Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:
It doesn't rain on trailwork, even haunted trailwork, as Lee Fairbanks, Doug Turner, and I made our way out to Cemex this morning to check out some reroute options near the old house between Fletcher Hill Road and Sankey Hill Road. The undergrowth was wet enough to soak us, and there was a chill in the air for sure, but no rain to wash out the day's exploration expedition and we were able to take a look at several different options for the trail there.
We went up the driveway to the old house and found that we can easily accomplish the main objective of the day, which was to cut that sharp right-hand turn in the trail and hopefully eliminate some confusion. We checked out the house, and although none of the three of us are experts (me especially!) we figured it was probably built pre-WWII and was a pretty nice home for its time, in a pretty nice location. Makes me wonder about the family(ies) that lived there, kids raised, picnics in the yard, birthdays and holidays celebrated inside, . . . where those people are now and about their memories of that place.
We also climbed up and down the hillsides around the area and thrashed our way through the brush and multifloral looking for some alternatives for the trail route so as to get out of the streambed that the trail becomes in wet times of the year. Had some success, and also some not-so-successful ideas, but it was an interesting morning and we now have a better knowledge of the lay of the land out there. A good morning on the NCT - thanks to Lee and Doug for coming out! Some photos from today start here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2607097540098879960FLzLve
On Thursday morning, October 7th, we'll meet at the Sterling Road trailhead at Gamelands 285 at 9:00 AM and plan on working for a couple of hours on building new trail away from Indian Rock and back towards the trailhead. Lee and Eleanor spent some time working out there on Sunday afternoon and we'll continue on from where they left off. I thank them for their efforts on keeping us going on that section. As usual, I'll bring the tools, bring along some water to drink. Come when you can and stay as long as you are able as all help is appreciated!
I have an idea in my head to go to Watt's Mill afterward to do the white paint blazes on the access trail to the shelter so we can take the orange marking flags down. It is supposed to be a nice autumn day, perfect for painting, so if you'd like to help out with that I'd welcome you. Probably won't take much longer than an hour to do that.
Thanks for all you do for the North Country Trail - hope to see you Thursday morning at Sterling Road.
Dave Brewer
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