We met at 8:30 at the Richmond park & ride for the first Burlington section spring trail work trip of 2026 under drizzly but clearing skies, and split into three groups.

Long Trail, Route 2 to Stimson Mt

Clipping by Janet & Brandon, ditching by Peter and 2 blowdowns using the chainsaw. Trail was in pretty good shape. A set of rotten log steps needs replacing , probably dating from the LT relocation. A great volunteer effort and several new folks too . We all had a great time and the initial drizzle stopped and the sun even came out . Imagine that for our work day !!!

Work crew: Pete Saile (leader & chain sawyer), Janet Wilson, Brandon Daniels, and Peter Evan Smith.

Long Trail Duck Brook to Stimson Mt.

Removed 3 blowdowns with chain saw – one climb over, one step over, and one walk under. Clipped trail and cleared water bars. Sign at the Duck Brook Trail / Bolton Notch Rd has rotted around the nails and fallen off the tree. See picture. Needs replacement or could be reattached with new screw/nail holes for a short term fix. Carried out and disposed of an old rotted blank “birdhouse” info sign that had fallen off just north of the climbing cliffs near the Bolton Notch Rd/Rt 2 junction.

Work crew: Scott Albertson (leader & chain sawyer), Tim Welsh, Rachel Frascella, Wil Musselman, and Dan Dickinson.

Duck Brook, Bolton Notch Road to LT & Long Trail, Duck Brook to Buchanan

Cleared blowdowns with the chainsaw at 9 locations, clipped, cleared waterbars and improved drainage. There was one complex snarl of two downed spruce and hemlock, some smaller sumac (I think), and a large branch on an almost dead birch hanging over a short climb. We tried pulling it down, but it was too firmly attached, and way to high to go up and cut. I considered felling the birch, but it was sticking out over a drop and I couldn’t get a good stance and escape route to do so safely. So we cleared the downed stuff, carefully clipped stuff hanging over the trail, and left it. Other blowdowns were simple by comparison. Ira Powsner (Burlington section shelters co-chair) removed two big mouse nests from Buchanan. Otherwise he found everything there in good shape. Although it was raining lightly earlier in the morning, it let up for us to work (unlike last year), and was sunny by the time we rached Buchanan and had lunch. The trail was generally pretty dry for this time of year, and we saw no residual snow in the locations where we usually do. We encountered a few vernal pools which were smaller than usual, but still had egg masses from wood frogs and eastern spotted salamander (identification thanks to Ira Powsner, until recently a herpetologist at the Leahy Echo Center). Wildflowers seen included Trout lily, Purple trillium, Yellow violets, Spring beauty, Dutch’s breeches, and Early Blue Cohosh. Also saw several patches of Ramps and of False Hellebore, and of course a lot of emerging ferns.

Work crew: David Hathaway (leader & chain sawyer), Ira Powsner, Mike Arthur, Mark Koob