Appalachian Trail Reopens

At the request of DCR and APPA, our Appalachian Trail (A.T.) volunteer Cosmo Catalano scouted the section of the A.T. that passes through the burnt area on East Mountain State Forest on December 2nd and recommended that the Trail be reopened. Here is his report and photographs. The Trail is in good shape, but we'll want to monitor parts of this area in the spring as the ground thaws and hiker traffic picks up. I hiked from Home Rd to Tom Leonard on Dec 2nd to further evaluate trail conditions resulting from the Butternut Fire. Jim Pelletier and Russ Skelton have also made similar trips in the past week. Temps were in the 20's with a light NW wind. The morning was sunny but was mostly cloudy by afternoon. At elevation, there was about an inch of dry snow over the entire area, no traction devices were needed. Much of the treadway in the burn area suffered no damage and there is no indication of significant damage to trees near the trail - with some exceptions noted below. Russ has cleared the few blowdowns in this section. As part of my continuing communication with Kurt Spears (APPA) and Adam Morris (Mass DCR) I recommended that the Trail be officially reopened. As of my visit (after Friday's light snowfall), there is evidence of light visitor use on the section I traversed. Below are a few items we should consider for the upcoming hiking season.

General Conditions

With a few exceptions, the Trail has experienced only superficial damage from the fire - in some places, it is the only unburnt portion of the surrounding forest. Wayfinding has not been compromised, as nearly all trees are intact and existing blazes are clearly visible (though some could use some fresh paint). Pretty much all of the duff and leaf litter in the burn area has been consumed and the ground is black. The treadway (except where cleared for a fire line) is often undisturbed. At some locations adjacent to the trail, small, shallow pits can be observed where the ground fire has surfaced and completely burnt the organic soil layer. Much of the understory between the road and the ridgetop is laurel. In most locations the plants (which have green leaves all year long) have been "baked" by the fire to a light brown, while the stems appear to have suffered minimal damage. Whether these leaves will be replaced or if the entire plant is gone will need to wait until summer to determine. Based on my experience with the Clarksburg fire, new growth will sprout from the rootstock and the existing stems will not produce any new leaves. Small shrubs and trees had limited damage. Limbs and branches on the ground have been partially consumed. Most trees have blackening on the first 2 to 3 feet, but I did not observe any that have been heavily damaged. Even small white pines seemed to suffer only minor scorching.

West-facing Ledges/Overlook Area

Proceeding north-bound from the large rock viewpoint approximately 1 mile from Home Rd, it's clear that the fire was quite intense in this area. Much of the laurel is burnt away and the small trees in this area are heavily scorched and likely have damaged roots. These trees may die off in future seasons and may be a source of minor blowdowns. No obvious hazard trees were noted in the overlook area - though we should monitor larger trees (mostly 10-12" white pines) for changes in health or die-off that might indicate the need to remove them. There was no noticeable improvement in the marginal view points in this area.

Undermined Treadway

In the same area of trail, there are short (2 to 3 ft) sections where ground fire has destroyed organic and mineral soil beneath the root mat. It's likely that when the weather warms and hiker traffic increases, these sections will collapse down to the underlying bedrock or cobbles. This may provide some temporary difficulties for hikers, but there is usually adjacent bedrock or undisturbed soil where hikers will likely walk on to bypass these areas. A few trees have had their roots and adjacent soil burnt. These appear to be seriously weakened, we'll want to monitor their health and stability.

Other Random Observations

The area south of the view point is in need of significant brushing out. There are some waterbars that need cleaning. Some blazes could use some fresh paint. There were fresh ATV tracks on the woods road (Jim encountered the rider last week). All of the work by the fire crews near the trail was done by hand, no vehicles were used on the trail to transport fire-fighters, or clear the fireline. There were multiple north-bound visitor footprints between Home Rd and the overlook. I noted 2-3 sets of southbound human footprints on the "flat" section past the overlook ledges, but they turned around about half way between Tom Leonard and the woods road. Tom Leonard Shelter has had several visitors, including a few folks who stayed there over Thanksgiving.