New Trails

Very high praise Troy and Sue…I’m glad you enjoyed your ride. Indeed a lot of work went into that trail and I agree some of it is overkill. Someone once called it that Cadillac trail because of the detail that went into building it. The distance is short however the ATV trail at the end of the single track is a great ride as well if you are looking to extend the riding time. All told (including a few short sections of dirt road) there will be over 20km of trail in the area by next year.

Crushing Cramp…your views are echoed many times over amongst the volunteers and workers here in Earltown.

I’m glad these trails are getting some recognition:)

Well 20km of singletrack will be the perfect excuse to go back to Sugar Moon, pig out on pancakes and sausages , and then ride the heck out of 'er. Excellent news!

I rode a part of the Rogart Mountain Trail Sunday Yahoo!
It is very well built.
Looks like we rode only about 3k and ended up on Taylor Rd.
The map shows the trail continuing on for another K with several more proposed
but we didn’t see that section if it is marked.
It would be nice if all the proposed trails were this well built.

The bridges were the besthttp://resource.pedaltrout.com/old_site_images/ebd3a30be01b35f7f305a6914ee5ce2b.jpg

http://resource.pedaltrout.com/old_site_images/dc10af117ca86941d615555dc22e40fc.jpgSkull was in Heaven

Here is the route we took

Not having a map before we rode the trail
Here is the route we took http://resource.pedaltrout.com/old_site_images/12bf8b83d8fc9ffe8e91301e1ae0f375.jpg
loosing the trail at the cottages not knowing that there may be more single track.

I think that’s exactly what we rode, Jim. Beautiful singletrack, eh?

Then we went to Debert and explored more of the trails and roads.

After all the rain both trails were dry.

i truelly enjoyed the trail it was a real treat to ride. can’t wait till it is longer. several questions i have are where does the old atv trail that you cross about 1/2 way thru go? is it a viable option to extend the ride? and when we came out on the gravel road down by the cottages was that the end or if we had turned right would we have found more trail? for the record we turned left and road for a while before turning back.

Darkmyth, try this link for a little description of the trails in the area: http://www.clubtread.com/Routes/Route.aspx?Route=1106

Also, there is a trail building event for the Gully Lake Wilderness Area this coming Saturday. Great way to find out more about this area. here are the details:

**Rustling Leaves Trail Building Day,
**

Saturday, November 7, 2009

At 8:45 meet at Sugar Moon Farm on the Alex MacDonald Road in Earltown. Participants should bring gloves, foot wear that can take being wet, water, drink, snack, and lunch. CE-TS will supply tools. ALL NEW **BUILDERS
**
will get shirts. Anyone wishing to renew or become a member of Cobequid Eco-Trails Society (CE-TS) can pay membership of $10 to Sheila or Bettie. Please, though, fill out the form so we can keep in contact. The $10 fee goes to help pay for maps, our incorporation, and our trails insurance.

All can get coffee or tea compliments of Sugar Moon Farm and we can order our supper for 3:30 or so. Sugar Moon Farm will give all builders a discount on supper.

At roughly 9:20 AM, after the group picture, we will car pool to the Gully Lake Wilderness Area. Our trail building will take place at the far end of Willard Kitchener MacDonald Trail by Meguma Falls and above the falls. It is about a 30 to 40 minute walk in and we will go up the other side of Gully Lake Brook. Some of the work will be to harden trail with rock work and fire raking.

For more information phone 657-3476 or 'norrisw@ns.sympatico.ca’,’’,’’,’’)](mailto:norrisw@ns.sympatico.ca)

The weather so far predicted is of the sunny variety so I hope to see many on Saturday,

Yours truly

Norris Whiston

Also, below I’ve pasted in descriptions of trail building in the Rogart Mountain/Gully Lake area. It’s a lengthy report but reading through te descrpitions may help you to understand where all the trails are in this area.

**Trail Building Report
**

August 5 to October 30, 2009

Wednesday, August 5th 2009, was a two pronged volunteer day. Paul Soliman, Bill Hill, and Norris Whiston of Earltown built in the morning and afternoon this day. Paul and Bill, both of Truro, had been St. John’s Ambulance volunteers the Saturday before at the “Gathering” and were immediately ready to help build the trail. The day was spent at the base of Leattie Brook, just before it turns onto Alex McDonald Road, lopping and this group fire axed a multitude of small stumps. From there, they went to Jane’s Falls, where Paul climbed the falls and went after very much out of reach limbs, that had been blocking the view. Bill and Paul were all smiles throughout the build day and eager to join again.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009, in the late afternoon, Sheila Wilson and Bettie Spence came back to finish the re-routing of part of the Rogart Mountain trail below Jane’s Fall. It is likely that the air was once again filled with the laughter and talk of both of these charming ladies.

