A sunny Saturday with no rain in sight; seems very abnormal.
This was the third work party in a row to finish up this section of the Paugussett Trail north of Constitution Blvd. It's a very wet stretch that was hardened with crushed stone over the last two weeks. This week we were putting a finish topping of finer crushed stone over the coarser sections. This week was less muddy - above is the "Before" picture of the clean crew at the start.
Jack, Anne, and Val were loading the wheelbarrows and buckets with crushed stone. Other volunteers were hauling it out along the trail to the end then working their way backwards. Thanks to the Shelton Highways and Bridges Dept. for dropping off more processed stone.
We didn't get a lot of photos this time, but it was a lot of hard work. And despite the cool weather it got surprisingly hot in the sun. We need to bring more water next time.
Helpful Trail Tip: Bring water, lots of water. And snacks. And dress in layers.
Some people cleared up the upper Eversource crossing, others raked, smoothed and tamped down the fine stone mix. Everyone helped. Devin was a big help wheeling the crushed stone.
Trail Hardening is hard work. I could almost hear Bill Dyer cheering us on. We kept going until lunchtime when we ran out of steam and water, but we got this section all covered. Val & Ellen shoveled and moved a lot of stone all morning long. Some of the younger guys could take a lesson from them on how to keep working and being efficient.
It may take some more fine finishing but this was a huge improvement for the trail tread.
Thanks to Devin, Val, Ellen, Ivana, Andrijana, Anne, Teresa, Terry, Jack, Jaden, and Cooper.