!

Thanks again - hope to see you on the trail this week,
Dave Brewer

Friday, September 24, 2010

Today's Recap - Sunday's Plan


Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

It was a golden morning out on the trail at Cemex this morning. In fact, as we stood there taking a break and looking around Jake remarked that it was ". . . a field of gold." It was, as in goldenrod, I believe. Acres, and acres, and acres of it between Fletcher Hill Road and the lime kiln near Snake Run Road- quite beautiful in an autumn kind of way. Some photos here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/577334854UNgKrW?start=168 starting on the bottom row. Unfortunately, much of that goldenrod was overhanging the North Country Trail between those two roads and as we ran the DR mower through there, pruned, and weedwacked our pathway clear we threw a bunch of that gold stuff into the air, probably raising the pollen count on the allergy index by a good fifty percent. Sorry about that Lawrence County residents. Gesundheit.

My thanks to the crew who came out to help clear that section of trail on a very humid morning. Jim Houk and Bob Cody handled the DR mower duty today, and Jake Erhardt and Lee Fairbanks pruned that multiforal rose and black raspberry to within an inch of its life. We're looking good out there. In fact, within the last two weeks or so the entire Cemex section has been mowed and/or weedwacked, pruned, and all blowdowns have been removed - third time through there this season to give it "the treatment," if you know what I mean. It is 4x8 from River Road to Sankey Hill Road!

Sunday's (Sept 26) plan is to meet at 5:00 PM at the Sterling Road trailhead at Gamelands 285 and work for a couple of hours on digging new trail away from Indian Rock hill and towards the trailhead. We've only about four weeks left to get this section whipped into shape for the community hike. As always, come when you can and stay as long as you want - all help is appreciated.

Thanks for all you do for the NCT,
Dave

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Short-Notice Trailwork This Week


Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

Some short-notice trailwork plans to pass along this morning:

The Garrett Bridge Construction Company of Darlington, PA put its crew of one (Dennis) on overtime this week and has a sixteen-footer fabricated and ready to install across the little stream on the new section of trail to Indian Rock hill, near the old iron bridge across Little Beaver Creek. The plan is to meet at 9:00 AM Thursday (tomorrow) morning at the Sterling Road trailhead at Gamelands 285 and spend a couple of hours putting that bridge in place. All help on the carry-in and installation would be appreciated.

We have a report of several trees down across the trail at Cemex, on the Fletcher Hill Road to Snake Run Road (east) section. Additionally, I know that the grass has to be high on the field walks out there since we haven't visited that section since mid July. On Friday morning, the 24th, we'll head out from Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 with the DR mower, pruners, and chainsaw and make our way to the Fletcher Hill Road trailhead to spend a couple of hours cleaning all of that up. Come to Jata's earlier for breakfast if you'd like.

As always, come when you can and stay as long as you want, as all help is appreciated.

Hope to see you on the trail!

Dave Brewer


Photo courtesy of Bob Cody of the lime kiln near the Snake Run Road East trailhead.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

September 19th Recap


Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

Wow! What a great evening on the North Country Trail. As the trailwork crew assembled at the Sterling Road trailhead and were getting ready to head in to go to work we noticed them coming up out of the gamelands. It was Tammy Veloski and Rayanne Aiken, along with Kyle and Dale (all down from Butler) finishing up their 6.5 mile hike from the state line. I love it when folks are out walking our sections of the NCT! Makes all the work worthwhile.

After taking a few photos we parted ways and the trail crew headed in to Indian Rock hill where we worked on cribbing, supporting, and backfilling two different areas of new trail. It is amazing what a crew of eleven volunteers (well, ten, since little Oliver is only eight weeks old and making his first trip out to Indian Rock - but we appreciated his support!) can accomplish in a couple of hours. We now have the last forty feet of trail on the shale hillside shored up, along with about sixteen feet across a wash supported, widened out, and in great shape to walk across.

