Day Thirteen

Today is my last day on Senior Project. I spent the morning writing my self evaluation which took me longer than I thought. I spent about 5 hours writing it because I wanted it to reflect what I had done. I felt that I worked hard on all the other parts and if my essay was not good, it would pull the grade down for the rest of the project.

I also photoshopped a picture adding lines that represent trails. I took this picture from the top of the Backwater ski hill last night. From this perspective the the Bulkhead and Balanced Rock are visible. The trails up to each are in blue and the trail I made is in yellow. I think this will give students a better understanding of where the trail is as most of them have not hiked in this area. I have only talked to about three people that have actually bushwhacked through before I completed the project. I was surprised to see the distance between the two features. Looking at Ragged Mountain from the top of Blackwater, the distance seemed even greater than when I was working the trail. I am glad I waited to look at it after the trail was completed as it may have made the project more daunting.

I chose to write this blog today, on Wednesday, as I am now done with the project. Mountain Classroom came back this morning and Ben was surprised I finished the trail. I think some of them may hike the trail this afternoon and camp out up top. It is amazing to me how much all of the Mountain students change. I think it would be great if they actually camped up there tonight. I will probably end up joining them if they do.

Overall I really ended up enjoying the project. It was a lot of labor intensive work but it was fun as I knew I was doing all of it for a good cause. This sort of drove me to make the trail better and better. I wanted to try to make something that would last. I think this will and I have already got emails from people who have hiked the trail. All of them have shared positive thoughts on the new trail which is rewarding feedback for me to hear. Please pass along any feedback that you might have if you hike the trail as I am willing to make changes even after the project is completed (within reason). Enjoy the new link between the Bulkhead and Balanced Rock!

Day Twelve

Today was more of a relaxing morning compared to working in the woods. I sent out an email to the faculty and staff at Proctor, that shared the existence of the new trail. I got more responses than I have received in the last month. I was surprised how many people said they had wanted a trail connecting the two landmarks for a long time. It was nice to hear that the community was exited to use something that I had built.

I also got the chance to fix one of the signs today. Chuck Will was helpful with some history and corrected me as I have always referred to what I now know to be "Balanced Rock" as Balancing Rock. Thanks Chuck! Although the problem was not huge I did want to fix the sign and ensure it was correct. I hiked the new sign up in the afternoon and hung all four signs. On my way down I met Christopher Johnson who was hiking up to try the new loop. From the start of project period I have talked with Chris and he has been excited to try the new trail.

It is almost weird to be completely done with the construction portion of the project. It is sort of nice as I can spend the rest of my time working on the written component and presentation. I just have to write the paper and make the presentation that will be in the Wise along with the other seniors. Towards the end of the trail construction I was getting tired of having to hike up everyday. I am already starting to miss it and it has not been one day yet!

Reflection (Week 2)

I noticed a big difference in the trail this week compared to my first week. Although I did a lot of work last week the trail still looked too fresh. Not quite all of the trail was trimmed back and the last third was not finished. Every day when I walked on the parts of the trail that I already had build I would look for things that still might be in the way. I used loppers to cut branches back and tried to make enough room for when it snowed. I figured with two feet of snow hikers might hit their heads on branches that did not seem to be a problem in the summer. Trimming higher also gave the trail more of a distinct look and it was easier to follow. I also noticed from hiking on it every day that the trail started to break in. I was amazed how fast this happened as I only hiked through it two or three times a day.

I am really happy with how the trail turned out in the end. At first it seemed as though completing within the time constraint was sort of a long shot, but once I got building time flew until the last two days. For some reason the last two days seemed to go by slowly. I think this is because I was so close to finishing. During the week I have had about four of five faculty members that hiked the trail and all of them had positive feedback. Most of them were surprised when they reached the section that was not completed and found how thick the woods were without clearing. When building the trail I took time to think about erosion, water runoff, and how hikers would perceive the trail as well as how comfortable it would be to hike it. Keeping good trail construction methodology in mind as I built the trail and getting good feedback, I found I had accomplished the first and second goals of my proposal. The plan was to work for two weeks and then do more of the paper portion for the next three days. So far this has worked out perfect and I have stuck with my proposed schedule.

I ended up spending quite a lot of time in the woods. I wound up about 32 hours over the planned amount of time and ended up working a total of 68 hours. I assumed that I would put in more hours as initially the proposal was for two people to do all of the trail construction. My project partner went on Mountain Classroom so I was down one person from the start. Although it was hard work I ended up having fun. My dog loved spending so much time up there that he got excited this morning when I woke up. After I got dressed he ran to the door thinking it was time to leave. I could tell he was confused as he would not lie down and instead followed me around the house. It was nice having him up there although some times he could be a nuisance. He liked to chase falling trees, which was real safe!

My project turned out to be a great way to conclude my senior year at Proctor. The time spent doing hard physical work gave me time to reflect on my years at Proctor and think about the coming year. Building a trail feels as though I am leaving a physical mark and it will hopefully be something that people will enjoy for many years. I am appreciative of my sponsor and mentor and their encouragement.

Day Eleven

I put the final touches on the trail today. I spent most of my time blazing the trail. I used yellow diamonds as patterns so they would not interfere with any other trails. I have seen blue squares in other places so I made sure to use a different color. Although they are clearly visible, the blazes are not fluorescent. I did not want them to be too bright as I was afraid they would take away from the trail.

This weekend I am planning to fix one of my signs as it is misspelled. I will most likely hike this one up before Monday to mount it, along with the others which are stashed in the woods for the time being. I had tools stashed in the woods for the past two weeks which I took down today. There were more than I anticipated but I was able to get all of them in one trip.

Everything is starting to wrap up and I plan to start the writing process soon. It is my understanding that I will need to present my project at some point as well as pass in a write up. I will have Monday and Tuesday to complete the presentation after starting this weekend.

