University of Virginia Bio Science Grad Students
Shenandoah National Park, November 14, 2015 — The trail rehab project at Blackrock is done! It took a proverbial village to do it. A number of different crews worked in this project all summer long and into the fall. Thanks to a few grad students from UVA and three PATC members, you can put it in the books for another 10 – 20 years.
See: http://jfetig.com/2015/05/22/crew-week/ for more on the Blackrock project.
Crushing rock over which gravel will be laid.
Why the do over in a decade or so? Blackrock is actually a talus pile made of quartzite that once was ancient seabed long before the Appalachian mountains formed. Now, the millennia and the freeze thaw cycle have turned it into a boulder field that is slowly inching its way down hill.
Being a boulder field, there’s a lot of empty space in between the stones. It’s that empty space that swallows up the gravel with which we pave the treadway. Over time, about 10 years or so, it simply disappears down the train. Then we get to do it over again.
If you’re wondering how we got the gravel to the work site, check this out. it’s a “motorized wheelborrow.” It moved gravel the National Park Service had stashed for us on tracks from a near by fire road.
The students had a great time. With their youthful energy, the project only took three hours to complete. Afterward, they went on a hike to Blackrock Hut to eat lunch.
Why was I available for this project, and not hiking the Long Trail as hoped? I was careful not to build any expectations for this reason.
I have a condition known as “Viking’s Disease,” medical name Dupeytren’s Contracture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupuytren’s_contracture It’s a recessive gene that causes collagen to form around tendons in the hands causing the fingers to contract. Unattended, a person’s hand would ball into a fist.
The ring finger on my right had is bent to the degree that I cannot get a warm glove or mitten on it. The collagen also restricts blood flow. Both of these symptoms put me at risk for frostbite.
Every four or five years surgery, now replaced in many cases by a drug therapy that dissolves the collagen and allows the affected finger to return to near normal. Medical insurance SNAFUs made it impossible to receive treatment on time to go to Vermont.
This is where I’d rather be right now – with Max Mishkin and his dad tramping southward on the Long trail. Have fun guys. I’m jealous.
I’m still in the early stages of DC. I might be “lucky” and get hit by a bus before I have to go after it. As long as I can sill grip the coffee mug in the morning and work the macbook’s keyboard, all is well.
Sorry you weren’t able to go on the hike. You were able to do some good work on the trail and many will be thankful for all your and the groups efforts. I want a motorized wheelborrow!!
It’s a cool contraption, but the operator said it is very temperamental. A Bobcat might be better.
It was good to have an energetic and able group of young people to help get the job done.
I hope your hand treatments go well.
This will be the fourth time around for my hand. In fact I had the drug treatment for the first time right before my thru hike. Actually is an enzyme they inject into the affected area. It’s not pleasant, but it works.
Is there pain involved with use of your hand before or after treatment?
No pain prior other than when I catch my hooked finger on something. The corrective procedure is unpleasant and takes up to a month to heal. That’s three to four weeks faster than surgery. Once recovered, no pain.
I suppose no long-term cure is expected.
Nope. It’s caused by a recessive gene. Too many Vikings married their sisters.
That makes you part Viking. I thought there was something ‘special’ about you. 😈
More Irish and English have it. The Vikings spread it as they raped their way across Northern Europe.
Good grief! I am 3/4 Irish and English.
You’re old enough that you’d be showing symptoms by now. My mother had a few inconsequential nodules at age 85. Still, she had it.
No one seems to carry any symptoms I know about. We must be unaffected.
My siblings are carriers but are a symptomatic.
Well, for a walker, better a hand problem than a foot issue. Take care.
You can say that again!