Trail Care Update: Mid State Trail (May 2023)

​by Kevin Busko, Mid State Trail State College Region Co-Manager

The kickoff KTA Trail Care event for 2023 was held on the State College Region of the Mid State Trail the weekend of May 4-7, 2023. Thanks to Jenn Ulmer and KTA  the volunteer crew was able to camp for free at R.B. Winter State Park.

Over the course of the weekend there were 23 volunteers who worked a total of 324 hours clearing and blazing sections of the Mid State Trail.

Friday saw one crew heading to the section of the MST between Stover Gap Road and Pine Creek Hollow Road. to do some brush trimming and blaze painting. Another crew cleared blowdowns from R.B. Winter S.P. south to Stover Gap Road and then a couple more south of the Pine Creek shelter. The third crew headed down to the section between PA 45 at the Hairy John Picnic Area and Woodward Gap Road. They performed DR mowing, brush trimming, lopping, and blowdown removal.

Friday evening dinner was Sparklin' Taters provided by Tony Robbins from his Cowboy Kent Rollins cookbook.  

Saturday's volunteers split into three crews. One crew headed back to finish up the section between Stover Gap Road and Pine Creek Hollow Road. Another crew cleaned up the pile of leftover shelter material that had been sitting behind the shelter for 10+ years. This crew also rebuilt the step in front of the shelter and cleared all the leaves and pine needles off the roof. The third crew headed back to finish up brush trimming and lopping between PA 45 and Woodward Gap Rd. 

Saturday evening dinner was meatball sandwiches and macaroni and cheese served up by Amy Davis. Amy also provided fresh-brewed coffee and oatmeal cookies for breakfast Saturday and Sunday. Kristin Joivell provided homemade Golden Graham Smores bars for trail snacks both Saturday and Sunday.  

Sunday was a short day so all the volunteers could get home early to get rested up after all the hard work. One small crew worked on blazing and lopping south of Stony Run Road to the top of Winkelblech Mountain. An even smaller crew, Jenn Ulmer, painted blazes from Hairy John Picnic Area north to the top of Winkelblech Mountain. As the hybrid part of the event, a hike was offered for Sunday morning to showcase trail conditions before and after a KTA crew went through. Kristin Joivell led John Little on a hike on the MST from Stony Run Road north to Stover Gap Road, starting where no work had been performed and finishing on a section that had been completely trimmed, lopped, and blazed illustrating how much of a difference a hard working volunteer crew can do over a weekend.

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