Chilly and overcast

At 9am, it is overcast and chilly.
54 degrees and some wind
Barometer is at 28.94 inches and steady

Let's be careful on the trails out there today, folks, okay?

Medical Update

The mountain biker dude is going to be fine.
He will be off the bike for a bit, but is looking forward to hiking and then snowshoeing in the interim.

All is well that ends well, and while it isn't nearly over as yet for him, the path to recovery is clear.

Note to self: Check your toe clips, and if they aren't behaving well, replace them.

In Case You Ever Wonder Why We're Here...

this afternoon we had a biker arrive at our front door, not looking too good and holding onto his arm. He was afraid he'd broken it. We brought him in, got him sitting down, and decided he hadn't broken it, but that his elbow wasn't so good. Got him something to drink, and eventually put him on the couch, lest he faint.
He and Colin (bike in the back) went off to the ER shortly thereafter. It's now almost three hours later...no word yet.
But, yeah, we do first aid :)

Clark Hiking Photos

Just got some photos from the Clark Outing Club.

Heads up!

It is NUT season in the forest (insert your own hiker joke here), so heads up! If you here something coming down fast through the trees, you're probably under a hickory nut tree and one has just broken loose. Heads up! They hurt if they hit you!
If, on the other hand, you hear more of a pattering noise (like rain), you're under a squirrel who is unshelling a hickory nut. Little pieces come pelting down through the leaves as the squirrel has a snack. Good fun!

At nine am, it is 68 degrees under cloudy skies.
29.41 inches of mercury (rain and possible thunderstorms moving in)
The stream is still at 1/2 inch

Stream is down

The stream this morning is down to 1/2 inch, as low as it's been this year. Looks like it's bound to be back up again by the weekend, as there is rain coming.
At 9 am, it is about 62 degrees
The barometer is at 29.53 inches and steady under overcast skies.

We saw lots of traffic on the trail yesterday; if you want to stay dry, get out today!

Boy Scouts

We had a troop of Boy Scouts (little ones) come through this morning on a hike. They went all the way up to Boynton Park, took the side trail to West Tatnuck School, and enjoyed the playground there.
They also saw a snake.

Lovely Saturday

...and the trail is humming!
(not literally. It is seeing a lot of traffic already today, though!)

At 9 am it is 54 degrees under sunny skies.
The barometer is at 29.41 and steady
It looks to be a great day for a hike. Get out there while you can (if you aren't already wrapped into the myriad of activities available in Worcester this fall!).

Rain coming in

The stream as of this morning is back down to 1.8 inches, but not to fear: more rain is coming!

At 10 am, it is 60 degrees and steady, damp and chilly
We're still recalbrating our outdoor system, so no humidity (but it's damp!).
Barometer is at 29.50 inches and steady under cloudy skies.

A bit of excitement from yesterday: the Cascades map is UP! Some of you might remember the giant map of the Cascades park system up in Boyton park which came down several years ago. It has been fixed up, repainted, updated, and, as of yesterday, put back up in Boyton. More to come up there, but in the meantime, enjoy it! And thanks to those who came out for the United Way Day of Caring to help!

Clark goes hiking

Both yesterday (in the rain) and today (in much nicer weather), we've had groups from Clark University's Outing Club come through on a hike! Yesterday's group did a loop up through the meadow and today's left about a half hour ago.
(And here's a tip: if you're with a group and give us a heads up, not only can you have a genuine welcome from someone from GWLT, there might be cookies. It's worth doing.)

Yesterday we had a total of 0.51 inches of rain, with another 0.04 inches after midnight last night.
Thus, the stream today is up to 3.4 inches, with a good flow over the Cascades.
At 1 pm today, it's 29.09 inches and steady on the barometer.
We appear to need new batteries in the meter outside, so I'm going to declare that it's about 73 degrees and leave it at that!

Good to see so many of you at Canal Fest yesterday!

Rain coming in

Hope you got a chance to enjoy the sun earlier this week...we've got the fall rain moving in now.
At 9 am, it is 53.8 degrees and steady (chilly)
93% humidity and steady
29.59 inches of mercury and steady
The stream is down to 1.2 inches...still a trickle.

On Tuesday night, we were visited by a skunk! It came right up onto the porch. We generally have at least one around, and they're bulking up now for the winter. Keep an eye out around dusk (and keep your dog on a leash; we know at least one neighbor dog that tangled with one!).

Lovely week

And the nice weather continues: cool in the morning, warming up as the day goes along.
The stream is consequently down to 2.2 inches today
At 9 am, it was 62.6 degrees and rising
94% humidity and falling (not yet cool enough for the fog off the pond; we'll get there soon)
29.44 inches of mercury under clear blue skies

All those white flowers you see in the forest now are woodland aster (a native wildflower!). The ones around here are fall-blooming.

Visitor at the stream

Exciting news from the stream check this morning:
The stream stands at 2.8 inches AND
on the edge of the stream, where the brook had formed a pool when in was running high, our junior ranger reports RACCOON prints! "They look like little hands," she says.
We'll try to get out there with a camera later this morning to record it.

UPDATE: it also appears that the raccoon not only found the geocashe, he checked to be sure there wasn't a snack in it, and it ended up disgarded in the brook. Anybody know how to discontinue a geocashe?

More fall

At 9 am, it is 57.9 degrees and rising
73% humidity and falling (there's tip off for fall!)
29.53 inches of mercury and steady
Bright sunny skies
Great day for a hike! In fact it looks like it will be a great day for a hike all week!

We've got a cable guy wandering around over here, as we may just manage to make it off of a dial-up connection this week!