As the wren is singing...

A little cooler than yesterday, but another lovely morning! More and more leaves are coming out, more flowers are coming into bloom, and our resident wren is quite pleased about it all!

At 7:30 am, it is 56.5 degrees and rising.
The humidity is 46% and steady.
The barometer is 30.15 inches of mercury and steady under clearing skies.
Due to the low humidity and some expectations of light winds, the fire danger remains HIGH.

NWS Boston's forecast: Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 78. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.

The Cascades are still running, but they're slowing down, so if you want to enjoy the waterfall, come by soon!

We've certainly been seeing plenty of activity out on the trails, including what looked like new babies out on early hikes. The  Mayflies are out (particularly when there is no wind), but otherwise, conditions are great for being out! Enjoy!

Heading into fall

It's clear that we're heading into fall here, as the fire danger has been bouncing up and down this week, even without much rain. The dews are heavier overnight, and the days are not as dry. We've now put the fire danger for today back down to LOW.
The barometer is currently reading 29.35 inches of mercury and steady under somewhat overcast skies. We aren't expecting any rain.
The wood aster are in bloom now (those are the white small star flowers you'll see under trees). They are a native New Englander, so see them and be glad!
At 11:30, it has just hit 70 degrees here with a breeze of about 6 mph.

We're expecting a troop of Clark students through here today. As part of their Outing Club's annual fall start, they run shuttles full of students up to the Cascades Parkland to show them that Worcester is not just urban; it's also full of woodland and open space!

Photo invasion

An adult class of photographers from the Worcester Art Museum went out on snowshoes today. They'd come for the Cascades, but as the Cascades are right now a snowy hill, they instead went over to Cook's Pond. They saw some islands, took some photos by the dam, and returned here for cocoa and cookies by the fire.
Should any of the class have photos to share, we'd welcome them here!

Even wetter

Since midnight, we've gotten 0.35 inches of rain. That's on top of 0.04 inches yesterday, 0.08 inches the day before...should I continue? The stream is up to 3.6 inches and rising this morning, and I'm sure we'll see more water coming over the Cascades as this goes on.
At 10 am, it is 56 degrees and rising.
We're seeing some wind here: 1 mph now
We did have an intrepid father/daughter hiker set go through about 8:30, but otherwise, the trails are deserted.

As we're expecting clear weather tomorrow at 8:30 here at Cascading Waters, we'll be doing another round of sign and timber work. We'll be at it until 11:30, if you'd like to get some lumbering in!

You'd never know this was Worcester

We've got vanloads of Clark University students coming through today. The Outing Club is running their annual hike in the Cascades (my subtitle: "You'd never know you were in Worcester!"). We've thus spent the morning running off maps and baking cookies (oatmeal raisin chocolate chip, a hiker specialty). The third group, each of 15 or more, is just out getting acquainted with the area now.

At 2pm, it is 68 degrees and sunny
We've got about 1 mph of wind, 'though it's been up to 3 this morning.
The barometer is at 29.75 inches and steady
We didn't get enough rain to get the stream back, but we're sure it's coming.

And take it from the Clark students: it's a great day for a hike!

Worcester State class coming through

...and don't you think they're all glad to be outside today, rather than in a classroom? A Landscape class, looking at neighborhoods, taking a walk on the property today.

The stream is at 7.8 inches, still running fast.
The Cascades are rushing.
At 10 am, it has just hit 50 degrees and rising.
Light wind
The fire danger locally remains low, 'though western Mass is creeping into moderate
The barometer is at 29.18 inches and steady

For those of you interested in the development next door, you might want to know that the owners are going before the Planning Board next Wednesday. The meeting starts at 5:30 pm in the Levi Lincoln room at City Hall, and the plan for 125 Olean is 7th on the agenda. They're asking for an extension on their approval for a subdivision, as their current one has expired.

Better walking than riding

And a mom has just discovered what so many have about the upper end of the trail on Cascading Waters; it's easier with an empty stroller than a full one. That kid is walking!

It is a lovely day out again today. I heard a robin singing yesterday morning at the bus stop, and no doubt they will be out again today.

The stream is at 8.4 inches. The Cascade are rushing (and are attracting lots of attention; thanks for the link, Jeff!).

At 9:30 it is just hitting 50 degrees and still rising.
Sunny and cloudless
The barometer is at 29.21 degrees.
Fire danger is LOW

Lovely!

