Wiacek Hardpan Leads to Soggy Paugussett

A freshly deepened drainage channel alongside the Paugussett Trail

During our wetter seasons, waterproof boots help when hiking the Paugussett Trail near Meadow Street on the section referred to as Wiacek Woods (pronounced something like WHY-uh-seck).  There are a series of meadows on this property, all of them pretty wet, and the woods are even wetter (that's why the old farmers didn't even bother trying to farm them). Wiacek Woods is up on broad hilltop or plateau, not a low area, so it seems like it should be drier than it is.

The culprit is hardpan, a compacted layer of till left by the glaciers that water can't drain through. Rainwater can't seep into the soil more than a couple inches, so it just sits there and causes trouble. Here's a great video somebody took on a golf course showing exactly how this works. There can be better soil under the layer of hardpan, which is the case in the video. Break through the hardpan, and the water can escape downwards. 

 

We're not able to hire some fancy deep aerator like a golf course can, and it wouldn't work in the woods even if we could. So we're stuck trying to channel water away where possible or providing some other means for hikers to get through the wet spots, like bog bridges or stepping stones (attention Scouts!)

The hardpan at Wiacek look like a rock when dug up

The best time to dig drainage channels is after a rain. You can see which way the water wants to go, and it's possible to break up the hardpan layer. When it's dry, that hardpan layer can be hard as a brick (hence the name).

When we first put the trail through, the water didn't seem too bad, but as the trail aged and the soil compacted along the treadway, the trail sank and became the low spot for water to accumulate and just sit there.  Tree roots also became exposed and are tedious to walk over. Over the years there have been many discussions about how best to remedy that. Bog bridges can be attractive and easy to walk on, but eventually rot out and need to be replaced. "Hardening" the trail with rocks is hard work, but lasts longer. The rocks can be slick and hard to walk on, though, especially if they are uneven or covered with freshly fallen leaves. A third option is to build up the treadway with mineral soil or crushed stone, especially in low areas with lots of roots that aren't all that wet yet.  A combination of all three may ultimately be used.

Another drainage channel dug to direct water off the trail

For now, if you walk this section during the wet season, wear some good boots!