Paugussett Reroute at Birchbank: Part 2

Day Two of our Spring Break Paugussett Trail Reroute and the entire half-mile section of trail has been roughed in with the help of two dozen high school students. We had spectacular weather to make up for the rain on Tuesday. 

Earlier in the day, our Tree Warden Dean Cawthra (and I'm so sorry but I don't know who it was that helped Dean) cut down some big trees at the foot of the cliff to open up that beautiful view of the Houstaonic River. And I was there the day before putting up more work party signs and survey flagging for the crews so they don't get lost on the trails. 

This time I brought more tools, and some of the kids brought their own from home, which is a big help. Someone even brought a DeWalt power tool! 

This day was a lot easier than Tuesday. We cleared new trails sections that already had pretty good footing, so most of the work involved raking, sawing, pruning, and picking up sticks. The first work zone was a short stretch through mountain laurel. It looked intimidating, but the crew cleared it right out in quick time. 

They even took out a log using hand saws. Wow!

The second work zone was down by the chimney, and that was our break location. It's a great place to stop and relax, with the sound of running water. There is a shallow stream crossing at the chimney that will eventually get more substantial rock stepping stones, but as long as it's not flooded, it's pretty easy to get across. 

After clearing out the chimney section, we headed back up the hill to the overlook, cleaning up the trail as we went. We took another break at the overlook before heading back down to Tuesday's work zone to continue on with some unfinished business there. 

It is so nice to have that view cleared out! Hikers enjoy that reward after walking up a hill. 

The next work part is Saturday 4/16 10:00 to 2:00.  If we have a big turn-out we'll probably split the crew and start working on a small reroute of Birchbank Trail at the big switchback where the trail has turned into a gully.   Many thanks to everyone who came today, with special thanks one of the parents, Joanne who joined us and helped lead the crews. Here's the list of volunteers from our sign in sheet, as best as I can interpret the handwriting:

Justys
David
Eric
Derek Cerulli
Dan Cerulli
Joseph
Alex
Mike
Nick P
Angelo P
James Bell
Angie Toth
Richard McCarthy
Prashanna Kandel
Matthew Liscio
Matthew Cho
Zach Koziowski
Alex Kozlowski
OS?r ?
Sofia Ribeiro
Cameron Mano
Christian Spillane

Thank you!