Welcome! The NCTA’s Insight blog is your source for extended coverage and inside information on what’s happening on and around the North Country Trail.
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NCTA Executive Director Bruce Matthews accepts the NPS' Hartzog Award and thanks the volunteers in attendance
At the recent annual conference in Ashland, WI the NCTA was recognized as the National Park Service Midwest Region’s Hartzog Award winner for the Outstanding Volunteer Group category for 2009. We were nominated by Dan Watson who serves as the NPS’ Volunteer Coordinator for the North Country and Ice Age National Scenic Trails. Dan is a very good nomination writer – in addition to the NCTA’s selection, the Ice Age Trail Alliance also won the Regional and National awards in 2008. The NCTA was selected over volunteer groups affiliated with the 23 other Parks in the NPS’ Midwest Region. This prestigious award is named for former NPS Director George Hartzog Jr. who once wrote…
“When a VIP agrees to share his talents, skills and interests with the National Park Service, he is paying us one of the highest compliments possible by offering a most valued possession – his time.”
George B. Hartzog, Jr. made this statement on November 17, 1970 in a letter to all regional directors announcing the
new Volunteers-In-Parks program. Director Hartzog led the National Park Service from 1964 to 1972. During his tenure, 70 sites were added to the National Park System and he championed historic preservation, urban recreation, interpretation and environmental education. Director Hartzog recognized the need to make it easier for citizens to donate, without compensation, their time and talents to the NPS and pushed through legislation creating the Volunteers-In-Parks Program.
After his retirement, George and his wife Helen remembered the VIP program with a generous donation to the National Park Foundation. This fund has been used to support awards that honor the efforts of exceptional volunteers, groups, and park VIP programs.
Award Purpose and Description
The NPS created these awards to honor volunteers’ hard work, draw attention to their vast skills and contributions, and to stimulate development of innovative projects and volunteer involvement. The intent of the awards is to distinguish those individuals or groups who give of their skills, talents, and time beyond the normal call of duty. They are not awarded based solely on length of service.
There are five awards. The Hartzog Volunteer Group Award recognizes contributions by an organized group. Here is what Dan wrote in his NCTA nomination…
“The volunteers of the NCTA are organized across the length of the North Country NST by a series of 37 local trail “Chapters” and ‘Trail Maintaining Affiliates.’ It is this cadre of volunteers who lace up work boots, shoulder supplies and tools, and carry out the real work of putting trail tread on the ground for the enjoyment of the public.
Trail construction and maintenance is accomplished through the NCTA Chapters; each individual project becoming another piece of the overall tapestry of the trail mosaic. It is intriguing to witness how seemingly isolated and unrelated efforts in each Chapter’s annual work plan somehow knit together with every other Chapter’s accomplishments, and little by little, mile by mile, combine to produce the whole. It does not happen by luck or chance, but because the NCTA faces each day with the vision of teamwork and communication toward a common goal. In FY09, the North Country NST saw an additional 20 miles of completed trail receiving official NPS certification, with hundreds of other existing trail miles receiving maintenance attention.
In FY 2009, 784 volunteers tallied a remarkable 59,958 hours of VIP service to the North Country NST. This represents a very impressive increase in volunteer numbers of 18% over FY08, and an equally impressive increase in volunteer hours of 22% over FY 08. Accordingly, these statistics for FY 2009 represent a private sector value of an astounding $1,214,149.50. “
For more information on volunteering on the NCT, visit the NCTA’s website or contact the NCTA.
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Post by Mary Coffin
Join me and other like minded North Country Trail hikers on the NCT in Michigan’s UP and Picture Rocks National Lakeshore ( Lake Superior ), August 8-13, 2011 following the NCTA Conference. We will be camping and day hiking with van support. Contact maryccoffin@gmail.com
Here’s the link:
http://northcountrytrail.org/exout2011.php
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Last week, I attended my first ever NCTA Conference! What an awesome time, and an awesome location! Lynne Nason and all of the amazing volunteers did a wonderful job with all the planning, culminating in a beautiful weekend filled with great activities and workshops. What was perhaps most impressive- Every time I saw Lynne, or Jill DeCator, or any of the other volunteers or NCTA staff- no matter how crazy their schedule or how many directions they were being pulled in- they always had warm, welcoming smiles on their faces. You could feel the family atmosphere as we all rallied around the trail and the NCTA.
