the machine takes a licking...

Hi all,

From Charlies tone this morning I could tell something was wrong...when he said that he must have had the day wrong for his volunteer project on the Eastern Prom - because there was noone there, I breathed a sigh of relief....oh well.... But he was just easing me in. Or else he wanted me to know that there weren't 20 people there to witness the real reason he was calling....apparently he had just watched our skid-steer trail machine do a somersault down the steep grassy hill below the trail on Eastern Prom. Luckily he stepped off the machine as it was beginning its descent, or else it might have been an entirely different type of phone call...shudder to think. I'll let Charlie fill in the details on the event, and our subsequent recovery effort, but suffice it to say I'm glad it's something I can blog about, rather than something you'd read in the newspaper tomorrow morning!

Would it surprise you to know that this is not the first time we've flipped the machine over? No, I didn't think so. And I'm sure Charlie was glad that he wasn't the first to abuse our small, but very expensive machine in this manner. That honor belongs to me. At Fort Allen park this spring I managed to get just a little too far down the hill, and then a little too tilted sideways...and watched in horror as this very heavy machine tilted over and fell towards the precipice below the trail. In my minds eye I saw it continue its momentous trajectory towards the edge of the cliff, and continue over, a silent few seconds of agony followed by a gut-wrenching crunch and (please no...) a continued roll towards the heavily populated Eastern Prom Trail - again headlines would have ensued. But no; this dense little beast just thudded to the ground, and lie there, still running, seemingly waiting for its next hydraulically enabled task.

Hooking up a cable and putting the truck in 4-wheel drive I thought; "this will never work!" But sure enough, with a little pull she stood right up like nothing ever happened! And just like todays' adventure; not a bit of damage was done. Just another exciting day on the trail.

Ahhh September!

Hi everyone,

So we're starting a trail blog - as you can see - and we hope you'll enjoy the occasional glimpse of daily life at Portland Trails. Occasional because I know we won't be posting every day, but we will try to keep reasonably current. I mean really; how much do you want to know?! Will people find it interesting that Charlie used his favorite yellow rock-bar to shimmy that bench into place at Fort Allen? Yes, we did get the new (old) truck stuck to the axles in mud loading stones in Hollis...what of it? The minutiae of trail building may not be the most exciting stuff on the internet ('you had to sit through how many meetings just to be able to lay a little gravel?!') but occasionally we do have some tales to tell and some news to report, and of course help to beg; so do keep in touch!

Last week, for example, we installed a new picnic table (seats coming soon) and a bench near the community garden on North Street. The picnic table is a big old slab o' granite that we FOUND, several years ago while re-opening the Jack Path. There was this little corner of granite sticking out of the dirt in the woods near the trail, and lo and behold, it's this beautiful 3x5 foot by 7-inch thick, smoothed piece, discarded who-knows-when and laying in the dirt for years. We'd been wanting to retrieve it and put it to use, but hadn't had a machine big enough to move it until the recent work at East End Community School put a skid steer within striking distance. So now it sits on a grassy knoll overlooking Bayside and the Back Cove, waiting for some benches. I think it looks pretty cool sitting out there....very stonehengey!! The bench on the other end of the garden was a score too actually... a neighbor was sick of tripping over that particular 11-foot slab of granite, and asked if i could take it away....but of course! And that sat too, awaiting it's current purpose. We hope you like them ('cause they're REALLY heavy, and will likely be sitting where they are for many years to come!)

Well...hope to see you all out on the trails!

Cheers,

Jaime

Upcoming Volunteer Trail Days

If you've been looking to pitch in on some Portland Trails work, the next couple of weeks will be a good time. The sun's still out and things have cooled off a bit--what a great time to be outside!
On Friday, September 11, we'll be participating in a national Day of Service to remember 9/11. From 1-5, we'll be doing trailwork in Portland's East End, exact location TBA. To sign up, email info@trails.org or call (207) 775-2411.
And on Saturday, September 18, we'll be out on the trails at Ocean Ave Recreation Area. Meet at the Charlotte Drive trailhead (which is off Ledgewood Avenue in Portland's North Deering neighborhood). For more information, just drop us a line.
Look forward to seeing you out there ... in work gloves!

Volunteer Work Day

Volunteer Work Day
Wednesday July 29, 3-6 p.m.

Have a free afternoon? Portland Trails wants to put you to work! Help us improve trails on the Fore River Sanctuary and enjoy some time in this beautiful corner of Portland. Meet at corner of Frost and Congress Streets

Sign up by calling (207) 775-2411 or emailing info@trails.org

Trail Manager's Blog