So much silt that we had to spread it downhill.

Appalachian Trail, Maryland and Shenandoah National Park, October 30 – 31 — Mother Nature is splashing fall color all over the mid-Atlantic.  The leaf peepers are out in droves.  It’s just a tease.  Soon hard winter will muscle its way in and own the joint until the spring wake up.

Until then, we’ve got work to do before the ground freezes so hard-ass that that our picks and fire hoes just bounce off.

Saturday:  Jessica Say has volunteered to be the next maintainer of the Pogo** Campground in Maryland,  It was a delight to take her on her orientation visit.  She walked the ground, toured the new tent pads, learned how to clean out a fire pit, and most importantly, how to take care of a composting privy.

She also will be maintaining an AT section further north in Maryland.  That’s a bunch!  Thank you Jessica for stepping up.

**Pogo Rheinheimer was a young man who loved the AT.  Sadly he was killed in a boating accident.

Jessica at the Hoodlums trail maintenance workshop in September.

Caroline loosens silt which is raked away.

Sunday:  Readers may recall that a couple of months ago a severe, localized storm was forecast to dump up to six inches per hour on parts of the park.  We don’t know what actually happened.  We do know the results.  Nearly all of our erosion control structures filled with silt.  Some were buried deep enough that they were difficult to find.

This compares to 2018 when the Park experienced nearly double its annual rainfall.  Then, these same waterbars and check dams were able to handle all that huge rain volume without problem.  If climate change features more intense storms, this could be an example.

Readers will recall that a Virginia Conservation Corps Crew (AmeriCorps) rebuilt the upper two thirds of the mountain.

The crew was unique in its all-woman composition, a circumstance they appreciated.

With two-thirds rebuilt, that left the bottom third for Caroline and me.

Our dilemma was to find a mutually agreeable time when we could finish the bottom third before the first freeze.  Fortunately, the bottom third is fairly flat requiring far fewer waterbars and check dams in comparison to the rest of the section.

We took turns on the tools – a pick-mattock and a McCloed fire rake.

McCloed:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_(tool)  The McCloed is the Swiss Army Knife of trail tools.  It is a hoe, a rake, a light pick and a tamper.  Best of all, it stands up by itself.

Per Park policy, we’re using as few wooden and stone structures as possible.  Instead we’re installing swails known in the trail world as rolling grade dips.  These earthen mounds, when properly compacted last for years.  They are quicker to build.  The jury is still out on whether they are easier to maintain.

All told, we put in six hours of solid work.

Next up is the last Hoodlums trip of the year, weather permitting on Nov. 20, and our annual Black Friday soirée to rake the leaves out of the waterbars to facilitate drainage.  The irony is that new leaves will wash in over the winter and we’ll have to rake them out again in the spring.

Stay tuned.

Sisu