Buggy Day at GL285 - Plans For Trailwork 6/28

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

An excellent afternoon on the North Country Trail today as Dennis and Cathy Garrett and I had a chance to meet John Bibbee and his son Matt, who had come out to see what the trail was about out at Gamelands 285. John is a local Scout leader who is looking for ways to involve his Webelos Den in the outdoors. Coming to observe, they pitched right in on the digging that we were doing on the reroute below Indian Rock Hill and we appreciated their help on a warm and (very) buggy day. Some pictures from today start here. We also met up with one of our "regulars" - a hiker that spends a lot of time out there walking that trail with his killer dog (its actually a very nice dog). Good to know that the trail is being used and he always thanks us for the effort we put into it.

Tuesday morning's - June 28th - trailwork plan is to take off from the front of Jata's Diner in Wampum at 9:00 AM and head for the Fletcher Hill Road trialhead at Cemex to continue our work on the reroute just below the haunted house. Doug Turner and I made some good progress in starting it last Tuesday on a (very) humid morning. This one is a bit longer and more complex than the seventy-yarder we just finished near there so will take a bit more time. The end result will be great, getting the trail up out of the watercourse that has developed along the road we had originally routed on. We'll plan on spending a couple of hours out that morning - as usual I'll bring the tools. All help is appreciated! Oh, and come to Jata's earlier for breakfast if you'd like.

Thanks for all you do for the trail!
Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

June 18 - 21 Wampum Plans

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

Thought I should get the word out about trailwork and meeting plans for the next five days, but first, some good news about the trail section that runs between Tony Dytko Road and River Road out at Cemex. Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks, along with Jake Erhardt began working on clearing and temporarily flagging that logged section on Tuesday morning, and Lee and Eleanor went back out and finished it up yesterday afternoon. Hikers trying to make their way through can now find the route. Thanks to those guys for doing that! No sign of any further logging activity at this point, so maybe we're in the clear. What's left to do, for the time being at least, is chainsawing out some of the larger trail-blockers and some weedwacking and we'll plan to take a shot at that this weekend.

Here's what I have on the schedule as of right now - hope you can make it out for some or all of these sessions:

Saturday, June 18 At Tony Dytko Road, 9:00 - 11:00 AM Working with the chainsaw to remove the trailblockers on the logged section from Tony Dytko to River Road. If time (and hands) permit we'll also work on weedwacking the seasonal overgrowth along the route. Tools provided - all help appreciated.

Sunday, June 19 At Gamelands 285, Sterling Road Trailhead 4:00 - 6:00 PM Working out at Indian Rock Hill (Painter's Knob) on grubbing out the short reroute below the hill. Calling it "Best Father's Day EVER!" trailwork session. Again, tools provided - should be a great evening.

Monday, June 20 At Hitos in West Pittsburgh 6:00 PM is our monthly chapter meeting. Come a bit earlier if you plan to order dinner.

Tuesday, June 21 At Fletcher Hill Road, Cemex section 9:00 - 11:00 AM We'll start working on the next reroute below the haunted house, designed to get us up out of the water and mud along our current route. Taking of from the front of Jata's at 9:00 actually, and driving to Fletcher Hill Road. Come earlier to Jata's for breakfast if you'd like.

That's the plan - moving forward a couple of hours at a time. Again, hope to see you on the trail - thanks for all you do!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Trail Work Saturday 6/11/11

Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

Sorry about the late notice on tomorrow's trail work - busy, busy. Planning to head to Sterling Road at Gamelands 285 tomorrow morning, Saturday the 11th at 9:00 AM to spend a couple of hours working on the trail around the Indian Rock area. We developed a nice route through there last week and we'll be working on continuing to get it pruned and grubbed out. I'll bring the tools, you should bring some drinking water. Come on out and check out this interesting area of the Gamelands.

Like last week, my plan is to stay out afterwards and do some basic trail maintenance (weedwacking and pruning) along the trail back towards Watt's Mill Road - time to finish undetermined. It shouldn't be too big of a project as that "mile and some" section usually goes pretty quickly as it is mainly through the woods. You are welcome to join me for all or part of that project as many hands make light work. Slowly but surely getting all of our off-road trail brushed back this season - that mile at GL285, about 1/2 a mile at Gateway, and a mile at Mines and Meadows and Gamelands 148 still need to be taken care of yet. Getting there, getting there.

On another note, I noticed that Moraine State Park will be one of four state parks conducting a program for kids tomorrow afternoon in conjunction with National Get Outdoors Day. Our friends at Venture Outdoors will be participating in this - more information on that program here.

Hope to see you at Sterling Road tomorrow morning. Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Trailwork Tuesday 6/7/11 Fletcher Hill Rd At Cemex

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

Tuesday morning it is! 9:00 AM at the Fletcher Hill Road trailhead (don't park too close to the edge - yes, it was me who almost put my truck over the hill) and we'll spend some time grubbing out the short reroute below the haunted house. We did about twenty of the seventy yards last week, besides cutting our way through the underbrush, so this should be a breeze. I'll bring the digging tools - bring water to drink. When we finish up my plan is to go to River Road and walk up the trail to gauge the extent of the damage on that section, explore the possibilities, and hopefully meet up with the logging crew to find out their intentions and timetable.

Actually, I'll be leaving from the front of Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 to drive to the trailhead. Come earlier and have breakfast if you'd like.

Wanted to thank Dennis Garrett, Peter Zelinka, and Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks for coming out Saturday morning to GL285 and working to find a viable route through the Indian Rock area. I think we came up with something that will work. A couple of pics from Saturday start here.

Also, the Clarion Chapter did a National Trails Day Hike on Saturday, the writeup about it by Devin Callihan can be found here.

And lastly, the ANF Chapter hosted a NTD work weekend up near the Amsler Springs shelter area - photos can be found here.

Hope to see you Tuesday morning! Thanks for all you do for the trail.

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator
330 531-1623