Day one done!

Today marked the first day of early fall trail clearing.   1st thing was to mark the location of a culvert we'll be installing at Tomasi RD that goes to Pebbles gravel pit.  This is an important event for our trails to move towards improving water control, plus help us to open trails earlier in the fall and reduce problems during melts over the winter months.

Not pictured was Mark R who also helped here.

Yes, the whole area was cleared for this job. This is on the old
trail to Churning Rapids which is trail 8. Tomasi road is seen
in the background.

Josh marked the culvert ends with these stakes.

Feel free to get out there and see this location/

That's where it will go!

After the ditch and culvert instillation work area was cleared,
we went down towards the creek and began whacking weeds there.

This is just uphill from the New River Trail extension.

This is at the "rock wall" where the River Trail Extension
merges onto the old trail.   The rock seen at the bottom/center
of this photo marks a wasp nest, who didn't appreciate our
whacking.  We did not have any wasp spray with us so we
marked it with the rock.

Official starting of fall clearing

On Monday, we are officially starting fall trail work.   Could it really be fall!!??   Maybe not, but the grass won't grow much more and the weather looks perfect for doing that.  We plan to start whacking out the New River Trail and the extension of it, we cut this spring, so as to get that finished,

If you can help, please get in touch at 370-2911 or arlyn.aronson@gmail.com

Canal run

On Saturday KNSC helped with Hancock's Canal Run which has been going since 1975.   We did a water spot 2 miles from the starting line.   It was fun!

We had about 6 people helping at this location.

And here they come!

We handed out water and gator-aid.

Everyone had a wonderful time.

KNSC Nature Journal Club - July

NCJ - July: Discussing Birds, Seeing Wildflowers

Our Nature Journal Club today led us into discussion of birds. If you compare learning about birds to learning how to read, my family and I are still practicing the alphabet. We are learning to identify birds, but have yet to scratch the surface of studying the habits of our winged friends. 

Unfortunately today we did not get a chance to delve deeper into our understanding of ornithology, as it was the wildflowers who stole the show. Heading out from the chalet towards the Grill House Trail, many wildflowers grabbed our attention. 

A myriad of sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) can be seen, in both pink and white. This luscious flower is climbing its way through the grasslands of the Dog Walk Loop. 

 The next flower to show its beautiful self was the familiar, but charming, black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia triloba). Fun fact for you, this flower can be found in all 48 of the contiguous United States as well as all 10 Canadian Provinces. Well worth being able to identify!

And finally, this beauty, which has yet to be identified. I'm sure there are many, more knowledgeable than I, that can help me out. (Let's just say that my zoology skills, abilities, and understandings are about on par with my ornithological skills).  So leave a friend a note in the comments below; help me complete my nature journal for the day by getting down a name for this mystery.

Come and join us for our next Nature Journal Club on August 20th. We will be discussing insects, but who knows what treasures will steal the show. Click here for details.

Great Day for a Ride

"Tut tut, it looks like rain."

We knew we would head out on the trails today, but hiking or biking, we weren't sure until we reached the trail head and put our amateur weather watching skills to the test. 

The clouds seemed to part as a woodpecker tapping on the trees welcomed us today at the Tomasi trail head. When is the last time you have been out to this trail head? For us, it has been a while, and boy, the woods is a luscious green, sweetened with the scent of leaves, ferns, and wildflowers.

My younger son was quite taken by the daisies and devil's paintbrush (at least, that is what I've heard some refer to it as; perhaps orange hawkweed?) scattered throughout the River Trail, while my older son just wanted to race to the creek to throw rocks and dip his toes into the water. 

We saw some fellow bikers out today enjoying the trails, as well as two slugs, three butterflies, and the aforementioned wood pecker.

It was a great day for a ride, and bonus, we didn't get wet (at least not from the rain, from the creek, however, is a different story).

 

Just a little trail improvements and general update to report today.

Keweenaw Nordic purchased a large metal storage cabinet.

It was assembled yesterday and immediately filled with items that were previously
stored everywhere!

The new green storage shed is nearly done and finally got some dressing up.
Of course there is minor work remaining that will get done this summer.

Next the trail head at Tomasi was whacked and brushed back.  Cleaned up in general.

This is to make it look better and more usable over the summer.

Then the trail head at Hancock's sledding hill was cleaned up.

This is located near but just beyond, Hancock beach.

Hope your 4th of July Holiday is the very best!