by Kevin Busko, Crew Leader
The first KTA Trail Care weekend of 2012 was held from March 30 to April 1, on the Mid State Trail (State College Region), with base camp at Seven Mountains Boy Scout Camp’s Rimmey Lodge. Over the course of the three-day weekend, sixteen volunteers contributed over 150 hours of hard and satisfying work!
On Friday afternoon, five volunteers used chainsaws and brushcutters to clear about 1 km of trail between Siglerville-Manheim Pike and Panther Run.
On Saturday, sixteen volunteers, divided into three crews and armed with brushcutters, chainsaws, and loppers, tackled the 12 km section of the Mid State Trail between Colerain Road and Pennsylvania Furnace Road, as well as two side trails, Brewer Path and Ewing Path. Maintenance through this section has been sporadic over the past several years. With a full slate of volunteer maintainers, and a freshly cleared trail, this section should see an increase in hiker traffic.
On Sunday morning, the remaining ten volunteers targeted two work sites. The first crew headed back to Siglerville-Millhein Pike, and continued clearing (northward) on that section of trail. The second crew headed to Penn Roosevelt State Park; one team headed south to brushcut the trail, and the other worked northward with loppers. The workday concluded at 12:30 PM, back at Rimmey Lodge.
(Want to read about how KTA's Trail Care volunteers were "punked, skunk style" during their stay at the Rimmey Lodge? Click here for the full story!)