While it felt like family, one of my favorite aspects of attending the 2010 NCTA Conference was to see the diversity of our trail family. People attended from all over- guests coming from as far away as Puerto Rico- each carrying her or his unique personal history and lifetime of experiences (some in their 80s and 90s, all the way through those just beginning their life’s journey). The NCTA family is a mosaic- filled with colorful personalities, varied accents (you know?), unique perspectives, fascinating stories, and a plethora of diverse skills and abilities. From my time with the NCTA, I’ve learned to appreciate all of these unique stories, and I’ve learned that the first step to becoming a better communicator is to become a better listener.
One of the excursions during the 2010 NCTA Conference in Ashland, WI involved a boat cruise through the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore!
Sadly, my first NCTA Conference as PA Communications Coordinator was also my last, as my AmeriCorps term of service has now come to an end. (That’s not to say that I won’t be back in the future- just not in my current position!) The last nine months serving the four PA NCTA Chapters and the Davis Hollow Cabin have been a wonderful experience. I have met so many amazing people from each of the chapters, with so many different skills and talents, and I appreciate more than I can express the opportunity to learn from them and be a part of the family.
At the same time, I hope that my time serving the NCTA has set the stage for a new era of NCTA communications. My service through AmeriCorps was a pilot program, both as an experiment for incorporating AmeriCorps volunteers (AmeriCorps is a national service program, like the Peace Corps, but focusing on solving problems and bettering communities in the United States. See the AmeriCorps website for more info!), and as an experiment of having a concentrated communications effort, in this case, at the sate level. I’d like to think it was pretty successful, but you can decide for yourself! Here are a few things I worked on:
In PA, each chapter now has a “Communications Liaison” (CL)- someone dedicated to the chapter’s communications and promotional efforts. This position takes pressure off current leadership, who are already stretched with planning and administrating, and it ensures that someone is always thinking about spreading the word about the trail and all your chapter’s great work and volunteer opportunities.
The CL can send press releases, post events on online forums and social networking sites like Facebook, maintain your chapter’s website, and help take your event planning to the next level so that your chapter can recruit more volunteers and supporters. If you don’t have someone doing this for your chapter, I totally suggest finding someone! If no current members have the time/interest/skill set, look at it as a perfect opportunity to try targeted recruitment in your community or a local university.
We were lucky to have some amazing volunteers step up in PA to become their chapters’ Communications Liaisons (Thank you!! You guys are awesome!), and I wanted to make sure that once I left, they would have plenty of information and suggestions to help them get started in their new roles. I wrote a Chapter Communications Handbook, which is full of tips and inspiration for anyone interested in communications. (If you are interested in getting a copy of the handbook- it will eventually be posted in the chapter resources section of the website, or you can contact the NCTA office if you’d like to have a copy emailed to you sooner!) This handbook is just a seed- meant to grow as the Communications Liaisons grow and find their own paths to better chapter communications.
Beyond working with the Chapter CLs, I was privileged to have the challenge of designing chapter brochures and display boards for the PA chapters and the Davis Hollow Cabin. These materials are meant to be used side by side with the new NCTA brochures and promotional materials- helping the chapters to promote the trail as a whole as well as involvement on the local level. The same basic templates are easily adaptable to any of the other chapters, so if you think your chapter would benefit from a brochure or display board (e.g. the big poster boards you use at promotional booths/tables), contact the NCTA office to see whether the template could work for you!
