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.

Day Seven

Today was the start to my final full week of Senior Project. I had a hard time waking up this morning and felt pretty tired today after working on the trail all day yesterday. Although I was tired I was able to finish the trail up until the last rocky pitch. This is about three quarters or more of the way to Balancing Rock. Once up this section, which happens to be the hardest, the trail travels along rock slabs. There is not really any work to be done on these as there are no trees in the way or anything on the ground. In other-words this section is easy to build. I will most likely make several cairns to guide hikers in the right direction.

I did try marking some of the trees for the blazes and found that the paint I chose to use does not show. It is water based and absorbs quickly. I found it surprising that paint is the most ecologically friendly way to blaze a trail. I would have used something else, but after my research paint seemed to be the way to go. I got some different paint to try which is much thicker and should not get wicked in and absorbed by the bark.

I am planning to get a lot of sleep tonight and try to finish the trail by wednesday. Once the path is completed I can go through and trim back any branches that I might have missed and blaze the trail with the new paint. I also talked to Greg and will be making signs this week in wood-shop. I plan to have one on either end of the trail and maybe three of four along the trail. I have talked to a couple of people that have hiked the trail recently. They mostly have good things to say although I have heard that one section might be a little slippery especially when wet. I am thinking of rerouting this but I am not quite sure what I am going to do yet. I am planning to hike up with a few of my friends some time at the end of the week. I will see what they think and use their feedback to make final alterations.

Sixth Day

Today was a great day for me to get work done as I do not have sports on Sunday. I needed to do some chain sawing so I asked my father to come up for safety reasons. I figured it was not smart to chain saw a couple miles up in the woods by myself. He came up for the remainder of the morning while I cut all of the big stuff. After lunch he headed down while I stayed clearing the next section of trail. Now I am probably three quarters of the way done. I am sort of pumped because I thought that the latest section might go slower than it did. Now I should be able to finish within this week. I also recalculated my hours today after coming down. In total I have spent 37 hours up there; 9 of them hiking and 28 working on the trail. I will make my minimum hour limit by a long shot at this rate.

On the way up today I saw a white tailed deer and two groups of wild turkeys. I could not get my camera out to take a picture of the deer although I would have liked to. I did however take some pictures up top of the views as well as some after shots of making the trail. I don't think the photos will really show how thick the woods are but people will still get the idea. I am planning to show some of these pictures on my lap top for the presentations. Great weather today which brought out the requisite black flies. So far the weather has cooperated nicely and I have had few rain or thunderstorm delays.

Reflection (Week 1)

This past week was pretty much a solid work week for me. For the most part I planned the new trail and then worked on a specific section of the route each day. I am really happy with how the first part of the trail turned out. There was a little bit of a surprise when I first arrived at the Bulkhead at the start of this week. I found more wind blown trees than I have ever seen up there. Luckily most of them had either dried out or rotted. This made them lighter and easier to pick up and move. I was surprised with how fast the first section of the trail work went. As the week went on I noticed that my progress was slowing due to the increasing thickness of the forest. I finally did break through to a clearing yesterday. My progress from here on should be faster as there are not as many trees in the way. This is good news as I am just under half way finished with the trail. I should have enough time to complete the trail next week.

Over the weekend and during the last week I watched some videos that Josh had lent me regarding proper trail building techniques and designs. Most of the trails discussed were on a larger scale but all of the information was applicable to small trails as well. I kept many of the techniques and suggestions in mind as I was planning the trail. This is the primary reason why I changed parts of it. The grade was too severe in certain areas. When hiked or cleared the sections of the trail with the steep pitch would have eroded. The first half of the trail is mostly under the grade limit and any sections over the limit are short. I am not sure if I will be able to adhere strictly to the pitch limitations for the last half of the trail as the terrain is tough and there is a steep ascent up to Balancing Rock. I spent almost four hours trying to find better routes on Friday. The easiest route seemed to be the preexisting marked passageway. If properly cleared, this route would have less of an impact than any of the alternatives I plotted. I brought up a GPS and plotted the marked trail and made several passes ranging up to a quarter of a mile on either side of it. All of the alternatives ended with a short cliff or were ultimately a harder route. This is the primary reason that any new route was not practical. I was surprised by how rocky the land was up there.

