The chapter’s final meeting for 2009 is scheduled for Sunday, November 8th.  We will start off with a ride at Wollowdale SF & Bradley Palmer SP followed by the meeting / cookout at our president’s house.  During the meeting we will elect chapter officers and discuss plans for 2010.

Ride: 9:30 @ Willowdale State Forest (take Rt 1 North to Linebrook Rd, Ipswich; right on Linebrook; 1.2 miles to lot on right)  Map

Meeting: 1 PM @ 6 Silvermine Lane, Byfield, Ma  01922 Map (Log Cabin @ End of Silvermine Ln)

RSVP with president@nsnemba.org

May 4th – Aug 31st, 2009

Starting May 4th, our chapter, in cooperation with the Massachusetts DCR, will be hosting a novice ride at Bradley Palmer State Park / Willowdale State Forest on Monday nights. Rides will continue through August 31st (except there will be no ride on May 26th due to Memorial Day). This ride series is for new riders and people looking for a relaxed pace. Improve your mountain bike skills ,learn the trail systems of Willowdale SF and Bradley Palmer SP, and meet a new riding buddy..

RSVP to president@nsnemba.org or arrive at the lot prior to 6pm. All abilities are welcome. The only requirements are a working bike, a helmet, water and a fun attitude.

When: Ride Starts @ 6PM Ends @ 7:30

Where: Willowdale Meadow Parking Lot, Ipswich Rd,
Topsfield, MA

See The Essex County Greenbelt Associations’ Willowdale web page for driving directions

Contact: president@nsnemba.org

We held our first trail care event of the year at Harold Parker State Forest today. The weather was much better than expected. A little damp & misty but no significant rain. We had a very good turnout, twenty or so volunteers, especially considering the gloomy forecast. Quite a few North Shore members showed up along with a number of individuals from The Andover Trails Committee.

The plan was to do some work along the Bay Circuit Trail where it crosses Jenkins Rd. A large boardwalk was constructed on the east side of Jenkins where recent beaver activity had flooded the trail. Some of the NS members helped haul lumber from Jenkins Road to the work site. However, the ATC members took responsibility for building this large boardwalk. While most of the ATC members built the large boardwalk, everyone else headed over to the west side of Jenkins to build a smaller plank boardwalk, close down an old trail, and perform some routine drainage work.

Last September, NS NEMBA rerouted the trail heading west from Jenkins towards the glacial erratic (Details of this Project). During the September project, we closed down a portion of the original trail that went through a large pit. However, we left open the remainder of the original trail. Today, some of the volunteers spent time closing down the original trail. Also, along the September reroute is an intersection for a trail that heads towards Skug Reservation. The very beginning of this Skug Reservation Trail can be very muddy, so a short plank boardwalk was built over this muddy section.

The planned work for the west side was wrapped up very quickly today. So once completed, we checked on the progress of the large boardwalk and then headed back to the Jenkins parking lot to perform some routine work on the Root Ball trail. This is the trail that begins just beyond the open area near the parking lot.

Our next trail day is on April 25th and will also take place at Harold Parker. Details