Week 4

Another great week on the boundary, though rearranged due to some uncooperative weather. The whole crew was very excited about the progress we made this week. The A.T. is divided up into segment maps. The Mahoosucs are on segment maps 161-164. This week, on both the north and south sides of the corridor, we finished segment 161 and are now working on segment 162! Yay!

We spent most of our time this week (due to primarily staying in one crew) on the south/east side of the boundary. We came upon sections that had been monitored by volunteer Paul Chartier, so there was less clearing but still a lot of painting to do. When we were on the north/west side of the boundary, it was again very thick (what we call swimming in spruce/firs) and had very steep terrain making the use of the clearing saw impossible. Thus, work on the north/west side of the boundary was pretty slow.

So, here's week 4 in the Mahoosucs:

A lot of hiking:

A lot of painting:

A lot of signing (Sally's so good she can do both at once!)

A lot of sharpening:

A lot of clearing:

With the Stihl:

With the big guns (that's Ray sheathing his saw after a cut):

A lot of swamping:

A lot of looking for monuments:

A very few moments when Sally stops cracking that whip and lets us rest! (not really, here's Ray taking advantage of lunch break):

A little time for picture taking (here's Ray in his new kilt and one of our more challenging weather days):

A lot of neat stuff we find on the boundary (U.S. Boundary sign completely bleached due to 20 years in the sun):

And, my favorite, a lot of beautiful views and the leaves in color!