Horse Creek Set The Stage For Privy Repair With USFS

On Wednesday I was heading back up to Jerry Cabin Shelter to do repair work on the privy. However, I was getting a ride up from the US Forest Service (USFS) to the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the shelter on the Sam Waddle Section.  Since our meeting was early Wednesday I decided to camp at Horse Creek Campground in the Recreation Area. It wasn't far from our meeting place at another recreation area, Round Knob. While I had camped nearby at Old Forge Campground but never at Horse Creek. 

I had walked through the campground as an old, mostly paved, trail goes from the main picnic pavilion to the swimming hole. So I had an idea of sites, but I decided on number eight. It was a beautiful site next to the trail and Horse Creek. It was a short walk to get water and to where the Campground Host resided. He was a friendly man named Nathan. Anyway, it was a really pleasant evening and I got to put my new tent, Big Agnes Salt Creek 2P, through its paces (more later). I even got a sunset in with the drone.

The following day I got ready to head out Pete was right about one thing a strange person did surprise us and I gave him a drink of water. The host Nathan would text later that he helped the guy out. 

Shortly after I made it to Round Knob my partner for the day, Taylor, a Trail Technician arrived with the ATV for our trip up. I will say it was a different experience to ride up instead of hiking. The road was even rougher than a month ago, so riding made that better. Also not having to carry the larger board and drill was a big plus, too. Once at the AT, we were greeted by a cloud-shrouded trail.

Once up there the main two jobs were replacing a board on the privy and raking it...again. I will say that this time was nowhere close to how bad it was in June. I was better prepared (respirator and rubber gloves) and there wasn't the volume or as many flies. Before doing that job I replaced the board on the front of the privy at the door. It had rotted through so I cleared out the old wood, took out the screws, and replaced them and the board. Unbeknownst to me when Taylor came to check on my progress I had him take the old wood back to the shelter (for firewood). Suddenly he dropped it because there was a Black Widow Spider. I realized I had just had my hand there a few minutes prior...lucky! 

We also met a thru-hiker who had set her tent up inside the shelter. Going by the trail name "Serene" she was headed off trail because of all the rain lately. After fixing the upper water's flow we headed back. First I did some lopping and we almost got stuck when the 4WD slid partially off the trail. But Taylor's expert handling of the vehicle got us out of that tight spot. 

Then it was time to cut out some trees. Taylor had brought along his chainsaw and we had identified a number of problem trees on our way in. By far the biggest was the old Elephant Tree that Paul and I had discovered fallen on the trail in March. The Carolina Mountain Club had decided to leave the tree because it would be a job and people had detoured around it. But we had a hard time getting the ATV by the tree coming in so Taylor said it would be no problem taking it out. While it did take some time we got it done almost unscathed. 

Once back at the car, I discovered an issue, I had a flat tire. With some ingenuity, we got it off and me going. Even with a number of headaches, it was a good overnight work trip to the Sam Waddell Section. 

ATC Trail Maintenance Workshop Sunday, Funday At Tanyard Gap

Doing trail work is a skill, and like any field of expertise, it takes time and learning to master this trade. That's why I attended an Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Trail Workshop at Tanyard Gap near Hot Springs on Sunday.

The original plan was to meet at Mill Ridge parking area, but because of a threat of rain it was changed to Tanyard Gap, as readers of this blog know, I have hiked out of here many times. 

There were six of us for our workshop plus our trainer Greg Ritson. He went over the array of tools used in trail work. Tools like Pickaxe, Hazel, Rouge Hoes, and my favorite Pulaski. Once on the trail, we talked about placing cribs, cleaning, and fixing waterbars plus other kinds of water diversion. One of the most important things I learned was to get rid of berms. Berms develop on the edge of the trail on the front slope of the path. We also did some hands-on removing berms and doing some water diversions. I will say I learned quite a bit during the workshop, which is always a good day...

Carolina Mountain Club: A Story 100 Years In The Making

There never is a better time to celebrate than turning 100 years old. It was for this reason that we traveled to Asheville Sunday for the Centennial Anniversary of the Carolina Mountain Club (CMC). 

This 100-year bash was held at the North Carolina Arboretum. In the history of the Club, I have only been a member for a very short time. The CMC is the oldest hiking organization in the Southern United States and has a long storied history beginning in 1923. Two years before it started the Southern Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) formed in 1921. This lasted for two years before the Club reformed, with the blessing of the AMC, on July 16, 1923, as the CMC. With the idea of the Appalachian Trail (AT) being birthed around this time, the CMC would become officially involved with the AT when it absorbed the Carolina Appalachian Trail Club, which had formed in January of 1931, in December of the same year. Besides building a good bit of the AT in the south it also is involved with the starting (and maintaining) trails like the Art Loeb and Mountain-to-Sea. If you want more on the history of the CMC check out Danny Bernstein's book Carolina Mountain Club: One Hundred Years. 

At the event, there were hikes, vendor booths, a pizza truck, free ice cream, and cupcakes. We also got to walk around the gardens and to Pete's getting to hike on a trail. I even got time to talk "shop" with Paul and others in the CMC.

A couple of other things I did in Asheville were going to REI and visiting a new donut place...Vortex Doughnuts. I had read this place was good and it lived up to the hype. Finally, I want to give a shout-out to Jemima at Laurel River Store (near Hot Springs) who made me a coffee after the official closing...thank you!

