Each autumn, the Blue Hills Trail Association Inc coordinates a single work day to prepare the Blue Hills Trail for the coming winter cross country ski season - and fall hunting. After working hard to mow and maintain the trails through a very wet summer, this morning the work day crew was greeted by brilliant sunshine and a nice display of fall colors. The trails are well mowed and providing good hiking even though somewhat damp. On October 1st, two of our volunteer members already spent the day aggressively brushing out the Westside trails - helping set the stage for the official work day. Then this morning, one of our best ever work day turnouts showed seventeen hardy souls ready to go at 9 a.m. After a brief planning session in the warming house, we split up into seven different groups, and each of us spent about three hours on trail work (that's about 51 hours of total labor if you're counting). Today's accomplishments:

• Cleared the entire Westside of remaining brush and encroaching limbs; placed all new maps at each of the Westside intersections (highlighting the fact that the Westside is now non-motorized).
• Cleared the 12km EastSide core loop (and adjacent trails) of rocks, downed limbs and encroaching branches.
• Removed a big logjam from under one large bridge; reinforced a couple bridges.
• Trenched an area of standing water to better promote drainage off the trail.
• Identified some additional downed trees in need of chainsaw work.
• Cleared 2/3 of the snowshoe trail of encroaching limbs and downed trees; placed brand new easily identifiable signs along the snowshoe trail.
• Relined the urinal in the men's pit toilet.
• Tidied the warming house: washed the warming house windows and skylights; cleaned the tables; cleared pine needles from the roof.
• Cleaned the cobwebs from the warming house furnace & turned it on for the day; it's set to go when the winter ski season arrives.

Many thanks to our work day volunteers: Sam Behrends, Dan Bjugstad, Carolyn Chatterton, Roger Gray, John Kann, Jenna Lisowe, Dave Olsen, Jan Paulsen, Tom Paulsen, Steve P, Steve Schleppegrell, Jerry Schneider, Jonathan Stanley, Phil Strop, John Waldron, Cathie Woita, Paul Woita, and John Ziemer.

It's cold outside, there's lots of snow on the ground, now's a good time to get psyched for skiing. Check out the following slide show video showing ten years of fun on the Blue Hills Trail. Get your skis waxed, come ski the Hills!‍

Grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, adjust your volume control, then sit back and follow the fun. See anyone you know?

The Blue Hills Trail Association Inc pursued an aggressive agenda for trail work this summer.  Now in mid August, we feel we've reached most of our goals.  Many thanks to the Rusk County Forestry Department, the Wisconsin DNR, and the Rusk County Wildlife Restoration Association (WRA) for their help.

When enjoying these trails while hiking/hunting/skiing this fall and winter, take a moment to consider the work that goes into taming mother nature. The past couple days I gained a new appreciation of the difficult task of mowing our trail system. Club member Steve P operated the skidsteer-mower donated by the WRA, and I cleared debris ahead of him while scouting for hidden rocks. A few hours after starting the mowing, Steve's skidsteer slipped off a steep embankment and was stuck in a perilous spot. After Steve cautiously exited the machine, we phoned for help and were rescued by one of our highly skilled local DNR dozer operators. Three hours after the skidsteer left the trail, we were back in action.

Mowing continued into the next day. Thanks to the drying conditions this summer, we felt fortunate to reach our goal of negotiating and mowing about ten typically soft muddy wet sections on the most distant trails of the Eastside. As we were completing the final hour of mowing operations, we found one of the many hidden rocks the Blue Hills has to offer. The head of the bolt securing the mower blade was sheared off, the blade went flying like a piece of shrapnel -- and fortunately humans and equipment survived without significant injury. Hard work, but enjoyable time in the Hills.

As stated earlier, I have a much greater appreciation for those that have mowed these trails the past 30 years. And I'm excited about the other trail work that was accomplished this summer. A lot of dozing of eroded areas was performed in July, then seeded within the past couple weeks. Grass has sprouted, those newly greened trail sections look inviting, and should provide good bird hunting habitat in addition to improvements that will enhance our winter cross country skiing.Thanks to the following for help with summer trail maintenance/improvement:

• Rusk County Forestry - major culvert planning, provision of the culvert, tree clearing in anticipation of mowing, mowing of the Westside trails and portions of the Eastside trails, and provision of grass seed.
• DNR (Ladysmith Center) - planning and dozing of multiple trail segments to enhance erosion control, dozing for insertion of the culvert, guidance with placement of the culvert silt fence, and rescue operation of the immobilized skidsteer mower.
• Blue Hills Trail Assn Inc. - $300 fee for DNR culvert permit, gas for mowing operations.
• Rands Trucking (Ladysmith) - two rolls of silt fence (donated).
• BHTA members Frank Lowry, Jan Paulsen and Tom Paulsen (bridge repair); Tom Paulsen and Jonathan Stanley (trail inspection); John Carr, Tom Paulsen, Jerry Schneider (install silt fence around new culvert and spread grass seed); Dan Bale and Tom Paulsen (spread grass seed); John Ziemer (donated use of his ATV); Dan Bale (use of his truck); Steve P and Tom Paulsen (mowing); Steve P and Jerry Schneider (clearing of the Westside Trails); Dan Bartels (mowing).
• Ladysmith Driftbusters Snowmobile Club member Tom Haasl - instructions in use of the WRA skidsteer mower.

Great fall hiking is available right now. 20+ miles of trails carefully maintained by our many volunteers.

Many thanks to the crew that turned out for the annual work day on October 15th.  On that day - and on many days in the past few weeks - volunteers have liberated most of the trail system from encroaching branches, briers, and rocks; bridges have been reinforced; creeks have become more passable; & the warming house received a good dusting.

The entire system of Westside trails was cleared on November 7th (a huge thank you to Dick P, Steve G, and Tom P). All of the remaining downed trees on the Eastside were cleared on November 8th (major thanks to Jerry W and John Z).

Earlier this summer, one of our major challenges was repair of our most important bridge. It's on the East Side of the trail system, and allows multiple trails to interconnect with the East Side Core Loop.

The following pictures are from spring/summer/fall 2011 on the Blue Hills Trail.