A Remarkable Blowdown

October 23, 2017 / jim fetig / 1 Comment

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Shenandoah National Park, October 20 – 21, 2017 — Imagine finding a 50-year-old locust tree prostrate on your favorite picnic table like a drunk passed out in a dark alley. Most of us didn’t know this stately friend had a problem. Regardless, there it was.

The Hoodlum’s crew weekend was off to an exciting start.

We suspect the last gasp of one of the recent hurricanes was responsible for doing a number on this poor tree that used to live at the Hoodlums trail crew hangout at Indian Run. The tree’s lush leaves fooled us. Termites had found its heart. It was weakened and didn’t need much to do it in.

The dead picnic table wasn’t the locust’s only victim. Our recently repaired reflector fire took a glancing blow significant enough to pop a few rocks loose.

On its way down or on a bounce, the dearly departed tree crunched our backup picnic table too. To add to the misfortune, we replaced the wood in each of the picnic tables only a year ago. Damn!

The good news is that the Indian Run maintenance hut suffered no damage. Amen!

Hasty clean up cleared usable space.

The fire was built on schedule.

The Hoodlums worked Saturday as scheduled on various trail repair projects with a small work party assigned to clean up this tree. Bottom line: We’ll have enough firewood for a next year.

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I was in the park earlier on Friday to work on the AT section I maintain and to get ready for a large work party assigned to help me finish rehabbing its erosion control structures and remove two blowdowns. After all of the leaves are down, I’ll make a trip to rake them out of the waterbar drains and put this puppy to bed for the winter.

A dirt waterbar called a grade dip. We’re getting away from using logs and stone whenever possible.

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A downed apple tree in an old orchard through which the AT passes.

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My guess is that a bear was climbing the tree an broke off a large limb.

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There were dozens of apples on the ground. This is unusual because the bears and deer love them and normally by this time, they are no longer on the market. The mast (food) has been excellent this year. The immediate area is full of oak and hickory trees and the nuts, apples and berries have been overstocked in contrast to two years ago when there was virtually nothing because of drought.

The potluck theme was Oktober Fest.

The kraut and brats were yummy.

Rigging Workshop

September 25, 2017September 26, 2017 / jim fetig / 5 Comments

PATC Rigging Workshop, Sharpsburg, MD, September 24, 2017 — When you have to drag big rocks or logs, or bridge a creek, how ya gonna git ‘er done? That’s what we learned this weekend at the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club rigging workshop for trail maintainers.

Rigging is mature technology. It’s used every day in construction and factory settings. Sailors know it well. The same principles that lift tons of concrete 25 stories in building construction or off-load container ships are the same ones trail maintainers depend upon to safely move 1,000 lb. rocks and ginormous logs, rootballs and bridge stringers.

That bridge across the creek? Guess what? Riggers used high school physics to calculate the “working load limits,” “sling tension,” “share of load,” “choke angles,” and many more factors required to safely drag, lift and place large objects in the right position deep in the back country where lumber sexual street cranes fear to tread.

The first four hours were spent in the dreaded classroom drinking from a fire hose pumping out basic concepts, safety rules, vocabulary, equipment familiarization, calculations, and expectations for the weekend.

Flashback to Vietnam era military training, “If you don’t learn this, you will die in Vietnam,” the sergeants would extol with the subtlety of jackhammers.

Well students listen up, a snapped steel cable or rope pretty much functions like a weed wacker except with enough power in the right circumstances to maim, decapitate or de-limb your ignorant butt. The consequences for carelessness or ignorance range from disability up to and including death!

After fully appreciating the weed wacker metaphor, I thought, “Why do I want to learn this stuff?”

“So you stay in one piece,” my guardian angel’s voice intoned.

“Oh!” I replied.

I noodled for second. My guardian angel takes responsibility almost nothing so I knew with the motivation of a lonely guy at closing time that I was on my own.

With that ugly metaphor in mind, my eyes and ears locked in on doom prevention for the remainder of the weekend.

Another take-away from the workshop. The price of my toys continues to escalate. This little sucker is a grip hoi$t. This model can move a ton although there are larger and heavier models that can handle much more. Want to win a tug of war? Get one of these babies!

Properly attached to the anchor and ready to go.

But there’s more to it than a grip hoist. Ya got your pulleys, shackles, chains, ropes and the know-how to properly hook them up. Time for a second mortgage if you want to buy the toys. Otherwise you use PATC equipment.

First practical exercise, rigging and dragging a BFR weighing an estimated 750 – 800 lbs.

Checking everything twice.

Have rock. Will travel.

Added a pulley to change direction with the speed of molasses. Slow and steady is good in this business. The rock bars help keep the front end from becoming a dozer.

View from the grip hoist operator

Slow lane.

Summary day one:

A lot to learn. Most of the info delivered by fire hose spilled on the classroom floor. I am going to practice this skill in small bites and learn to get the math benchmarked and develop valid rules of thumb. You can lighten the load you have to carry into the backcountry if you closely calculate. Me? Until I learn a lot more, I’m going to over engineer everything and eat the weight.

Day two. Highlining.

In the density of the predawn darkness I’m awakened to the purr of a golf cart somewhere between the door of our 10-bunk cabin and the awesome laminated-beam pavilion across the gravel. Our kindly hosts at the Shepherd’s Spring (Church of the Brethren) outdoor retreat center were delivering hot coffee for the second morning in a row. You rock ladies!

I’m cocooned in an Army poncho liner (quilt) with ear phones jammed into my ears, half listening to old time radio’s “Boston Blackie” and dreaming of special times and places.