Hard Day On AT-CMC Section Better With Help

This past Thursday, I was back on the section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) that I help take care of, for the Carolina Mountain Club (CMC), to do some weed-eating.

However, I wasn't alone. I had help (and I don't mean Pete), but Dennis Boone, who is helping me on the section. See it three miles one way, and according to an AT Thru-hiker I met, Handmade, he does maintenance for the Potomac AT Club and said their crews usually only took care of a mile Oh, those three miles don't include the two (at minimum) just to the AT and the section. So, any help is appreciated! Dennis and Paul came up the week before to do some of the weeding, but unfortunately, I couldn't come because of the sickness going around. So, we just had about half the section to do, including the area around the shelter as it had grown again. 

Heading up to...

...to Round Knob & Connector Trail.

Reaching the AT...Dennis left me a message.

High Summer AT.

Where Dennis weeded.

Before & after weeding at Jerry Cabin Shelter.

Some old & new signs.

Anyway, Pete was right about a few things. First, Dennis did have a great weedeater, and second, my damn bag was heavy. I will finish by saying I appreciated the help, because these trips might look all fun, but this one was bloody hard! I don't know if I was ever so glad to see the car on this day...I was gassed! 

More pictures of the weeding around the shelter.

(Clockwise) Roseby Rhododendron, Roundleaf Catchfly, Mountain Laurel, Zigzag Spiderwort, Star Tickseed

Dennis Doing Work.

Where we weeded too.

I ran out of water & thought of drinking from the many puddles...that was a beautiful site!

The clouds from earlier had cleared.

That is why it's surprising I was able to hike some of the Tusculum Trail because I was sore and tired...extremely!

SmugMug Photos

Weed Eating Is Just One Task (Raking Privy) As Summer Comes To The AT

It's June and that means the thru-hiker bubble has passed, but that doesn't mean an AT (Appalachian Trail) Maintener's job is done. So, over a fortnight ago I headed up to my section of the AT to do some post-thru-hikers, summer maintenance. 

I didn't do an overnight because one of the tasks involved weeding and I had to carry a tool for the job two miles just to reach the start of my section. Well, it turns out that the weedeater I took wasn't close to doing the job. Plus I had three miles to do and that was a little much for just me, so I asked Paul at the Carolina Mountain Club (CMC) for help, so another trip is coming soon. 

Heading to the AT

The difference in the trail...

...in just over a month is amazing!

That did mean I didn't get anything done. I was able to get weed-eating done around Jerry Cabin Shelter and around the water plus the privy. Speaking of the privy I had another job to complete in regards to it and that is raking the privy. Yes, it is how it sounds, you take off the cover closest to the drop zone and then use a long rake to pull the waste into the uncovered section. Yes, it is as disgusting as it sounds. It was like a fudge that smelled terrible and the flies, I have never seen this many and they were all big ones. Once finished then cover with leaves and put the lid back on. I should have raked it in April it's a mistake I won't make again. 

Just some of the work at Jerry Cabin

Because of all the work I did around the shelter I didn't have the time or energy to go the other two miles of the three-mile section. I also had a full bag of trash to haul out. However, on the way back I did get to weed-eat some, mostly just cutting back stinging nettle and poison ivy. While the maintenance work ended when I reached the Round Knob Road Connector, I still had some additional trash duty along the way.  Once back at Round Knob, I sent the drone up for a few shots. It gave me a good look at the smoke from the Canadian Wildfires as it had obscured Greeneville 10 miles away.

Like I said I did get some weed eating done on the way back.

Leaving the AT & heading back I picked up trash on the way back & at Round Knob

(T) The view from February & June... (B) The view of where I was...

SmugMug Photos

The Virginia Chainsaw Certification: Rated A

 

A couple of weeks back I finally did something I have wanted to do for some time, get my US Forest Service (USFS) Chainsaw Certification. I did this by being on the Governing Board of The Clinch Coalition (TCC) in Southwest Virginia. It is a two-day course with the first being classroom and the second in the field using a chainsaw. The classroom portion took place at the office of the Clinch Ranger District of the Jefferson National Forest in Norton, VA. The class was taught by Chuck Lane of the USFS. While I'm not a novice the class itself was mostly people with a lot more experience than myself. While long it was a good class and I learned a lot. I also got to try a new pizza place in Norton, Doughmakers.

Anyway, the main event was day two, and getting my hands on a chainsaw. We met in Norton and I rode with one of our evaluators over near Little Stony Falls between Coburn and Dungangon. It was an area burned in a forest fire so it had plenty of cuttable trees. When we got there they had to cut one of the trees out of the road. Once at the test site, we had to get ready to put on our PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). This entails chaps, a helmet, ear and eye protection, and gloves. Because I was going to get my chainsaw certification the USFS mandates PPEs. The fact is chainsaws are dangerous and I should have been using PPEs. Well, for today I borrowed most of my PPE from Uncle Sam, except gloves. 

Because this was my first time getting certified the highest rating was a Sawyer A. I got evaluated on felling and bucking three trees. I will admit I have bucked plenty (that is cutting a downed tree) but I haven't felled many. While I got off to a rough start with instruction from my evaluator Chris, by the third tree I had it down. It showed because when I got my Sawyer Certification Card it had feller added. Oh, when we got back to Norton the trip wouldn't have been complete if this Wood Booger didn't head to the Woodbooger Grill. A Wood Booger has to eat...