It's a lovely Sunday afternoon out there; we just had a group including at least three dogs, one child in a backpack, and several adults head up the trail. The trails are SLICK, however, as yesterday's melting all froze last night! Proceed with care!
At 2 pm, it is SUNNY and breezy, just hitting 40 degrees.
The barometer is steady at 28.97.
The Cascades are trickling through the snow.

Clark Hiking Photos

Just got some photos from the Clark Outing Club.

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!).

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!

Rainy morning

As of 9:02 a.m. the conditions at the Lodge are as follows:

Overcast, with a light breeze;
63.3 degrees F and steady;
97% humidity and steady;
30.18" of mercury and steady;
0.00" of rain yesterday;
0.16" of rain since midnight; and
The USFS Fire Danger is LOW.

It is a beautiful day for a walk as it is cool and not actively precipitating!

UPDATE from cascadingwaters: as of 5 pm, we have had 0.71 inches of rain since midnight! We have also had several hikers, one jogger, and one bike. Dedication!

Campers!

We just saw the first campers of the season. I didn't catch where they were from: mostly girls, in a van. On seeing me outside, one of them asked, "Do you live here?" When I said I did, she asked, with horror, "Isn't it scary?"
Umm, no, not really. But there's a girl who needs some more time outside!

At 9 am, it was 56.8 degrees and falling (that's unusual)
88% humidity and steady
30.15 inches of mercury and steady
No rain last night (!)
Cascades are still running nicely.

And for those of you who are wondering? The fire danger is LOW.

Traffic on the trail

It's a busy morning at the Cascades trailhead; it looks like everyone is quickly getting out while the skies are relatively clear. Enjoy it while it lasts, as the next storm looks like a doozy.

And not to blow our own horn or anything, but we did get a nice mention in yesterday's 508 by Mike and Brendan.
We've had some trouble posting the past day or so, but we're hoping it's straightened out.

At 9:30 it is 66 degrees and rising.
95% humidity and steady (which is all that rain sitting under the trees)
Barometer is 29.64 inches and steady
Currently it is not raining, 'though I wouldn't say the sun's out, either.
Last night (after midnight) we got no measurable rain, nor was there enough to measure yesterday (hmm...I find that hard to believe. We may need to go back to low-tech on that.) Thursday's total was 0.67 inches.
The stream is up to 4.6 inches.

sun today

At 9 am, it is 59.4 degrees and rising
69% humidity and falling
30.21 inches of mercury and steady

The brook stands at 3.6 inches this morning
Surprisingly slow on the trail this morning...what are you all waiting for?

Fire on the hill

Worry not; it's been taken care of!
This morning started off with some hikers coming to the Lodge to report a smoldering fire on the edge of the Newton Trail (on the way up the hill), accompanied by two cases worth of beer bottles. Fire rake in hand, Colin headed up to deal with it, and he raked it out. We're also now $1.50 the richer in bottle refunds! Seems somebody had a party last night and was more than careless upon leaving .
Thanks, Katy and Iris!
If any of you up on Cataract see cars by the Newton Trailhead, 'though, call it in. Looks like we might have a new party spot, with people who are clueless about fire danger.

At 9 am, it is 69 degrees and rising
41% humidity and steady
30.03 inches of mercury and steady
The brook is down to 3.6 inches
We had some technical difficulties earlier; thus the late posting.

Hikers hiking

Two hikers are coming down the trail as I type this. Nice day out there...unlike the past few, it isn't so hot that you can't stand the idea of moving.
At 9 am, it is 53.2 degrees and rising
39% humidity and steady
Barometer is at 30.39 and rising (very high)
The stream is down to 4.4 inches
The fire danger is high. You may have caught the front page article in today's T&G about the danger of fire. It has been a very dry and warm spring with an early snowmelt. We are not usually having red flag dangers this early in the season, and unless things turn wet, it could be a dangerous summer.

The sun came back!

And it is a lovely afternoon out there right now (we're showing 65 degrees here at 2:30). Last night we got a total of 0.24 inches of rain, which raised the stream back up to 4.8 inches and lowered the fire danger back to LOW.
At 9 am, it is 44 degrees and rising
The humidity is 91% and steady
Pressure is 29.85 inches and steady

We had a group from Mass Audubon come through this morning for a hike up into the Cascades. They came just in time for the clouds to break.