The wake up cue nudged me from dreams to reality. You see, I normally respond to the gentle rhythms of dawn and dusk. I wanted to stay but … the crunch of the coffee wagon on the gravel was overwhelming as a bone is to a dog.

“Add coffee, instant human.” The pending chemical assist was an awesome incentive to get the jump on the day ahead. My feet hit the floor in a dead sprint for the Thermos. I was not alone. A nutritious breakfast in the dining room followed.

The words ‘high line’ connote a cable strung high in the air with a suspended load dangling below. Fake news! Not true. Do that and you might die in the woods grasshopper.

Instead, a high line suspends the load no higher above the ground than necessary. (Physics nerds and engineers know this.) A taunt line under high tension decreases your working load limit, and that dear friends confers zero advantage. The more U-shapped the parabola, the better.

Rigging the high line. High means way up in a live, solid tree with a choke configuration and a pulley. That’s the spar. It’s anchored to another tree directly to the rear. Hiking in the ladder has to be a joy.

Rigging a chain basket to carry the BFR. This one’s about 500 lbs. Like Santa, checking it twice.

Setting the grip hoist at a 90 degree angle with enough distance to pull the amount of cable necessary.

Inserting a dynamometer allowed us to see the actual forces at work.

Click for more on dynamometers

Ready to rock and roll.

Ready. Steady. Go.

BFR on the move.

Exercise over.

Please do not try this at home. This blog is not a ‘how to’ for anything. It is a story about our rigging workshop this weekend. We hope it helps you understand more about what it takes to keep hiking trails in good working order and how dedicated volunteers give of their time to advance their skills.

Of note. Many women have taken this workshop and are actively involved in PATC rigging projects. Ladies you are welcome. Please come.

Sisu

Broken Pick

September 18, 2017September 18, 2017 / jim fetig / 1 Comment

Why we can’t have nice toys. Jim breaks them all. Truth is that if you pound on rocks long enough, something like this is bound to happen. It’s not my superhuman strength though. These pick-mattocks are cast, not forged, and we found crystalline metal at the joint where the tool broke. Manufacturer’s defect.

Trail Maintenance Workshop, Shenandoah National Park, September 15 – 17, 2017 — Each September the North District Hoodlums trail crew sponsors a maintenance workshop where up to 30 enthusiasts can come to work with the National Park Service to learn or improve their trail maintenance skills. This was the 30th anniversary of this popular event.

The group divides into work parties – those new to trail work and those more advanced. The projects tackled are agreed upon between the park service and relevant Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) district managers.

An early arrival on Friday made time for me to inspect the section of the AT which I maintain as the overseer. I met a backcountry ranger on patrol at the trailhead so we hiked up Compton Peak together. My pruning saw easily dispatched some tree branches we found blocking the trail. There were no additional anomalies other than the spring is nearly dry.

Checking for bears is my favorite part of fall. This time of year bears have entered hyperphasia, a metabolic condition that drives them to pack on the extra pounds they need to survive winter. These obsessive eating machines can devour 20,000 calories per day.

Black bears are omnivores. The mast (bear food) consists mostly of nuts – acorns, hickory and walnuts in the park, plus insects they find in rotting wood, berries, cherries and apples that come from residual orchards originally planted by those who farmed the land before it became a park. If they find a animal carcass, they’ll scarf up that too. We spotted five bears while working Sunday morning.

Here a bear brought some apples from the nearby orchard and dropped them next to some rotting logs that offered more calories in the form of grubs and other insects. Note one apple is half eaten. The scat pile is perhaps the largest I’ve seen in the area – about three times the volume of a large dog. Note the absence of seeds in the scat which is unusual. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

When the inspection was finished, I headed for Mathew’s Arm campground where the workshop encamped. Folks had begun to gather and it didn’t take long for beer and a fire to improve the ambiance.

On Friday through Saturday lunch we are responsible for our own meals. This is steak a la foil, with potatoes, carrots, garlic and red onions, slowly baked in the coals. The scrumptious Saturday dinner, Sunday breakfast and lunch are catered (prepared on site) by two brothers whose other brother is a Hoodlum. This was their 13th year as I recall.

The first order of business Saturday morning is the safety briefing followed by work party assignments and discussion. Those new to trail work begin with an introduction to the tools maintainers use and the purpose of each followed by a day-and-a-half’s worth of hands-on application. They clip, prune and weed vegetation, clean and repair erosion control structures, and even build a few. The work parties headed out to north Marshall, Little Hogback, Dickey Ridge and Overall Run.

We worked with a couple of NPS crew members to remove and replace some rusted culverts on the lower Dickey Ridge trail near the park entrance station. We also cleaned and rehabbed some waterbars in the area.

Lunch.

Nearly done.

Finished product.

On Sunday our work party cleaned and rebuilt waterbars and check dams on the Overall Run/Tuscarora trail.

Turning in tools at the maintenance yard near Piney River.

Corn snake on the hunt for bats that live in the rafters. Who said snakes stay on the ground? They can climb trees and stone walls, not to mention chimney up this space.

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The 30th year for an event like this is auspicious. The experience and the companionship were delightful. Most importantly, much needed work got done.

If you are so inclined next year, watch for the announcement in the PATC newsletter. Be early, the roster is limited to 30 and fills up fast.

Sisu

AT Expert Advice.

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017 / jim fetig / 5 Comments

The 80-mile mark is not the optimal time to be studying this subject.

Kensington, Maryland, September 11, 2017 — Within the culture of the Appalachian Trail there are various camps with strong views on how the trail should be hiked. In some cases one way is as good as another. But advice from the ignorant and uninformed can be detrimental to both hikers and the trail itself.

