All posts by Tin Man
Thank you volunteers
We had a good work day Saturday May 13th. Moved some rocks and dirt onto the corner for Underdog. The corner is much bigger than in it’s previous life! Thanks to the volunteers who came today.
Wild Times at Pine Hill Park Winter 2016-17
Thank you to Tom Estill!
2017 Winter on Redfield Trails
2017 Annual Dinner Monday, April 10, 6pm
Dear Pine Hill Partnership Enthusiasts,
We had great 2016 year on the trails. Please join us at our annual meeting to enjoy light dinner fare, a short recap of 2016 and an introduction for 2017.
The meeting will start at 6pm, Monday, April 10th, at the Godnick Center at 1 Deer St. Rutland, VT.
We will have some excellent food including vegetarian fare to be consumed before the presentation. The meeting will begin with a short, required, business meeting. There will be a quick review of the 2016 accomplishments in the park and surrounding trails. Afterwards, we plan to have an extended question and answer period and hope you will contribute ideas and suggestions that can be incorporated into the future Pine Hill Park trail projects, the Pine Hill Partnership organization itself, and surrounding trail networks.
As our organization grows, we are looking for a more diversified group to serve on a couple of committees. In particular, we have a fundraising project for 2017 and would like to make a concerted effort to increase our paid membership rolls. We are hoping some folks can join us on this project.
We are also looking for additional board members. The board generally meets six to eight times a year and we are looking for people with a range of interests. Some people might have a passion for trail work while others might have a focus on growing Pine Hill Partnership membership or on strategic planning. If you are interested in being a board member, please send us a letter or email, of no more than 200 words by March 20th, 2017. Please include your qualifications and reasons why you would like to become actively involved in the Partnership and the park so that we may share it with the membership before the annual meeting. If you shop online and use Amazon please consider using www.smile.amazon.com. Amazon will make quarterly contributions to Pine Hill Partnership if you enter us as the non-profit.
Hope to see you there and big thanks for your support this year in our continued efforts to make these area trails so special.
Sincerely,
Keith Wight, Andrew Shinn, Joel Blumenthal, Dave Jenne, Claus Bartenstein and Shelley Lutz
Board of Directors
Wild Times at Pine Hill Park, Fall 2016
Our local naturalist Tom Estill has his fall report out! Check out the cool stuff that he saw hiking during the fall.
Powerlines in the park
Green Mountain Power will be working on the powerlines in the park this winter. Please DO NOT park at the end of Evergreen Ave starting Tuesday, December 27th till the end of February. GMP will be moving in large machinery and stone and need room to move vehicles.
Mountain bikers be aware on Underdog as GMP will be putting a very large mat down across the trail to move machinery. This will protect the trail.
Thank you for your cooperation.
A few sections of trails are now closed for winter
We have closed Exit Strategy, Lichen Rock(Overlook Trail) and the steep hill on Droopy Muffin between Intersections 30 and 30A. These trails will be closed until spring when ground thaws out and dries out. Please be respectful on the trail closures.
Please NO Bikes until further notice
Update: April 13th: Our trails are slowly drying out. They are in a pretty fragile state right now and we will keep them closed until the dirt firms up a little bit more. PLEASE do not be tempted to ride our trails as you might think they’re dry enough to ride but in reality they really are not. We have some freeze/thaw cycles coming up with some rain which will cause problems with the trail tread. Please respect our hard earned volunteer hours by staying off your bikes in the park. If you really need exercise we would be glad to give you a rake and clean out water drainage’s from last years leaves that have collected in them.
Update: April 3rd: We are going into a major thaw cycle this week with rain. The trails are sloppy and we are asking folks with bikes(including fat bikes) to stay off them until further notice. Thanks for your cooperation.
Update March 3rd: Wish our trails still had snow on them like this photo. However, they do not. We are down to bare ground. Frozen for a day or two then above freezing temps again. Please stay off your bikes on the trails when we are in the thaw part of the cycles. It is greatly appreciated.
Update: February 27th: most of the snow and ice are gone from the trails. We are asking folks to use common sense if temps are above freezing by not riding and doing trail damage. Thank you.
Update February 24th:Trails are just sloppy. It has not been below freezing for 3 nights. No cold weather until late Sunday 2/27 to return the trails to a firm condition.
Trails will be frozen today 2/20 early on before they soften as temperatures rise. Tuesday they will be frozen like a rock with cold temps Monday night. The rest of the week temps are above freezing so trails will be wicked soft not so great for fat bikes.
Update February 16, 2017: Trails are in great shape with snow. Lot’s of ski, snowshoe and fat bike tire traffic. Winterfest is this weekend which will bring more people to the park.
Update January 31, 2017:Trails are covered with packed snow that is basically packed white ice.
Update January 27, 2017:Trails are snow covered with a fair amount of frost upheaval on some trails. Green Mtn Power folks are still replacing telephone poles please be aware of heavy machinery on the trails. For more up to date information on trails please join TrailHUB.org and mark Pine Hill Park as a favorite.
Update January 8, 2017: Studded tires are highly recommended as the trails are pretty icy under the snow.
Winter trail closures
We will be closing Exit Strategy, Lichen Rock and the steep hill on Droopy Muffin for winter the week of November 21st. They will reopen in spring after ground un-thaws and sets up. Please be respectful of these trail closures.