Crow’s Nest: More trail clearing

By Daniel Barringer

As we finish our clearing our core trails we have been moving outward into nearby ones. We have cleared the Horse-Shoe Trail where it passes by Crow’s Nest Preserve: the section from Trythall Road west to Mine Run, and then up over the ridge to Northside Road.

Here’s the old railroad right-of-way adjacent to the preserve (after clearing):

Below is a photo of a wooded section of Horse-Shoe Trail just south of Northside Road, before it was cleared. Some trees we lightly prune so they can spring back up and out of the trail. Others are damaged and need to be removed. We’ve been using hand pruners, a small chainsaw and a power pole pruner. These sections have taken almost three person-days to complete a mile. The hardest part is hiking.

It’s still deep snow, and we were the first to venture down these trails. Below, looking down at an oxbow on Mine Run from the Horse-Shoe Trail. This section of woods lost about 50 large trees in a tornado in 1995 and is recovering nicely.