Communications isn’t a one-shot job. Contrarily, there will always be more people to tell about the trail, and the communications aspect of your chapter will never lose its place, just as trail maintenance will never lose its place. I don’t see that as a negative thing…. although it would sure make our jobs a lot easier, wouldn’t it? But volunteers who become members of the NCTA aren’t the type to do a project and walk away. You understand and value the love, devotion, and and hard work that go into maintaining pristine sections of trail year after year. When you think of your chapter’s communications efforts, try to afford them the same patience and persistence as you do the trail; rather than a frustration, view it as a challenge!
And if the communications piece isn’t for you, that is okay! Look for someone else who has those skills and interests, and let them fill that role in your chapter. Remember the family mosaic of the NCTA, that I was talking about earlier? Learn to appreciate it! (I definitely have!) If you opened a puzzle and found that you had 500 copies of the same puzzle piece, you would probably be pretty disappointed. You need lots of different puzzle pieces, with different shapes and colors, to create a solid, cohesive picture. In the same way, the NCTA needs a diverse collection of volunteers from varied backgrounds and paths in life, who link together as equals to form a strong, effective team.
Make sure you look for diversity (in all kinds of ways), and learn to appreciate what each volunteer brings to the NCTA family mosaic. One might roast the best hot dog and tell a great story, and another might have the perfect personality to network with local business owners. Someone else might have the flair for social networking, YouTube, and multi-media communications. Another member might build a five-star bridge, while another can plan a community hike without missing a single detail. Each of these pieces fit together to make your chapter even stronger.
Learn to listen, learn to open your eyes to see all these unique puzzle pieces in your chapter (and in your community!), and learn to appreciate what each can bring to the table: It might not be the same thing you bring, but that new volunteer might just fill that odd shaped hole in your chapter and make your puzzle more complete and effective than you were before.
Lighthouse outside the AmericInn in Ashland, WI, home of the 2010 NCTA Conference
Thank you to all of the amazing people I’ve met during my time with the NCTA- from the members of the chapters and affiliates in PA, to the NCTA staff, to volunteers and new friends I finally had the opportunity to meet at Conference. Thank you for sharing your incredible skills and knowledge with me; I have learned so much from working with you! Most of all, thank you for sharing your stories! Each of you has inspired me, and you have made a profound difference in your community and for the trail. Thank you for being a piece of the NCTA mosaic, and best wishes as you continue to do wonderful, inspirational things with your lives.
Singing out,
Julie Elkins Watson
PA Communications Coordinator
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Plan to come to Minnesota’s Itasca State Park on Saturday, August 28th for the 4th Annual North Country Hiking Fest. This family-friendly event is sponsored by the Minnesota DNR – Itasca State Park, NCTA’s Itasca Moraine, and NCTA’s Laurentian Lakes Chapters and will feature:
- Morning social time with information and presentations on hiking, wildlife, and the North Country Trail
- Hike to Itasca! A 4.5-mile (or 8 if you want to extend it) guided hike on the North Country Trail from Spider Lake Trail to the South Entrance trailhead and onto Douglas Lodge for those who want to go further. This will be the last hike of the Itasca Moraine Chapter’s thru-hike program. A special prize will be awarded to one lucky hike participant!
- A variety of kids & family activities, including geo-caching 101
- A delicious dinner catered by Douglas Lodge ($7) followed by the awarding of door prizes and North Country Jeopardy
- A wonderful concert by the Holker Family at Forest Inn
Here is the event schedule…
9:30 – 10:15am Social time at Forest Inn — This will be your time to browse North Country Trail info, to talk with trail-builders about volunteer opportunities, or to ask questions about the Trail.
10:15– 11:00am Animals of the North Country presentation by Connie Cox, Itasca Park Lead Naturalist at Forest Inn — This will include time for you to tell your “trail tales” or to ask questions about North Country wildlife.
11:00 – 11:30am Organize for hikes & car shuttles — You should bring the following: a day pack, raingear, good boots, bug spray, water, and your own trail lunch. You may also buy a bag lunch at Douglas Lodge (advance reservation required) or buy one outside the park (Buck Stop – south on US-71 from the south entrance, Lobo’s – east on MN-200 from the north entrance, Junction Café – just north on US-71 from the east entrance; or Bad to the Bone BBQ – east on US-71 from east entrance).