Given the plethora of good and bad advice along with rumors and the need to get factual information to hikers quickly, a group of experts associated with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy created a Facebook page that would provide unbiased, rock-solid, informed advice, and accurate information to the AT community.

Appalachian Trail Expert Advice Facebook Page

This is my latest addition, written in hopes of helping aspiring hikers improve their odds of successfully thru hiking a trail where between three of four or four of five thru hiking attempts fail in any given year.

IT’S SHAKEDOWN SEASON

In the beginning there is Georgia for NOBOs. Unfortunately, the relatively easy hills of Georgia are also the ending for far too many aspiring thru hikers. A few thoughts follow on what you could be doing now to improve your odds of success next season no matter how you’re planning to hike the AT.

If you’re planning to thru hike next season, the year prior can be an anxious and exciting time. You read the blogs and memoirs. You vicariously hitch rides with the class ahead of you by following hikers to see what you can learn from their experience. You obsess over gear. Above all, you plan, plan, plan.

The trail register is in the metal box on the side of the southern terminus monument.

Now that NOBO season is winding down, what’s left to do until it’s your turn to toe the starting line? You could obsess all the more, or you could get out in the woods and test your gear, work on organizing your pack, and learn if your boots cause blisters.

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This guy is the definition of poorly prepared.

Experience suggests this is a good idea. Ridgerunners report poorly prepared hikers year after year. Many have never used their equipment in the field. A few show up with a pack full of gear still in it’s original packaging (yes they do). Nearly nine out of 10 report that they are on their first backcountry experience. Remember the joke, How to get to Carnegie Hall/Katahdin? “Practice, practice, practice.” Small wonder the drop out rate is so high.

Why let Springer be your first time in the primitive backcountry? Why let Georgia kick your butt? Fall is an ideal time for a few shakedown hikes. The weather is generally good. The humidity low. Fewer people are on the trails and the leaves are turning.

Most importantly you don’t have to hike on the AT. Any trail near where you live will do. In fact the idea for this blog was born while hiking the 70-mile Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in western Pennsylvania. There are great trails just about everywhere.

Resupplying at the Ingles supermarket in Hiawassee, GA.

The amount of free time you have doesn’t matter either. Since most thru hikers resupply every five days on average, practicing five-day hikes would seem to be ideal. But, if you are busy working hard to save up for your adventure and don’t have five days, even a few overnight trips can improve your skills and your odds.

Shakedown hikes allow you to experiment, answer questions, challenge your fears, and test the keys to your success. You also can challenge yourself in different scenarios including rain, cold, snow, strenuous terrain or any thing else you’re worried about. Most importantly, you have time to make corrections before it gets real down south where adjustments can be expensive.

Think about it. An overnighter in rainy weather is where you learn your rain gear doesn’t work right or your pack isn’t water tight or whether your footwear is going to generate blisters. It is far better making that discovery now rather than half way through Georgia at a time when the wrong mistake could send you home with smashed dreams.

Georgia mid-March 2015.

The weather record in Georgia is instructive. Three years ago, it snowed, rained and/or sleeted 18 of the first 20 days in March. The next year March was mild and sunny, but the weather in the Smokies was atrocious. Last year split the difference.

Staying organized help keep your gear from becoming mixed up with others or losing it along the trail.

Here are a few things practice hikes could tell you:

Does your gear fit properly and work the way you want it to work?
Are you in adequate physical condition?
Do your boots/trail runners fit and grip the right way?
Got the right socks?
What clothing combos work best?
Is your sleep system adequate and comfortable?
How much food do you need to carry?
What do you like to eat – and not like?
What’s the ideal weight of your pack?
How to organize your pack so that your gear fits; and you can find what you need when you need it. Hint: When you need rain gear, you’ll need it pronto.
Develop a routine in camp that works for you. What do you habitually do first, second and third both in the evening and morning?
Can you deal with bad weather? Plan to practice hike when it’s unpleasant – cold, rain and snow.
Does your water treatment method work for you?
Practice your Leave No Trace principles. Pooping properly is paramount. So is protecting your food from bears, raccoons, mice and other critters.
Maybe more importantly, what didn’t you think of?

The choices are endless – old or hot meals, types of stoves, pots, hanging food or using a bar canister. Canisters are recommended for the southern half of the trail.

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Bear damage in Shenandoah National Park 2017. The hiker did nothing wrong. Someone who came before him taught the bear a bad habit.

Knowing to use a plastic bag to get water from a nearly dry spring can be a life saver.

Hygiene – cleanliness, pooping properly and keeping wounds clean prevents disease.

Being in good physical condition helps on rugged terrain.

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Wearing gaiters in the mud and rain helps keep footware and socks dry – preventing blisters.

For example, on this author’s shakedown, 160 miles over 13 days on the AT, I learned my boots were wrong, I like an air mattress more than a foam pad, my pack didn’t fit right, I wasn’t going to cook or for that matter even eat three full meals a day, and was packing a bunch of stuff I did not need. I also learned that I was in better shape than I thought, and my pack was properly and functionally organized. Good to know. Changes made.

Please follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics and leave the trail pristine for those yet to come.

A successful thru hike requires a combination of will, mental and physical toughness, trail knowledge, gear, and luck. Some hikers prefer the school of hard knocks. On the other hand, why leave anything to chance if you don’t have to?

Good luck and good hiking. Sisu

Spring Training

May 26, 2017August 5, 2017 / jim fetig / 10 Comments

Left: National patch. Right: Local maintaining club patch.

