The coldest day of the Fall season put us on our mettle. Ben Johnson and Andrew Buchta coincidentally converged with me for their first volunteer adventures at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. I met Andrew at the DNR Volunteer appreciation lunch and Ben contacted me via this website. I should have gotten pictures of these hard working men in action poisoning stumps and piling brush.

It’s a good thing we were working right at the main parking lot on Hwy ZZ because it was a frigid day and we had to defrost the tip of the stump sprayer in our vehicles numerous times, even though the mix was 50% marine antifreeze. We eventually figured out that closing the nozzle after each use kept the tip from freezing up. Ben followed behind me with the sprayer and that was a very efficient way to go. I was amazed at how much we were able to cut, poison and pile. Here is how it looked before we got started.

We cleared so much ground that I ran out of stump poison and sharp chains! There were many dead slippery elms and aspen amongst the lively buckthorn. Check out the excellent results!

I’m looking forward to working with Ben and Andy again!

Pati had an intense work week and came out to join me for a walk after her last client. We bundled up against the cold wind and just caught the sunset from the Indian Campground on our way around the loop trail.

See you at The Springs!