It was as if parts of the Northeast were literally frozen in time.

The December 2008 ice storm downed power lines, slickened roadways, and immobilized residents in some urban areas of Massachusetts and New York. The states' more remote regions didn't fare any better.

One of the hardest-hit areas was along the Midstate Trail, a 95-mile scenic footpath extending from Rhode Island to New Hampshire. Nearly half of the trail was devastated, particularly in Massachusetts' Worcester County. Limbs of ice-covered maple and oak trees snapped to the ground, turning hiking paths into treacherous obstacle courses. Trail maintainers guessed that cleanup efforts would take a full year to complete.

They were wrong.

A collaborative effort involving AMC expedited the region's post-storm maintenance efforts. Most trails were functional by the start of last year's hiking season. Once Massachusetts' Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) cleared large limbs and trees from blocked trails, volunteers got to work. "Usually I find ice storms pretty, but there was nothing pretty about this," says Don Hoffses, former AMC Coleman Trails Challenge coordinator and at-large member of the Midstate Trails Committee.

Since the Midstate Trail snaked through public and private lands, Hoffses contacted landowners last January to gauge where trail work should begin. Because the ice cemented some trees and fallen branches to the ground, waiting for thawing temperatures was the best approach.

Nearly 40 volunteers tackled five different sections of the path — about 20 miles — during a trail event last April. Workers cut and removed brush along the path, lopped off "widow makers" that threatened to fall on passersby, and removed fallen trunks that were less than six feet in length. The state cleared the larger ones.

Similar efforts occurred at Massachusetts' Wachusett Mountain, where the storm affected 15 miles of trail. Last February, 14 volunteers from the Worcester, Boston, and Southeastern Massachusetts chapters as well as Wachusett Greenways cleared debris from sections of the trail. The Worcester Chapter hosted another "cleanup party" in April.

"The efforts of those who enjoy the trails at Wachusett Mountain expedited the cleanup effort so that it took less than six months to once again make the trails safe for hiking," says Worcester Chapter Hiking Chair Pat Lambert.

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In Western Massachusetts, the damage was also extensive. "Half of the Massachusetts Appalachian Trail, which is 80 miles, was severely impacted," says AMC Regional Trails Coordinator Matt Moore. He assisted a youth group from Northampton, MA, during a trail work event at October Mountain State Forest. During an abnormally hot day last April, the 16 teens used bow saws, axes, and clippers to rid a trail of hanging branches.

Berkshire Chapter AT Committee volunteers conducted cleanups at least once a week between March and May along the path. "We were quite determined that this was going to be taken care of," says Cosmo Catalano, the AT Committee's volunteer coordinator.

Under the auspices of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and through chapter-initiated activities, New York-North Jersey Chapter members also made their mark. During one event, volunteers cleared debris from a 10-mile section of the AT on the Kittatinny Ridge. "Chain-sawers from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference's New Jersey AT Trail Crew and AMC took care of the big stuff, and our maintainers interrupted their comfortable holiday rest to get out there with loppers and handsaws on the smaller stuff," says Jill Arbuckle, membership chair for the New York-North Jersey Chapter.

Occasional fallen branches and new pockets of understory where downed trees once rested are the only signs of last year's storm. Volunteers said they would assess the situation and respond in a similar fashion if icy conditions disrupt the trails this year.

Moore credits the trails' quick recoveries to diligent volunteers.

"The commitment of AMC volunteers is consistently remarkable," he says. "When something of this magnitude occurs, its serves as a call to action to them."