Spooky Beavers Spring into Action
By Amy Stulman
On March 14 the Spooky Beavers took to the trails of Prince William Forest Park for our first trail maintenance day of the year. It was a beautiful, cool morning and layers were quickly shed as the day warmed up and the work commenced.
Mark Ellis led a group including members
Dana Lowry and
Paul Seymour, and new friends
Anne Johnson, Nickolas Johnson, and
Norm Albert, to inspect the The Crossings Trail. On Sunday, the Park was holding “Hiking through America’s History" along the Crossings Trail. The Crossing Trail, which follows part of the route where, in 1781, General Rochambeau's French Army and General Washington's Continental Army marched troops south from New York to fight the British Army in Yorktown, Va. during the Revolutionary War. The crew was asked to inspect the trail before the Sunday hike. Mark’s group also cleaned and regraded water diversions on the Farms to Forest loop.
Another group led by trail boss
Dennis Calhoun worked on replacing a decaying foot bridge on South Valley Trail. The day before the crew worktrip, PATC member and park ranger
Mike Custodio sawed the lumber and transported it to the trailhead. The intrepid maintainers carried in 16-foot stringers, foot boards, and other supplies about .75 mile from Oak Ridge campground to the building site, deconstructed the old bridge, and packed it out. Some volunteers dug dirt out of root balls and built up the banks, others measured and aligned the wood, and still others drilled in the nails. Many hands made quick work, and before most of us broke into our lunch boxes, the bridge was up. The Beavers let out a rowdy cheer for the unsuspecting first hiker who nonchalantly trotted her way across. Volunteers included
Allen Wheeler, Rebecca Martin, Justin Loyd, Alan Dudley, Jeannette Evans-Morgis, Philip Southers, Amy Stulman, Mark Wray, Thomas Gill, Nathan Dugan,
Richard Bimmer, and new volunteers
David Caviness, Roger Fast, and Rebecca Hull.
Finally, Ranger Mike Custodio and sawyers Justin Loyd and Amy Stulman trekked to Farms to Forest Trail to remove a Virginia Pine hanger and clean up some entangled trees that came down in the process. Our same hiker friend was briefly detained by the vigilant swampers and once safe, she gamely skirted around the work site to continue her impressive hike.
While wading through streams and climbing over trees can be a fun adventure, hikers at Prince William can for the most part keep their feet dry. Spring is a great time to lose oneself in the contemplative beauty of nature without too many obstacles. Nature gives us so much, it’s truly a gift to give back by helping others to enjoy it. Perhaps John Muir put it best, "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
The Spooky Beavers Trail Crew performs trail maintenance and improvements to over 37 miles of hiking trails in Prince William Forest Park, a unit of the National Park Service (NPS). To learn more or to join us on a weekly work trip, visit our
website or email
spookybeavers@gmail.com.