Excessive Heat Warning: Perfect Weather for Trail Work

OK, so the National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Heat Warning for this weekend with temperatures in the upper 90's and humidity levels somewhere South of the Amazon jungle.  I love the part about avoiding strenuous outdoor work.

 

So a SANE Trails Committee might postpone mowing along an open field today, but not us.  Nope, nosirree.  We went ahead with cutting brush along the RecPath at Lane Street, where it was getting really overgrown.

Rich and Jim drove over with the Gator and DR Mower and cleared along the edges of the RecPath.  That left John, Tom, Luis and Terry clearing briars and taller stuff along the edges of the Path.  We worked from Lane St. up to the lower Wesley Drive crossing.  It was hot work with a number of water breaks, just like the NWS advised.

But by the end we had cleared out a lot of the overhanging brush, and you can now see some interesting things; like this flowering shrub in the swamp along the Boardwalk.  There were a surprising number of people out actually enjoying the RecPath in this heat; walking, running, and biking.  It was great to chat with people out using the RecPath.  The Path needs raking or leafblowing following all the cutting, but that will have to be another day when it's cooler.

Here's John and Tom Killian "enjoying" their first trail work party.  They should get overtime for this one, everybody was soaked and filthy by the end; except curiously Jim and Rich.  John and Tom also cleared out blowdowns at the Land Trust's Tahmore property earlier in the week.  They picked a great week to work on trails and we really thank them for their help.

So enjoy the trails, but bring lots of water and don't overdo it in this heat.  Maybe we need to get us some goats to keep up with the brush this summer.