Friday August 7th, 2009, volunteers Peter Grant, Norris Whiston, and Maggie-the-famous-hiker-dog, joined Cobequid Trail Consulting workers, Adam Wile, Shannon Breen, Jeff McLaughlin, and their dogs, Aldo, Luke, and Rivers half way along the Taylor Lake trail. Because of the steep hill, this area has deep side sloping and hard wood roots to be covered with stone work. Some of the trees are very old and grand. A must see in their own right. As the trail approaches the head waters of Taylor Lake, it then goes through red spruce and hemlock. Getting higher above the serene lake, the trail gives one a great perspective on the lake and the area.

Sunday, August 9, 2009, and other days, Layton Lynch was in his work shop making our trail markers. 176 red and 152 yellow markers were cut, bent, and drilled for use on the trails. Layton is handy in so many ways and has made a mold to bend markers. Our organization is lucky to have so many experts in various fields.

Friday, August 14, 2009, Peter Grant and Norris Whiston returned to the end of the Taylor Lake portion of the Lakes and Portage Trail, from where the last puncheon boardwalk is to the Taylor Lake Road. Peter and Ken joined CTC’s workers; Kyle Patriquin, Adam Wile, Nick Nightingale, and Mike Patriquin. Mike and Nick are new to the CTC’s crew and Mike in particular is awfully enthusiastic to be participating in this trail building effort. The area we working at this day, had been badly hit by Hurricane Juan and much of the work entailed hauling the debris over and behind fallen soft wood trees.

Friday, August 21, 2009, Bill Hill, Anne Hill, Ken MacKay, and Norris Whiston joined CTC’s Mike Patriquin, Nick Nightingale, Adam Wile, Kyle Patriquin, William McFadyn, and Garnet McLaughlin at Jane’s Fall. Bill had talked his wife into getting into the dirty volunteer work, but she fit in right away with her cheerful nature even as dirt worked its way onto face, hands, and clothes. The turn beside the fall had been very steep and the work here was to build a gentler curved ramp. All set about finding large rock to raise the ramp many feet above the surface ground. Some went above the turn and some went below the turn. In the case of large boulders, a come-along was used with two crow bars. While the CTC crew was very adept at using these tools, William, Ken, Anne, Bill, and Norris also hand carried large sized rock to this area. The last 20 or so centimeters of ramp, was filled with soil. Lunch was a welcomed break from the work, but the finished work made all worthwhile.

Sunday, August 23, 2009 Hurricane Bill struck. Weak trees and large branches came over both Rogart Mountain Trail and Earltown Lakes and Portage Trail. Volunteer cleanup went into action just a few days after.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Norris Whiston ran, inspected, and began a cleanup of Earltown Lakes and Portage Trail (ELP). A few hours later, Layton Lynch joined him and they cleared fallen trees at each end of that trail and took away two loads of the lumber that lay nearby.

Friday, August 28, 2009, Peter Grant and Norris Whiston, with Maggie-the-famous-hiker-dog at their side, cleared Hurricane Bill damage on Rogart Mountain trail. They also removed stumps, and lopped, between Sugar Moon Farm and Andrew’s Plateau. This was Peter and Norris’s second summer session on stump removal in this section, and both were surprised to find the number of newly appearing stumps. Perhaps the heavy foot traffic on Rogart had made more of the stumps appear. They also cleared more of the area in front the sign for #3 Christy and Alex’s Lookoff and at attacked the raspberry bushes at #6 Andrew Plateau. Andrew’s Plateau will be a constant battle for trail workers in the future.

Saturday, September 5, 2009, Garnet McLaughlin, Sheila Wilson, Adam Wile, and Norris Whiston went on the Sandy Cope trail just past Donald’s waterfalls. In the previous week the CTC’s crew had begun work on the northern portion of the Willard Kitchener MacDonald Trail and the Donald’s Falls’ portion of the Sandy Cope Trail. Also coming along today were a number of our dogs: Aldo (Adam’s dog), Mader, Oscar (Garnet’s dogs), and Maggie-the-famous-hiker-dog. As with much of our trail, this area goes through hard woods, but this area has its own distinctive gentle rolls, headwater vernals that take the water north to MacIntosh Lake and River John Bay and south to the Salmon River and the Bay of Fundy, and some rather odd looking fungi. A while after lunch, Sheila, Adam, and Norris left Garnet and his dogs, in appreciated solitude, to prepare trail lines for the next builders.

