After a descent from Hiway 32 to the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Black River, we crossed an intermittent streambed.  We then picked up an old trail (perhaps a logging trail or old homesteader trail) and followed it on the North side of the streambed.  At this point we have a bottomland trail, as the hillside presented too many rocks to move it to a side-slope.

Further down the valley (or hollow) we saw a well-used ATV trail, which continues through on to County Road 72.  The ATV trail will need to be blocked-off and posted.  We decided to avoid the problems with the ATV trail by heading to the North slope through a several stands of  pine trees.  Several creek crossings are involved which will necessitate the construction of foot-bridges during the construction phase.

We routed the trail for several hundred yards adjacent to the creek, which by this time appears to have a constant water-flow (except, perhaps in drought conditions).  After a final creek crossing we climbed  30' and passed through a limestone/dolomite savanna which features some nice pine trees.

We then began a 120' ascent toward a ridge-saddle, then around a "gully-bowl" before descending through a ~15 yr-old clear-cut until we approach County Road 72.  There is a creek crossing which might require a few stepping-rocks, after which we pass through a power-line right-of-way before coming to the road.

The route we established is very scenic, giving a good view of the Black River headwaters, a nice savanna, and a reasonable climb & descent through a mixture of good forest and relatively new clearcut.  The descent from the saddle toward 72 approaches a 10% grade in two places, but micro-routing might alleviate this during actual construction.  The ATV trail will need to be addressed and several foot-bridged need to be constructed.

UPDATE: 8/21/02-- The biologist doing NEPA work on this subsection requested that we move the trail away from the intermittent stream and a fen area in the valley just west of Highway 32. At the point the trail crosses the stream bed, we moved the trail up to the hillside for 3/4 of a mile, dropping once into the valley as we cross a hollow.  The new route will require more construction time, but avoids potentially delicate wet areas.  Where the new route crosses the hollow, we may construct a short (10-30') boardwalk/puncheon where the ground gets soggy in wet weather.

- John Roth & Paul Nazarenko