by Ed Lawrence, Trail Care Chair
From October 2013 to October 2014, we had a total of 115 participants contribute a combined total of 2,990 volunteer hours for our 13 Trail Care Events (including 7 Trail Care Weekends, 1 Code Orange, and 5 Trail Crew Weeks). Last fall, we worked for the first time at Cowans Gap State Park at the request of the new park manager, who had transferred from Colonel Denning State Park, where we had worked with him on 2 previous events.
The Trail Care crew also returned to work on the Bucktail Path at the request of Elk State Forest district manager. This past spring, we completed maintenance on the entire length of the T-Squared Trail. In September, we returned to the White Mountain Ridge Trail in the White Mountain Wild Area of Bald Eagle State Forest, where we cleared and blazed a significant portion of the middle section, and also worked on the Devils Elbow Trail, where we installed wooden signage. Forestry staff members were very appreciative of this work.
We had a single, 1-day Code Orange Event this season: Oil Creek State Park, where we worked for the first time. Afterward, the park manager said that our group’s work exceeded expectations. We have 2 Code Orange Events already scheduled for next year: Whipple Dam State Park on May 2 and Tyler State Park on August 1.