NH State Park's FIRST DAY HIKE
FOP Trail Maintenance 10/20/2018
Four members of the Friends of Pisgah, John Herrick, Jon Knickerbocker, Jim Schofield and John Hudachek, met at the Kilburn Trailhead at 10:00am on Saturday, October 20th, 2018. We drained some water off the west side of the Kilburn Loop trail and removed fallen trees and branches from the John Summer trail and Kilburn Road. A really pleasant day to be hiking around Kilburn Pond.
Friends of Pisgah Annual Meeting
On Tuesday, November 13th at 7:00, we will be assembling at the Hinsdale Community Center for our Annual Meeting. This year’s speaker will be Patrick Hummel with the State of New Hampshire, who will be doing a presentation on the 2008 Monadnock ice storm.
Friends of Pisgah Fall 2018 Newsletter is now Available
The online version of the Friends of Pisgah Fall 2018 newsletter is now available by clicking http://www.friendsofpisgah.
Spring Clean Up in Pisgah State Park
Sixteen volunteers came out for the Friends of Pisgah work day on Saturday, April 21st to sweep the many miles of trails that are part of the 10k and 5k Run in the Park races that are scheduled for May 26th. The folks assembled in crews and spent a long six hours clearing forest debris, cutting away blowdowns, opening drainage ditches and culverts to improve water flow off the trails, and generally sprucing things up. So the going is fine in much of the northern segment of Pisgah Park.
Two days later, a big log was jimmied out of the Kilburn Road, the newly refurbished Town Forest Trail was cleared of debris, and the old Davis Hill Trail got a manicure, too.
Volunteers make it happen in Pisgah!
K. r. Nilsen
1/20/2018 Pisgah Workday
WE ICED IT. Today, Saturday the 20th, nine Friends of Pisgah souls moved enough materials over the Kilburn Loop Trail and Kilburn Pond to build two foot bridges, one that will be 22-feet in length and the other 24-feet long. The materials are to be assembled into spans in the spring on the soon to the formally brushed out John Summers Trail on the eastern side of Kilburn Pond. On our Facebook page we see folks moving on ATV machines with hauling sleds attached and volunteers pulling lumber from the sleds and piling the material where it will be readily accessible in two different locations. Despite some logistical difficulties while moving half a ton of material up icy hills, the work was completed in six hours. Not a bad day's work.
First Day Hike in Pisgah State Park
The Friends of Pisgah and the NH Department of Parks and Recreation hosted the first ever First Day Hike held at Pisgah State Park on Monday, January 1, one of the coldest days in the last decade. That did not stop folks from attending. Fully 71 brave souls registered for the event and came out to hike the Doolittle Trail, roast marshmallows and S'mores over a bonfire, and even get a chance to watch several teams of sled dogs chomp at the bit to get running.
Our Facebook page contains a sample batch of photos that are the first of several we will post over the next few days. If you have a photo or two you would like to share, by all means post to this Friends of Pisgah page. Next year, it will be your turn to come out, unless the ice cap glaciers advance and cover New England once again.
K.r. Nilsen
Kilburn Loop 12/9/2017 Work
Six volunteers spent the day (Saturday) working on the refurbished segment of the 5.5-mile Kilburn Loop Trail on the west side of Kilburn Pond. They handworked drainage ditches, cleared culverts, hauled material to build up the very last feet of fill on the trail, cleared a massive blow down at the head of the spur trail to the Kilburn Pond dam, added forest duff to the margins of the trail in some places, pulled up and hauled out all but one section of silt fence (that last one will remain until spring), and more. Toward the end of the day, the snow began to fall, putting a nice touch on the last work on the trail for the year.
Friends Annual Meeting November 14th
Kilburn Project Complete
The large project to restore the Kilburn parking lot, the Kilburn access road, and the western side of the Kilburn Loop Trail by Kilburn Pond is now complete. All equipment is gone, the trail, road, and parking lot have been graded, raked, and chain-dragged to create a rather smooth and walkable surface. It is now incumbent upon Friends of Pisgah volunteers to help "soften" the road and trail by doing handwork. That process has begun and will continue until the hiking season begins in earnest in late spring.