11:30am Depart for South Entrance with car shuttle to Spider Lake trailhead
Noon to 4:30 Afternoon North Country Trail hike — Hike to Itasca! From the Spider Lake Trail to S. Entrance Trailhead on the NCT – about 5 miles. Optional extension: Continue on the NCT to the Ozawindib Trail and on up to Douglas Lodge – adds about 2.8 miles (~8 mi. total).
Noon to 4:30pm Just take a hike! (on your own)
- Hike the Wildlife Safari geo-cache hike (on your own, bring your own GPS unit, pick up an info sheet at the check-in)
- Hike west on the North Country Trail from the South Entrance trailhead (out and back hike as far as you want to go)
- Hike the Dr. Roberts trail (departs from behind from Douglas Lodge, 2 mi. loop)
1:00 to 3:00pm Shorter Afternoon family activities
- Health challenge to Aiton Heights fire tower *Earn an exclusive Royal Order of the Squirrel card. Meet at Douglas Lodge.
- North Country scavenger hike on the self-guided nature trail (on your own)
- Geo-caching 101 exercise around the Douglas Lodge area w/ DNR Staff (Starts promptly at 1pm, limited GPS units on hand, bring your own if you have one, meet at Forest Inn)
3:30 to 4:30 Afternoon hikes
- Nature of the North Country hike (meet at Forest Inn)
- Animal tracks activity & hike (Jr. naturalists, up to 12 years old, meet at Forest Inn)
4:30 to 5:00 Social time with trail mix and drinks available at Forest Inn — Come and relax following your afternoon hike. Snacks and drinks will be available along with information on the North Country Trail, hiking on it, and volunteer opportunities.
5:00 to 6:30pm Cookout dinner at Forest Inn (your choice of buffalo burger, turkey dog, or veggie burger with chips, fruit, veggies) catered by Douglas Lodge and available for purchase for $7. Bring your lawn chairs or blanket to sit outside.
6:00 to 6:30pm Awarding of door prizes & North Country Jeopardy — A special prize will be awarded to a participant from the Itasca Moraine Chapter’s “Thru-hike” program, which will rap up at Hiking Fest. For more information, visit the Itasca Moraine Chapter’s website.
6:30 to 8:00pm The Holker Family concert at Forest Inn — From Remer, the 11-member Holker Family sings a variety of music including classic country, gospel, bluegrass, and folk. For more info, visit the Holker Family website.
For the latest info on the 2010 Hiking Fest, feel free to contact Matthew Davis @ (701) 388-1883 / davis@northcountrytrail.org or contact Itasca State Park at (218) 699-7259.
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The latest issue of the Call of the North, the NCTA’s Minnesota member newsletter is now available for download (Call of the North Summer 2010 issue, PDF 1.2MB). In this issue, you’ll find articles about:
- The upcoming 4th Annual North Country Hiking Fest at Itasca State Park (8/28)
- A recap of the 24 Hours of the Chip
- An invitation for members to join one of the 3 Meetup groups for Minnesota
- The MN-DNR is looking for public comment on an EAW for a NCT development project in Becker County
- The Americorps-NCCC crew’s summer experience on the NCT in Minnesota
- Chapter reports for the STN, LLC, and ITM.
- An update on the ITM Chapter’s “thru hike” program
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North Country Trail enthusiasts are encouraged to contribute public comment on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) that the Minnesota DNR has just completed for the NCT development project in Becker County, MN. The document, figures, and attachments are available online and public comments will be accepted until August 25th.
Here is an excerpt from the DNR’s website…
The proposed project
The North Country Trail Association proposes to build 25.6 miles of new trail and designate 19.3 miles of existing trail and rural road-walk as an extension of the North Country National Scenic Trail (a non-motorized footpath). This section of the trail would begin about six miles west-northwest of Ponsford, Minnesota, in east-central Becker County, and terminate at the city limits of Frazee, Minnesota. The trail connects to a previously designated section of the North Country NST at its northern end and traverses southward, mostly through forested habitat on public and private lands.
