Spring

As a weeks long symphony, with grouse drumming, spring peepers in a chorus of chirping, barred owls conducting a hillside hootenanny, harmonizing in a sylvan version of Rites of Spring, draws to a crescendo, it conjures a grand emergence of greenery. Ferns unfurl, trout lilies carpet nearly the whole mountain face, ramps cluster in the soggy ravines near Fusters and the trillium blooms sporadically amongst the rocky outcrops.

You can still spot billowing steam from sugar shacks in the Tweed River Valley as freeze thaw cycles circulate the ebb and flow of maple sap. The dirt steadily thaws from the top down allowing the saturated soil to drain through the porous shale dappled loam and this is readily uptaken by a vast interwoven fractal pattern of roots to thoroughly dry out the trails, shut off the seeps and initiate the opening of mountain bike season.

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In Brief...

Depending on snowpack, frost depth, precipitation, temperature, and a whole host of environmental factors, trail opening ranges from late April to early May. (However, considering the variability of conditions one can expect even in a stable climate, climate change has made Vermont winters and springs especially erratic, so narrowing down an opening date even to within a range of a few weeks often amounts to guesswork. In short, check our trail conditions! )

The combination of wet, loose soil conditions, spring storminess and a forest in the perpetual flux of succession ensures that there will be a number of fallen trees to start the season. Runoff from snowmelt clogs the trail drains with silt and leaves. We (you’re invited!) meet a week or two before the trails open officially (which usually means sometime in April) to  saw clip and shovel and get the trails back on track, and convene for stew over the fire at Muddy’s Hut.

This is, by far, the most vulnerable time for trail damage from rogue riders which can potentially steal resources away from improving and expanding the trail system and squander them in unexpected maintenance. Though, as a favor to the GMT community, you should heed trail closings at all times, it is especially critical at this time of year.

Events

GMT Revival: April or May
Kickoff and Ride: May

Stewardship

Raking and shoveling the silt from drainages, clearing the trails of blowdowns, branches and winter debris, repairing any washouts from spring runoff.