Help Mend the Massapoag Trail
Help mend the Massapoag Trail from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Greg Molica will be starting the construction of a series oif footbridges over wet and soggy places along the Massapoag Trail near Devil's Rock for his Eagle Scout project. He needs as much help as he can get on this day, so the more the merrier.
This is a big --and much needed -- project. The group will meet and park at the end of Belcher Street in Sharon.
Lunch (probably pizza) will be provided.
Organizers suggest bringing gloves, bug spray and water. Participants should bring tools (see list below) to help increase productivity of the day. They should make sure they put their name on everything to ensure that it gets back to them.
For more information, email Greg Molica at gmolica@gmail.com or contact Kurt at 781-784-4625 or kurtb7@juno.com.
Tools list:
Battery operated screwdrivers (make sure the batteries are charged), sledge hammers, hedge trimmers,shovels, chainsaws, hand saws, hammers and any other tools that might be helpful for clearing trails and putting together bridges
Todd Arnold
8:39 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Unfortunately...The whole trail needs attention, from the rotary to beyond Devils rock
Kurt Buermann
10:13 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Todd-
There is work being done on the Massapoag Trail all the time. This at least maintains the status quo. A surge is planned this year on Massapoag Trail improvement & upgrades.. We have replaced the bridge over the brook, created an easement from Belcher St (due to the land swap with the Massapoag Sportsmen's Club). Many fallen trees (halloween storm) were cleared on the Ames St - Pond St stretch./ There is a lot to do. An old part of the trail from Mann's Pond to the Carriage Path is due to be re-established.
There is much more work than can be done in a day--or week or even a month. Nonetheless, it is coming apace. We hope to have things pretty much up to snuff in another year.
Todd Arnold
3:44 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I attempted to walk the beginning stretch from the rotary to Ames Street Playground...not happening. I can remember being part of a work crew some years ago that cleaned up that trail and the brook to make it accessible to fish.....looks like it's back to square one.That last leg of The Massapoag Trail is beautiful..with all the Rocks and rapids they form. It's a shame all the scout packs...both boys and girls, can't get to together and make it a troop project rather than individual efforts...
Kurt Buermann
5:36 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Todd-
As a matter of fact the scouts do quite a bit toward maintenance of the trail. Apart from the Eagle Scout, focussed projects, a number of impromptu scout community service projects( dayprojects) help keep the trail going.The area you speak of, Ames to Rotary was expecially hard hit by the halloween storm with many large trees down. Some clearing has begun with the rest happening probably in July. Unfortunately we can't just let the kids loose with chain saws, really the only practical tool for dealing with large trees and branches.
And much is done by anonymous individuals. Ofteh I find a trail cleared as if by elves. Sharon Friends of Conservation has trail work volunteers who we mobilize from time to time.
www.sharonfoc.org
Todd Arnold
10:18 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
It's a shame the DPW can't be the ones wielding the chainsaws during the week and the youngsters follow up by clearing the trails on the weekends....just sayin' team effort
Kurt Buermann
11:31 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Todd--
In fact the DPW does quite a bit trail-wise, notably the teriffic job helping to site the new Massapoag Brook bridge. And before that with the Beaver Brook bridge footings. In fact DPW does chainsawing from time to time as well as help out creating parking areas and facilitating public trail access.(The new parking lot on Belcher St). Sharon has enough trails so that another whole DPW could be created just for trail work. They do what they can. Maybe with the millions we reap from Sharon Commons and Brickstone the Town can hire some full time trail crews.
I think the key to it all would be, as you say, to organize all the various groups and folks who help with the trails so one group could do the heavy work, another lighter grooming, another litter.
Joshua Lipinski
8:52 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
I run the stretch from Crest Rd to Belcher St, sometimes doing the Devil's Rock loop, every day after getting off the train. There's some tricky spots but overall I'll say this is a hell of a trail. On Sunday I ran Belcher, to Devil's Rock, to Mann's Pond, to Ames St. The stretch f/the Devil's Brook bridge to Mann's Pond was a bushwack and I ended up on East St through a wrong turn. That's a tough spot. Make this a monthlong project, 4 Sunday mornings in a row, taking on a different section each time, and this trail would be cleaned right up. I'd be one of the first to volunteer.
Kurt Buermann
8:48 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Joshua--
There is a lot of work planned on theMAssap[oag trail. Currently, the stretch you mention, Dvil's Rockto Mann's pond is best made via Brook Rd to Rob's Lane to Billings St.. It is pretty clear. There is a plan to enhance the original trail ( which has fallen into disrepair) from the bridge to Mann's Pind. If you wish, I can send you a map of the present and planned routes. Just go to www.sharonfoc.org
and send an email with your email address.
I appreciate your comments on the trail as feedback is important to help focus on problem areas, given four major trails in Sharon (apart from Audubon and Trustee's of Reservations.
Joshua Lipinski
9:06 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Kurt, thanks, I'll send you an email. I've done the Billings Brook to Rob's Lane before, and ended up on the Belcher St side of Devil's Brook before ever getting to Rob's Lane. This was maybe 2 mths ago, so maybe it's gotten less tricky.
I've called off my daily runs through those trails though for the remainder of the summer - the deerflies are too persistent. I've been doing the Beaver Brook trail over to the Farnham Rd cell tower, and the Beaver Brook trail is another awesome trail.
The cell tower baffles me. I'm not sure what companies have antennas there, but I have Verizon and I hit a bunch of dead zones through Sharon, by the train specifically, and if that cell tower wasn't built in a hole, like it is, or was maybe 20 feet higher, cell service would be a hell of a lot better in the center of town.