Handler / Maple Leaf Ridge

When I visited the Handler Preserve, it was a cold and wintry day - but I was still happy at having the chance to be out in the woods. As a student it can be hard to find a big enough stretch of time to get off campus and walk the preserve, but I finally got a chance this last Wednesday with the early semester lull.

Handler is a 12 acre plot in the Sourlands, on Ridge Road near Amwell. I built a trail there this summer while interning at the Greenway. This was my first return since school began. It was great to get out there again, remembering how much I enjoyed this sort of work. The trail needed work, too - many sticks had come down over the winter, which I cleared away, and two trees have fallen across the path, which I did not clear away but might be doable with a chainsaw. The patches of multi-flora rose we cut down earlier seem to have sprouted only a few new shoots before the winer. Where I could, I pulled out the roots and stumps - most of them seemed pretty loose with the wet ground, maybe also shriveled from the RoundUp.

There weren't many signs of human use at the site - I didn't see anyone walking around, but on the positive side there was no atv or bike damage, no trash on the trail or along the roadside. I did see signs of animal life, mostly scat from deer. The trail might need a little more work in straightening sections (especially the rocky, uneven end stretch) or adding more markers.

I will head back as spring unfolds to see what fills in the spots where oriental bittersweet and multi-flora rose have been removed. Hopefully I'll have the chance to see many of you at our next SS gathering!