Trail volunteers at Musquash Estuary run into litter left by partiers

Volunteers who spruce up the trails at the Musquash Estuary Nature Reserve each year hope cleaning up garbage will someday be no longer part of the job.

But Saturdayabout 20 people were out picking up beers cans and other remnants left behind by careless park users.

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Courtney Thompson, a volunteer coordinator with Nature Conservancy of Canada, said it's a little disappointing to still see garbage around the area.

"It seems that most of it is just people coming out to party," she said.

'Really, really thankful'

The volunteers also spent their sunny Saturday sprucing up the conservancy's trails and building boardwalks over some damp areas.

Gary Hyslop, trail monitor for the Black Beach Trail, appreciated the efforts of the volunteers.

The boardwalks not only help hikers through mucky sections, but they also prevent the degradation of the path, he said.

"We got a lot done today," he said. "And this would have taken me all year to do what we just did in one day. So it's a big. I'm really, really thankful for them."