Sarah LaPointe of Williamsburg has been volunteering with Hilltown Land Trust since 2015, and serves an important role monitoring the trails at HLT’s Breckenridge and Bradley properties. We caught up with Sarah to learn about why she loves caring for her local conserved trails.
Q: Would you like to introduce yourself and your connection to the Bradley trails/trails in Williamsburg?
I’ve been hiking the Bradley and Breckenridge trails for many years, and now am lucky enough to live near both of them!
Q: What do you do as a volunteer there? How long have you been caring for these trails, and how often do you visit?
I’ve been a trail monitor at Breckenridge from 2015 to 2022 and at Bradley from 2016 to the present. I walk the trails and report any trees down, changes after flooding or storms, erosion, invasive plants and any other issues that might affect the property. I do two official reports a year, usually, but walk the trails for fun a few times a month!
Q: Is there a special moment (critters, nature, a favorite place) you’ve had on the trails you’d like to share about?
Lots of interesting things have happened on the trails. I’ve seen tracks of many animals, including bears and moose! I’ve seen fox cubs, coyotes, Barred and Great Horned owls, porcupines, mink and many others. There’s a large flock of turkeys that wander through regularly, too. One of my favorite encounters was watching a Red Eft and a snail slowly munching on a mushroom together!
Q: The climate and recent weather events have brought many changes to the places we steward. Have you noticed changes to the landscape (or Nichols Brook) at Bradley?
Yes, the storms are much more frequent and damaging. In the last couple of years, heavy rainfall has sometimes turned Nichols Brook into a raging flood that washes out areas of the trail alongside it. Water running down the westernmost trail has recently been flooding into Old Goshen Road, which rarely happened in the past.
Q: Are there people you like to share the trail with?
Most of my family enjoys hiking the trails, and I’ve been many times with friends. Sometimes we’ll go birdwatching or to look for unusual flowers, or just to walk somewhere cool on a hot day!
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I’m very grateful to all the volunteers and staff of HLT and the Williamsburg Woodland Trails group who build, maintain and monitor our local trails. They’re not only friends, but also wonderfully committed people keeping trails open for everyone!
