Recent Articles from BRMC Newsletters

Trail Talk

The icy days of winter are quickly fading and the lawn at BRMC will soon need mowing. After surviving my first season of chilly weather at the Mountain House I've determined that stone flooring, albeit decorative, is not conducive to maintaining warmth.

This winter was mostly uneventful. A few windy days toppled some trees on Mountain Road, Ridge Trail, and East End Trail. I'm happy to report that my chainsaw skills are progressing quite nicely. Only a few glitches: in one incident the chainsaw was pinched in a fallen tree, and another time I hiked up the mountain to discover the chainsaw was out of gas. I want to thank the trail user who helped me heave several large logs over the embankment on Mountain Road. One word of caution, please be cautious when hiking on windy days. I've noticed at least a half-dozen trees that are only one windy rain storm away from taking a fall.

The most recent of my projects is to update the colors of the trail markers. The alterations made during this project probably won't be noticed by all you seasoned hikers of the BRMC trails. As often as some of you hike, I'm convinced some could walk the entire trail system blindfolded. One of the changes is to combine Old Quarry Trail with Quarry Trench Trail to make Quarry Trail. This change is done to make a clearer intersection near the benches at the Quarry trails with Ridge Trail; Quarry Trail will be marked in brown and runs north and south, while Ridge Trail is marked in blue and runs east and west. Another change is to Fern Hollow Trail: Fern Hollow will now start at the first left heading north on Mountain Road from the Mountain House.

There is one issue I'd like to make you aware of, realizing that I'm "preaching to the choir" when I pass along this information. Recently we've had an unusually high amount of people in the preserve after dark. As you know, our trails are open from sunrise to sunset. For the safety of trail users and the security of the preserve, all cars parked at BRMC after dark are reported to Prince William County Police.

On a lighter note, I'd like to thank all the folks I've met over the past several months for taking the time to chat with me. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, nothing is more rewarding for me than to see people hiking the trails and enjoying this mini-oasis we know as Bull Run Mountains Conservancy.