Hike through the Cascades

A few photos from a walk back from West Tatnuck School yesterday...

This first is actually in Cascades West. There's a little corner of Cascades West that you cross when you go from Worcester Public Schools property (which much of that red maple swamp down the hill is) to Cascades Park.

Here's that stream you cross on rocks:


Here's the top of the Cascades

And the shot you're more used to, from Cataract Street.

Sign going up today!

You know you have intrepid volunteers when people show up even when it's 17 degrees! The sign at Cascades West has been brought up the hill and will be going up today.
It is COLD: at 9:30, it is just breaking 20. With the wind, which we're getting about 7 mph of right now, it feels like zero.
Bright and sunny, however.
The Cascades, after the rain earlier this week, continue to run through the ice. If you've never seen them like this, come by! It's really quite lovely.
The fire danger remains NONE (though it is low to the east of us).
If you bundle up and account for the wind, nice day for a hike! The mud that's been plaguing us has frozen!

Busy place!

The new batch of summer interns for Cascades West are here today for their orientation. More about them to come!
We've also got a Worcester State College class meeting here; they're doing a survey of ice damage in the city (they were at God's Acre yesterday, and they're in Cascades Park and Cascades West today).
Will is here (it's his last week) working on signage.
And the DPW trucks are on the street, so we're making one last scramble to get branches out to the street. We've got plenty of downfall that we're just leaving in the forest--it is part of nature, after all--but we do need the trails and the cleared part of the property free of branches. We had a maple lose a limb in yesterday's wind that had been partly broken over the winter. It's still coming down!

At 9 am, it is 68.7 degrees and rising
44% humidity and falling
30.18 inches of mercury and steady under sunny skies
The brook remains at 4 inches even

Trail report in

A hiker stopped by yesterday to let us know that in his travels through Cascades East, Cascades West, and Cascading Waters, he'd only found trail blockage on the switchback section of the Cascades trail heading down slope to Cataract Street; all else had been cleared up.
If anyone's got new or different information, we'd love to hear it!

Rain clearing out today!

We've had a chilly couple of days, but the rain forecasted for today has now moved out and left us with a pleasant afternoon!

Yesterday at 9 am:
38 degrees and steady
76% humidity and falling
30.18 inches of mercury
the stream running with 4.8 inches of water

Today at 9 am:
44 degrees and steady
98% humidity and steady; we had quite a bit of fog this morning, in addition to rain
from midnight to 9, we had 0.04 inches of rain
30.00 inches of mercury
the stream is up to 5 inches

As of 3 pm, the temperature is up to 64 (!) and we've accumulated no more rain.

We are pleased to report that we have a fabulous new Dynamy intern. Will has been working this week in the GWLT office on a sign for Cascades West which will go up along Howard Street (which should, among other things, clarify things for those who think that's all Boyton Park). The sign is routed on both sides, has been polyurethaned, and is being inked in this afternoon. Go, Will!

Platform moving day!

If you've got some muscles to lend and like brownies, the place to be at 5:30 this evening is here at Cascading Waters. Tonight the platforms go up to Cascades West!

The fire danger today is LOW
At 9:30 it is 60 degrees
71% humidity
Barometer steady at 29.68 pounds

Just yesterday's rain pushed the brook up into the wetlands surrounding it down below. The brook goes up and down everyday lately.