Friday, August 13, 2010

week 12

Crew 1 headed out for a third week with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club. This week they continued on a Hardcore relocation project on Beartown Mountain. They put in some rock steps and cribbing and dug over 900 feet of sidehill. They also painted blazes and opened up two new relocations!! What a great week and an awesome way to wrap up the season!


Beautiful flora along the trail!



Picking blueberries!




Lopping roots out of the trail



Digging out stumps



Digging sidehill




The crew watching a beautiful sunset






Crew 2 headed out to Bluff City with the Roanoake AT Club to do some rehab. They put in some rocks steps, waterbars and checksteps. They were also busy making a lot of crush and fill. The amazing folks at Woods Hole Hostel invited the crew over for dinner Friday night and they spent Saturday night at the Corn Boil with RATC. Lots of hard work and lots of great food!!



Using the net to move large rocks



Making crush!


Rock work is fun!




Digging a hole for the waterbar




Sledging some more rock for crush and fill


And that's how they got so many heavy rocks moved!




Digging away!




One waterbar complete!



A few more to go!



What a great crew to end the season with!


Heading out to the worksite




Dismal Falls




Chili con mac.... one of Konnarock's best field meals! Thanks David! :)



The Corn Boil



Woods Hole Hostel


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Week 11

Crew 2 heads to Flint Gap to work a second week on the relocation. The crew toughed out the 2 mile hike in to the worksite and managed to build 900 feet of new trail - thanks to a lot of help from the Carolina Mountain Club! They also stopped by Bristol Motor Speedway for a tour on the way home! It was another great week! Only one more too go....





The crew getting pumped up for the hike into the worksite!




Hanging out by the creek at the beautiful campsite :)



Bristol Motor Speedway




Whew... sure glad we shoot for 10% slopes on the AT!



Crew 1 spends a second week with the folks of Old Dominion AT Club doing Rehab near Paul Wolfe shelter. They installed some stepping stones across a stream crossing, put in 3 rock steps, cleaned out 12 waterbars, built a log boardwalk over a drain ditch and defined 600 feet of trail! Another awesome week for Konnarock!!





Working on the boardwalk



KONNAROCK!!!




The crew and some club members



We like to move big rocks!



Using the griphoist to place stepping stones





Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Week 10

Crew 1 spent the week working with Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club rehabing Battery Cliffs and the Jack Albright Trail. They put in a few rock steps and some drainage features. The crew spent their evenings off hanging out at Sherando Lake and taking a dip in the Tye River. Another great week with some awesome volunteers!!


Lunch break!




Cleaning out waterbars



Feast put on by the ODATC!! Yum!


Butterflies


Hanging out at a swimming hole


The crew stopped by Rusty's to say hi


Unloading the tools


Making crush


Using the rock bar to move big rocks


Amazing view



Crew 2 travelled down to the Tennessee-North Carolina border to begin work on the Flint Gap to Shelton Graves Relocation. The Carolina Mountain Club brought out the chainsaws and griphoist to clear the way for the crew to start digging. The 2.5 mile hike into the project site was challenging, but it didn't stop this crew from getting a lot of great trail dug. Awesome job crew 2!!

Hanging out at the campsite




In town to check out the Highlands Festival


Bear prints!


Lovely flora along the trail


Club members came out to help clear the corridor


Using a clinometer to measure the slope of the trail



Pickin some greens for dinner!



Yum!

Digging new trail on the relocation


Great view!



Awesome stream near the campsite