Monday, September 7, 2009, Bill Hill, Anne Hill, Garnet McLaughlin, Peter Grant, Norris Whiston, and William McFadyn worked on the Sandy Cope Trail in the section crossing the McIntosh Trail. Here there was an understory of small balsam fir trees, fly honeysuckle shrub, and evergreen wood fern needing to be yanked out of the trail. With the always well focused William preparing new trail, the rest of us followed with various tools to thin and then clear the trail.

Friday, September 18, 2009, Peter Grant, Norris Whiston, and Magster came in from the gravel pit to the Sandy Cope Trail in a clockwise direction. The trail very quickly dips down to the Salmon River and a very large sawdust pit left behind by a Bragg Lumber mill operation between 1959 and 1961. After visiting that, Peter and Norris lopped branches here and there and rode a ridge with the Salmon River on one side and many vales on the other side until they joined CTC’s William McFadyn, Shannon Breen, Nick Nightingale who were defining the trail. CTC’s Jeff McLaughlin, Kyle Patriquin, and Adam Wile were ahead of them delineating the trail with saw and axes. With the thin shrub cover in the area, more of the work here is with a lawn rake and the fire axe. The fire axe is used mostly to take out the bulbs of the evergreen wood fern and for side sloping. There is also always rock work to cross brooklets and shore up steep banks.

Friday, September 25, 2009, our volunteer group had a bigger contingent. Our crew this day was Peter Grant, Bill Hill, Anne Hill, Gordon Benjamin, Norris Whiston, and Magster. We were particularly glad to welcome back Gordon, who had worked so many days last year. Along the way we noted how quickly certain orange fungi attached themselves to the cut ends of cleared trees. The group joined William McFadyn and Mike Patriquin on the Sandy Cope Trail about a kilometer before Sandy Cope Lake. The work today was principally raking, lopping, and using the fire axe, but there was one brooklet crossing requiring rock fetching.

Sunday, Sept. 27; Tues., Sept. 29; Tues., Oct. 6; and Fri., Oct. 16, 2009, Layton Lynch, Norris Whiston, and Maggie-the-famous-hiker-dog, joined on Sept 27th by Ruth Mitchell and her dog Rufus, went over the Earltown Lakes and Portage Trail. These missions were about hauling trail posts, nailing trail markers, and clearing lines of sight and branches that would bend into the trail in winter. Ruth was a welcomed sight and was particularly impressive in carrying posts and whacking them into the ground. Both Layton and Norris have a better idea of how winter attacks the trail from last year’s experiences with the Rogart Trail so higher branches and soft striped maple had to be cut.

On Saturday, October 3, 2009, Cobequid Eco-Trail Society (CE-TS) had its Fall Colors Trail Build Day. 19 volunteers met at Sugar Moon Farm and then moved over to the trail. Volunteers were from Truro, Earltown, Kemptown, Pictou County, Halifax, and even Fredericton. The volunteers this day were Dusan Soudek, Beverly Greene, David Ripley, David Young, Paul Soliman, Anne Hill, Bettie Spence, John Sullivan, Norris Whiston, Maggie Howatt, Hilary Paquet, Phil Wyman, Sheila Wilson, Ineke Bakker, Fran Wyman, Donna Spracklin, Bill Hill, Garnet McLaughlin, and Ken McKay. With the new builders on this day, the project has now used 73 volunteers. On this day, the builders went to Sandy Cope Trail to an old road likely used originally in the 1820’s by Donald MacKenzie and Donald MacDonald both of Six Mile Brook, Pictou. The road had been annihilated by a hurricane and Cobequid Trail Consulting (CTC) had removed the debris, but very wet areas still existed. Today’s crew mucked many areas, gathered sizable rocks, and laid numerous cobble stone paths. The workers, on their hands and knees, dug rocks from out of the bases of fallen trees and laid the puzzle-like pieces into walkways. It was noted that at least one builder wished to have some of the boulders named for him. The crew lunched nearby at Donald’s Falls and had sausage supper at Norris’. Mud covered the volunteers’ clothes and proud smiles covered their faces as they went their various ways.

