Happy National Take a Hike Day!
Hiking is probably one of the most common activities we do as AmeriCorps Members. Whether it’s hiking to clear and maintain trail, hiking to get to a campground, hiking to build fireline, or hiking for fun! It comes with the territory when taking care of public lands. Let’s hear what ACSTL Members Chelsea & Zoey have to say about experiences on the trails!
“For the past couple of weeks, I have been serving with the Ozark Trail Association in the Mark Twain National Forest. Working alongside the OTA staff, who are also ERT alumni, were incredible sources of knowledge to assist in training me and my team to complete trail maintenance. In addition to the great work we did on the trails, I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent as a group with our partners after work playing Bananagrams, watching movies, and sharing meals together. Now, after two weeks of tread restoration, I feel much more competent in this area of service and would enjoy spending time in Potosi, MO again.” - Chelsea Derbyshire
“The first day that we got to Current River State Park, a few of us went for a quick hike on the Ninebark trail. I’ve gotten used to hiking out west, so hiking on this trail was a reminder that hiking in Missouri, even in fall, involves dodging spider webs and finding your way through the leaves. The trail was well marked with blazes, but didn’t seem like it was used or maintained all that frequently. Since it was early October and still warm, the leaves on the trees were mostly still green.
In the 10 days that we stayed at Current River, people walked the trail regularly and we did some trail building training with OTA on a small section of the trail with hand tools. One day towards the end of our stay, our team was tasked with helping prep a fireline that coincided with part of the trail, clearing corridor and blowing off leaves.
At the end of that work day, we walked back out along the trail. Compared with that walk on the day of our arrival, the trail was much easier to see, I didn’t have to push aside overgrown vegetation or spider webs, and the leaves were finally starting to change color. I also felt much more familiar with the area, noticing changes like a large downed tree across the trail that must have fallen since we got there.” - Zoey Craun