Scott Farm, PA, May 16 – 23, 2017 — Baseball players go to spring training and so do Appalachian Trail ridgerunners. It’s a time to refresh and sharpen needed skills for the upcoming season; and to bond and mesh as a team. It’s also fun.

The eleven ridgerunners hired to patrol the mid-Atlantic region gathered for five days of intensive training at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy training center at Scott Farm just outside Carlisle, PA. I was there as the ridgerunner coordinator for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) which employs six of the 11; and to attend the wilderness first aid training to renew my sawyer certification. Following first aid, I helped teach the Leave No Trace instructor course.

The first day opened with a hearty breakfast followed by administrative announcements and an orientation to the trail from a systems perspective. The AT is a lot more complicated than the average hiker can appreciate. The bunkhouse quickly filled up, so the spillover camped on the lawn.

Uniform and equipment issue soon followed. Ridgerunners carry pruning saws to clear minor blowdowns, clippers, first aid kits and wear distinguishing uniforms. The patrol their respective sections for five on and two off; always being present on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the days of heaviest use.

Household chores – cooking, cleaning, dishes, etc. are divided among and rotated between everybody taking part in training. Readers may remember PJ from the Million Woman March.

Following the administivia, it was time to get down to serious business. Each ridgerunner is certified in wilderness first aid and as a Leave No Trace outdoor ethics instructor.

First aid training comes first. Some seasons the worst thing a ridgerunner sees is a skinned elbow or knee. But, and it’s a big BUT, they have to be prepared to manage serious emergencies that arise in the backcountry, hours away from first responders and easy evacuation.

The SOLO Wilderness First Aid course is 16 hours long (two days), and focuses on the basic skills of: Response and Assessment, Musculoskeletal Injuries, Environmental Emergencies, Survival Skills, Soft Tissue Injuries, and Medical Emergencies. The idea is to perform a proper patient assessment, treat common injuries up to and including setting and splinting a compound fracture.

The ridgerunners are trained to determine whether the patient can be safely “walked out” of the back country, or whether an evacuation is necessary. At that point their training allows them to professionally interact with the medical system for the patient’s benefit.

Needless to say, the training is realistic.

Lower leg fracture splint using a common sleeping pad as a splint. Students are taught how to employ commonly available gear.

Field expedient traction splint to set a fracture of the femur.

Splinting an open book fracture of the pelvis. The legs are tied together. This is NOT something you want to deal with deep in the woods. These fractures are often accompanied by severe internal bleeding and the need to get the patient to a room with bright lights and stainless steel tables is critical. Unfortunately, this can take hours in most places and days in others.

Love moulage.

Putting a dislocated shoulder back in its socket. If you didn’t treat dislocations and fractures, the pain might send a patient into severe shock long before s/he could reach care.

Treating hypothermia (on a hot day). Glad I wasn’t the patient.

Eurica! Our friend Denise hiked in right in the middle of training. She’s on a LASH – long-ass section hike. What a pleasant suprise.

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With first aid out of the way, we turned to Leave No Trace. With an estimated 3 million people using the AT each year, minimizing human impact on the environment is of paramount concern.

The ridgerunners primary duty is not to hike. Rather, it is interacting with the public for the purpose of helping them do as little environmental damage as possible. Leave No Trace

Most Leave No Trace training takes place in the woods. The seven principles Seven Principles

Nobody is going to be perfect, but ignorance is our worst enemy. If we can show a hiker how to improve, that’s a victory.

Peeing and pooping in the woods is a subject of endless discussion and immense importance. Not everybody knows how. Ask any ridgerunner. They’ll be glad to teach you.

We divided the students into three teams and then determined who dug the best cat hole – width, depth, 200 ft. off trail. Here, Ryan rolled up a Cliff Bar which looks just like shxt. Then he reached in and pinched off a piece and ate it. He actually hooked a couple of folks!

Exercise in choosing durable surfaces.

Learning about shelters.

Unfortunately graffiti begets graffiti.

Most Leave No Trace training takes place on hikes.

Your 2017 mid-Atlantic ridgerunners.

FIRST PATROL

Julie is our newest ridgerunner and the only one with whom I have not hiked. An orientation hike is always beneficial. So, we started by meeting with the rangers of Michaux State Forest and New Caladonia State Park, PA. Her patrol section runs the 62 miles south from Pine Grove Furnace State Park, to the Mason Dixon Line at PennMar Park.

Clipping vegetation encroaching on the trail.

Documenting a blowdown that will require a sawyer to remove. It’s waist high.

We stopped to clear a small blowdown and who should show up but my friend Rocky who this year is on his second thru hike.

Checking the trail register at the official half way point.

Hung our food and smellables at the Toms Run shelter.

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At the very time Julie and I were at Toms Run, Lauralee Bliss was at the Gravel Spring Hut (shelter) in Shenandoah National Park where a bear destroyed two tents.

The tents have had food in them. Rule number one in bear country. Never put food in your tent and properly store your food and anything that smells such as deodorant, toothpaste, soap, etc.!

Found a hiker just starting his hike from Harpers Ferry. He plans to flip from Maine back to HF and then hike to Georgia. Note the bear bell, large knife and stuffed animal. Bet those are gone soon as he gains confidence.

It was a good week.

Sisu

Searching for the Edge of Spring

May 10, 2017May 11, 2017 / jim fetig / 8 Comments

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Appalachian Trail, Massachusetts, April 27 – May 6, 2017 — Just outside Great Barrington, Mass., Robin “Miss America” Hobbs gave me a shout.

“How far away are you?”

“An hour,” I guessed.