Thursday, October 29, 2009, Dianne Powell, Kate Fiander, Eric Fiander, Allan McNaughton, Peter Murphy, Dan Soucoup, Allan Rodger, and Norris Whiston, joined Garnet McLaughlin, Mike Patriquin and Kyle Patriquin. The majority of the volunteers came from Halifax County or Wentworth Valley and four of these came in behalf of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, a foundation raising money for grandmother, mothers, and children of Aids victims in Africa. They gathered at Norris’s house and went along the almost completed Willard Kitchener MacDonald (the Hermit of Gully Lake) Trail to its end by Meguma Falls. That area is steep. Side sloping, rock gathering, rock steps, and even a wooden bridge were built by enthusiastic builders. Dianne, Allan Rodger, Kate, Peter, and Dan carved trail out of the two steep slopes. Eric, Allan McNaughton, Garnet, and Norris gathered and laid rock steps. Mike and Kyle, using a come-along, a saw, and a fire axe, cleaned the area, discovered old mill works, and built a log bridge. After our work, the volunteers got a tour up the Gully Lake Brook to Gully Lake. The four builders raised around $5000 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Friday, October 30, 2009, the first day of hunting season, Peter Grant and Norris Whiston, joined Jeff McLaughlin and Shannon Breen at Earltown Lake to move hemlock timber to Norris’ house for later use later, and then parting their company, Peter and Norris, then capped with orange toques, went to lop and axe out stumps along Willard’s Trail. With the leaves on the ground and no longer on the trees, it was a most beautiful end of autumn day. The bridge that had been built the day before, served as Peter’s and Norris’ bench and table to eat lunch and view Meguma Falls.

The professional building is being done by Cobequid Trail Consulting of Economy under Garnet McLaughlin and site foreman Kyle Patriquin. Crews work 5 to 6 days a week. Volunteers work in various areas about two or three times a week. The building is financed by the National Trail Coalition, Municipality of Colchester, Nova Scotia Health Promotion and Protection, and North Shore Health and Wellness. The trails are built on the land of 7 private owners, The Department of the Environment, and Department of Natural Resources.

Rogart Mountain Trail, one of CE-TS trails is well used already and has its trail head at Sugar Moon Farm in Earltown. It is hoped that by the end of November there will be a grand opening of a number of the new trails for walking, hiking, snowshoeing, and back country skiing communities.

Due to weather, the above trail building day has been postponed until the 14th. Here are the details:

**Soggy Leaves Trail Building Day, (a new name)
**

Saturday, November 14, 2009

At 8:45 meet at Sugar Moon Farm on the Alex MacDonald Road off Highway 311, in Earltown. Participants should bring gloves, foot wear that can take being wet, water, drink, snack, and lunch. CE-TS will supply tools. All new BUILDERS will get shirts. Anyone wishing to renew or become a member of Cobequid Eco-Trails Society (CE-TS) can pay membership of $10 to Sheila or Bettie. Please fill out the form so we can keep in contact. The $10 fee goes to help pay for maps, our incorporation, and our trails insurance.

All can get coffee or tea compliments of Sugar Moon Farm and we can order our supper for 3:30 or so. Sugar Moon Farm will give all builders a discount on supper.

At roughly 9:20 AM, after the group picture, we will car pool to the Gully Lake Wilderness Area. Our trail building will likely take place at the far end of Willard Kitchener MacDonald Trail by Meguma Falls and above the falls. It is about a 30 to 40 minute walk in and we will go up the other side of Gully Lake Brook. Some of the work will be to harden trail with rock work and fire raking.

For more information phone 657-3476 or
norrisw@ns.sympatico.ca

What weather?!?

I really don’t know…it’s pretty decent here in Pictou County…just some rain that’s clearing off nicely. Should be great riding at Fitz on Sunday!!!

Are bikes allowed on Rogart Mtn trail? It appears so at the trail head…I later asked a guy at Sugarmoon farm and he said bikes are not permitted.

The bridges were the besthttp://resource.pedaltrout.com/old_site_images/ebd3a30be01b35f7f305a6914ee5ce2b.jpg
Those nubbly things look to be a perfect height to catch a toe on while pedaling, and would be really painful to fall on. Is this mainly a walking trail?

This is a wilderness protected area so yes, no bikes are legally permitted. This is a major reason why NSMTBTA was fromed, to ensure that bicycles are not excluded from protected areas ever again.

Bikes are allowed in Protected Areas, but provisions can be made to exclude them.

I think provisions were made to exclude bicycles in this area but allow ATV’s some access from my understanding. Back asswards if ya ask me.