I had my second bear encounter today. I was hiking up and stopped for for a second near a stream. I heard what I thought to be footsteps nearby and yelled hello. To my surprise the steps stopped and there was silence. I yelled louder and heard a bear lumber off into the woods. I could not really see it well as I was in a thick leafy section of woods. I could sort of make out the outline but I could tell from the sound that it was big. I could hear sticks breaking as it walked unlike smaller animals. It was really strange as I thought it was someone hiking at first. I did not know it was a bear until it turned and headed the other way. It was not that far from the first one that I saw so I am wondering if it was the same one.

My weekly reflection will summarize the week and I will post that over the weekend. If you want to go for a hike this weekend, head up to the Bulkhead and then follow the yellow blazes across to Balancing Rock. Let me know what you think!

Day Ten

I did not post this yesterday and accidentally saved it as a draft instead. Anyway this is my blog for Thursday May 20th.

Today was my second to last day working on the trail and I was able to almost complete the trail construction. I worked a couple hours longer than normal which was fine as I was really determined to get everything out of the way except for the blazes and trail signs. I can do the blazes tomorrow but everything else is now done; the actual design and building of the trail. The entire trail is now cut, cleared, and raked! I was noticing that it took me longer than normal to start working as I had to hike almost the entire length of the new trail to find where I left off yesterday. I would assume that the trail is over a mile long. It might be closer to a mile and a half as it has so many turns. I hope to get an accurate distance by borrowing a GPS that has distance capability.

While I was working on the rocky and elevated part of the trail I noticed two good sized red tail hawks. They would glide past below me and circle around again. They did not seem to be circling like they would if food were below them but they did seem to drift in a pattern, perhaps riding the thermals. It was a great vantage point being able to look down on the hawks and see the feather patterns and coloration that you don't see when looking up. The rock shoulders just before you get to Balancing Rock are a great place to enjoy views. Looking down at Proctor, across to Carr Field and over to Blackwater Ski Area brings many memories. I plan to come back in the winter and enjoy the view of a snow covered Blackwater from this location. I have tried to keep the addition of a couple of feet of snow in mind when clearing the trail and have allowed for the clearance that will be required when coming in on snowshoes midwinter.

A couple of days earlier six or seven turkey vultures were circling my dog and me. It was sort of strange as I moved down the trail they seemed to follow. I think they were more interested in my dog than me...or perhaps it was my lunch that was enticing them. Each day has brought the presence of some interesting form of wildlife. Watching birds circling is more relaxing than wondering about a bear charging; but it has all been good.

It is a great feeling to know that the major physical work is now done. The construction of the trail was more physically demanding then I had first anticipated. The added component of the black flies this week made the work even more difficult. Seeing the world through bug netting has its own challenges and it does make it harder to move through brush. Today I have a great sense of accomplishment but I am glad that I am coming to the end. More tomorrow as I get to complete the blazing and wrap up the project!

Day Nine

Since it was a rainy day today I decided to spend the day working in the wood shop. Greg was very helpful and set me up with a router and some oak that would stand up to exposure from the weather. I made four signs to put along the trail. Two of these were large and intended for the two ends of the trail; displaying the full names of where the trail was headed. One says Bulkhead and has a picture and an arrow. The other says Balancing Rock with an arrow. The other two signs are for midway points and just have arrows with destination symbols on them. To finish all four I went up stairs in the shop and treated the signs with an oil based stain. The stain provides sealing to prohibit breakdown by UV rays and moisture. After I wiped the excess stain off I found that the letters were darker as the stain pooled there. This makes them pop without using bright colors that might not seem fitting for the trail. Tomorrow I plan to bring them up and mount them at specific places on the trail. I am still deliberating between using nails or screws to secure the signs as I am not sure which will provide the best security and limit damage to the trees. A bit of research tonight is in order!

I am glad that I did not go up today because of the rain and it also gave me a little break from hiking. I should be able to complete the trail work tomorrow. On Friday I will blaze the trail and do a couple of final passes to polish up any areas that may require work. Over the weekend I will review my project proposal to ensure that I will complete all tasks as planned. I appreciate the help that I received from Greg today in the selection of wood and the opportunity to discuss the signs and stains. It was great to have the availability of the wood shop and tools to expedite the production of the signs. Everyone at Proctor has been extremely supportive of my project and that has helped me get through some of the tougher days...the days when it was a bit more difficult to start the daily climb.

I am realizing that while I am primarily on my own most days, the entire project has really involved quite a few people. There are the obvious people that are my mentors and sponsors for the project but there are also many people that have provided subtle feedback and encouragement. My classmates ask me "how is it going". Faculty make inquiries and tell me about the difficulties they have had when trying to get from the Bulkhead to Balancing Rock in the past. Mike stopped by the other day when he saw me returning from the mountain and let me know that he and Buzz had run the trail over the weekend. I am experiencing first hand the impact that small gestures of interest and caring can make and am grateful. More tomorrow!

Day Eight

Today was another long day as I spent about 7 hours in the woods. For the most part I was working but Josh, who is my mentor, came up to see my progress. He was impressed with the difference in the trail since the last time that he had hiked up. I shared with him about my concerns for running the trail up some of the steeper pitches but we both agreed that that was the only way to do it. I only have a couple hundred yards left on the trail to finish. For the most part almost all of it has been completed. I am not sure how long the trail is at this time although I did use a GPS. The GPS I used can be safely said to be outdated. After hiking with it and taking the time to map the route I found that it does not even give you distance. That is the only bad news so far. For good news, the new paint does work on the trees and the blazes are finally visible. I have now blazed about a quarter mile of trail. I will finish blazing when I have completed all of it. It is easier to do all at once. All in all it was a great day.