Come join us for a fun and interesting habitat hike in the Hogback Conservation Area next Saturday, March 11!

The Early Successional Habitat (ESH) project on Hogback started in 2013. The goal was to develop a greater variety of wildlife habitats by clearing some of the grown-over ski slopes to encourage new, dense, woody growth, known as ESH, which is critical to certain types of wildlife. The work was done over six years entirely by volunteers. Was it a success? Please join us to find out! Now is a great time to be able to see bird nests and chewed twigs, as well as animal tracks ... if the conditions are right.

Meet at 10:00 am Saturday, March 11 in the field behind the Distillery on the south side of Route 9. If possible, please park in the big parking lot on the north side of Route 9. Plan on using snowshoes or cleats and hiking or ski poles for added stability. We'll be climbing up and down former ski slopes, and frequently leaving and rejoining the trail. If bushwhacking is not your thing, you can stay on the trails, but you might miss some interesting things just off edge of the trails. We'll try to get to all three major former Hogback ski slopes (Meadow, Great White Way, and Practice Slope) and be back at the starting point by noon.

This hike was originally planned for Feb 11 but was cancelled due to icy conditions. The 10-day weather forecast is predicting better conditions this time around, but if things look questionable, check the Hogback website (hogbackvt.org) the night before the hike. If we need to cancel, we'll post the information there. Diana Todd will be leading the hike.