We wrote in an earlier post (Summer Maintenance on the Mattatuck Trail) that we perform trail maintenance on some of our local hiking trails. Jani manages a section of the Mattatuck Trail for the Connecticut Forest and Parks Association (CFPA) and we both do volunteer work for the CFPA and the Litchfield Land Trust. This spring we volunteered for a new type of trail work and spent a few days in of May doing an inventory survey on three different trails: The Mohawk Trail, The Mattatuck Trail and The Prospect Mountain trails (4).

Creating a trail inventory means recording the many notable features of a trail that are worthy of mention (views, water features, bridges, signage, available parking etc.) or elements that require maintenance (blowdowns, muddy stretches, overgrown areas, bad drainage etc.).

Click on arrows to cycle photos or on image to expand and run slide show

Blue blaze on standing tree shows intended path of this hiking trail, blocked by fallen trees.

Jani working at opening up a hiking trail.

Jani, working on second cut

Trail, open for hikers.

Too dangerous to cut, ut an easy “walk-around”.

Another set of trail obstacles.

A “leave-r-right”; left in place for hikers to safely go under. Too dangerous to cut.

Jani, using 2 wedges to keep saw in action.

A deserved rest after cleaning up another blowdown.