Highs will surge toward 100 degrees in some Midwest cities and well into the 90s in the Northeast, according to. "This week, the extent of the heat across the United States will be the most widespread of the summer yet," AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. with record-smashing temperatures over the past month or so, the intense summer heat will finally make an appearance across much of the Midwest and Northeast over the next few days. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.This week, it will be the Midwest and Northeast's turn to swelter.Īfter punishing the western and southern U.S. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. For NPR News, I'm Todd Bookman in the White Mountains.Ĭopyright © 2023 NPR. It takes people to recognize the threat and act to preserve the trail's beauty. There's no pile of money for this kind of work. It's cool.īOOKMAN: Not every trail is lucky enough to have caretakers like Dumais. She's down on all fours, positioning stones one by one.ĭUMAIS: So it feels really cool to be hopefully, like, just investing a lot of my own energy and my crewmates' energy into something that will last that long. Experts from the Forest Service say they need to protect this delicate ecosystem.īOOKMAN: Like it has all summer, this day hike didn't escape without a passing thunderstorm.ĭUMAIS: A lot of feet have tread this path.īOOKMAN: As the dirt turns to mud, Annie Dumais doesn't flinch. They don't shoot straight up the mountain.īOOKMAN: With no intervention, the trail will continue to deteriorate, meaning people will head off trail, stomping on plants to get up the mountain. Back in the day, trails were often about getting from the base to the top as fast as possible, but then they become rivers during a big storm.ĭUMAIS: Sustainable trails tend to be longer because they switch back and forth a lot. It's like, this is trade work now.īOOKMAN: Other stretches of this trail are being completely repositioned to follow natural contours. It has to.ĭELUCIA: Long gone are the days of just, like, rolling rocks around in the woods for fun. She's laying in a wider, more gradual set of stone stairs than what was here before. The federal government, along with private foundations, the World Trails Network and the AMC, are spending about $1.8 million to make this path more resilient.ĭUMAIS: So we are both widening the trail and hardening the trail.īOOKMAN: Dumais is pounding crushed stone with a hammer. She's on one of the trail crews that's spending the next four summers rebuilding every foot of this hillside. Visits to national parks have doubled in the past 50 years to more than 300 million people annually.īOOKMAN: The results are evident here, heading up the ridge, exposed rocks in the middle of the path, muddy sections and washouts from recent storms.ĪNNIE DUMAIS: It had water running down the middle of it and kind of washing away material.īOOKMAN: This is Annie Dumais. And it's like this perfect storm in the Whites that we're trying to constantly battle.īOOKMAN: Trail systems and national parks around the country are facing these same dual pressures, crowds and changing weather. DeLucia says they leave their mark.ĭELUCIA: You know, and then we add, you know, the climate-related, you know, weather impacts that are more frequent and more severe. Now, on a busy weekend, as many as a thousand hikers come here. It crosses streams and climbs peaks and, with no smoke, offers views for days. Today, the loop is around 9 miles in total. But beginning with Indigenous people, humans have been visiting these woods for thousands of years. I mean, this - it is phenomenal.īOOKMAN: The trail was established 200 years ago. The Franconia Loop is one of its calling cards.ĭELUCIA: The Franconia Loop Trail is rated some - the best loop hike in the country, or it's been featured in Backpacker Magazine. This national forest draws millions of visitors annually to hike, fish, ski and camp. It's one of the many groups that cares for and about the White Mountains. Yeah, really wild.īOOKMAN: This is Alex DeLucia. TODD BOOKMAN, BYLINE: Most days, you can pull into the Franconia Ridge trailhead parking lot, look up and see alpine peaks well above tree line, but not this day with all the haze in the air.ĪLEX DELUCIA: That's the wildfire smoke from Canada. New Hampshire Public Radio's Todd Bookman takes us to the White Mountains, where efforts are underway to preserve a popular trail. Many were already under pressure from a surge in use. The storms have also taken a toll on hiking trails. Intense rainfall in the Northeast in recent weeks has wiped out roads and bridges.
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