My plan going forward is to complete all of the trail work including blazing and marking by Friday of next week. I might be able to finish sooner but it is hard to predict my progress as I am going into a different type of forest and there are some large trees blocking the path. The last area I cleared was thick and the lower vegetation had died due to lack of sunlight. The area I am entering is thinner and almost all of the trees are still living. I am planning to work all day tomorrow, Sunday, to get a large chunk of work done and out of the way. This will allow me get a jump-start on the week. I am planning to complete the trail with blazes and signage consistent with the existing signs that indicate the "Bulkhead" or "Balancing Rock" on nearby trails. The trail is turning out to be better than I had anticipated and I believe that many people will enjoy it for years. I was a little worried going into the project as initially the plan was for two people to do the trail work. So far the progress is great, I am on schedule and less anxious about completing the project on time.

I am pleased with the ability to take the trail design and construction techniques that I have learned and apply them throughout each day. It is interesting to see the various types of woodlands within a relatively small area. I have imagined the possibility that this area was logged in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. It must have been a very difficult area to log given the topography and the changing terrain. The time alone in the forest has also been interesting as I have had time to reflect. It seems as though the time passes fairly quickly as my mind wanders from thought to thought. It seems fitting to be completing my senior year at Proctor, alone in the woods (except for my dog) with the opportunity to think about the past four years. The work is hard, the days are long, and yet there is an incredible sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Day Five

I reached the bulkhead today slightly earlier than normal. To my surprise the weather was quite nice up top. Looking down from above there was clouds coming down the valleys almost resembling rivers. It was killing me as this was the first day I did not bring my camera.

I set off hiking the remainder of the new trail to see where I was headed. I needed one more section, which I completed later that day, to come out to a clearing. From this clearing I tried at least five or six different ways of going up above the exiting route or below it. To my surprise the route that was flagged was the best possible route that I could find for the last part of the trail. I spent almost two and a half hours hiking before I decided to stick primarily with the existing route. So far the parts that I have finished are easier than the existing flagged path and meet my second goal; to reduce the environmental impact. I am happy with my progress I made this past week and plan to work all day Sunday to get a head start on next week. Also planning on having my camera so that I don't miss those key moments.

Fourth Day

Today felt like a long day. This was not just because I worked longer than normal but the forest was also thicker. This section is probably the densest section that I have gone through. In about four hours I completed about 300 yards. It should be easier from this point on but spending so much time in one place made me feel like I was unproductive. I am glad however that I am at a point where I can plan the rest of the trail. There a many options from this point forward as the terrain varies so much. I am debating going higher and dropping down or sticking with the preliminary idea of dropping down and then cutting up. I should know by tomorrow what my plan will be for the completion of the trail.

I had a unexpected greeting on the way down from a bear that was quite big. My dog had been acting strange and ran down the trail growling. This was unusual for him as he is normally calm. I called him back but to my surprise he was chasing a bear back up the trail. I yelled to scare off the bear and it ran into the woods passing me only 25 feet away. It happened so fast I did not really even move. It was actually pretty cool although I am not quite sure I would want to meet the bear again. Hoping my dog will learn to chase bears in another direction! That was pretty much the excitement for my day.

Third Day

My day was slightly different than the last two. I had a cycling race at Newfound Lake and the bus left at 1:00 this afternoon. By the time I hiked up I only had about two hours to work before I needed to head down. The race went pretty well and Proctor seemed to succeed overall as boys C took first as a team for the season.

