Page 15 - Spring 2020 MT_v5.indd

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Falls Wausau OCONTO N D D D D D D D D D D D D D D O O R
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Corporate Spotlight: Fontana Sports October’s Ringle Segment: A Year of Perseverance
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Wildcards ALAINA DEDO
In a world where we are conditioned to expect
things almost immediately, it can be challenging
to slow down, to have to wait. It can be even
more diffi cult to leave a task undone, especially
when snow will fl y and fl owers will bloom before
you can pick up where you left off. On a gray
Saturday afternoon, volunteers were reminded of
bittersweet reality: the MSC season was wrapping
up before their eyes, yet the Ringle Segment
would remain under construction until 2020.
The hike out to the worksite each morning was
rejuvenating – the sun shining through bright
yellow leaves as they fl oated to the ground, the
dank smell of the cool forest fl oor fi lled nostrils.
It was a time to soak in the senses that autumn Stone steps welcome volunteers on the Ringle
offers. Cool, mild weather was embraced by Segment. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
volunteers as jackets were thrown on the ground; were made, and tons of sweat equity were put
forgetting these woods were once fi lled with into building over 2.3 miles of brand-new Trail.
clouds of mosquitoes and high humidity. While a picture from that Saturday afternoon
Immeasurable amounts of time were devoted to may have shown rain-soaked volunteers and
the Ringle Segment in 2019, furthering the goal mud caked tools, what it didn’t reveal is that we
to offi cially complete the ~6-mile segment from accomplished exactly what we had set out to do –
Mountain Bay Trail to County Road N. All season continue our progress. The Ringle Segment was
long, hundreds of unique Trail experiences left as it should be – set up for success in the
were had by volunteers, dozens of friendships year to come.
Summit Moraine Segment: Devilish Mother Nature
Ringle Segment DAVE CALIEBE, TRAIL PROGRAM SPECIALIST
Marathon County
October 16-20 The wrath of Mother Nature does not pay
Participants: 85 mind to our work and this indifference was laid
Volunteer Hours: 2,130 evident in Langlade County. After a record-
setting MSC event in 2018 to open 10 miles
Summit Moraine Segment of the former Old Railroad Segment along with
Langlade County many hours of follow up work painting blazes
October 16-20 and maintaining the new Trail, a July storm
Participants: 9 rolled through, toppling trees indiscriminately
Volunteer Hours: 242 (with a devilish focus on trees with crisp yellow
blazes), rendering the Trail impassable.
Langlade Chapter members, with help from
sawyers and volunteers from around the
state, spent many days clearing windfalls and
reopening the Trail, but another push was
needed to complete the job.
Small crews worked diligently to safely take down
the dangerous snags and fully reclaim the Trail Mother Nature’s wrath on the Summit Moraine
Segment. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
corridor. It was a routine carried out many times
across the Trail during this storm-ravaged year; cutting. After three strenuous days, the hazard
assess the tree(s), fi gure out where the pressure trees were removed and chainsaws put away,
is and where the danger zone is, and begin ready for the next storm.
Spring 2020 | MAMMOTH tales 15