Blue Hill's Fisherman's Beach Trailwork Hike - RLBH Series

TRIP DATE:      6/5/14,  Thursday                              

TRIP LOCATION: Red Line the Blue Hills (Blue Hills, Milton, MA)                

MEETING TIME: 6:00pm                    

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS (INCLUDING LEADERS): 17       

TOTAL HIKING TIME (IN HOURS):       2.5

LENGTH IN MILES:      5+

TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN (IN FEET):    0 (flat)

DIFFICULTY:     D   (A=very strenuous; B=strenuous; C=average; D=easy)

LEADER NAME(S):       Cheryl Lathrop

CO-LEADER NAME(S): Kathy McCurtain, Michael Swartz

TRAILHEAD PARKING LOCATION & DESCRIPTION:    Fisherman’s Beach, Ponkapoag, Blue Hills

CAR SPOTTING REQUIRED?:      no                   TIME REQUIRED TO SPOT CARS: n/a

WAS TRIP WITHIN WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST?  no       

BRIEFLY DESCRIBE SPECIFIC TRAILS HIKED AND TRAIL CONDITIONS ENCOUNTERED:

Facing the beach, we walked left around the pond to the YMCA, gathering each little side trail and spur along the way. We also walked to the end of the boardwalk and back. (We had many side trips into the woods to fetch beer cans at the various “party” spots.)

This edition of the RLBH series hike was a conservation/trailwork hike, in honor of National Trails Day on Saturday June 7. Participants came early to pick up trailhead trash. Then each participant carried a bag and gathered trash along the way.  A brand new $20 hiking/backpacking book was the prize awarded at the end of the hike to make it fun and (slightly) competitive. There’s nothing quite like watching adults scurry and try to beat each other to grab an errant beer can! It was mildly competitive and a lot of fun! Sue S. won the prize.

Friends of the Blue Hills donated trash bags. Blue Hills Rangers donated trash bags.  Trails Committee budget provided the vinyl gloves and hand sanitizer. Prior arrangements had been made with the Rangers to leave the trash gathered at the Fisherman’s Beach map board sign for pick up by truck. All of this made a nice cooperative collaborative effort with both the FBH and the Rangers. It put SEM on their radar as caring. And the FBH were reminded that the Executive Board had just recently made a $250 donation to them. All in all, a lot of good will was generated!

WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR HIKE: Rainy, drizzly. Had rained all day. Trails were wet, muddy, and sometimes flooded. The “boardwalk” (bog bridge) was submerged, but walkable to the end.