Beating Around the Bush

A small section of the Paugussett Trail in Shelton currently passes through the edge of a pasture at the former Wiacek farm and onto a utility access road. Much of the access road has been topped with a thick layer of stone for use by heavy equipment and is not pleasant for walking. Our plan is to re-route the trail off this road and through an adjacent wooded area, bringing the trail back into a more natural state.

      click on photos to enlarge

Terry, Richard, and Val discuss the work details. It was supposed to be a warm, clear day, but once again Mother Nature kept us guessing as we labored through occasional brief showers

Clearing invasive barberry was a major project. Barberry spreads easily and has overgrown large sections of these woods

Heavy vines were also cut and cleared

We had help from Shelton High School students looking to pick up some community service hours.

 

 

Richard is almost lost in this jungle of briars and vines while trying to clear the last section of the re-route

 

 

We "Tom Sawyered" the strong, healthy high school guys into moving boulders to create an opening in this wall

 

                                                What was once jungle is now a cleared trail

 Many thanks to our volunteers Eva, John G., Carla and Amanda, John P., Mark, Brendan, and Jimmy, and Shelton Trails Committee members Val, Terry, Jim, and Richard