Friends!
Today was our last day working in southern New Hampshire. But it was a good last day. We got to work with both Joanne and Mike today! We spent the morning installing bog bridges, but on the Sweet Trail this time. A tree had fallen on a couple and some were just breaking and needed replacement. With our super muscles from Friday, we installed all four before breaking for lunch. To be fair, they were only 2x8's that were two years old instead of 2x12's, brand new. We also only had a carrying distance of a few hundred feet... but still, we did all three in like two hours.
The most difficult part was not installing the new pieces, but removing the old ones. They were not as demolished as in Manchester, so they required some serious manpower and tools: sledgehammers, grub hoes, crowbars, we had it all! We finished so early before lunch, we even did some trail clearing with loppers and did a bit of invasive species removal.
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| Dedication stone at the end of the Sweet Trail. |
Lunch was a fantastic experience. To Joanne and Mike, thanks so much. It was a great spot. We grabbed our lunches and walked out to the end of the Sweet Trail, where there were some benches and an opening to the salt marsh, which we were looking out on. We also used lunch as a photo op. We explored and learned about the ecosystems on the salt marsh, and took some group shots.
After lunch, we cleared out the area we ate in, to make it more welcoming to visitors. We just did the basic lopping and pulling where necessary. We worked our way up the trail, and then decided to wander off to go see the osprey's nest (we also heard its call!)
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| Check out that view! |
When we returned it started to rain, and the storm looked menacing. But we waited it out and it was totally fine. As a result, we moved on to Plan B, which was putting up signage. As a result of the installation of the Sweet Trail, a bunch of the old little loops had confusing signs. What we did was put up a main sign for one loop, and then replaced the yellow signs with blue ones on the trail in order to clear up confusion. We also added a sign telling hikers that the Sweet Trail is not a loop trail.
We headed back in, and rushed home to shower and get ready for our 6 o'clock dinner at La Festa. We had the whole southern New Hampshire gang there: Len, Joanne, Mike, Megan and all of us. We ordered five pizzas, the highlight being the pepperoni with a garlic knot crust. We had lots of leftovers... which will not go to waste! We also had dessert (there's ALWAYS room for dessert) of cinnamon knots with icing. It was a great night out, thanks to Len and all who planned it!
It's kind of sad to leave The Pines and Socks and Whiskers (their cats), and all of southern New Hampshire, which we all loved. We really enjoyed our time here, and will keep you updated while we're up north!
See you soon,
Your 2015 TNC LEAF Crew
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