Giving Back on National Trails Day

After a two month long hiatus from the Adirondacks to work in the wild west I've returned home once again to this lovely place I call home. Even though the mountains out west are bigger and more majestic from a distance, up close they can't compare with the lush greenery of the Adirondack Mountains. The Rockies are beautiful but they lack the songs of wood warblers, the dense carpet of woodland wildflowers, and the refreshing scent of balsam. It is always wonderful to return to the Adirondacks and take my first walk into the woods to be reminded of why I love it here. I haven't had much time to get out and hike or seek out birds yet, but I did take the time yesterday to get out into the woods in a different capacity--to give back to the trails that I love so much.

It is a wonder that it took me this long to participate in a National Trails Day event, but I'm very glad that I finally made time to do it. National Trails Day inspires events all around the country that rely on volunteers to help clean or fix up trails across the country. Each year the Adirondack Trails Day events are centeres at a different location, but this year's event was right in my own backyard at the Adirondack Loj. Since I've hiked from the Loj parking area countless times it seemed appropriate that I take the time to work on the trails I've so often tread upon. For National Trails Day there were about a dozen trail projects that needed volunteers in and around the High Peaks Region, involving work like clearing brush, constructing privies, cleaning up campsites, and hardening trails. Projects varied in intensity so that anyone could participate, most required a short to moderate hike, while some involved longer hikes and one even involved paddling. I recruited a friend of mine who had the day off and together we signed up for one of the "easier" projects, which involved a bit of trail repair near the new bridge just below Marcy Dam.Our project involved just a 2.1 mile trek into the dam, which was a nice easy hike for us. The work itself was far from easy, though, and by the end of the day we felt like we had climbed one of the high peaks!

The remains of Marcy Dam, our lunch spot

Our project involved constructing what is known as a "turnpike" to prevent trail erosion in muddy areas. On our way to the dam our crew leader informed us that an estimated 70,000 hikers walked the section of trail from the Loj to the dam last year, making it one of the busiest trails in the Adirondacks. When we arrived at our project site it was clear that what we were about to do desperately needed to be done, as there was a 15 foot section of trail of mud where a side trail had already been created by hikers in an attempt to circumvent the muddy path (which is bad hiking etiquette but always happens nonetheless). Even though it was just a small section of trail, if sections such as this weren't fixed then there would be severe trail erosion throughout the high peaks. Our task was to harden the 15 foot long muddy section using a combination of rocks, cobblestones, and dirt that we had to collect from the bank of the adjacent stream bed. We had a team of 7 volunteers, plus an enthusiastic crew leader, to complete the task. Our team ranged in age from teenagers to grandparents and had an instant camaraderie that made the hard work fun. We wasted no time in finding the quickest way to get rocks from the stream to the trail using an assembly line. We started by collecting basketball-size rocks to line the sides of the trail and worked well together prying them out of the stream, rolling them up the steep bank, and carrying them down the trail 30 feet to the muddy spot. Next we used buckets to collect golfball-size rocks, taking turns hauling the heavy buckets down the trail and dumping them into the mud. After that we needed a lunch break, so we walked the short distance to the old dam and ate our lunch while admiring the slides on Wright Peak. After lunch we collected more small rocks, and then used shovels to collect cobble and dirt to lay on top of the small rocks. After about 30 buckets of cobble we had finally filled in the entire muddy section, and our work was nearly done. Our final step was to collect brush from the woods to hide the herd path that had formed around the muddy section, so that hikers would stay on the trail. When we were finished you would never know there was a herd path there, and our small but significant section on one of the busiest trails in the Adirondacks was complete.

Even though the work was tough, there wasn't a single minute where I wasn't thrilled to be doing it. As we worked we all shared stories, mostly about hikes we had done, and by the end of the day we had all made some new friends. It has been my experience that volunteer events such as these are always filled with the most interesting and friendly people, the type of people who re-instill your hope that the world is full of good people. But what really impressed me and filled me with hope was how grateful other hikers were of what we were doing. I was completely amazed that at least 9 out of 10 hikers that passed by us while we were working took the time to thank us for what we were doing, in a very genuine way. I felt like what I was doing was appreciated, important, and that it made a difference, which made it a very rewarding experience.

Heart Lake from Mt. Jo

On our hike back out I think we were all a bit more tired than we thought we'd be, as the 2.1 miles out was a lot harder after all that work, lugging out all our heavy tools in the July-like heat. But there were many rewards to be had at the end of the trail, the first of which was a refreshing swim in Heart Lake. I had jumped into Chapel Pond in Keene Valley the day before, and literally couldn't breathe because the water was so cold, so I expected to take just a quick dip in Heart Lake. But to my surprise Heart Lake was actually warm enough to swim! Our crew leader led us to a "secret" swimming hole along the shore where a submerged rock provides the perfect spot to dive in from, and half our crew enjoyed the water for quite a while. Swimming in the lakes is one of my favorite things about living here, so I couldn't have been happier. After swimming another reward awaited us--food. I have to admit that what really allured us to volunteer for National Trails Day was the promise of free food, live music, and a t-shirt that was to be our reward at the end of the day, and the festivities did not disappoint. The ADK crew threw a fantastic party, with ample BBQ-style food, live bluegrass music, raffle prizes, and, best of all, free beer (donated by Davidson Brothers Brewery in Glens Falls). A wonderful end to a fantastic day.

Even though the perks are what lured us in, at the end of the day I would have volunteered even if there wasn't a big BBQ and a free t-shirt, because the real rewards were in the work itself. The real rewards were the people we got to know, the hikers that were so grateful, and being able to give back to the preserve. It also gave me a much greater understanding of how much work goes into our trails, and a huge amount of appreciation for all the people that keep our trail system in such good shape. While hiking back to the loj I had a much different view of the trial beneath my feet, as I realized just how many "turnpikes" there are like the one we had made, and how much work went into each one. Many of these were probably constructed by the professional trail crew that the Adirondack Mountain Club employs each summer, but I'm sure many of them were made by volunteers like me, because there is far more work to be done to maintain the trails than can be done by one crew. So the best reward of all is having a new view of the trails themselves, and an understanding that it takes a lot of caring people to make those trails possible so that everyone can enjoy the forest preserve. And with that new understanding I plan to continue to be one of those caring people, and look forward to the next National Trails Day.