Send comments
Written and signed comments on the EAW must be received by Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.
By mail:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Division of Ecological Resources, Box 25
Attn: Ronald Wieland
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4025
Electronically:
Send to Environmentalrev.dnr@state.mn.us. “North Country Trail (Becker) EAW” must be included in the subject line. Include your name and mailing address so that you can be added to the mailing list.
By fax:
Submit signed comment letters by fax to (651) 297-1500.
Questions
Please call (651) 259-5157 if you have questions about this EAW.
If you have questions about the project, feel free to contact Matthew Davis at (701) 388-1883 or via email at davis@northcountrytrail.org. Note: This is the second EAW that the NCTA will have developed with the DNR to satisfy the requirements of state grants that will be used to hire the Conservation Corps of Minnesota/Iowa to construct the trail. The last one (completed in 2008) covered the completion of the NCT in Hubbard and Clearwater Counties and the extension into Becker County.
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The results are in! This Spring, we challenged you to get out on the North Country Trail and take some pictures! Many of you did, submitting entrances in the “People,” “Trail Features,” and “Wildlife” contest categories. Photo submissions ranged in subject from wildflowers to shelter-construction, snakes to mushrooms, waterfalls and boulders to young adventurers hiking along the trail. If you haven’t seen the online photo album yet, check it out!
Nationally known & acclaimed photographer Heather Lahtinen of Weddings by Heather in Western PA graciously served as the judge for our Spring contest. When she’s not busy running her photography business, Heather gives instructional courses and consultations to help local photographers learn the art of photography. To see some of Heather’s work, check out her website at: http://www.weddingsbyheather.com/
Without further ado, here are the winners!
Winner of the “People” category:
Winner of the "People" category: "Into the Abyss" by Tammy Veloski
Winner of the “Trail Features” category:
Winner of the "Trail Features" category: "Rebirth" by Carol Bickel
Carol is hiking the Tour de North Country Trail of PA along with members of the NCTA and the Butler Outdoor Club. Those who attend the Tour, organized by John Stehle (President of the Butler Outdoor Club), venture out every couple of weeks to hike a section of the North Country Trail in PA. Each “stage” of the tour involves hiking a different section, and eventually, those who complete every stage will have hiked the entire PA section of trail!
On a chilly April day, while hiking a stage of the Tour de NCT, Carol took the above photo. Here’s what she had to say:
“We were doing the ten mile section between Henrys Mills and Minister Road in the Allegheny National Forest, Warren County… It was a day so cold we had to put on every layer in our packs to keep from freezing. Snow flurries whipped around our heads as we walked.”
“I spotted something white in the woods a short distance away. I couldn’t really identify it, so took a closer look as the others trudged on. It was interesting that only the hair remained. There were no bones, no skull, no body parts. Only the soft white hair forming a thick carpet with the thin green leaves slicing up through it. It struck me as the complete life cycle.”
Winner of the “Wildlife” category:
Winner of the "Wildlife" category: "All in a Day's Work" by Tammy Veloski
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Those were our category winners! Now, here is our contest Best in Show!
Best in Show:
Best in Show: "The Crowd" by Dan Peden
Dan took his picture, which he named “The Crowd,” during a May hike along the North Country Trail in Butler County, PA. The compelling colors, unique close-to-the-ground perspective, and use of the macro (close-up) photography technique combine to make this shot a true winner!
Next time you are out hiking with your camera, try some of Dan’s techniques:
- Look at your subject from a different perspective: That mushroom might look cool from where you are standing, but it might look even more fascinating if you crouch down and get closer, or take a shot from underneath it!
- Take a bug’s eye view: Get reallllly close with your camera and see how it transforms that common wildflower into a Georgia O’Keeffe!