Some photos from this evening are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/577334854UNgKrW?start=144

My thanks to Wampum Chapter trailwork first-timers Jeff Murphy and Autumn Andrews (who brought Oliver along - that was pretty neat) for joining us, and the rest of the crew - Dennis and Cathy Garrett, Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks, Bill Majernik, Tom Scardina, and Doug Turner for all the great work this evening. This crew is getting well-practiced at this "trail work" stuff. I'm kind of sitting here laughing happily to myself, because when I put the call out for trailwork, and we get out to where we are going, I usually only have a general idea of what needs done and how we should do it. Everyone takes a look at the situation, comes up with great ideas and suggestions, and works together like a well-oiled machine to produce some great results - ones that I never pictured in my mind as being so good when completed. I'm always impressed by what we accomplish as a team. Thank you to everyone who works for the chapter and the trail.

We've got the treadway pretty well squared away on either end of Indian Rock hill now (other than getting out there in a rainstorm to find out where we might need some waterbars) and we're ready to finish off the last 500 feet of trail needing benched and grubbed to get back out to the Game Commission double track. We also have a sixteen foot bridge to install and paint blazing to do and we'll be ready for the fall community hike. Piece of cake.

Hope to see you tomorrow evening at the Davis Hollow Cabin for the Chapter meeting - 6:00 PM.

Dave Brewer

Friday, September 17, 2010

Trail Work Sunday Evening 9/19

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

We'll head out the the Sterling Road trailhead this Sunday afternoon from 5:00 to 7:00 PM for a couple of hours of trailwork at Indian Rock. We have some cribbing work to finish on the east end of the hill. For the non-diggers interested in coming out we can start paint-blazing back towards the iron bridge, or do some pruning on a newly-flagged section out through the woods towards Sterling Road. THERE'S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE! Of course, if you'd just like to come out and enjoy the woods on a beautiful September evening I'd encourage you to just do that - we'd appreciate your company.

Reminder - our Wampum Chapter meeting is on Monday evening at the Davis Hollow Cabin at Moraine State Park - 6:00 PM. Please let Cathy Garrett Dcgcag@gmail.com or Eleanor Fairbanks Fairbanks14@comcast.net know if you are planning to attend.

Have a great weekend - hope to see you Sunday and/or Monday!

Dave Brewer

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Trail Work In Ohio This Saturday


Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

I'm forwarding this from Keith Brown of the Great Trail - Sandy Beaver Canal Chapter of the NCTA - our neighbors directly to the west across the state line. Looks like they're building trail this Saturday morning.

If you can help them out I'm sure it would be appreciated. For directions, or if you have any questions please contact Keith at Kanddbrown@aol.com.

Have a great day!
Dave


---------- Forwarded message ----------


Date: Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 4:47 PM

Subject: Work day Sept. 18

Hi All,

The heat and multifloral rose were tough last month so we still have work to do to get the trail finished to Bear Hollow Rd. Hopefully this month we can get it finished and blazed.

We will meet at the Beaver Creek State Park Family Camp Ground at 9:00 am. and drive to the work site. Bring lunch and water. Tools will be provided.

Keith Brown

Monday, September 13, 2010

September Meeting, Trailwork Recap, and Maintainers


Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

First, the invitation! Our September Chapter meeting is scheduled for next Monday evening, the 20th, at the Davis Hollow Cabin at Moraine State Park, starting at 6:00. We'll have a wienie roast/pot luck picnic for our dinner. From the correspondence I've been in the crossfire of I believe that we're in good shape on hot dogs, buns, and paper supplies - please let Eleanor Fairbanks Fairbanks14@comcast.net or Cathy Garrett Dcgcag@gmail.com know what you'll be bringing so we can ensure we've got the menu covered (I got the chips!).

The Davis Hollow Cabin is located on the north shore at Moraine. If you are coming from the west on 422 you'll have to go to the South Shore exit and get back on 422 (heading west) to get to the North Shore exit. Here's a link to a map of Moraine: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/moraine/moraine_mini.pdf

Secondly, we had a productive trailwork Monday. Thanks to Doug "The Backhoe" Turner and Lee "The Piledriver" Fairbanks for joining me at Mines and Meadows this morning. While Doug rebenched about forty yards of ATV-damaged sidehill, Lee and I dug out post holes and installed log blockers and Carsonite sign posts on either end of the affected section. It looks good - we'll check in a bit to see it the deterrence measures work in keeping the motorized vehicles off the trail.

