Sterling Marsh Boardwalk Project is Complete!
See written info. below
Pictures by Brian Buchanan

The Ed Chappel Boardwalk through Sterling Marsh has been completed on 8-13- 11!

A wholehearted THANKS to all who participated in the construction of the boardwalk. These include many people that worked tirelessly through the last three summers. The Spirit of the Woods chapter of the North Country Trail members put in many volunteer hours along with many family and friends. The chapter also has a "Senior Team" (average age is 70 years) that came in during the mid-week. We are grateful for the work from Forest Service personnel, the group from Dunrovin (a Whirlpool retreat center in Baldwin, MI), the 2010 NCTA Volunteer work week crew (4 people), crews from Home Depot, the 2011 American Hiking Association Volunteer Work week crew (11 people). This especially included two young ladies (ages 12 and 14 years old) who carried lumber all day for 3 days.
A special thank you goes to Steve Webster. He is on his 3rd gallon of boundary marking paint. When he sees a problem he just gets whatever material he needs and fixes it. Just during this summer alone, starting the week before the volunteer week till we finished, he worked 23 full days.
Another thank you goes to the group of Calvinist Cadets and their adult leaders, who came on two different days this summer and helped us carry lumber a half mile into the work site. Thank you also to the National Park Service for the original funding each year. Thanks again to the U. S. Forest Service and Spirit of the Woods chapter of the North Country Trail for coming up with funding to complete additional boardwalk, as the need became obvious.
The original plan was to be multi year, I figured 4 to 5. The original distance was to be 1,184 ft. That grew to 2,697 feet as we, the Spirit of the Woods chapter of the NCTA and the Forest Service personnel, continued to monitor the marsh, both in the spring and after heavy rains.
We have more than doubled the original distance and completed it in 3 years. The continued attention to detail during construction by the team leaders and the tremendous effort by all who helped, has made the boardwalk something that we can all be proud of. So let’s show it off to friends and family and maybe it will get more people interested in the North Country trail as it stretches 4600 miles, eighty of the miles in our section that our chapter maintains.
Many of us questioned the need for the wheel chair safety rail, but I truly believe that, based on a few areas of the trail, we repaired during the last two years, and how they have held up, that it will be feasible. With the proper benching and material on the trail, coming from the two- track (Forest Road 6241 off of Jenks Road south of Baldwin, MI) individuals with disabilities will someday be able to enjoy the birds and wild flowers in the spring and the wild game the rest of the year, as we do. Thanks again to all.
Here are the statistics:
The sections of boardwalk have all been numbered on both ends. There are thirteen sections in all.
Below is a list of the sections, their measured length and the numerical sequence they fall, going from south to north. Also included is the year they were constructed. The boardwalk was constructed in 8 ft. segments and has approaches of wood or soil depending on the circumstances. Thus there is some variation in length.
All of the sections have wheelchair safety rails on them. The 2009 construction had the safety rails at 33 inches in width and the standard was 30 inches. In late summer 2009 it was revised to 36 inches. They again were revised to 40 inches in 2010 and all new construction is at 40 inch width.

Yearly Totals

Total Distance 2,697.0 ft.       1295 Volunteer Hours (this year)

There is some re-benching left to be completed in 2011. This is between the sections for ease of movement of the mower and power wagon and someday, possibly wheelchairs.

By Ed Chappel
Spirit of the Woods Chapter Trail Coordinator