So the family headed out for what is probably our last picnic for the season…once the snow starts, you can’t get up into Lamoille Canyon without snowmobiles.

Click the image below for pics…(then hover your cursor over the right side of the pic to advance.)

We used acrylic paint, which I heard peels off pretty easily afterward. So there you have it!

About 20-30 volunteers showed up this morning, and we broke up into groups. One group did fence repair, one applied wood preservative to some new wooden bridges, one group cleaned up all the trash around the campgrounds that are used the most, and the group that Casey and I went with were doing trail work.

Casey used loppers to trim brush from near the trail:

And I used an axe/pick to clean out “water bars” on the trail:

Water bars are the rows of rock that are put in place across the trail to help get the water across it as quickly as possible, to minimize the damage that would otherwise be done from runoff:

About five of us walked up the 2 mile trail, cleaning out and reshaping them as we went.

It was a beautiful morning! The aspen leaves are just starting to turn yellow/gold:

And at the top of the trail we got to see the lake:

And then we get fed. Woot!

It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. We were surprised at how many hikers we passed as we headed back down, it’s good to see it’s a popular trail.

From the National Public Lands Day web site:

“National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. Last year 110,000 volunteers worked in 1,300 locations and in every state. Now, 8 federal agencies and many state and local lands participate in this annual day of caring for shared lands.

National Public Lands Day keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the “tree army” that worked from 1933-42 to preserve and protect America’s natural heritage”

Learn more about National Public Lands Day here.

Wikipedia entry for Lamoille Canyon here.