Actually I wheeled into town less than a half hour later. I’d been stopped for gas in Connecticut and didn’t realize how close I was. After minor confusion I found Robin and her new friend Sonia “Soho” Horschitz, a 33-year-old German hiker she serendipitously met a couple of days after I left her back in New York.

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These two were amazing together. They meshed like Mercedes and Benz and could finish each other’s sentences as they delighted nearly nonstop over the merits of cream cheese and other hiker treats. Being along for the ride with these two charming people was pure delight.

After lunch in Great Barrington, we dropped my Subaru at the local hostel in Sheffield. Its owner, Jessica Treat, shuttled us to the trail and we were off. She would shuttle us back at the end of the hike from as far as we could get toward the Vermont border some 76 miles northward.

Miss America and Jessica Treat. Wonderful ladies. Jessica teaches English at a junior college.

The first couple of days toasted us like summer. Here the lunch menu features cream cheese and Triscuits slathered in honey. The delight is obvious. It took me awhile, but I eventually became a convert.

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The Massachusetts countryside features classic New England scenery.

Trillium.

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I’d never seen so many Trout Lilies. This plant ultimately became the bellwether in our quest for the edge of spring.

Just outside Tyringham we found this kiosk. A young entrepreneur had established a trail magic business. Cold drinks and snacks at a very fair price! Smart. Hope he does well.

However, for us, Tyringham is where our weather luck expired.

After topping off at this much appreciated kiosk, we faced a respectable climb to the cabin at Upper Goose Pond where Miss America and Soho had planned a rest day (zero) in the field. Along the way we hoped to dodge the forecasted rain.

No luck. The rain began to spatter shortly after we started our climb. Soaked in sweat, we decided to minimize on rain gear, even opening our pit zips to shed the extra heat we expected to be generating while climbing in the warmish rain.

Boom!!! The first lighting strike was “danger close.” Link to DANGER CLOSE artillery And so were dozens more. With nowhere to safely hide, we pushed on as close to double time as we could safely manage. The lightning exploded all around as the cold rain drenched us and the ambient air temperature crashed to the low 40s (F). Not at all what we had anticipated.

We stumbled onto the cabin’s porch frozen and shaking from the icy rain. Camping on the porch is allowed, so we got into warm dry clothing and made camp. It would rain almost all night and the next day.

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We shared some firewater for medicinal purposes. Soho shared, but make it plain. She likes bier besser.

After Upper Goose Pond, the warm weather disappeared, but reducing the mount you sweat is really a benefit when you’re making miles.

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Rock hopping.

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Appreciating a view.

Crossing the Mass Pike.

We bought hard boiled eggs from the “cookie lady.” Soho’s philosophy was moderate miles. Good sleep. Fresh food. I learned to like it.

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Camping at the cookie lady’s. Looks warm, but it was 40F.

On the way to Dalton for a shower and resupply.

After Dalton we faced a pending storm that eventually dumped 1.5 inches of rain on the trail, turning it into an endless series of streams and mud pits.

Knowing what was coming, we pushed past Cheshire, Mass. to the Mark Noepel shelter where we planned to ride out the rain high and dry, less than a full day from the Vermont border. The hike into Upper Goose Pond had taught us a lesson.

The Massachusetts shelters are mostly of the same design with a loft. Up there, we were out of the wind and slightly warmer than if we’d stayed below. The windows are plexiglass.

We tucked into our sleeping bags to spend the day thankful we weren’t hiking in the cold and rainy weather. We could see our breath. Note the cookie lady’s eggs atop the orange and tan stuff sack.

Shot this while the wind was relatively still.

With three days of rain in the forecast Robin and I decided to exit. She’s within sight of Vermont. She only has a few miles in Vermont to finish this fall before she completes the AT.

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We bid Soho farewell on Mt. Graylock, the tallest peak in Massachusetts. This gentle and genial soul hiked on into Vermont. We hiked to the bottom of the mountain because the road to the summit had not yet opened for the season.

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Mt. Graylock. Massachusetts WWI memorial.

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An inch-and-a-half of rain produces boot top mud.

The Graylock summit was windy, wet and bitter cold. I looked down only to spy trout lilies whose flowers had not yet bloomed. A day later Soho phoned to say that the thermometer and snow in Vermont were forcing her off the trail. Without doubt we had found the edge of spring; and on that edge the cold wind sliced through our hearts and blew us in new directions. Our journey had ended.

Sisu

Short Part of a Long Journey

April 18, 2017 / jim fetig / 7 Comments

Appalachian Trail, New York, April 2017 — Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days hiking with my delightful friend Robin. She is on a month-long trek to both close an unfinished gap she has between Georgia and Maine; and to get into shape for ridgerunning.

She parked her truck and stashed her extra gear at our house and then together we drove to New York where climbed up to the ridge that hosts the AT at the NJ/NY border on a very warm spring day.

I met Robin, aka Miss America, when I was ridgerunning in Georgia in 2015. The daughter of National Park Service rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, she’s a willy woodsman and a strong hiker. She was a ridgerunner in Maryland last year and will serve in Northern Virginia this season. All told, she’s a perfect hiking partner.

Speaking of what’s hot, I can’t remember the last time I hiked in temperatures under 80 degrees F. Last September in Vermont, this March in Georgia and last week in New York it was hotter than Hades. My socks have been so sweat-soaked that they make a squishy sound that squeaks like Crocks on a wet tile floor. Talk about holding your feet to the fire. Enough with the hot weather already!

Fortunately the water sources were plentiful and flowing. In spite of that, I drank four liters of water and still didn’t urinate. By the end of my journey, my clothes were so salt encrusted that they could stand by themselves unaided – you know, kind of crunchy like saltine crackers.

