TM Report: Seth Low Pierpont State Park

 Date of Activity:  10/17/10

Location: Seth Low Pierrepont SP
Condition of Trails(s): New trail is awesome!

Observations: Great day for trail work as it was clear and cool. This was a very special project, since the DEP actually approached NEMBA to build this trail. This is a first. I spent a fair amount of time in the spring assessing the area and writing a report, which went to the DEP in Hartford. I then designed a sustainable reroute to avoid a wet area.  I did have 6 people say they would show up, but although I only I had a crew of three NEMBA folks, and three DEP employees, we accomplished an amazing amount. The new section is built, except for blazing and removing the pin flags and the old rotten bridges are gone. Dave Francefort and Mark Lurie, benchers par excellence, did a fantastic job do the necessary benching along the hill side. 

I cleared the dead wood and lopped for a while, until the DEP showed up, then we went to work on the demolition job. It was quite the job, since the 200 feet of bridge went over black sucking mud. If you stepped in the mud, you couldn't get your foot out. We took it apart piece by piece, and used the pieces we removed to stage the removing the rest of the wood. The sledge hammer and wheel barrow came in handy. Good thing I had the wheel barrow wheel  fixed this week. There is nothing sadder than a wheel barrow with a flat tire sitting the shed ( well, except for bike with a flat!).  The DEP folks, Donna, Renee, and Dan, sawed and pried the pieces of the bridge into more managable sizes, then all of us hauled the wood up the hill to the cars. All in all, an excellent day and an example of great cooperation between NEMBA and the DEP.  While Seth Low is not frequented much by mountain bikers, I think there may be more room for trails- nice beginner flowy ones through open woods.

Trail Ambassador Names: Paula Burton, Dave Francefort, Mark Lurie

Trail Ambassador Email:   peburtonataoldotcom

Trail(s) Ridden: Hiked new section and part of red and part of white

How did you use the trail: Trail building, maintenance
What was the time of day: morning and afternoon
Duration (Hours): 5 hours