June 6, 2026: National Trails Day on Mount Kearsarge

Six people gathered in Winslow State Park at the base of Mount Kearsarge. Three who signed up via Nature Groupie attended plus three Cardigan Highlanders. We split into teams of three.  Dubbing themselves the uphill team and the downhill team, they took their tools and hiked up the Winslow Trail to the worksites.

The  two teams hiked together to the midpoint of the trail where they split up to perform their assignments. Team Leader Scott submitted the following report for the Uphill team:

Bidding Trailmaster Craig, Ferd, and Roy adieu, the remainder of the day’s crew, Ben and his four-legged friend Hank, Don, and Team Leader Scott headed up the trail with the primary purpose of creating barricades to block “bootleg” or unauthorized trails. Many of these “bootleg” trails are created by unprepared shoulder-season hikers attempting to avoid icy areas.  While that is in some ways understandable, the resulting bootleg bypass routes become more obvious over time as hikers use them.  However, these bypass routes don’t benefit from the features we typically install to create optimal drainage and limit erosion, including water bars and rock steps.  The barricades we install help keep hiker traffic on the official maintained trail that is built to accommodate heavy use.

Most of the Winslow Trail sections needing barricades were above the trail’s halfway point, where it starts to steeply ascend.  To build the barricades we use fallen dead trees and branches, and assemble them into forms that we hope provides an obvious deterrent to using the bypass routes.  The drawback to creating barricades of this type is that they don’t typically endure for more than a season—and need to be rebuilt at regular intervals.

Beyond installing barricades, we patrolled the trail to the summit, where a dropping cloud ceiling limited the view.  We cleaned the few drains above the halfway point, and installed two directional arrows at a corner just below the rocky ledge that provides the Winslow Trail’s first viewpoint.  The arrows will help guide hikers around a gullied area that requires very long legs and/or elite high-jumping skills to traverse.  We also noted that many of the trail’s red blazes need refreshing—another item to add to this year’s task list.

Many thanks to Ben and Don for their outstanding work and good humor, and as always we appreciate honorary crew member Hank’s ambassadorial efforts on behalf of the Cardigan Highlanders.

Meanwhile , Trailmaster Craig submitted this report about the doings of the downhill team on the lower half of the trail:

The downhill team raked /re-dug 18 drains, added a rock step, and a stone to lengthen an old
waterbar, trimmed branches in the few places where the trail was too narrow.  We also discussed the dynamics of hiker and water on forest soils aka erosion control and why it is so necessary. We turned around in time to descend to our cars, were back by 1500, and were soon followed by the uphill team. A round of Body Armor from the cooler, and everyone went their way. All three new volunteers asked to be on the invite list.  6 crew x 6 hrs = 36 hrs.

We'll continue to invite on Nature Groupie, particularly for our regular 3rd Saturday workdays.

Submitted mostly by Scott MacFaden and Craig Sanborn...
and a bit by Wes Tucker