Just some of the many wonderful volunteers who showed up for the 2024 Chocorua Mountain Club Trail Clearing Day! Photo: Mike Morin
Removing a tree that has fallen directly across a trail. Photo: Mike Morin
The Chocorua Mountain Club (CMC) Trails Committee of Chocorua Lake Conservancy (CLC) hosted its annual Trail Clearing Day on May 11, with 41 participants including volunteers, CLC staff, and U.S. Forest Service Trail Crew members from the USFS Saco Ranger District. The one day event is an annual rite of spring focused on cleaning drainage structures and removing blowdowns on more than 20 miles of trails in the Chocorua Lake Basin.
CLC board member David Kunhardt, Chair of CLC’s Chocorua Mountain Club Trails Committee. Photo: Mike Morin
The work is accomplished by teams led by seasoned volunteer crew leaders familiar with the trails in the Basin. Teams outfitted with shovels, loppers, rakes, and hand saws spread out across the flanks of Mt. Chocorua, Mt. Paugus, and lower elevation conservation lands surrounding Chocorua Lake, and spend the hike addressing maintenance needs on assigned trails. Without this concerted effort, conditions on these popular trails would quickly deteriorate, with many likely becoming impassable due to erosion, blowdowns, and the encroachment of vegetation.
“The dedicated work of volunteers is at the core of CLC’s beginnings, and continues to be a driving force behind getting our work done,” said Mike Morin, CLC Volunteer and Membership Coordinator. “We rely on volunteers to prepare the public access areas we manage around Chocorua Lake for the summer season, manage invasive weeds, and manage governance of our small but impactful nonprofit organization.”
Looking ahead, we are planning several more volunteer opportunities through the months of June, July, August, including two trail clearing day, along with our regular educational programs that take place around the Chocorua Lake Basin. You can learn more and sign up HERE.
Banner image: Improving drainage. Photo: Mike Morin