That piece is currently in a holding pattern while landowners are being contacted - at least that is being attempted. So far, there hasn't been much success.
This piece has a much better chance of happening. The man in the gray jacket and hat is going to grant an easement for us to get onto Forest Service property. This will eliminate about 3/4 mile of roadwalk.
Yes, the NCTA people have their noses buried in electronics. We were trying to take good tracks and mark waypoints of interest in terms of finding the best route through the area.
Here, Kurt and Kenny are checking out the property corner post. Kurt is a chapter member who lives in the neighborhood and he's been making a lot of the contacts including the one that has led to this easement. Kenny is the NCTA staff member (Michigan Regional Trail Coordinator) who will help orchestrate all the administrative pieces of the puzzle.
And why is it "Sylvan Scouting?" Sylvan means "woods," and we were in the woods (Penn- sylvania = Penn's woods). But the real reason is that the biggest issue with this route is that the trail will need to cross Sylvan Creek. It's a little bigger than we expected, and in the spring, the accompanying wetlands will be much wider.
Here's where the deer cross it.
Don't hold your breath. The Forest Service will have to do a NEPA study. They are probably the ones who will choose where the bridge will be, and it will need to be large enough that it must be engineered. Depending on what a scouting hike in the spring shows, there are wetlands that will have to at least have puncheon if not raised boardwalk. Lots of hummocky areas make that clear.
But once across the creek the land rises and should be high and dry to get back out to the next road.
We collected valuable information, and this is the first step.
In other news: I went to the store yet again, and did some other planning stuff for the trail.
Miles walked in 2026: 665.8
Bushwhacking for possible NCT route: 3 miles
 | See Scouting |
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