Amantio
New member
Although I had originally toyed with the idea of a solo hike of Cannon this past Saturday, I noticed an open call for a trail clean up day at Wachusett posted by Kevinmac late Friday afternoon. I very easily talked myself out of the Cannon thing (I simply do not possess the soul of a solo hiker), and planned on trail work instead.
I knew from witnessing the devastation of the Wachusett trails after the December ice storms that they needed as many man hours as the hiking community could throw at them. So I boogied out to Princeton for the 9:00 a.m. organizational confab at Park HQ. Upon my arrival at HQ at zero eight forty hours, I encountered four volunteer leaders deep in discussion with the DCR HQ Chieftain, poring over trail maps marked with red magic marker. Roughly ten or so other volunteers milled about, awaiting instruction.
I checked in with one of the leaders, who eyed me with some skepticism.
“Are you a member of the Friends?”
"No."
“Are you a member of the Worcester Chapter?”
"Of what?"
“The AMC. The AMC.”
"No," I replied. "I saw an open call on 'Views From the Top.' It’s a web site. You know, on the computer."
“I don’t know. If you’re not a member of the Chapter or the Friends . . .”
I assured the leader that, although I had left my decoder ring at home, and was not quite yet familiar with the secret hand shake, I am a member in good standing of the AMC SE Mass chapter. Eventually I was allowed to sign a series of releases absolving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and any other involved entity of any and all liability should I be maimed, killed, or morally compromised during the day’s activity.
The DCR Cheiftain briefed us on the storm and its aftermath, sparing only very little in the way of bureaucratic detail as he reverently described the declaration of National Emergency, the state, local and federal interests which were affected by the storm, and the efforts which had been expended to date to put the mountain and its resources to right.
We split up into two groups, and I maneuvered my way into the gang that would work from HQ. Someone in our group volunteered to lug a giant crowbar thingy around and up the mountain. The thing had to weigh twenty pounds and is used to lever cut logs out of the trail path.
Off we marched, pretty much in full winter gear, although the temps were mild, and the snow pack was giving way to mud and running water much of the day. We quickly encountered that which we had come out for. Huge trees, blown down, which had been cut and left in place by the chain sawyers for later removal by we, the volunteers. We dealt with everything from twigs to trunks of multiple foot circumferences. The multiple thaws and refreezes of the past few weeks had made quite a mess of things, but, working singly and in groups of two or three, we made good progress down the Bicentennial Trail, to the Loop Trail, then up the Mountain House Trail. I observed that this type of work allows you to climb the mountain several times, as you hike up, drop the pack, double back to clear, overshoot the pack, the go back to retrieve.
We encountered a fair amount of traffic on the trails, owning to the splendid weather. Some of the hikers were accompanied by canine companions, including a particularly spectacular Siberian Husky. He reminded me of a work colleague who is particularly devoted to her pooch of the same breed.
We worked our way to the summit, and owning to the time, decided to make our way down by a different route, but only do light clearing from here on in. We proceeded down Mountain House, through flowing water much of the way, which made me grateful for my plastic boots. As we approached the trail junction with Bicentennial, we encountered the worst trail conditions so far. Masses of huge trees were laid to waste, tumbled as if dominoes. It seems that the lower down the mountain you go, to worse it is.
It will take hundreds of man hours to clear all that remains of the damage, so if you hear of a call to clean up Wachusett, consider lending a hand (and a back). I can promise you that your upper body will get just as much of a work out as your legs usually get on a 4000 footer. It’s a day well spent.
I knew from witnessing the devastation of the Wachusett trails after the December ice storms that they needed as many man hours as the hiking community could throw at them. So I boogied out to Princeton for the 9:00 a.m. organizational confab at Park HQ. Upon my arrival at HQ at zero eight forty hours, I encountered four volunteer leaders deep in discussion with the DCR HQ Chieftain, poring over trail maps marked with red magic marker. Roughly ten or so other volunteers milled about, awaiting instruction.
I checked in with one of the leaders, who eyed me with some skepticism.
“Are you a member of the Friends?”
"No."
“Are you a member of the Worcester Chapter?”
"Of what?"
“The AMC. The AMC.”
"No," I replied. "I saw an open call on 'Views From the Top.' It’s a web site. You know, on the computer."
“I don’t know. If you’re not a member of the Chapter or the Friends . . .”
I assured the leader that, although I had left my decoder ring at home, and was not quite yet familiar with the secret hand shake, I am a member in good standing of the AMC SE Mass chapter. Eventually I was allowed to sign a series of releases absolving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and any other involved entity of any and all liability should I be maimed, killed, or morally compromised during the day’s activity.
The DCR Cheiftain briefed us on the storm and its aftermath, sparing only very little in the way of bureaucratic detail as he reverently described the declaration of National Emergency, the state, local and federal interests which were affected by the storm, and the efforts which had been expended to date to put the mountain and its resources to right.
We split up into two groups, and I maneuvered my way into the gang that would work from HQ. Someone in our group volunteered to lug a giant crowbar thingy around and up the mountain. The thing had to weigh twenty pounds and is used to lever cut logs out of the trail path.
Off we marched, pretty much in full winter gear, although the temps were mild, and the snow pack was giving way to mud and running water much of the day. We quickly encountered that which we had come out for. Huge trees, blown down, which had been cut and left in place by the chain sawyers for later removal by we, the volunteers. We dealt with everything from twigs to trunks of multiple foot circumferences. The multiple thaws and refreezes of the past few weeks had made quite a mess of things, but, working singly and in groups of two or three, we made good progress down the Bicentennial Trail, to the Loop Trail, then up the Mountain House Trail. I observed that this type of work allows you to climb the mountain several times, as you hike up, drop the pack, double back to clear, overshoot the pack, the go back to retrieve.
We encountered a fair amount of traffic on the trails, owning to the splendid weather. Some of the hikers were accompanied by canine companions, including a particularly spectacular Siberian Husky. He reminded me of a work colleague who is particularly devoted to her pooch of the same breed.
We worked our way to the summit, and owning to the time, decided to make our way down by a different route, but only do light clearing from here on in. We proceeded down Mountain House, through flowing water much of the way, which made me grateful for my plastic boots. As we approached the trail junction with Bicentennial, we encountered the worst trail conditions so far. Masses of huge trees were laid to waste, tumbled as if dominoes. It seems that the lower down the mountain you go, to worse it is.
It will take hundreds of man hours to clear all that remains of the damage, so if you hear of a call to clean up Wachusett, consider lending a hand (and a back). I can promise you that your upper body will get just as much of a work out as your legs usually get on a 4000 footer. It’s a day well spent.