- Watch for interesting colors & lighting: Dawn and dusk are generally great times for photography, because the lighting and shadows you can capture. Next time you are out during sunrise or sunset, look at the colors of the objects around you. You may look at a tree and think, “it has brown bark and green leaves,” but if you stop and ask yourself “what colors do I really see?”, you may find that the sunset makes the brown bark appear vivid orange, and those green leaves look almost purple!
Congratulations, Dan! Your photo is a reminder to us all that, whether hiking with a camera or not, we should take time to really see and appreciate the world around us! Keep taking pictures, keep hiking on the North Country Trail, and most of all, keep enjoying the outdoors!
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Those were Heather’s picks, but what about yours? We asked you to vote online for your “Fan Favorites” by “liking” your favorite photos in the Photo Contest Album on our North Country Trail Association Facebook page.
Here are your picks for Fan Favorite!
Fan Favorite:
Fan Favorite: "Nature's Artwork" by Tammy Veloski
Tammy, who racked up several awards in this year’s contest, is known by her friends in the Butler Outdoor Club and NCTA as an outdoor enthusiast with a gift for photography! Her pictures tell the stories of the hikes and activities she attends, and are always prominently featured on the Butler Outdoor Club Photo-Journal.
Tammy said of her work:
“All of my pictures are taken because I enjoy sharing the simple things around us. The pictures are my way of preserving those little bits of nature.”
Fan Favorite Runner-up:
Fan Favorite Runner-up: "Six Frogs at Jennings" by Cody Magill
Can you count them? Here’s what Cody had to say about his photograph:
“It was one of those first warm days we had in March and a couple friends and I decided to head up to Jennings and hike around a little. We were walking on the NCT when we heard the sound of frogs ahead. We passed another hiker who told us to check out the small pond ahead…”
“The pond turned out to be a small vernal pool just a few feet off the trail filled to the brim with green frogs that were all croaking as loud as possible! Everywhere you looked, you could see their little heads poking up out of the water and the noise was deafening. It truly was a show!”
“I think my photo says something about the many surprises that await you anytime you step onto the NCT. I have hiked that particular segment many times before, but had never seen the vernal pool until going in the early spring. You can never hike the same trail twice.”
Photo contest winners will receive prizes donated by the Butler Outdoor Club, Moraine Preservation Fund, Clarion Chapter of the NCTA, Butler County Tourism Convention Bureau, and the North Country Trail Association Trail Shop! Thank you to all who donated, participated, and voted, and congratulations to the winners!
Closing thoughts from Cody, one of our winners, who grew up in the area, but only recently discovered that the North Country Trail not only passes through his favorite PA state parks, it also offers him hiking experiences right near his home in Ellwood City, PA:
“So many people complain about there being nothing to do in Western PA, but I beg to differ. There is always plenty to do if you just know where to look. We are fortunate enough to live in an area where the longest National Scenic Trail runs right through our backyards.”
“I first heard about (the North Country Trail) when hiking at McConnell’s Mill, Moraine, and Jennings. Then, I looked on the internet and found several segments near my home in Ellwood City at the Cemex property, Gateway, and the segment near Watt’s Mill and State Gamelands 285, which I now prefer over the trails in state parks. They offer a much more solitary hiking experience.”
“My favorite thing about the NCT would have to be that if offers a forever-changing, world-class hiking experience just a few short miles from home.“
Congratulations again to all of our winners!
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Joseph Bruenjes and Adam Larson were recognized in an Eagle Court of Honor ceremony on July 18th for earning the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honor given by the Boy Scouts of America. Both of these young men completed a project on the North Country Trail working with the Sheyenne River Valley (SRV) Chapter.
Photo of Joseph Bruenjes
Joseph earned the rank of Eagle on April 4, 2008 after assisting the SRV to design, plan, and lead a group in constructing a hiking loop trail around Clausen Springs Lake. He is a junior at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN majoring in Biology Pre-Med. He was recognized at the NCTA’s 2009 annual conference with the “Rising Star” award.
