CATS Trail Project & Mushroom Foraging

Help CATS Trail Project: Put Up Hiking Trail Signs

We’re venturing south for this week’s Thursday on the Trail Project. We will hike the new Penfield Pond Trail in Crown Point and then explore another new trail, the Old Ironville Road Trail. These trails share their trailhead so it’s “park once—hike twice!” All are welcome for the hikes.

As for the work aspect, we’ll put up the hiker symbol sign you are seeing more often as you travel around. Thanks to a grant from Essex County’s Creating Healthy Places Program, we are placing these signs to make the trails easier to find. To help put up the signs, bring posthole diggers and shovels. Meet at 9:00 am.

Directions to Penfield Pond & Old Ironville Road Trails—We will meet at the Penfield Museum. From Crown Point, follow the signs to the Penfield Museum (703 Creek Road, Historic Ironville, Crown Point)—take Creek Road (County Road 2) west about six miles to the Penfield Museum (Amy Hill Road a.k.a. Route 47 will also get you there).

CATS Mushroom Foraging Workshop

The final CATS Mushroom Foraging Workshop for 2014 is this Sunday, September 14 and it is filling up fast. We will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Black Kettle trailhead. If you’ve been in the woods lately, you’ve probably seen a whole slew of ‘shrooms—I saw an amazingly large white mushroom that had classic mushroom-cloud shape while exploring routes for what will be the Wildway Passage Trail from Coon Mountain to Split Rock Wild Forest last week. I wish Mushroom Forager, Ari Rockland-Miller, who’s leading the workshop, would have been there to say what it was and explain everything known to man and woman about it.

Click here for details, directions to the trail head, and to register.

Other Upcoming Events

Stay tuned for these upcoming events:

Saturday, Sept. 20 – Third Saturday of the Month Trail Project
Saturday, Sept. 27 – Begin creating the Thrall Dam Park Trail in Lewis 8 a.m. – noon
Fri. & Sat. Oct. 10 & 11 – “Bark! Get to Know Your Trees” presented by Michael Wojtech, naturalist and author of Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast. Hosted by Elizabeth Lee and co-sponsored by NE Wilderness Trust. Friday evening presentation at the Whallonsburg Grange and Saturday field trip. Visit Elizabeth Lee’s website for details.

Chris Maron
Executive Director

Mushroom Identification Forays in Essex (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
CATS Tales from the Trails (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
CATS Trails Tales: Charlotte Story (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Let CATS Speak at Your Events (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Split Rock Wildway: Creating and Protecting a Wildlife Corridor (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Champlain Area Trails (CATS)

Champlain Area Trails (CATS) is a non-profit organization, begun in 2009, which creates and maintains hiking and cross-country ski trails in the Champlain Valley that link communities, connect people with nature, and promote economic vitality. In its short history, CATS has developed 35 miles of trails that when added to existing trails, gets it half-way toward the long-envisioned goal of a 30-mile trail loop between Westport and Essex. CATS will extend its trails to neighboring towns and eventually connect them to trails in the Adirondack Mountains, Vermont, and Quebec. Learn more on the CATS website.