New York is the state where the AT angles a hard north eastern turn toward Maine. The trail turns perpendicular to the north-south flowing ridge lines meaning it’s all day up and down for the hikers. In other words, PUDS – pointless ups and downs.

Here rebar replaces an aluminum extension ladder that was too easy to steal. Hey, it’s New York!

The terrain is ugly for the most part. This is hard work even when heat is turned down.

The gnats had recently hatched. In NY they’re a feature, not a bug.

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Can you spell rugged?

How ’bout them bears? We properly hung our food every night.

Casualty.

We navigate using a guidebook that lists terrain features, elevation profile, campsites, springs and also has town maps and phone numbers.

Miss America photo bomb!

We were out four days before it was my time to head home for chainsaw recertification, a trip to Annapolis Rocks to bring supplies up to Gene Anderson and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Flip Flop Festival this weekend where I’m a featured speaker.

We tented rather than sleep in shelters. This is at dawn, packing up before a big rain pending. At first, Robin was worried about wearing a Red Sox cap in Yankee country, but people treated her as a novelty. Not sure most of them had never seen a Sox fan before.

Staying clean in the woods is critical to remaining healthy and avoid gastrointestinal ailments. We were hiking along one afternoon when I got a message from the ATC asking me if I could take a photo of a hiker using soap and water to clean up in the field practicing leave No Trace principles. We magically produced the goods.

Hudson River Valley just south of West Point.

Yes, the trail goes straight up that rock slab.

Earning my trail legs.

Sometimes you get surprised by trail magic. This was just north of the aptly named “agony ridge.” The sodas were cold too! As a practice, leaving unattended food, trash and drink along the trail is not a good idea. Too many opportunities to unintentionally feed animals and make a mess. Some call this “trail tragic.” We did appreciate it though.

Old sign. Can’t wait to rejoin Robin next week. We’ll be hiking north until just before ridgerunner training starts in late May. Then my spousal unit will come pick us up. There’s no doubt in my mind that Miss America will go far.

Sisu

Spring Cleaning.

April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 / jim fetig / 4 Comments

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Appalachian Trail Maryland, April 2017 — It’s April on the AT and spring is when it all starts to happen around here. First up is ridgerunner kick-off. Our long-season ridgerunner/Annapolis Rock caretaker in Maryland starts on April 1. I often wonder whether or not any of them figure out how auspicious that day is by the October 31 end of their very long term. I’ve just never seen one sign up for a second long-season tour, so I suspect they pick up on the hidden meaning.

Last year you may recall Kyle MacKay was our lucky pick to spend seven months in the woods. I mean, that’s longer than the average 2,200-mile thru hike. Blog post about Kyle’s first day.

This year the duty falls on Gene Anderson. Gene is a genial former thru hiker from Carolina who spent his career in the insurance adjusting industry. Now that’s seems like excellent preparation for educating hikers who need to repair their behavior. Everyone of us has scratches and dents that need attention.

I met Gene early on April 1 at the U.S. 40 AT trail head, just up the hill from Green Briar State Park. We went to meet the Maryland Park Service rangers he’d be working with and to collect his radio and other equipment. After that, we moved his gear into the small apartment he’ll share with Kyle who’ll be on the clock for the short season from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

It took two trips to schlep all the gear up to the caretaker’s site. Since I paid attention to how the tent was pitched last year, the dome was up and secure in short order.

Since the week-long formal ridgerunner training doesn’t start until May, the early bird gets OJT. This year I spent four days with Gene rather than the two I spent with Kyle last season. As luck would have it, we saw just about one of everything there is to see minus a major medical event.

I set my tent up behind the caretakers tent in close proximity to very recent bear activity. Bears shred logs in very specific patterns.

The claw marks leave no doubt.

I walked Gene around Annapolis Rock checking each campsite. I showed him how to “knock down” the privy “cone.” and where to find the wood chips users need to add as bulking material to aid the composting process.

The state felled 80 hazard trees over the winter making the area appear to be a no man’s land. Two years ago a rotten tree fell and killed a hiker at another shelter in Maryland. The response was to drop every possible tree than might come down in a high wind or in icy conditions. The result: Ugly, but safe. As the trees decompose, the bears and birds are gonna love it.

No fires are permitted at Annapolis Rock. Alcohol isn’t allowed either. Period. Signs are everywhere. Yet … people think the rules are for others. We destroyed three fire rings like this one that had been created over the winter. Later, we hit the mother lode when we caught five college students on spring break from Ohio with a fire. Yes!!! “Out damn fire! Out!!!” We let them keep their beer if they didn’t drink it. Wink, wink. Believe it or not, they were up and out by dawn. My guess was that they would have been in a stupor at that hour.

Part of the orientation is a tour of the rock. I showed Gene how to get to the bottom of the cliff and a quick and safe way back up.

The second night, two scout troop leaders stopped by the caretaker tent to ask if their troop could build a fire. We explained the rules and why they exist. Fires can be built at Pogo campground, 30 minutes north or at Pine Knob shelter, 30 minutes south, just not at the rock due to environmental sensitivity. “Well,” they said. “There’s a roaring fire just off the AT 150 yards north of the AT-Annapolis Rock trail junction.” Since neither fires nor camping is permitted in Maryland except in designated areas, we decided to check it out.

I grabbed my headlamp. It was black dark. Sure enough we easily found a roaring fire about 25 yards off the trail. There they were, three 50 somethings from Baltimore standing around an out of control fire in a high wind. We asked them to put it out and explained where they could go if they wanted a fire.