Prior to the race I spent time hiking between the bulkhead and balancing rock to see if there were alternative routes that looked more appealing than the rough existing route. I noticed a huge difference in the forest as I went along the trail and into other parts of the woods. The trees are considerably thiner and there is a lot more vegetation on the ground due to the increased sunlight. The landscape becomes rocky and the difficulty of the trail increases quite a bit as you get closer to balancing rock. My dog accompanied me again and he did not like some of the steeper trail sections; a good indicator of difficulty. Although I am not sure if these areas will be avoidable in the final trail layout, I will try to limit the pitch of the trail for hikers safety and environmental concerns.

One thing that I noticed while hiking in is that the existing trail that I use to get to the bulkhead is eroding. Although it is a great trail many of its steep pitches are long with no break. As the water goes down it picks up more speed and carries more of the soils downhill. This caught my eye and reminded me of some of the issues outlined in the DVD's that Josh lent me. The DVD's demonstrate different methods to limit the environmental impact of a woodland trail. The most direct route for constructing a trail is not best for the environment. Seeing the problems with an existing trail was helpful. I kept most of these issues in mind when building the first part of the new trail and tried to use natural land contours to help with runoff. Progress has been good so far and I look forward to finishing the trail next week.

Second Day

Today was my second day up on the mountain. Like yesterday I brought my dog with me. This is great for him as he gets lots of exercise and is free to run while I work. It is sort of nice to have him up there as there is no one to talk to. The quiet gives me time to think about Proctor and my upcoming gap year. The last few terms I have just constantly been going and have not had really any time to think. It is nice to be able to reflect.

I did not just think today but I also got quite a lot of work done. I set off going over what I had built yesterday. The trail seemed to need additional pruning and cutting so I polished up the section I had been working on yesterday. Coming to the end of the previous day’s work, I followed the old trail markings and made some adjustments to the direction of the trail that helped blend it into the contour of the land. I went up ahead and took some visual sightings to optimize the use of the natural topography and set my goals for the day. Then it was back to work with the machete, loppers and rakes; gradually working my way down the ravine to the small stream. I cleared, backtracked and cleared some more; keeping the concepts of environmentally correct trail design and construction in my thinking. I made good progress over the next several hours and located a good area for a stream crossing.

On the opposite side of the ravine the old trail markings headed uphill into an area that was filled with wind fall; some pretty heavy timber that could not be handled with the tools I had. I decided to bring a hand saw tomorrow to get through some of the fallen trees. Gradually I worked my way to the top of the ridgeline. I headed back to the bulkhead for a quick lunch and a chance to admire the view again. A few black flies had begun to appear but the cool temperatures and slight breeze were keeping them at bay. Fifteen minutes later I was again scouting out the direction of the trail and located a new section that would eliminate some of the severe trail pitch and reduce the impact to the area. The work, the focus and the opportunity to reflect on my life at Proctor all felt good. Five hours later I began to pack up and headed back to campus feeling as though I had accomplished quite a bit. It was a good day in the forest.

First Day

Today was my first day on Project Period. I left just after 8:15 and drove up the access road until I got over the cabin. I drove today as I needed to bring some tools with me. Hiking them up from there was hard enough. I reached the bulkhead around 9:00 which is the start of the trail that I am building. My goal today was to get the first part of the trail planned out and almost fully built. One of the Proctor faculty members had flagged a trail through with cotton cloth. This was not so much of a trail as just a way to get though without getting lost. I had to reroute this first section as it did not meet my secondary goal; to construct the trail in a manner that is consistent with best practices for trail construction and has the least environmental impact. After changing a section of the trail in order to cut out a steep pitch which would erode over time, I started trimming branches back as well as clearing the ground. This was the hardest part as the wind had knocked down many trees and limbs. I worked for about four hours on clearing this part of the trail. I felt like I got a lot done today. I was a little worried wen Ben went on mountain but at this rate I should be able to finish what will hopefully be a great trail.