For quite a few years now, I have celebrated National Trails Day, the first Saturday in June, by going to one of many volunteer trail work events held on that day. Today, I joined a cooperative effort between the Catamount Trail Association and the Stowe Mountain Bike Club for trail work in Stowe's Sterling Forest. We were working on a section of the Catamount Trail which is one of my favorite places to go cross-country skiing. The goal was to improve the trail so it will be more mountain bike friendly. We worked at trimming branches and improving drainage. In a few places we built small plank bridges across some of the more muddy areas. That was when we really got to play in the mud. We returned tired and grubby, but it was still very rewarding.
To visit this cache, you may park at the Sterling Gorge parking, at N 44°32.357 W 072°43.180 . Then cross the bridge across Sterling Gorge on foot, and follow the blue blazes of the Catamount Trail up through a meadow, then into the woods. The cache is a small lock&lock container big enough for only small items. The walk is about 3/4 mile on gentle grades. On the way to the cache, you will cross several bridges built in 2007 by the VT Youth Conservation Corp. with the help of a few other local organizations.