Muir Meadows celebrations!

This Thursday at 11 am, join Lieutenant Governor Murray, Secretary of the Environment Sullivan, and many others for a brief ceremony celebrating the preservation of Muir Meadows! You can find it at 205 Pleasant Street, which is just over the Paxton line. Plenty of parking at Howe's Farm Stand, should you need it.

For those wishing a rather more strenuous celebration, join GWLT staff on Saturday morning at 8:30 on a hike from Cook's Pond all the way to Southwick Pond in Leicester (which, thanks to Muir Meadows, is now that much more on preserved land!). This will take you through Holden and Paxton along with way; it is almost entirely UPHILL! Not for the weak of heart (or knees!). Call or email Mary (mary at gwlt.org) for more details.

A nice day for a hike!

The trail conditions at 8:30am are as follows
The temperature is 75.6 F and steady.
The humidity is 73% and steady.
The pressure is 29.18 and steady.
The brook level is unreadable, though there is still water.
The fire danger is LOW!

Cooler and clear

Lovely day for a hike out there today! If you're looking for one to join, the Greater Worcester Land Trust will be continuing their Asian longhorned beetle hunt today at the Nick's Woods property. Join them at noon at on Smith Lane, off Holden Street in Worcester. Bring your binoculars!

At 10 am, it is 72.3 degrees and rising.
29.26 inches of mercury and steady under clear blue skies
41% humidity and steady
1 mph of wind
The stream remains below measurable.

Where is spring?

We went out for a hike this morning with that question in mind, and we came up with two signs of spring. The first is the amount of activity out in the forest: there just are more birds around (in particular) being busy than there are in winter. We heard two woodpeckers (caught sight of one, a little black-capped guy), and saw plenty of busy chickadees and such.

The second sign is this:
That's the Cascades this morning.

At 9 am, it is 30 degrees and rising.
Humidity of 44% and falling
Barometer is at 30.25 inches and steady under clear and sunny skies
The brook is running at 5 inches even.

A hike up the steep section of the Cascades trail and then on over the Newton trail today shows that we need to get up there with a bow saw; there's definitely a bit of clearing to be done on the slope, and then a whole section of tree across the Newton Trail. In the meantime, try to go over or through the trees rather than around them, as the bigger the trail gets, the worse the erosion.

Get out and move!

We took a short hike on the Holden Trail this morning. We ran into two dogs (and an owner) out for a hike in the sun, as well. It looks as though the Newton Trail has already seen plenty of traffic today (two and four footed) this morning. The woodpeckers were out (we only saw black-capped ones), as were sparrows. As long as you keep moving, you can stay fairly warm, 'though it make take awhile to feel your feet again!

At 9: 30 am (post hike) it is 21 degrees and rising
53% humidity and falling
Barometer is 29.8 inches of mercury and steady under bright clear skies
Fire danger is LOW
The brook continues to run under the snow, 'though it's only visible in spots.

The mourning doves are continuing to hang around. If anyone has any notions of why we're seeing them now, please weigh in. We'd love to know.

Rain is moving out, the brook is running

Nice day to see the Cascades in action!
At 9 am, it is 61 degrees and steady.
98% humidity
29.85 inches of mercury and rising
Since midnight, we have had .16 inches of rain. Yesterday, we had 0.04 inches.

Yesterday, the Clark University Outing Club braved the chance of rain to go for a hike. They took the Cascades trail to the Silver Spring Trail to the Meadow Ridge Trail and back around the circle.

Kudos to Clark for getting the students out into Worcester's woods! You can find the rest of their pictures here.

Hike report

At 8:06 am, it was 65 degrees and steady
97% humidity and steady
Barometer steady at 29.88 inches and a bit overcast

A hike this morning up the Holden Trail end of the Cascades Trail revealed that someone's been clearing it back a bit. (Junior Ranger question: "When are we cleaning up this property?" Cascades East was a private dump for years; let's just say it isn't high on anyone's list!) Japanese knotweed looking sadly healthy in its one clearing (at least it's only one!). No signs over ALB in maples we inspected (hooray!) New signs along Silver Spring, Cascades, and Newton trails are looking great. Checked out the West Tatnuck School spur trail. Took the unmarked trail off of the Newton trail to come out on Navasota. Gentleman we ran into along there reported four deer in their yesterday.

It isn't on the property, but we did find a huge quanity of turkey feathers along Olean Street between Dawson Road and the Holden/Cascades junction. Not much turkey, though.

Heart Association Hike photos

A word before the hike
In the Lodge clearing
Ginger takes a water break

Hike at noon today!

No rain yet today, but the skies promise some later.
At 10:30, it is 61 degrees
98% humidity
Bartometer holding steady so far

The Heart Association is holding a hike at noon here today. If you're free, come join us!