18 people met at the Richmond Park & Ride and divided into three groups. We spotted cars, then all went to West Bolton Notch.

Upper Duck Brook and LT north to Buchanan

Cleared debris from trail, trimmed branches and new growth in treadway, cleared waterbars and improved drainage in stream crossings, removed downed trees from the trail. The trail was unusually dry and there was no snow, just one five-pound chunk of ice. There were blowdowns and broken trees on all three trails (upper Duck Brook, Long Trail, Buchanan spur). I used the chainsaw over a dozen times. Future Maintenance Required: A viewpoint between the height of land on the ridge north of the Duck Brook junction and the Buchanan access trail has become overgrown and its sign is missing. We cleared the spur trail and some of the trees blocking the view, but some larger trees need to be taken down to restore the view.

Participants: Paul Beliveau, Mike Arthur, Dan Dickinson, Ian Pylvainen, Laura Place, Nancy McClellan.

Upper Duck Brook and LT south to Rt 2

Our group of 6 doing the LT down from the Duck Brook trail finished at Rte 2 around 3:00. There were more blow downs on that section of the trail than I’ve ever encountered before and I used the chain saw about 10 times including on one tree hanging over the trail that was the full length of the bar and then some. I went through 2 fuel fills of the chainsaw tank but still had some left over in the refill bottle.

Participants: John Rankin, Hana Behn, Catherine Ott, Kristin Dearborn, Jonathan Sands, Scott Albertson (leader).

Lower Duck Brook to Jonesville

Removed blowdowns, clipped branches and some brush, cleared water bars. Cleared about 7 blowdowns with chainsaw. Most could be stepped over. David notched out one log as it made for a good water bar, but it was a big step without the notch. We did leave a couple blowdowns that could be stepped over as we were running low on fuel. Going back for them is not needed. We placed a few rocks in muddy areas or placed logs as make shift puncheon. These were short sections of trail. A couple brooks had become clogged below trail crossings which had caused swampy spots. These were cleared of debris to dry them out. Trails conditions were dry overall.

Participants: Tim Welsh, Adrienne Goggin, Rob Gordon, Ted Albers, Jonathan Breen, and David Hathaway.