At Gamelands 285, at the eastern end of Indian Rock Hill (where the shale and steep hillside are posing some challenges) we now have forty feet of trail cribbed and backfilled. Actually found some clay deep under all that loose rock, which is good for holding support stakes and rebar, and providing some firm footing. About another forty feet to crib and we'll be able to wrap up that difficult stretch of sidehill. Some photos from today start on the second line down here: http://community.webshots.com/album/577334854UNgKrW?start=132

Lastly, we are still in need of individuals or groups (Scouts, church groups, outdoor clubs, etc.) to take on sections of trail to maintain. Bill Menke has revised his Trail Maintenance Manual and in it he describes the proper way to take care of a section of the NCT. If you would like this PDF file I would be glad to forward it to you - please let me know. It does take some time and commitment to keep a length of trail in top shape. If you are interested, or know of an organization that is looking for an ongoing project along these lines, please let me know and we'll get it set up. As we always say, "The pay is lousy, but the sense of satisfaction is immense!"

Thanks for all you do for the trail - hope to see you next Monday evening at the cabin.

Dave Brewer

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Recap and Trail Work Plans




Good Morning Fellow NCTr's;

Trail work plans are in place for the next several days and are as follows:

Saturday afternoon, the 11th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Gamelands 285/Indian Rock. We'll meet at the Sterling Road trailhead and spend a couple of hours working on the new trail on the eastern end of the hill, putting in some cribbing to finesse the "shaley" sections. I'll bring the tools, saw, and material needed - if you have a cordless drill you could bring it would be appreciated as we may run through some batteries drilling holes for rebar.

Monday morning, the 13th from 9:00 to 11:00 AM at Mines and Meadows just west of Wampum. Some of the ATVs have strayed off the official trails and made a mess of about forty yards of NCT sidehill. The plan is to redig it and put in some sort of barrier and signing at each end of that section to indicate that they should stay off of that hillside. We'll leave from the front of Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 AM and drive up to the M&M campground. Come earlier for breakfast if you'd like. Again, I'll bring the tools and material.

Last evening's trailwork session at Indian Rock/GL285 was pleasant and productive - the cool weather and evening sunshine were very nice. Lee Fairbanks, Dennis Garrett, and father-and-son newcomers Tom and Adam McCloughlin joined me in finishing off the trail on top of the hill by grubbing out about 30 yards of treadway. Lots of rock up there - who'd of thunk it? Thanks to these four guys for their help on this. A few photos on this page: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/577334854UNgKrW?start=132

Also, Bob Cody reports that he was out on his section of trail between River Rd. and Tony Dytko Rd. at Cemex this weekend with the chainsaw and weedwacker, clearing blowdowns and getting that section, "looking like a sidewalk." Good one-mile section to take a hike on this fall, although, Bob indicated that one should look out for falling acorns this time of year as they hurt really bad when they hit you on the top of your head - lol. Thanks to Bob for his work out there.

Lastly, remember to mark Monday evening, September 20th on your calendar for the monthly Wampum Chapter meeting. We'll be gathering at the Davis Hollow cabin at Moraine State Park this month for this cookout/pot luck picnic. More details to follow.

Thanks for all you do for the North Country Trail!

Dave Brewer

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Thru Hiker Coming!







Over the last six years the members of the Wampum Chapter have had a chance to meet, greet, and offer support to long-distance hikers walking the North Country Trail through the area. Andrew Skurka arrived in Wampum in November of 2004 on his 7,000+ mile hike of the Sea to Sea route. Then Joan Young and her friend Marie section-hiked our part of the trail in the summer of 2006 in Joan's recently completed quest to become the first female to hike the entire trail, and Nimblewill Nomad walked through the area last summer during his thru-hike of the trail.


Sometime in late January or early February of next year we're expecting another visitor, arriving from the east, on an unassisted, epic 12, 500 mile backpacking trip. Samuel Gardner will be starting on January 1st, 2011 at the New York/Vermont border and heading west to thru hike the North Country Trail, then walk the Pacific Crest Trail from south to north, followed by the Continental Divide Trail southbound, and then finishing up with the Appalachian Trail, north to south. His goal is to complete all four of these National Scenic Trails within the calendar year.
Samuel's website, describing his background and some information about his hike can be found here: http://www.theinitiativesite.com/
Photo credits are to Richard Lutz and Maa Garrett.