Sunday trail head clearing on the NCT!

On Sunday, we jumped in the bread box car to travel around to clear several head heads along the North Country Trail! Starting from our favorite Gardner Rd camping area, we headed east.

Arly made fast work of this leg.
 If you started hiking at Gardner Rd going east,
 this is where the NCT pops out onto Mud Creek Rd.

Next we drove a few hundred yards,
across the East Branch of the Ontonagon.  It was a jungle!

As everywhere - the brush is prolific.

Done! A little whacking and lopping made this area easily visible.

Next we headed to FR 1100 parking lot.

While hiking this summer, we'd noticed this area quite grown-in.

We also cleared the trail entrances, and near the
hiker signs on the road so they can easily be seen.

After getting more fuel (and a nice cold ice cream treat)
 in Mass City, we headed to the parking area off of FH 16.

Lots and lots of pruning was done here before we could whack the
 weeds down.   You really need a pole-saw to get this job done.

Now, there is adequate parking for quite a few cars,
and a turn-around area too.  This took about 3 hours to clear.
Maybe we can camp here this fall!

Next we cleared the crossings along the road.
This is looking to the east.
See Sandy's head among the brush? It was tall!
How do you clear your road crossing without a pole-saw
and a HD whacker?

After - trail and sign (back in the shadows) are easily visible.

Then, the trail heading west.

Done! Hikers no longer have to wade through the brush and grass.

We want to make sure hikers can easily find this beautiful trail.

To celebrate, we stopped in to say hi at the Rousseau Bar!

Me and Rocco greeted all the friendly patrons.
It's never far to the Rousseau Bar...and,
they are Trail Mutt Approved!