The surprise was their age. Usually the perps are between 20 and 40, young and immature men. These were 50 + immature men….

The next morning we went back to check the area. We found a set of tent poles and no sign of camping, so it appeared to us that they abandoned the site in the night and hiked to a place to where they could build a fire. Unfortunately the fire was still hot. Moreover, it had been built on duff (the dead leaf layer) rather than bare ground. Luckily the area was saturated by recent rain. Otherwise … how do you spell forest fire?

We hiked five gallons of water from the Annapolis Rock spring to douse the fire – and put it out, cold. Then we covered and camouflaged it to help prevent a permanent “stealth” campsite from forming.

We found a small blowdown which Gene cleared.

Gene also is a ridgerunner who patrols the trail in Maryland in addition to his duties as Annapolis Rock caretaker. So off we went to inspect other sites.

I love the stone chairs around one of the fire pits at the Pogo campsite.

At Pine Knob I showed Gene how to inspect the area and where to find the trash. Women could not walk 50 feet to the privy. Not sure why this happens, but it happens everywhere.

Enough of the dark side.

One of the best part of being a PATC ridgerunner is leading hikes for the Road Scholar program. Road Scholar We play a role in their hike on the AT in four states offering.

People do the weird things.

Sisu

A flat soufflé and limp noodles…

March 14, 2017March 16, 2017 / jim fetig / 16 Comments

Good ole white blaze serial number 00000001

North Georgia, Appalachian Trail miles zero through 69.6, March 3-10, 2017 — There I was, hiking the Appalachian Trail in Georgia for the third year in a row. This time it was different, very different, but we will get to that in due course.

This adventure started with an invitation to present my talk on trail hygiene at the annual ATKO – Appalachian Trail Kick Off event at Amicalola Falls State Park. The kick off targets future hikers and serves as a reunion of sorts for many others.

The premise for the talk is that hikers neither have to get sick – Noro virus or gastroenteritis – nor smell like Oscar the Grouch’s trash can on a hot summer’s day. All they have to do is make staying clean a priority. My talk tells them how.

My talk is entitled “What the Funk!” I blogged about the subject here: What the Funk! My Power Point slides are here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwxxfhmz96vhn42/What%20The%20Funk.2.pptx?dl=0

The ATKO is a well attended two-and-a-half day event featuring speakers, vendors and old friends like Mike Wingeart and Robin Hobbs who were representing ALDHA, the Appalachian Long Distance Hiking Association.

The ATKO featured a tent city, gear vendors and even a slew of visiting owls. This is a great horned owl. His pals included a tiny screech owl named Goliath and a barred owl which remained amazingly quiet. Trail Dames is a women’s hiking organization I try and promote as often as possible. Love those gals, most of whom I’ve met on my various trail journeys. Check out Trail Dames here: Trail Dames

Now, let’s get down to business. We’ll open with a brief confession. I did not come to the trail with “trail legs.” In other words, I was not in shape. My excuse: I injured my hip lifting weights in early October and have not run since then. Throughout the hike, my hip and cardio were fine, but my legs had all the strength and authority of limp spaghetti noodles. That’s definitely not a recipe for a fluffy soufflé in the nasty hills of Georgia. (Lovin’ mixed metaphors!)

The anointed know that launching from the Amicalola Lodge nets the upper five miles of the infamously steep “approach trail” that leads to the AT’s southern terminus on Springer Mountain. I did it three years ago when I had to spell the caretaker on Springer Mountain. That year my gazelle-like bounds magically crushed the steepest hills. This year I huffed and puffed like the little engine that barely could. I was delighted to summit, albeit about 90 minutes slower than before.

While on Springer, I took a look around. I was saddened to see that two trees I’ve been tracking for the past three years had finally been done in. The number of people on the trail continues to increase along with their relentless degradation of the environment.

A bit hard to see, but campers have moved south of the lower bear cables on Springer Mountain shelter and much closer to the water source; and have established a new fire pit.

The good news is that previous recommendations have been implemented. The increased presence on the trail has remarkably reduced trash. Vegetation recovery projects have begun. Extra campsites and privies have been added. My observations from that time are here: Georgia 2015

Old fire pit at Hawk Mountain shelter cleaned up.

Improvements since last year to the new Hawk Mountain campsite.

As always the newly minted hikers were delightful. I saw Lynne, the Trail Ambassador on the right, twice on my journey as she expanded her patrol coverage. I saw several other ambassadors too.

Ambition has never been lacking for me. Since this was my very first time to hike Georgia alone, I decided to pace myself in accordance with the legend in my own mind, versus the reality of my current physical condition. Mind over matter was a good strategy, or so I thought. That worked about as well as one might expect.

After pitching my tent the first night and on my way to fetch water, I met a young man who asked me if it was okay for his dog to be off leash. Never ask a Leave No Trace zealot that question. I convinced him that every snake, skunk, raccoon and porcupine in the woods would eat his dog for lunch, not to mention any stray bears. How ’bout them Lyme disease bearing ticks ole fido is going to bring back to your tent? Oh boy!!!

This fellow also decided to cowboy camp that night (no tent). Guess what, it rained unexpectedly. I awoke to his thrashing as he hurried to pitch is tent while dodging rain spatter. “Grasshopper, you’re going to learn a lot,” I smiled as a hiked past his tent in the morning. He was sawing zzzzzzs.

I have finally perfected pitching and striking this tent in high wind. I failed at that miserably in Maine last summer. Hint: Up-wind pegs first…

The plan for Monday was to make it about 15 miles either to the Justus Mt. campsite or on to Gooch Gap. The forecast included rain and high winds for Tuesday, so I wanted to get as far as possible.

