Notice:  many of  you may prefer to take advantage of the snow to get out on your snowshoes or cross country skis. Come join us at the Wheaton Hill Trails.  This Sunday will include opportunities for snowshoeing, for skiing, and for attacking the Roses and the trees across the trail.

In order to reduce congestion on Wheaton Hill,  we will meet at 1:45 at the Hemlock Lake south access parking area on 15A.  From there, we will car pool to the trail heads on the lower part of Wheaton Hill. The trail is located on Wheaton Hill Road (County Road 16) , just about 1/2 mile up from RT. 15A. The terrain varies through various forests, waterfalls and ravines. Please park carefully along the right side of the road headed downhill.

Bring a pair of clippers or a hand saw and good work gloves for clearing out the trails and a dish to pass for the early New Years Eve social at Joan and Bob’s after our work is over.

Directions are available to the South Hemlock Access parking area and to the Wheaton Hill trailhead. Please car pool from the parking area.  If you arrive after 1:55, you will need to come to the trailhead.

Our goal this Sunday is to clean up the trails so that regular mowing can be done easily in the spring.  There are branches and trees that have fallen on the trails that we want to remove.  Small branches can be tossed off of the trail or easily carried into the  woods, but  larger trees will require cutting. We have not yet been certified to use chainsaws on state land so we will use hand saws or, if necessary, leave the trees for DEC to remove.

The big task will be removing the Raspberry  and Multiflora Rose bushes that make walking the trails difficult or unpleasant.  A weedwacker will cut the individual stalks, but we will want to cut way back on some of the Rose bushes.  Hand clippers will probably be the most effective on these.  Please expect some work on your hands and knees!

Multiflora rose, also known as rambler rose and baby rose, is native to eastern China, Japan and Korea. It was introduced to the U.S. from Japan in 1866, as rootstock for grafted ornamental rose cultivars.   The spread of multi flora rose increased in the 1930s, when it was introduced by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for use in erosion control and as living fences, or natural hedges, to confine livestock.

Canes (stems) root at the tips and may reach heights of up to 10 feet. The red to green twigs may have numerous curved thorns.

Frequent, repeated cutting at the rate of three to six times per growing season, for two to four years, has been shown to be effective at killing this rose.

Although we will not attempt to eradicate the rose from this area, we will find plenty of clipping needed right on the trails.

The trails cover nearly two miles. The map to the left was captured from DEC’s State Lands Interactive Mapper (SLIM).

As for tools to bring, The Finger Lakes Trail Conference has a guide for trail maintenance.  I have extracted the following list of equipment that will be useful on the Wheaton Hill trails.  If you have a saw or clippers, please bring it with you.  Otherwise, there will be extra tools for you to use.

Equipment for trail maintenance:

• Cheap folding pruning saw – just for cutting small trees at ground level.
• Large bow saw (24″ – 30″) or folding backpacking Sven saw or collapsible 26” bucksaw, capable of cutting a 5-6” log.
• Small pruning shears (loppers) – much handier to use than the long-handled kind, are very useful, particularly for branches within easy reach. Anvil type is usually better than scissors type.
• Weed-whackers – Bow-type hand swung whackers (with double-edged blade and supported bow shaped frame) are very good for this type work. Or a power string trimmer or scythe.
• Work gloves – to protect your hands from blisters and thorns.
• Plastic bag – for litter removal.
• Long-handled pruning loppers – may be inconvenient to carry, but they may be critical for reaching the inner stems on the roses. Anvil-headed loppers are very good for this type work.

The trails are located a half mile up Wheaton Hill Rd from 15A, north of Springwater. Click here for directions. The after hike social will be an early New Years Eve party.  Joan will provide Lentil Soup and those cute hotdogs on toothpicks that we all expect for New Years Eve.  Please bring your own favorite dish to pass and a beverage to drink.