March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Hikers travail to restore Blue Hill Mountain Trail

BLUE HILL — Blue Hill — “Small, misty mountain” as the American Indians called it — with its sweeping view of Tinker, Trumpet and other islands and the Camden and Mount Desert hills, is a special place for many people.

It’s that view, ledges carpeted with reindeer moss and other lichen, and other features of the old forest service trail leading up Blue Hill Mountain that drew people out Sunday morning. Despite raw and rainy weather, they started preserving the path for future generations.

Wearing hard hats and rain gear and bearing shovels, crowbars, pickaxes and other tools, a dozen people hailing largely from the Blue Hill peninsula began putting to rights the Blue Hill Mountain Trail. The small, intrepid troupe, some of whom did not know each other, were led by an old hand at trail restoration.

Lester Kenway, who has managed trails at Baxter State Park for two decades, met volunteers at the head of the trail. They formed a game plan before beginning work on the first phase of a long-term project to restore a track badly eroded from heavy use over the years.

“Do it once, do it right, and it will last for another 100 years from now,” Kenway said.

A local conservation land trust, Blue Hill Heritage Trust, is sponsoring the trail improvement project. The group holds a conservation easement on the property encompassing the Blue Hill Mountain Trail.

Concerned about the trail, the trust earlier this year hired Kenway to assess the situation and produce a long-term plan to preserve the scenic path.

Last month, Kenway presented his findings at a public meeting hosted jointly by Blue Hill Heritage Trust and George Stevens Academy’s Environmental Action Club. He reported soil erosion was the chief problem that could be addressed by using water bars — stone barriers that divert water diagonally off the trail and prevent water from flowing down the trail. He also predicted the path’s steepest part would deteriorate considerably in the near future and suggested rerouting it.

Last month, the trust’s president, Lorenzo Mitchell, appealed to the public to pitch in and help repair the trail that has provided pleasure to so many people over the years. His call was answered at the first of many planned work sessions.

Sunday’s session focused on the section of trail closest to Mountain Road. Weather permitting, Kenway and the volunteers aimed to install several water bars by midday. Another shift was slated to tackle three more water bars in the afternoon.

With acorns crunching underfoot, the crew set out along a trail washed out and completely bare in spots. Bayberry and winterberry bushes — their bright red berries contrasting sharply against leafless trees — and ferns flattened by the wind border the path. Blue jays, nuthatches and other birds flit among oak, aspen and larch trees.

Kenway, who has worked with many trail volunteers over the years, involves the work crew in deciding where to put the water bars. He carefully marks the spots with orange flagging ribbon. He then instructs people on how to dig the ditches that will hold field stones set at an angle to direct water off the trail.

“Logs work fine, but stone is easier to build,” he tells the group. “It blends in well because it is earth and stone. Earth and trees are not a regular thing.”

While some dig, others search for field stones weighing 150 to 200 pounds.

“The size of a supermarket watermelon. We don’t pick them up and carry them. We roll them,” he adds, chuckling.

Blue Hill residents John and Peter Clapp are lending a hand. One brother is a Christmas tree grower while the other runs the garage and auto parts store in town. Both are committed to preserving the mountain trail that has been a fixture in their lives.

“I was a schoolteacher for 36 years; I might as well be a ditch digger. It’s nice to do something without having to raise taxes,” John Clapp jokes, his glasses fogging up. “I’ve been walking up this mountain for 50 years.”

Formerly president of the trust, Peter Clapp says he, his wife, Sandy, and their chocolate Labradors, Decoy and Drake, hike up the mountain several times a week.

“I have come up here all my life,” he says.

Carolyn Bennatti, a biology teacher at George Stevens Academy, is among the volunteers. She says the trail is a great educational resource. She and her class have seen a merlin, osprey and sharp-shinned hawk there. She says it has a rich mix of flora and fauna.

That’s why she and one of her advanced biology students, Patrick Harris, are lending a hand.

Blue Hill resident Ann Louise D’Entremont also has turned out even though she isn’t a regular user of the trail.

“It’s such a wonderful thing to have in Blue Hill. It looked like it was in danger of disappearing,” she says. “I thought it was a good civic thing to do.”

Mitchell, the trust’s president, and director Patrick Watson hope other people who appreciate the trail will take the cue and help out. For more information call 374-5118.


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