Trail Crew
Trail Crew meets every Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am, except during bad weather and around holidays. Details on upcoming Trail Crew sessions will be posted here. Our work focuses on RRCT’s many public access properties, sometimes spending several weeks in a row at the same site. RRCT is also happy to help out at partner properties when Trail Crew is available.
There is a job for everyone, no matter your shape, skills, or strength. Join us the one week you have time or interest, or put Trail Crew on your calendar as your regular Wednesday morning ritual. It's a great way to experience a new preserve, get to know someone new, and learn new trail work techniques. Trail Crew tackles a variety of trail projects including clearing trail corridors, invasive plant removal, route finding and trail alignment, trail marking, constructing bog bridging and bridges, and improving signage. RRCT brings specific tools that will be helpful. We encourage volunteers to bring personal tools as well. Hand saws, pole saws, and loppers are favorites. Crew members should bring a water bottle, and wear sturdy shoes, work gloves, and the right clothes for the day.
Trail Crew is led by RRCT's Stewardship Director Hanae Garrison. If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach me at (973) 255-7513 or Hanae@RRCT.org
There is a job for everyone, no matter your shape, skills, or strength. Join us the one week you have time or interest, or put Trail Crew on your calendar as your regular Wednesday morning ritual. It's a great way to experience a new preserve, get to know someone new, and learn new trail work techniques. Trail Crew tackles a variety of trail projects including clearing trail corridors, invasive plant removal, route finding and trail alignment, trail marking, constructing bog bridging and bridges, and improving signage. RRCT brings specific tools that will be helpful. We encourage volunteers to bring personal tools as well. Hand saws, pole saws, and loppers are favorites. Crew members should bring a water bottle, and wear sturdy shoes, work gloves, and the right clothes for the day.
Trail Crew is led by RRCT's Stewardship Director Hanae Garrison. If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach me at (973) 255-7513 or Hanae@RRCT.org
Upcoming Trail Crew Sessions:
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Wednesday, January 7th – CANCELED due to the wintery mix of snow and ice on the roads.
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Wednesday, January 14th 9:00 am to 11:00 am - Join us for a winter walk at Elmwood Trails in Pownal. We’ll start at the Elmwood Rd parking lot, hike for about a mile and do some light trail trimming along the way. There's a 12" blowdown over the trail around a half mile in that the experienced chainsaw users can clear.
We’ll also be on the lookout for invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on the undersides of hemlock branches. HWA is an aphid-like insect that feeds on hemlock sap, weakening the tree and resulting in dieback of limbs. The insects cover themselves in a white, waxy secretion that looks like little cotton balls on the underside of needles. HWA can be spread from tree to tree by birds, deer, wind, and in this case, from trail visitors brushing against infested branches. To slow the spread of HWA, we’ll prune both infected and non-infected hemlock branches and saplings along the trail.
If there's extra time, we can also cut down invasive shrubby honeysuckle on the woodlot trail across Elmwood Rd.
RRCT will have loppers, handsaws and a pole saw. Bring work gloves, sturdy shoes, water, and personal tools that may be helpful. The trail and parking lot may be slippery, ice traction spikes might be needed!
Parking: We’ll meet at the trailhead parking lot at 819 Elmwood Rd in Pownal.
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Today we will be Pisgah Hill Preserve's North Trailhead. There are 4 duck boxes along the edges of the beaver ponds that we will be maintaining. Duck boxes provide a relatively safe nesting place for wood ducks away from predators. We’ll take a short hike along the access trail to the powerline corridor, do some light trail trimming along the way, and head down the powerline trail to the frozen beaver ponds. We’ll clear out old nesting material from the duck boxes and replace it with fresh wood shavings for female ducks to lay their eggs on in the spring.
RRCT will bring loppers, hand saws and a pole saw for trail trimming, fresh wood shavings, a power drill, and screws to open/close the duck boxes. We will be walking on the frozen pond, so ice grippers and boots are recommended. Wear warm layers!
Parking is available at 159 North Pownal Road, New Gloucester. Be mindful of a private driveway near the parking area.
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Wednesday, January 28th, 9:00 am to 11:00 am - Today we will prepare Pisgah Hill Preserve (South) for RRCT's 14th Annual Full Moon Trek which will be on Sunday, February 1st from 4 to 7 pm! I hope to see you all there for our favorite event of the year. To prepare, we hike the 1.2-mile mile loop, trimming back any overhanging branches along the trail to make it accessible for visitors. At the summit, we’ll restock firewood at the summit for the campfire. RRCT will bring some dry kindling but most of the firewood we’ll collect from downed and standing dead trees nearby. We might even have a wooden bench ready to carry in pieces and assemble at the summit(thank you, Geoff!)
