Grouse Grind opens Friday for 2019 season
Posted May 2, 2019 5:33 pm.
Last Updated May 2, 2019 5:38 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH SHORE (NEWS 1130) — Hikers, lace up: the North Shore’s Grouse Grind trail will be opening for the season starting at 6:15 Friday morning.
When it opens, you might spot some differences.The iconic hiking trail has been given a face-lift with fresh steps near the summit.
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Tom McComb, Park Operations Supervisor, says the North Shore’s most famous trail needed routine maintenence and inspection ahead of the opening. Employees — including helicopter crews — have been working long hours to prepare.
While the repairs are routine — including rock scaling and removing hazardous trees — it was an unusual year because of the mild weather, rapid snow-melt, and variable weather conditions.
“We had a really mild January, but we got the full-force winter in February. It took us all by surprise at the rapid snowmelt we experienced in March,” he says. “We were able to get in on the hill in April, which was a great thing. But its always hard to schedule work in this environment with the snow levels moving up and down, and scheduling work higher up in the hill is even more challenging.”
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And while most will be hitting the trails for the first time this season, a few sneaky folks haven’t been respecting the gate during the off-season.
McComb says using the trails when they’re closed isn’t safe, and makes their job more challenging.
“What we’re finding is very few people are not obeying our signs and going up the Grind during closure, which really makes it difficult for our crews to continue working while people are accessing an active worksite,” he says. “But really it’s not a major problem. Only very few folks were doing that, while the majority were looking at other trail opportunities in the park.”
The trail is expected to see as many as 400,000 hikers this year.
