OutdoorsVT 4-10-09

Avoid wet trails through Memorial Day

It’s that wonderful time of the year again. Spring is finally coming to Vermont.

The snow is largely gone, temperatures are finally beginning to turn seasonal and there is green beginning to show.

Unfortunately, while the temperatures often provide great hiking weather this time of the year, the ground often isn’t ready.

Mud season is a time of the year when hikers and bikers are itching to set boot or tire to trail, yet the trails fight back with mud.

The Green Mountain Club is asking hikers to refrain from hitting the trails that are muddy until they firm up, usually by Memorial Day weekend.

Staying off muddy trails will protect fragile areas and prevent erosion.

The Green Mountain Club and trail volunteers work throughout the warmer months to repair trail damage as well as perform preventative maintenance.

Hiking when the trails are muddy can set back efforts, causing more damage and negating previous work.

And the higher elevations are where the trails will remain muddy the longest. It’s possible to start out on a dry trail that quickly becomes a mud bog.

Some hikers will try to skirt muddy areas by walking on the vegetation on either side, causing the hole to widen and increase the size of the problem.

Fortunately, there are plenty of lower-elevation hikes that offer early-season hiking opportunities ranging from dirt roads to recreation paths.

A list of possible hikes can be found on the Green Mountain Club’s Web site at http://www.greenmountainclub.org/.

Check with the Vermont State Parks, the nearest U.S. Forest Service ranger district office or the local municipality for suggestions and warnings about trails under each jurisdiction.

Some areas should be avoided, including Camel’s Hump, Mount Mansfield, Stratton Mountain, Killington Peak, Jay Peak, and Lincoln Ridge from Mount Ellen to the Appalachian Gap.

Also avoid high-elevation conifer forests, sticking to hardwood forests at lower elevations and south-facing slopes will dry sooner than northern exposures.


Pine Hill Park
The Pine Hill Park folks are back at it with a slate of work days to improve the trails.

The first public work day is set for 9 a.m. Sunday, April 26. Work will focus on the front entrance area and back to Elephant Rock.

Pack some cookies to share if you’d like and organizers say chocolate bribes might be available for those who show up.

The second work day is set for 9 a.m. May 16 with the focus on hauling in lumber for bridge projects followed by trail work on Lonely Rock and Strong Angel trails.


ATV club grant
The Birdseye Mountain ATV Club has announced it has received a $10,000 trail grant from the Polaris TRAILS Committee of Polaris Industries.

The grant will be used to improve Trail No. 2 up to Betsy’s Balcony and build a new trail across the top of the Birdseye Mountain ridge towards the Dome.

The new trail will be called “Polaris Run.”

The ATV club hopes to have Polaris Run ready by July 18.


Half marathon
A new half marathon is set for April 26.

The Middlebury Maple Run — The Sweetest Half is scheduled to kick off at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 26, from Porter Medical Center.

The USA Track & Field-certified course will feature traffic control and water stations until 12:30 p.m., after which runners continue at their own risk.

Runners registered by April 15th will get a free T-shirt.

The race will award the first-place male and female finisher in open and master divisions, as well as three places in six age groups.

A pre-race pasta buffet will be held 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. the previous night and registration and packet pickup is at 6 to 8 p.m. The cost for the buffet is $12.99.

For more information, log on to http://www.addisoncounty.com/ and click on the link at the bottom, right part of the screen, or call 388-7951, ext. 2.


Floyd Landis
The 2009 Tour of the Battenkill will be held April 18-19 with one high-profile rider scheduled to compete.

Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France only to be stripped of the title after testing positive for a banned substance, is set to compete with Team OUCH out of Oakland, Calif., after sitting out his two-year ban and having hip-resurfacing surgery.

In all, 22 professional teams are scheduled to compete in the professional invitational event. Dubbed “America’s Queen of the Classics,” the Tour of the Battenkill boasts a 124-mile course with 16 dirt sections beginning in Cambridge, N.Y.

In all, more than 2,000 racers are expected for the two-day event, which organizers claim makes it the largest road cycling race in the United States.

For more information, log on to http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.