Winter arriving in the Whites

The snows have fallen here at Pinkham, so I suppose that winter is officially on. When I arrived 6 months ago, I thought that Alex was exaggerating by saying that winter was barely on its way out. Alas, I got to sample winter on either end of my stint at the AMC.

Thanks to everyone for a great season on the trails again this year. We are well into the planning and scheming for the 2009 season, and should have Volunteer Vacations info posted on the web around Thanksgiving. Tee-shirt design contest soon to follow!

Make sure you get outside this winter, and try to stay warm. And keep your stick on the ice.
-Kelsey

AMC Acadia Trail Crew - Week # 3

Photo by: Al Seppa

Our fine crew picked the right time to report for trail crew duty – just after 8 inches of rain from the hurricanes was dumped on Mt. Desert Island. Otherwise we enjoyed excellent weather. We established our home base at AMC’s Camp Echo on Echo Lake. Actually the only thing to establish was deciding whether to sleep with the mattress on the floor or on the steel bed-springy thing in the canvas tents. Otherwise the closed camp was ours for the stay. Excellent meals were prepared in the kitchen/dining hall, with a little fireplace ambiance happening. Elsewhere in the camp one could take a sunfish boat out for a sail, or try a kayak. Some tested the water for swimming. Nick, our AMC leader, also proved there were fish in the lake, landing a huge one from the dock (standard fish story exaggerations apply). Later in the evening, one could find the library a cozy spot with its fireplace providing a little heat. As in week 1, the showers were still hot.

Photo by: Nick Scott

Eight hardy trail workers led by Nick spent 3 workdays reclaiming a long-lost trail from Bar Harbor to Schooner Head and Great Head. This trail, on National Park land, is being constructed to ADA accessibility standards. Using traditional trail tools we grubbed out organic material and widened the trail to standards. The bonus here was the opportunity to play with some gasoline-powered equipment. The first was a walk-behind, rudder-tracked Canycom material hauler (think wheelbarrow on steroids). It was quite useful for hauling waste material out to the road for pickup, or hauling a truckload of CRM uphill for the trail surface. Sure, you could use a wheelbarrow, but the Canycom was whole lot easier, faster, and more fun. (Yeah we still used wheelbarrows too.)

What’s CRM you ask? It’s “carriage road mix” – a mixture of clay, sand, stone dust and particles especially designed for use on the carriage roads of Mt. Desert Island. After the CRM was spread out and leveled, the other power tool was put to use. It was the plate compacter, which is basically a motor on a heavy steel plate that vibrates to compact the CRM to a smooth, hardened trail surface. I daresay we left one fine, professional-looking trail surface. We had a sweet lunch spot at Schooner Head, sitting on the cliffs overlooking Frenchman Bay. From there we could watch lobstermen tend to their lobster pots, as well as watch Egg Rock lighthouse look like, well, a lighthouse.

Photo by: Nick Scott

We spent a day on the Dorr Mtn. trail moving a couple of tons of quarried granite for the National Park Service crew that was building steps on the trail. Here we used two high lines to lift the granite stones from the quarry site to another spot where a third high line was set up to transfer the stones to the trail. It’s certainly the easiest and least damaging way to move rock across the terrain. The NPS crew demonstrated how the granite rock was split using an electric rock drill to drill holes for the wedges and feathers to split the rock. Our own Joe tapped the wedges with a hammer to split the rock. A grand view of Bar Harbor was provided for our lunchtime viewing.

Photo by: Stephen Klauck

We capped off one work day with a side trip to Sand beach. It’s just a great, picturesque spot. There, the hardiest tested the water to confirm it’s cold. The area offers a lot to do on the off day. From hiking to the summits with awesome views of ocean, islands and land , to bicycling the carriage roads, kayaking the surrounding waters, or just plain taking in the shops of Bar Harbor and the other quaint towns of Mt. Desert Island. Friday evening’s dinner was a chicken barbecue at Seawall picnic area. This spot had beautiful views of the ocean, the Cranberry Islands and the Islands mountains. The trails brochure mentioned a lobster dinner. You betcha. We picked up our lobster right from the dock at Beals Lobster Pier in Southwest Harbor. It doesn’t get any better than that. There was even some interesting lobster parts trading going on at dinner too. What a great place to spend a week.


-Stephen Klauck

AMC Acadia Crew - Week #1- September 2008

Photo by: Tony Shu

Six women, three men all under the able and competent leadership of Ali, plus wild blueberries the first day, produced 250 feet a new handicapped trail on days 2, 3 and 4.

Monday was Labor Day, but there was no rest for the AMC crew working in Acadia National Park. While the Park Service did have a well earned day-off the “AMC Crew” did drainage work, clipping and brushing back the trail on Beech Mountain which is located on the west side of the park. The clipping did not present a hardship since most of the vegetation was wild blueberry and the berries where at their peak of sweetness.

Moving on to days 2, 3 and 4. The Park Service is in the process of renovating an early 1900’s path as an ADA trail to Schooner Point. In the section we were assigned the old trail did not meet the ADA specifications for grade and had to be lengthened through the woods. Over 250 feet of trail was grubbed and dug out, and rocks, roots and stumps removed. Finally, the crew wheeled and spread gravel to 250 feet of trail which was then followed by compacting and finishing with sod. A lot of work was accomplished and the crew can be proud of how, in a short time, it came together as a team.

PS – the food was great, the swimming wonderful, yes Echo Lake our base camp has hot showers and the singing was almost always in tune. A real “feel” good vacation.

Posted by: Bill Brodnitzki (AMC Trails Volunteer Leader)