FOP is Building a New Bridge on the South Woods Trail
It's bridge building time, once again. Come join Friends of Pisgah volunteers on Saturday, June 18th, to create a new 23-foot span and ramp over a beaver-flowage stream on the South Woods Trail in Pisgah State Park.
The new bridge will be put together on a new pathway bypass on the northern leg of the South Woods Trail, a bypass that does away with three rundown spans in the vicinity.
On Wednesday, volunteers managed to put in the foundation sills and set in place two 23-foot laminated beams and screwed them in place. These "stringers" are the underpinnings of the bridge. Since they are in place, building the deck and railings should go quickly and everyone should be able to pitch in right away.
The old bridges will be dismantled nearby so the materials can be taken out and some of it reused in other places.
The work day on the 18th will start at the Horseshoe Road parking lot at 10 a.m. It's a mile walk down to the job site. The last time we built a bridge, more than a dozen folks came along to help. Let's see if we can increase that number and have some fun while doing something wonderful for Pisgah.
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Kim Nilsen
Pisgah Trail Maintenance - April 16, 2016
John Herrick, Jon Knickerbocker, Sherisa Sterling, Gary Montgomery, Matt Edson and his ATV, Jack Kondos, Abe and Gabe Howe, Tom Haynes and John Hudachek met at the Horseshoe trail head in Chesterfield Saturday, April 16th to work on the trails for the upcoming May 14th Friends of Pisgah Run in the Park.Pisgah Trail Maintenance - February 20, 2016
Pisgah Timber Harvest On Hold
November 2015 Trail Maintenance at FOP Dort Property
On Saturday, November 14th at 10:00 am the Friends of Pisgah met to install a 20 foot 18" diameter culvert near the lean-to they constructed two years ago on the Friends of Pisgah Dort property in Chesterfield.
John Herrick used his tractor to lower the culvert into the ditch he had dug the previous week. Iva Wood, Art Susmann, Kim Nilson, Jon Knickerbocker, David Weisel and John Hudachek moved stones around the ends of the culvert to hold it place while John covered the culvert. We envision this will dry the wet area on the trail to the lean-to that was always soggy to walk through.
After the culvert was installed we hiked to a new vista John has opened that looks north toward Chesterfield Village. After a lunch behind some rocks to escape the wind we clear a trail from this vista to the trail connecting the lean-to to the Davis Hill trail.
John Hudachek
Click here to view photos by John Herrick
Pisgah Trail Maintenance - December 12, 2015
10 volunteers, Kim Nilson, Jon Knickerbocker, David Weisel, Matt Edson and his ATV, John Herrick and his tractor, Abe and Gabe Howe, Krister Raasoch and dogs Art and Harry, Doug Favreau and dog Hermes and John Hudachek and Pisgah State Park Manager Whip Newell met on a warm Saturday, December 12th at 10 am at the Kilburn trailhead in Hinsdale. The goal of the day was to clear as many culverts and trails as possible.
We split into four groups.
David, John Hudachek, Doug and Hermes hiked the Kilburn loop opening all culverts. We also removed all branches and trees from the trail including three 8"-12" diameter trees that we cut with handsaws. Lunch break was taken on a sunny rock overlooking a pond on the southeast side of the loop. We returned to the parking lot at 2:20 pm.
John Herrick, his tractor and Whip drove down to the Kilburn loop where they were last seem ditching a pond in the trail.
Matt, Abe and Gabe drove the ATV up the Davis Hill and Hubbard Hill trails returning via Reservoir Trail and Baker Pond trails.
Kim, Jon Knickerbocker, Krister, Art and Harry drove up to the Horseshoe trailhead where they cleaned culverts and trails.
Thanks to all for a very productive work day!
John Hudachek
FOP Annual Meeting November 10, 2015 Minutes and Pictures
The FOP met at the Community House in Hinsdale on Nov 10 for its Annual Meeting. About 2-dozen members and guests attended. President Matt Edson called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. Matt gave about a 10-minute summary of the activities of the FOP, particularly in trail work, this year.
October 2015 Trail Maintenance
New Bridges Grace the Pisgah Ridge Trail
Over the course of the last few weeks, volunteer crews have disassembled and rebuilt several new spans on the Pisgah Mountain Trail, added a long board walk alongside a wetland along that same pathway, and raised and firmed up a bridge on the Dogwood Swamp Trail, a span whose northwestern footing had been undermined by the stream beneath causing the deck to pitch and fall Several weeks ago, volunteers hauled a good deal of new pressure treated material, sufficient for two separate spans, from the Kilburn parking lot and up to the Pisgah Mountain Trail worksite, using pickups, and an ATV machine and cart. Sometimes utilizing the winch on the ATV, the crew was able to get all the materials and tools up to the lower construction site without too much additional hand-carrying.
28th Annual Friends of Pisgah Picnic
The twenty eighth annual Friends of Pisgah picnic was held Saturday, October 3 at the Visitor Center and barn complex. Approximately 30 people enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and beverages provided by the Friends as well as a variety of salads and desserts brought to share.
We did move the picnic tables into the barn because of the cool breeze; it made it easier to visit.Patrick Hummel, the Volunteer Coordinator from DRED joined us and after lunch spoke about the importance of volunteers in maintaining state properties. He thanked Friends of Pisgah for our service.
Harry Prouty donated several items to the barn/museum including a bow saw, a double headed ax and a special chain for logging. He showed us several other logging tools and shared publications detailing logging operations in the park including a photo of the largest tree ever cut in Pisgah.
After lunch the mums and pumpkins used to decorate the barn were raffled off. Everyone decided it was too cool for canoes or kayaks on Fullam Pond.
Laura Sussman
Pisgah Bridge Projects - September 2015
Over the last few weeks, volunteer crews have disassembled and rebuilt a large new span on the Pisgah Mountain Trail, and raised and firmed up a bridge on the Dogwood Swamp Trail, a span whose northwestern footing had been undermined by the stream beneath causing the deck to pitch and fall.