Moving with the speed to cold flowing molasses helped me realize that I wasn’t going to make either of my targeted locations, so I parked at Cooper Gap where, this year, the Army has been leaving its 500 gallon “water buffalo” unlocked for hikers. Now I was a half day behind with a cold, heavy rain in the forecast.

Very good news: ALL water sources in Georgia were flowing with the exception of the spring at Blue Mountain shelter which is just short of Unicoi Gap.

Fortunately the heavenly watering of the Georgia hills didn’t begin until after I’d packed up. I sopped off with a dry tent at least, headed for the Woods Hole shelter half way up the infamous Blood Mountain; about another 15 miles away. Woods Hole has a covered picnic table and is located where bear proof food containers are required. The odds were good that I’d get a spot, and I’d be back on schedule given that very few people want to carry the 3 1/2 extra pounds the canisters weigh.

Along the way, sometimes you see weird stuff. Who would set the stump on fire at Gooch Mountain? Just past there, somebody used a machete to hack up a dead tree. For what? The dead tree bark is good insect habitat for birds and bears. Why ruin it? Ignorance lives.

Please pack out your trash! The fire pits and the trail in general was far cleaner than I’ve ever seen it at this time of year. Thank you ridgerunners and trail ambassadors!

I arrived at Woods Hole just prior to dusk. I ate and then crashed between these two tents.

The morning dawned cold and windy. The rain had passed. Of the three campers at Woods Hole, nobody had a bear canister. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Where’s the ranger when you need ’em.

A father and son had pitched their tent in the shelter. They were were woefully underprepared with summer sleeping bags and sported wet cotton clothes from the previous day’s rain. The other tent belonged to a new thru hiker who didn’t know better. I made it clear. If more hikers came during the night, the tents would have to come down. Fortunately, none did.

It dawned cold and clear as I waited form my coffee water to boil. Note the two hats. After breakfast I was off for Low Gap, another 15 miles or so away.

Walking over Blood Mountain has its aesthetic pleasures.

Wind at Neel’s Gap

The trail to Low Gap is a relatively easy hike with the exception of a nasty climb at Tesnatee Gap. My right hip flexor was swelling. Time for a reality check.

Dawn at Low Gap. Fortunately, from there it’s an easy 10 miles to Uniqoi Gap where I decided to bail. The noodles were still limp and the soufflé was pretty flat. Reached Unicoi about 12:30 p.m. and shuttled to the Top of Georgia Hostel.

Bought a thru hiker lunch. How do you spell bankruptcy?

Breakfast at Top of Georgia where Bob Gabrielsen offers the morning pep talk before the hopeful sea of humanity rides the tide northward in search of adventure and the state of Maine. Time for me to saddle up the Subaru and ride north.

Toxic waste bag.

It ain’t over until everything’s cleaned up.

Sisu

Walking the Line

November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 / jim fetig / 4 Comments

Appalachian Trail in Northern Virginia, November 9 -12, 2016 — While it is self evident that the Appalachian Trail itself requires frequent maintenance. After all, an estimated three million hikers tread on some part of it annually. That’s a lot of wear and tear.

What few hikers may realize is that the trail itself is one thing. The land through which it flows is another. That land can be federal, state, or local. In some cases it belongs to private conservation groups or other entities. All of those land parcels have borders, borders that are surveyed and marked. They must be checked from time to time to ensure the markers are still there and no encroachment or other illegal activity is underway.

Checking the AT corridor boundary is what I’ve been doing in northern Virginia for the past several days. I was on a corridor monitoring trip organized by the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association (ALDHA). Over time 30 some folks dove in, some for the whole time; others for a day or two. Together we were able to check and remark several miles of boundary.

The boundary has no trail. Crews edge their way along the border, bushwhacking through thickets and briars.

Sometimes monitors have to get down into the weeds to find the survey monuments.

Once a monument is found, it is recorded and the brush is lopped away.

Witness trees get refreshed.

The boundary is marked in mustard yellow. The paint, from bottles, is squeezed on brushes toothpaste style. Bottles are refreshed daily.

Sometimes monuments can only be found using the surveyor’s measurements.

Brush trimming is not as fun as it appears to be. 🙂

The threats to trail lands and by extension to hikers are real. People dump trash, extend their fences, or hunt illegally on these lands.

Who knows what led to this tragic scene.

One thing for certain. The former residents were unhappy with the government as other graffiti attested.

Later we decided to bushwhack our way to the AT for an easier hike out. I found an illegal trail built by a hunter the previous year as noted in this blog post about my hike with ridgerunner Hal Evans. Vegetable Territory The hunter had put up an illegal deer stand which was supposed to have been removed. Of special interest, it faced the hiking trail which was less than 100 yards away. This was an intolerable situation regardless of other circumstances.

Note the odd-colored green paint the hunter used to blaze his trail. The bottom part of the ladder was removed. Standard procedure.

Our intrepid crew cut the bicycle lock with bolt cutters and carried out the offending tree stand. Some disassembly was required before it would fit into the ATC’s van for disposal. The Appalachian Trail is a national park and a note and business card from the park’s chief ranger was substituted on the tree to account for the missing stand. In a sign of the times, monitors were concerned that face recognition software might identify them to a revengeful hunter, so faces are not visible.

The ATC crew has a van donated by Toyota.

We stayed at the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’s Blackburn Trail Center. It features three bunk rooms and a large commercial kitchen. It is rentable for group events and weddings. Otherwise it is used by trail crews, ridgerunners and others working on the trail.