Hike up to Mt Ashwabay

  

On a cool and beautiful morning, June 3, 2026, Birchlegger Ted May led a trip from the Bayfield (or Les Voigt State) Fish Hatchery up the Pileated Woodpecker Trail to Mt Ashwabay / Big Top Chautauqua and back.

 

Two Birchleggers (Connie Meek and Jeff Commisford) joined Ted on the 6-mile hike, enjoying the wide variety of wildflowers, trees and birds along the trail. This 50 foot bridge crosses the creek to access the Boardwalk through the rich Ostrich Ferns and other lush growth adjacent to the creek.trail up to Mt Ashwabay.

 

The trail was put in two years ago to provide additional hiking opportunities for people living 
or visiting the Bayfield area. The three of us reflected on the active lifestyle that allows us to continue enjoying such activities (along with the Birkebeiner) into our 70s and beyond. Helping with trails is a nice volunteer opportunity for Birchleggers wherever they live.

The Big Top Chautauqua lies at the jumping off point for a network of close to 50-km of trails in the Mt Ashwabay trail system.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cable Community Farm Grant Update

This is an update from Le Sedlacek, the Cable Community Farm Liaison thanking the Birchleggings Club for our $1,000 grant.

I am writing to again say thank you to the Birchleggings Club for supporting our project. As we have done spring clean up, we have seen a number of places where rodents, mostly ground squirrels, have tunneled under the fence. Last year, trapping these guys was pretty time intensive. We are hopeful that the kestrels, hawks and owls will now have easier hunting with the project nearing completion.

I am happy to report that both nesting boxes have been installed. One is on the fence. The other is on a tree on the property line, designed more for small owls. The four hunting perches have been installed on the fence line.

We have some remaining funds that we will direct toward a long-lasting bird bath and some additional vegetation to support habitat. We have a bird bath on loan that is being used frequently as there is no water source close to the field. All labor for installation was done by garden volunteers.