Bald Knob Bee Bowls

If you hike up to Bald Knob, you may notice several small, brightly colored cups on the ground with a liquid and perhaps insects inside of them. These cups are part of a survey that is looking at pollinators on the mountain, particularly regarding blueberry pollination. This research, along with many other projects on the MLC property, is conducted by biologists at the Mountain Lake Biological Station. Please remember to adhere to all signs posted on the Mountain Lake Conservancy & Hotel property, and respect any research equipment you may find while out exploring on the trails and in the forest!

A gorgeous view from the Bald Knob Overlook

Trillium bloom

Cub Scouts Conservation Project: Tree Planting at Mountain Lake

A big Thanks! to the WEBELOS cub scout den of Giles County for planting several oak tree seedlings around Mountain Lake this past weekend. The scouts were completing a conservation project requirement, and planted 5-foot tall oak seedlings around the property and trails in areas prone to erosion. They also planted a few trees around the hotel to replace older trees that had died. Great work WEBELOS!

New Signage Improves Trails

Last week, the Midweek Crew visited Mountain Lake to work on our signage project.  Over the winter, they routed and painted 55 trail signs for our property.  During their 3 day stay, they removed the old and broken existing trail signs and put the new ones in the ground.  It was no easy feat, especially when we had to hike out 80-lb bags of QuikCrete, posts and tools to places like Bear Cliffs Connector! We are so excited about our new signs and can't thank this group enough for their hard work and support.  Below are some pictures from the project.

Bald Knob trail-head behind the hotel

Tom enjoying the ride

A total of 55 new signs went in the ground

North end of the lake on the Indian Trail

New steps!

Testing out the new stone steps 

Bald Knob - this hole was hard to dig!

early morning fog on the powerline

Last trail sign in the ground!

 

Some of the women worked on clearing the Indian Trail which borders the lake.  The path is now clear of debris and easier to hike.  Thanks again!