RRCT will bring a tarp to cover the firewood, a chainsaw, an axe, handsaws, loppers, a pole saw, a heavy-duty sled, and other tools. Bring work gloves, a splitting axe if you have one, and other tools to make speedy work. The trail may be icy, so bring micro spokes, creepers, or walking poles.
Parking for Pisgah Hill Preserve (South) is at 74 Dougherty Road, New Gloucester. If it fills up, park along the shoulders of Dougherty Road, on one side only.
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*Photography and Filming Note: Your attendance at Trail Crew may be photographed or filmed and your attendance indicates consent to have any images or footage featuring you at the event to be used for RRCT-related materials and outreach. Should images or footage appear in marketing materials that you don’t wish to be featured in, email Hanae@RRCT.org, and RRCT will cease to further use your image or footage for any new materials going forward.
****************************
Wednesday, January 7th – CANCELED due to the wintery mix of snow and ice on the roads.
**********************
Wednesday, January 14th 9:00 am to 11:00 am - Join us for a winter walk at Elmwood Trails in Pownal. We’ll start at the Elmwood Rd parking lot, hike for about a mile and do some light trail trimming along the way. There's a 12" blowdown over the trail around a half mile in that the experienced chainsaw users can clear.
We’ll also be on the lookout for invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on the undersides of hemlock branches. HWA is an aphid-like insect that feeds on hemlock sap, weakening the tree and resulting in dieback of limbs. The insects cover themselves in a white, waxy secretion that looks like little cotton balls on the underside of needles. HWA can be spread from tree to tree by birds, deer, wind, and in this case, from trail visitors brushing against infested branches. To slow the spread of HWA, we’ll prune both infected and non-infected hemlock branches and saplings along the trail.
If there's extra time, we can also cut down invasive shrubby honeysuckle on the woodlot trail across Elmwood Rd.
RRCT will have loppers, handsaws and a pole saw. Bring work gloves, sturdy shoes, water, and personal tools that may be helpful. The trail and parking lot may be slippery, ice traction spikes might be needed!
Parking: We’ll meet at the trailhead parking lot at 819 Elmwood Rd in Pownal.
*************************
Today we will be Pisgah Hill Preserve's North Trailhead. There are 4 duck boxes along the edges of the beaver ponds that we will be maintaining. Duck boxes provide a relatively safe nesting place for wood ducks away from predators. We’ll take a short hike along the access trail to the powerline corridor, do some light trail trimming along the way, and head down the powerline trail to the frozen beaver ponds. We’ll clear out old nesting material from the duck boxes and replace it with fresh wood shavings for female ducks to lay their eggs on in the spring.
RRCT will bring loppers, hand saws and a pole saw for trail trimming, fresh wood shavings, a power drill, and screws to open/close the duck boxes. We will be walking on the frozen pond, so ice grippers and boots are recommended. Wear warm layers!
Parking is available at 159 North Pownal Road, New Gloucester. Be mindful of a private driveway near the parking area.
***************************
Wednesday, January 28th, 9:00 am to 11:00 am - Today we will prepare Pisgah Hill Preserve (South) for RRCT's 14th Annual Full Moon Trek which will be on Sunday, February 1st from 4 to 7 pm! I hope to see you all there for our favorite event of the year. To prepare, we hike the 1.2-mile mile loop, trimming back any overhanging branches along the trail to make it accessible for visitors. At the summit, we’ll restock firewood at the summit for the campfire. RRCT will bring some dry kindling but most of the firewood we’ll collect from downed and standing dead trees nearby. We might even have a wooden bench ready to carry in pieces and assemble at the summit(thank you, Geoff!)
RRCT will bring a tarp to cover the firewood, a chainsaw, an axe, handsaws, loppers, a pole saw, a heavy-duty sled, and other tools. Bring work gloves, a splitting axe if you have one, and other tools to make speedy work. The trail may be icy, so bring micro spokes, creepers, or walking poles.
Parking for Pisgah Hill Preserve (South) is at 74 Dougherty Road, New Gloucester. If it fills up, park along the shoulders of Dougherty Road, on one side only.
****************************
*Photography and Filming Note: Your attendance at Trail Crew may be photographed or filmed and your attendance indicates consent to have any images or footage featuring you at the event to be used for RRCT-related materials and outreach. Should images or footage appear in marketing materials that you don’t wish to be featured in, email Hanae@RRCT.org, and RRCT will cease to further use your image or footage for any new materials going forward.
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