A Hitch At Home

With the first hitch of the season under my belt I feel confident and amped up for the coming months, both the service to be done and the time around my new home. For the first hitch my crew and I focused our efforts on clearing corridors and removing blowdowns throughout the Kenneth Dubuque State Forest trail system. Conveniently this forest is also where SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps is based out of. Through hiking and clearing the trails that have surrounded me for the past two months I was able to see just how beautiful and diverse the place where I live is. A calming brook, the mellow grades on the Gould Meadow Trail, the steep grades on the Moody Spring Trail and all the wildlife in between have become what I look forward to visiting on the weekend. Perhaps my favorite part of discovering these gems around home is that through my crew’s work, other people will have the opportunity to connect with this gorgeous piece of nature as well. It is no secret that winters in New England can be quite harsh. The trails that we cleared had gone through a few of these winters since being cleared last and it wasn’t hard to tell that they had felt all that winter has to offer. Trees downed across the trail in packs, other trees growing across the trail, and shoulder width clearings where the typical state of these trails when my crew first started. After our week working in the forest, however, these trails are now defined and inviting to all those willing to make the hike and truly connect.