ROVING TEAM Number 12 of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) was in town all last week. But you would not have noticed unless you happened to stumble upon this valiant crew of trail wrights on the upper reaches of Paine Mountain, where they labored through rain showers and heat to repair and stabilize a badly eroded section of the Paine Mountain Trail (PMT). Swinging picks and wrestling rocks, covered with sweat and grime, the team of Vermont youth from around the state truly earned their self-chosen title: “The Dirty Dozen”.

The trail remediation project was spearheaded by the Northfield Conservation Commission (NCC) in its effort to improve sustainable recreational use of the trail system in the Municipal Forest. Having identified this section as seriously impaired, the NCC applied for and received a grant of $7100 from the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation to improve the trail. The NCC then contracted with the VYCC to do the work. The trail improvement effort is being coordinated by Northfield Conservation Commissioner and Tree Warden Russ Barrett, who was the principal author of the grant proposal. The project was funded entirely by the State; no Northfield tax revenues were used. In addition to the trail repairs, funds were used to repair the floor of the lean-to at the “hawk watch,” just below the Paine Mt. summit.

Because of the advanced state of erosion, the VYCC’s Dirty Dozen faced a very difficult task. The crew confronted a straight section of trail about 100 yards in length, with a pitch as steep as that of South Main Street at the Municipal Building. The trail had been carved by vehicles and erosion into a boulderstrewn, U-shaped gulley several feet deep in the forest floor. The trail was so impaired that some have affectionately dubbed it “the rock garden”. Because of the gulley’s extreme depth, the standard water bar method for trail stabilization could not be used. (Water bars – dirt dams looking like speed bumps across a trail – redirect water flowing down the pathway into the surrounding woods to prevent trail erosion.) Consequently, the VYCC considered rerouting the section altogether. But ultimately the crew settled upon an alternative remediation technique that would avoid having to move the trail and barricade the eroded section.

To repair the trail, the Dirty Dozen widened the gulley, changing the U-shape to a more rectangular cross-section. Rocks dug out during the widening process were set aside for later use as rip-rap. Dirt loosened during the excavation was moved to one side to create an elevated bench in the floor of the trench. The other half of the trench was then filled with the excavated rocks. The resulting trail is still in a trench below the forest floor, but it is divided in half, with rock rip-rap on one side and a dirt footpath on the other. While not ideal, this strategy forces water coming down the trail onto the rip-rap side, leaving the footpath dry. At the same time, the rip-rap slows the water’s velocity, minimizing its erosive power. At the bottom of the section, the crew dug a large water bar to shunt the flow coming down the rip-rapped channel off into the neighboring forest. As a final measure, the Dozen “re-vegetated’ the trail, dumping leaves collected from the surrounding woods on the path side to lower erosion of the surface dirt. Whew!!!

The trail section remediated by the VYCC’s Dirty Dozen lies between PMT mileposts 1 ? and 1 ?. (The mileposts, placed by the Boy Scouts, are found every quarter mile beginning at the trailhead at the north-east corner of the Cheney Farm meadow. A beautiful trailhead sign, also created by the Boy Scouts, was destroyed by vandals soon after it was installed.) There are several options for an enjoyable hike to see the VYCC’s work: (1) from the Byam Hill Rd. gate, cross the Cheney Farm meadow, and hike along the PMT from its trailhead; or (2) from the end of Kingston Road, climb the class- 4 road to its intersect with the PMT (at approximately PMT mile 1 5/8 ) and continue up the PMT; or (3) from the gate at the end of Forest Road, ascend the class-4 road to its intersection with the PMT (at approximately PMT mile 1 3/8) and continue on up the PMT.

Thanks go to the VYCC “Dirties” who worked on Paine Mountain: Anna Brown (Chester), Amadea Cesari (Chelsea), Katlyn Davis (North Ferrisburg), Vanessa Emery (Crew Leader, Nantucket, MA), Heather Finkle (Randolph), Pete Ginsbury, (Crew Leader, Colchester), Lucas Hall (Stowe), Michael Moghari (Passumpsic), Benjamin Paskiet (Hinesburg), and Jed Snow (Marshfield).

As with much of the Paine Mountain Trail, the repaired section (which switch-backs up Paine Mountain’s west face) was originally part of a multipurpose but primitive forest road system, remnants of which still exist in the Municipal Forest. The system has not been maintained in recent years and has suffered from abuse and neglect. While the NCC is attempting to remediate all the seriously eroded segments of the PMT, ultimately the long-term health of the trail will depend upon the consideration of its users. Until the repaired trail section has settled and compacted. it will be particularly vulnerable to abuse. Trail users please take care! It would be a shame if the VYCC trail crew’s hard work were immediately undone.

The Northfield Conservation Commission is currently developing a proposed plan for management of the Municipal Forest property, including guidelines for sustainable recreational use and maintenance of this valuable Northfield resource. The proposal will be submitted to the Northfield Village Trustees who ultimately set policy for the management of the property. The Conservation Commission welcomes public input during this planning process. Meetings are on the second Wednesday of each month in the Community Room of the Brown Public Library at 6:30 p.m. For more information and a list of NCC members, visit www.northfieldvt conservation.org.