A Damp Start, But It Gets Better

A damp start to the day, but it is going to get better, so hang in there!

The "NED"

Last night I was able to walk the "NED."
The NED is a trail that runs along the north-west line of Green Hill Park from Marsh Street headed south.
What is remarkable about the NED is that it has been reborn.
The ALB cutting in Green Hill Park took out much of the forest cover the trail passed through, and the forestry softened up the ground considerably, as the side of Green Hill Park's slope is full of springs and seeps. The trail is reblazed, and relocated out of wetter areas. The upside of the forest cutting is the expanded views. There are now views of not just Asnebumskit, but also Wachusett Mountain, and South Pack Monadnock, as well as part of the Wapack Range. Not a bad view for in the heart of the City.

WILDFLOWERS UP!

The Trout lily are up, and the some of the flowers are now visible. With any luck they will bloom with last night's and this morning's rains. Trout lily have a yellow flower with red and purple marks in the center of the flower. They will be overlapping with the tail end of the Blood root for a nice wildflower mix!

TED

Ted is alive and well on the AT and has been reporting in! tedatgwlt.blogspot.com

FARM NEWS (OR LACK THERE OF)

And I knew I should be hesitant about mentioning a potential closing in yesterday's post, and sure enough, one of the critical pieces of the documentation needed was trapped in the mail truck until 2:45 p.m. yesterday, and so the closing was delayed until this morning. Please let it close today!

CHARLTON

Yesterday also took the Trust out to Charlton, MA.
Yes, you read that right. Charlton.
You see the Trust covers "Greater" Worcester, and generally speaking that tends to extend to about a two town ring around the City, and that does include Charlton.
HOWEVER, we generally also defer to the local town land trust, and Charlton has one, the Charlton Heritage Preservation Trust.
Only, this time there was critical habitat that needed someone to step in, and the project wasn't doable for our friends at the CHPT, and we were invited to take a crack at it.
Well, this adventure starts back in the mists of 2007 or so, and the project is part preservation and part development, and the development part is getting close to happening, so we were doing a prior conditions walkthrough with a GPS and a digital camera.
Even though there will be some 12 plus acres set aside as preserved land, some of it important State listed habitat, it can be a little hard to walk the site and look over the areas that will soon become cleared, regraded, and paved, all as part of a new neighborhood.
The important part is to focus on what will be left untouched, the habitat that will be preserved, and the forest that will enrich the lives of the families that will soon live here.


Trailhead Conditions as of 7:30 a.m. at Cascading Waters (elev. 630'):

Temperature is 43.3 degrees F and steady;
Humidity is 83% and steady;
Pressure is 29.59" of Hg and rising;
Wind is stirring, but no reading;
Cloudy skies;
Cascades are flowing;
Cascades brook is flowing in both channels;
USFS Fire Danger Class is MODERATE.


National Weather Service Forecast:

A slight chance of showers before 9am.
Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 56.
North wind 11 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%