Topic: Hiking

Here is the first look at one of the 5 new Eagle Scout project underway at Sunny Meadow Farm. worth a look.

Click here for Photos

Mayor and Mayoress are in town and after a luncheon yesterday I got them to see out open spaces..

Click here for pictures of Chelmsford UK Mayor yesterday and on the Open Spaces

all our sites are open for scout events and we are more than happy to do walks or offer public service. If you are a Scout Troop and want to do somehting fun please give us a buzz. We are local and we are free.

Click here for pictures of Scout event

So looks like the plans for a long climb out and back have been shortened by the ice storm. A lots of trails are closed. We will still go as planned Feb 14th. crampons or yak tracks are a must. I dont think snow shoes will work. If you are interested drop me a line.

"NEWS, January 2009: Due to ice storm damage in December 2008, only the White Dot and White Arrow Trails are open this winter."


Click here for full information<

Click here to see the top in winter

The Lime Quarry and Wright are or best snow shoe sites so head on out as the trails are ready!


Click here for Pictures From trail prep

If you are in a troop about the same age (boys or girls) or have kids this age and want to bring them along on this walk it is open to everyone with kids.

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Saturday November 15th at 1:00
Plan to be there for about 1 hour, come 5 or 10 minutes early so we can get set!
Wear appropriate clothing & foot wear for hiking (not mountain climbing - sneakers are fine) Wear your cub scout uniform if you would like but it's not requires. Pack some water for your thirsty hikers.
FYI: There are no restrooms available in the area, plan accordingly!
We will earn the 5G requirement toward earning the Tiger Cub Badge (page 76 in the Tiger Cub Handbook). Also you can take a step toward earning the Leave No Trace Awareness Award (pg 151 in the Tiger Cub Handbook)

Directions:
From Chelmsford Center Take Route 4 South/Boston Road (heading toward Billerica)
After South Row School on your left, take a right onto Wildes Road
Take the first left onto Janet Road. Follow Janet Road to the very end. There is a parking lot at the entrance of the Thanksgiving Forest, if it's full park on the street - be respectful of neighbors private property.

Looking forward to a fun afternoon with Pack 107's Tiger Cubs! Hope you can make it!

Looking for something fun to do? something free? check out the self guided tree tour of Wright Reservation. Great for a afternoon with kids.

Click here for Self Guided tour

Hiking in Your Own Home Town –
Free Guided Tours Through the
Chelmsford Open Spaces
With more than 700 acres of conservation land and
nine additional Chelmsford Land Trust sites, Chelmsford
has a wide variety of beautiful wooded sites to
discover. Whether it be the hidden water fall just off
Chelmsford center, the rare trees and plants left over
from an old nursery, or even walking through the rocky
crags of the old quarry, there is a lot you might not
know about our town. The Open Space Stewardship
has been working hard for almost two years to restore
and improve the trail systems that wind through these
areas and we are ready to show some of them off. We
will be offering three walks to explore some of Chelmsford’s
best hiking and walking trails this summer.

Well today we did our checks of the sites in town. As a treat three of us did a complete snowshoe walk through Thanksgiving forest. We have a few great photos of beaver tracks and fun shots of the forest. The last few are of The Bog as we checked to see if the Snowmobile traffic is still gone from the site. Hart pond and other places in town had snow mobiles all over them today but the Bog was quiet and looked amazing. The only tracks where those of people on foot and animals. We also fond no trash or signs of fire pits or anything even close.

Click here for photos
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NO Snowshoe yes to winter walk. Some snow ,some ice but with the streams really high the streams look great.

See everyone at 12

-Phil

Winter Walk? yup Snow Shoe Maybe. Looks like we will do both. Conditions are not the best for either but it will give you a chance to see the whole property and understand the trail systems. We WILL be going into the 200+ year old pits and they are fun .

Trails are 1.5 mile and 1.08 mile .

Hope to see you all there!
-Phil

About The Quarry:
Lime Quarry Reservation

The Lime Quarry Reservation was acquired in 1967 as a 26-acre parcel and expanded in 1976 with the addition of 40 additional acres. Both purchases were made possible with Commonwealth of Massachusetts Self-Help funding the 64-acre parcel lies between Littleton Road (Route 110) and 1-495. This site is the former location of lime quarries and kilns dating back as far as 1736. The quarries operated until 1830 and were a major source of lime for plaster for homes in Chelmsford and Lowell. The trail, which begins at the Littleton Road parking lot. Work is ongoing to maintain and upgrade the trails, bridges, signs, and boundary markers of the Reservation and it is intended that the old quarry areas and kilns will be made a central focus of the property. The area, due to its unique geology, supports a number of locally uncommon plants, which are only found in areas of high PH, as exist in limestone.

Location: Littleton Road (Route 110, 1 mile west of Chelmsford Center)

Click here for Full Information on the Quarry

Winterfest Walk-Archer Meadowbrook Preserve
Description: Walk to Skunk Island in the Archer Meadowbrook Preserve. Meet at the trail head at the corner of East Putnam Ave and Third St. Bonfire and SMORES to follow. Time: TBA
Date: Sunday, February 3, 2008

I broke trail at Crooked Spring today so the trail is open. The lot is not plowed so be careful.

The boys of Tiger Scouts Den C completed a hike and “service project” at Thanksgiving Forest on Nov 11. Paul Reynolds, Tiger Scout Zachary’s Dad, Site Steward at Thanksgiving, helped lead the Den on a 1 mile loop hike. The hike counted as achievement 5G. The Tigers picked up any trash they saw on the trail, which counts towards their citizenship belt loop. A service project is one of the elements in earning the citizenship belt loop. This was a family event and siblings joined in the fun. We took a break half way through at the boulders for a snack and talked about the meaning of Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful, clear, chilly day. Uniforms were not required.

Click here for photos

Any scout troops intersted in doing activities in the Open Spaces please contact us.

Well another busy day. For weeks some offensive graffiti has been on Pond Street and despite e-mails to town hall it still remained. So I took matter in my own hands and drove down and took care of the issue. This is not what Chelmsford is all about and sometime you have to bypass town hall and do things yourself. After that I popped up to the bog and did a site walk. I had chance to talk to the head of the Carlisle Conservation group and talked about closer ties on that property. I also spoke to a woman who wants to do work on open space. We can always use people who don’t mind getting dirty! Following this I swung by The Land Trust meadow behind the library and they picked up all the grass from the cutting. It looks amazing! I figured I would then swing up to Russell Mill and see if the dumping from three weeks ago had been picked up. This was a disappointment as it is still there. A few residents stopped and asked how they could help and I told them to e-mail town hall and see if we can get it moved. Luck had it; it was not all bad out there as I saw someone clearing the brush around the sign. The person introduced himself as Scott and said he loved the area and wanted to try and improve it. Scott walks the land with his dog many times a week and knows just about every inch of the land. What better is he owns a Tree Service Company. Being the typical Phil I have signed him up and he will be the new Site Steward at Russell Mill. This should jump start the program and his knowledge of trees and ability to remove dead ones will be invaluable. I then swung over to thanksgiving and saw the improvements on the entrance sign by Paul. Thanksgiving as always looks wonderful and talked to two women who come all the way from Arlington and walk from great Brook to visit Thanksgiving Forest. I explained that it was not Great Brook but Thanksgiving and they could park in the Chelmsford lot for free and save to long walk.

So Some Good Some bad some so so.
Click here photo of offensive grafitti
Click here for what I did to it.
Click here for Kiosk at Vog that needs legs
Click here for drainage pipe at bog getting blocked
Click here for third week trash remains at Russel Mill
Click here for Updated Sign at Thnaksgiving