Friday, July 22, 2011

Week 8 - Jenkins Rehab & Dripping Rock

Crew 1 spent the week working with the Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers in Bland County on a rehab project on the trail heading towards Jenkins Shelter. They put in 26 log steps and several log waterbars. They also dug over 250ft of drainage ditch to help keep water off the trail.




Digging away!

Hanging out on the new Laurel Creek bridge!


Having a little fun after a hard day of work :)


Some of our wonderful volunteers!


Ready to head out and work for the day!


Crew 2 spent the week working on the Flint Gap to Shelton Graves relocation in North Carolina with the Carolina Mountain Club. They completed over 300 feet of new sidehill and built in several grade dips. They had a very wet week, but still managed to stay in good spirits and still get a lot of work done!

Morning stretches



Trail Crew is a great bonding experience!


Our great Crew Leaders -- don't you want to spend the week with them!?


Who knew getting dirty could be so much fun!


Beautiful flora on the trail



Digging sidehill


Caching tools at the end of the day


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Week 7 - Beartown Mountain & New River Relocations

After a great 2 weeks of rest (or biking across the state of Virginia, if you're Assistant Crew Leader Jeff!), the Konnarock staff headed back to base camp to get ready for the second half of the season. They started back with two great relocation projects.


Crew 1 went to work for their third week on the Beartown Mountain relocation. They focused mainly on digging new sidehill, but came across occasional rock work projects. 16 rocks steps and 275ft of digging later, the crew finished all but 100 ft of the current relocation section. They have 2 more sections to head back to later in the season. They had a chance to soak in the great views on Roan Mountain and enjoy some live local music as well!





Jeff scoping out the rock steps




Great views!!




Yay Konnarock!



Soaking up some great live music


Measuring the length of sidehill built?? Exactly 48 volunteers long!

You never know what Crew 1 is up too...


Patches from the Tennessee Eastman club! Thanks!




Rare Gray's Lily on Roan Mountain - beautiful!



Konnarock tshirt from '08 - some volunteers just can't get enough!




Sidehille digging - you get pretty good at that on crew!





CREW ONE!! What a great week!


Crew two went to work on the New River Relocation just north of Pearisburg. They had some club members from the Outdoor Club of Virginia Tech join them for a day as well. This week, the crew focused on several large scale rock projects in the area. They put in 22 rock steps and placed 58 stepping stones along a very rocky section of sidehill. They transformed a boulder field into a beautiful but still challenging section of trail. They created and placed 25 cubic feet of crush to fill in the gaps between rocks - that's a lot of sledge hammer swinging! They also got the chance to hang out at Woods Hole Hostel for a potluck dinner! Check out some photos from the week:


Crew Leader Josh!


Yumm... pot luck!


Moving rocks


Crew 2!


Look at that trail! Nice work!


Hanging out at the campsite



Beautiful rock steps!


Wednesday evening at base camp - gearing up for the week!


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Week 6 - Beartown Mountain & Fontana Lake

Crew 1 continued work with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club on the Beartown Mountain Relocation. They put in several rock steps and continued digging sidehill. They put in 175 ft of new trail. The crew will be back for 3 more weeks in the second half of the season.





Crew 1! Ca- caw!


Amazing views in the Roan Highlands


Beautiful rhododendron in bloom!

Carvers Gap


Birthday on crew!

Taking a break

Moving big rocks

Evening trip to Mt Mitchell



Crew 2 continued work on the Fontana Lake Relocation. They completed all but 100 ft of the project, building over 420ft of new trail. They also installed 9 rock steps and several grade dips to make sure that water drains off the trail. It was another great week and a good way to finish up the first half of the season!





Digging new trail

Putting in rock steps


BIG trees


Beautiful campsite by the dam


Crew Leader Josh - always having fun!


CREW 2!!!


More rock steps


And more digging...