Seasons end but the work lives on.

October 5, 2022October 5, 2022 / jim fetig / 5 Comments

The Appalachian Trail, September 30 and October 2, 2022 — We’re a month early but my final chapter leading our ridgerunners has been written. Dan Hippe will now keep the flame burning brightly with his capable leadership.

It was a cold and drippy day as Sara and I climbed up to Annapolis Rock one last time to pack up the caretaker site and secure it for the winter. The stuff good enough for next year was packed into the tool box while we carted the UV-rotted tarps to the dumpster at Washington Monument State Park.

Since then, Sara has turned in her radio and keys. She’s hiking all of Maryland’s 41 miles as this is written. I picked her up at 5 a.m. in Harpers Ferry where she left her van, and shuttled her to the Mason-Dixon Line for a 6:15 a.m. pre-dawn start. She expects to finish by 11 p.m. tonight.

My larger role may be changing, but the trail maintenance gig has a long runway in front of it.

The spring on the AT section Caroline and I jointly maintain in Shenandoah National Park was, for all intents and purposes, dry. The ground was saturated but the flow was virtually nonexistent. Tina, my friend of 30 years, Gang of Four hiking group member, and occasional swamper, joined us help remedy the problem.

We dug a catchment basin, inserted a 5 ft. length of PVC pipe and anchored in with large rocks.

It worked! Our next Hoodlums work trip is October 16. We’ll check on it then.

The other reason we were working was to rake and shovel silt out of our waterbars (erosion control structures that direct water off the trail). Our section is particularly sandy and the waterbars need annual cleaning.

This is hard pick and shovel work.

We didn’t count the exact number, but we got three quarters of our waterbars cleaned out. We’ll finish the rest next trip.

Exciting news! After almost two consecutive years working with the Hoodlums Trail Crew and one year co-maintaining this section, Caroline has a trail name.

It’s not something trite like “Sweet Caroline.” Regular readers know that she’s an American/Swiss dual national, so she could have been “Swiss Miss.” It’s far better than those.

Meet Caroline “Dozer” Egli” ’cause she can move dirt.

Sisu

Saw, Dig, Pull

July 28, 2022 / jim fetig / 1 Comment

My view of the Thornton Gap Entry Station

Shenandoah National Park, July 24 – 27 — The North District Crew Week was anything but usual. For one, we tackled a variety of projects. For another, I only worked three of the five days. Now, it’s off to Manitoba to fish with my brother and nephews.

Usually crew week offers the opportunity to partner with the park service trail crews on big projects that are too big for either outfit alone. This year everybody was everywhere all the time.

We started with the great blowdown hunt. While the remainder of the group took on some dirt work, Wayne Limberg and I searched for a tree tangle reported by a hiker on the Shenandoah Hikers Facebook page. Shall we say it wasn’t where it was alleged to be…

On net we hiked about four miles on our search. We found it about 200 yards from a trailhead parking lot. It would have been a cinch if we had started three miles south of the initial reported position.

We managed to chew a lot of wood into sawdust, huge piles of it.

In the end, the old guys were bushed.

The next day we rehabbed the AT from trailhead parking south to the Byrd’s Nest 4 connector trail.

My last day was best. A tree on the AT about 200 yards south of Compton Gap parking became a leaner last year and ended up in a near vertical posture. This was too dangerous for volunteers to cut. After consultation we and the park crew agreed that it should be pulled down. This is how it happened.

Rigging the tree.

Dave Jenkins has a new toy. It’s a motorized winch. Beats a grip hoist any day. But, sometimes things don’t exactly go according to plan.

Ready to go.

Oh oh! Nothing is happening.

Ain’t technology great! What else. Check You Tube to find out what you did wrong.

Turns out the rope wasn’t wrapped quite the right way around the capstan. A couple of twists made all the difference.

But wait. There’s more.

The tree had dug itself in. Nothing a pick mattock could not tackle.

On the way.

One more time.

Boom!

All that for 50 seconds of sawing.

Job done.

Sisu

Just in time for the Fourth

July 6, 2022 / jim fetig / 3 Comments

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This is the definition of a blowdown. For perspective, Sara is six feet tall.

Shenandoah and the Washington Nationals Parks, July 1 – 4, 2022 — The month of Hades arrived right on schedule and so did Sara Leibold to pick up her AT ridgerunner duties right where she left off last year.

This tough angel does not fear the month of July in Virginia when it’s hot, hot, hot – and muggy.

We started out with the usual equipment issue and check into White Oak Cabin where Sara checked the log book to see who’d been there since her time last season. We then adjourned for the first night at Indian Run Maintenance Hut, but not before picking up some pizza in Luray.

Muscleman Dan split some firewood.

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I’ve had to saw my way down the fire road the last three visits.

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Before any of this happened, Sara stopped at my house for a special pizza and to pick up the keys she needs at PATC Hq. where she found a shelter log book from 2016 that documents her first night as a ridgerunner.

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Sara loves Apple House doughnuts, a treat from a local eatery. Dan brought some for breakfast at our first shelter stop and Sara ate even crumbs down to the last grain of sugar.