We are on Black Mountain, in a saddle between two hills. Going north on the A.T. is our current worksite. It starts with new steps at the road but most of our work will be building a series of steps to the top of a steep hill. By the end of the first full weekend we had 10 new steps in place and another 15 new steps placed during our second full 3 day weekend.
This weekend it was still very hot. Even with the heat we had a great volunteer turnout. On Friday our special guest was Kendra Baumer, Volunteer Engagement Manager for the New York New Jersey Trail Conference. Kendra is meeting with crew members and going on crew outings so she can see the projects the crews are working on first-hand. Also on Friday we were joined by Kevin McGuinness, Long Path South Local Trails Committee Chair. Friday was another fun and work filled day and I feel our guest had a rewarding experience. I know the crew enjoyed their participation.
With the heat and the A.T. bubble still passing through, we once again carried a 5 gallon tank of clean drinking water up to the worksite for use by our crew and for thirsty A.T. thru-hikers. We still have two work sites in this area. One is building new steps up hill #1 and another is near the top of hill #1 where new treadway was needed. In order to build the new treadway we needed a new crib-wall. During heavy rains, a lot of water rushes through this area and eroding the trail. We built in a water management feature into the crib-wall to address that problem before we added any new crush and soil.
Saturday and Sunday each had good volunteer turnout with our Summer BBQ being held on Saturday afternoon. There was a heavy rain Saturday night but when we returned to our worksite on Sunday the new steps looked great with no erosion problems. This weekend we placed 9 new steps going up hill #1 and 6 new steps on the upper section after the crib-wall.
The Appalachian Trail is always changing and evolving. All along the A.T., work crews, like LDTC constantly relocate and rehabilitate portions of the trail to protect nature and to enhance the Appalachian Trail hiking experience.
All of our projects take a lot of effort and as always, all done by volunteers. Our experience crew and crew leaders are eager to teach volunteers of all abilities the skills needed to build hiking trails.
Speaking of volunteers, not everyone can make it everyday and that’s OK with us. Some volunteers come out everyday while others can only make it to 1 or 2. Don’t feel that you have to commit to an entire project or even a weekend, any help is appreciated and being a volunteer you can come and go as you see fit.
We're a community of volunteers who build, protect and maintain hiking trails. We invite you to join us. You’ll be glad you did.
