This past weekend (August 23-24), I was out at Greater Cleveland Council's Camp Beaumont for Cuyahoga Lodge 17's Vigil weekend.
We had a great weekend both in terms of the Vigil ceremony and the weather. It would have been nice to have had more folks there and perhaps next year we will.
The main events took place Saturday evening and I had called a Trail Crew event for the morning and afternoon. Here's what I reported at the August 25th Lodge Meeting:
The Saturday of the Vigil weekend, the Trail Crew worked on the trail leading to the Ceremony Site as well as placing a guidepost on the Beech Tree Trail, a total of seven hours.
The Ceremony Site Trail has six muddy spots, the worst of which is 40 feet from the beginning of the trail. This is due in part to shallow soil over clay, dense tree canopy and poor drainage features. During the weekend, this portion of the trail was partially graded, attempting to direct the water to the southern (lower) edge of the trail. As this technique will take some time to improve the trail, twenty feet of raised walkway was constructed and added (a "puncheon bridge") to take some of the stress off this portion of trail. When the trail begins to dry and it becomes clear that the grading is working, this "bridge" can be moved to another location.
Before
After
Additionally, the stump of the innermost left-hand post on the Ceremony Site Trail bridge was removed. Plans are being made to replace this 8"x8" post and its concrete footer during the October Fellowship weekend.
The hemlock blocking the left-hand totem pole was trimmed and the hanging maple branch on the northern end of the site was removed.
