The Money Island trail follows an old farm road leading from Route 1A in Whitneyville south to the edge of the Machias River. Many decades ago, a bridge used to provide access to Money Island and the far side of the River. In 1972, ice took out that bridge for the last time. Now the trail links hikers to two other connectors: DCC’s Homestead trail that leads to the old Albee Farm and the Hemlock trail with its stunning views along the Machias River.
The Money Island trail has always been a maintenance challenge since DCC’s acquisition of the Preserve in 2010. The trail descends over old river deposits of impervious clay. The footing is slippery when wet and ankle deep in water after a big storm.
With new Stewardship Director, Ryan Mola, leading the team, our task was to span some of those deeper trail depressions with bog bridging. We hauled 4” thick cedar slabs down the trail to the worst of the muddy sites. Ryan cut shorter logs to stabilize the slabs and to raise them above mud and water. Summer intern, Gia Francis, and assistant steward, Cam Leavitt, leveled the clay below to set the logs securely. Finally, 7” long screws tied the slabs to the base logs to keep the assemblage from shifting. Within a bog-bridging run, each slab was raised to the same height as its neighbor and carefully leveled to create safe footing and a comfortable walkway for future hikers.
The stewardship team will be working on more projects at Machias River Preserve in the near future. We welcome anyone who enjoys getting dirty in the woods to join us! You can contact Ryan at ryan@downeastcoastalconservancy.org, call (207) 255-4500, or drop by the office at 6 Colonial Way in Machias!
