Last Saturday’s trail project at the Black Kettle Nature Trail was quite productive. The first thing we did was to put a “Trailhead Sign” by the road because the beginning to the trail, located behind the barn at Black Kettle Farm, had been difficult to find. Then at the end of the morning as we were having sandwiches, a car drove up, hesitated at the new trailhead sign, pulled into the driveway, parked and two people got out dressed in hiking boots and trail clothes. They pulled out walking sticks and packs from the back seat and started walking down the trail to where we were sitting. I asked how they happened to be hiking on this trail and they answered, “We wanted to take a hike this morning and we had heard about Champlain Area Trails so we looked at the website, saw this trail on the list and decided to hike on it. We were uncertain if we could find it though and when we saw the sign, we figured we were here.” As they continued down the trail, we patted ourselves on the back and basked in the immediate gratification of improving the hiking experience for others through the little action of sticking up that trailhead sign.
Besides putting up the trailhead sign, we cleared branches from the trail and cut wood for the bridges while Bill Amadon mowed the vegetation on the Boquet Mountain Trail with our new battery-operated trail mower. Then we carried the cut wood through the field, across the stream, and into the woods to the four bridges we are replacing. So, now the wood is in place to complete rebuilding the bridges on the trail, which recently hosted several hundred students for outdoor education classes led by Sheri Amsel and Elizabeth Lee.
Tomorrow, Friday June 24th at 7:00, the Whallonsburg Grange is showing the movie, “Bloom: The Plight of Lake Champlain.” I’ve heard it will open your eyes to some threats facing the lake and the need for action to keep it as the wonderful resource we all enjoy. After the film, Eric Wolinsky, President of the St. Albans Watershed Association, will lead a discussion. Admission is free.
As summer activities are picking up, we hope you take the opportunity to hike some trails. We updated the list of trail descriptions on our website and added many new maps (www.champlainareatrails.com).
The next trail project is scheduled for Saturday, July 16th.
♫♫ Happy Trails ♫♫