Adam earned the rank of Eagle on November 5, 2009 after assisting the SRV to layout and build the NCT from the town of Fort Ransom to the nearby Fort Ransom State Park. Adam recently graduated from Valley City High School and will be attending Valley City State University to study fisheries and wildlife. He continues to volunteer with the SRV chapter.
Photo of Adam Larson
Our thanks go to these two young men. We hope to continue seeing them (and their friends) on the NCT well into the future!
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Trail maintainer "grafiti"
On July 2nd, Ray Vlasak (Laurentian Lakes Ch. president) received a report from NCT hiker Gabe Tweten that there was a bunch of trees down in the vicinity of DeSoto Lake within Itasca State Park. Here is what Gabe had to say…
“I’m not sure if park staff or the trail association maintain the trail within the park, but west of Hernando DeSoto Lake a tornado must have went through a couple of weeks ago and there are hundreds of trees down across the trail. I also let park staff know.”
On July 15th, Ray and Gary Narum made an inspection/maintenance trip and found that the report was accurate and cleared some of the trees in from the Gartner Farm trailhead. They realized the scope of the problem and soon after enlisted the assistance of the Park staff.
On July 21st, a workday was scheduled and I joined four Laurentian Lakes chapter members (Chuck Church, Gary Narum, Ray Vlasak, and Arvan Matheny) and two State Park employees (LeRoy (Buddy) Merschman and Ross Thompson). Since this is the trail section that my wife and I have adopted, I felt compelled to assist the Chapter folks and decided it would be fun to chronicle the adventure too.
Map showing location of Itasca Park blowdowns
Ray’s plan was to park at the newly-installed parking area off of St. Hwy 113, load the chainsaws and gear into two canoes, portage them in ¼ mile into DeSoto Lake, paddle across the lake to the portage trail between DeSoto and Morrison Lake, and then work in both directions. This route is one that Ray and Gary had done many times on fishing trips to DeSoto and Morrison Lakes.
Gary and I made a quick sweep heading east from the portage trail to the junction of the NCT and the Nicollet Trail and we luckily didn’t find any trees down across the trail. The others headed west and quickly found some trees to work on.
Additionally, two Itasca Park maintenance staff people drove a Gator from the Gartner Farm trailhead into Morrison Lake and worked heading east clearing trees with the goal of meeting up with our crew (heading west) by 10am.
Arvan and Gary loading the two canoes onto Ray's portage cart
The mosquitoes, deer flies, and horse flies were definitely making their presence known on our walk from the trailhead to the Lake.
Chuck, Gary, and Arvan unload the canoes from the portage cart at the put-in.
Getting ready to launch the canoes
You can see all the chainsaw gear (4 chainsaws, gas, bar oil, chaps, helmets, First Aid kit, day packs) in the canoe on the left. Yes, that is a fishing pole in the canoe on the right. Hey, this is northern Minnesota after all!
Gary and Ray launching their canoe into DeSoto Lake. The Park campsite is located on the high bank on the far shore of the lake on the far right.
Taking the canoes out at the far side of DeSoto Lake at the portage trail (which intersects the NCT about ¼ mile west of the Park campsite on DeSoto Lake). The canoes were left at the portage trail during the work.
One of the first blowdowns was a big white pine at the west end of a switchback relocation completed during the Trail School held as part of the 2007 NCTA Annual Conference in Bemidji, MN.
Another large white pine across the trail being worked on by Ray and Chuck. Do you notice they’re wearing all the required PPE?
After the removal of the white pine the trail is again open!
Working on this large red pine took a while…
...because there were so many branches to cut and swamp. We couldn’t help but think about how hardy the early loggers were who cut trees like these using axes and crosscut saws all day, all winter long
- Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete blowdown and future hikers will be able to enjoy the old-growth pines along the NCT.
Thanks to the LLC volunteers and the State Park employees for helping to make the NCT passable again through fabulous Itasca State Park.
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