Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Week 2: May 10-14, 2018

Crew 1: Rocky Bald Rehab

working with Nantahala Hiking Club

click here to see the full photo album

Week 2 of the 2018 Konnarock season has come to a close, and Crew 2 can proudly celebrate another successful stint of trail-building prowess. This week took the crew back to the Nantahala National Forest in southwestern NC for a second consecutive week working on the gullied upper slope of Rocky Bald.


After the hard work of Week 1 volunteers installing 5 rock water bars, the Week 2 crew was left with the task of installing just 1 more rock water bar to improve the drainage on this steep trail section. Beyond this, the crew’s task was to install as many rock check steps as possible in the tread to slow the flow of water and retain sediments.

The quantity of rock steps needing to be built was considerable, but luckily the Week 2 group was no ordinary crew. Hailing the University of Central Missouri came the third annual group organized by UCM’s Military and Veteran’s Success Center. This year, UCM entirely filled both Crew 1 and Crew 2 with a mix of active duty, veteran, and civilian students. The Konnarock crew week formed the culmination of a 6-week team building and service learning program. The UCM Mules have developed a reputation for tenacity and teamwork, and this week was no exception.

The expedition began with the long, approximately 5 hour drive south from Sugar Grove, VA to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where the week started off right with a delicious lunch at the NOC’s River’s End Restaurant courtesy of the Nantahala Hiking Club. Fortified with food from the get go, the crew then proceeded to the Forest Service access road at Burningtown Gap.

With storm clouds looming in the distance, Crew Leader Brian Allgood led the crew on foot down the winding dirt road, which was too slick for the crew van to navigate. Meanwhile, Assistant Crew Leader Josh Reynolds drove the 4x4 truck loaded to the gills with camp equipment and the crew’s personal gear. Everyone arrived at the campsite just in the nick of time to take cover under the tarp when the sky opened up, rain poured, and thunder crashed overhead. Unphased, Crew 2 elected to wait out the storm before setting up tents. The team set up camp chairs under the tarp and watched the rainy forest scene as if it were a fine piece of cinema.

With the following morning, the hard work of the crew week began in earnest with a challenging 2.3 mile hike to the work site. The first half mile of the trek was a steep, uneven bushwhack trail which proved to be the most difficult portion of the journey. Despite the range of hiking experience levels throughout the group, everyone successfully made it to the work site on Rocky Bald and maintained positive attitudes throughout.

Brian and Josh then commenced with the essential tool safety talk and eventually divided into teams to tackle the work. Brian led a team on the upper half of the trail section, while Josh’s group took the lower section. Though not an especially technical project, the work was far from easy due to limitations in material and the presence of Nantahala’s signature bedrock in many of the building locations.

Quarrying usable rock proved to be a constant challenge, with several crew members dedicating their time to lowering large rocks down a steep slope at the top of the bald with the assistance of a porta-wrap belay system. The rifting set also became an essential tool since many rocks required further shaping and splitting in order to fit into the designated spots. Besides quarrying rock, the other task that never ended was producing crush. Numerous volunteers accumulated hours of experience with the sledgehammers, turning medium sized rocks into the tiny gravel needed to cement all good structures into position.

Though most of the crew members had little to no experience with trail work, everyone quickly developed proficiency with tool usage and the fine art of setting rock steps at the appropriate depth and angle to ensure a sustainable structure. Every step needed accompanying gargoyles set on the sides to guide hikers on to the correct path, so finding and setting these smaller rocks was an additional task throughout the week. This work could be frustrating at times, as the available rock was prone to cracking at inopportune times. Nevertheless, the crew persisted with an incredible work ethic in spite of the challenges and hot, sunny weather. Before long, the crew members were building with confidence and progress accelerated.

By the third work day, an enormous amount of work had been accomplished and the crew showed no signs of slowing down, in spite of some very sore muscles. An especially memorable moment was lunch at the summit of the Rocky Bald blue blaze trail, which provided panoramic views of the Nantahala National Forest and beyond. After lunch, the two sub-teams eventually combined into one in order to address a final push on the construction of the last rock steps. Working 30 minutes past the planned end-time, the Mules demonstrated their determination and team spirit in this fast-paced effort to finish up the work and end it well.

In between the hard work days, Crew 2 enjoyed downtime with some extremely well-coordinated team cooking, copious games of the psychologically thrilling “Werewolf”, and a nightly reflection led by the UCM team leaders, Matt and Jeff. The openness to sharing and learning about themselves and each other is something one doesn’t necessarily find on every Konnarock crew, at least not to the extent present with the UCM team. The cohesiveness of this crew definitely stood out in everything they did, from work to play.

On the final morning of the trip, several members of the crew decided to wake up before dawn to hike back up to a scenic overlook to watch sunrise. Hiking by the light of headlamps, this group was rewarded with a breathtaking show of color and light as the sun ascended above the peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance. This unforgettable experience was a fitting way to wrap up a very successful crew week, and the team left camp in good spirits.

The hard work was complete, but a Konnarock week would hardly be complete without some culinary indulgence on the way back to Base Camp. In this case, the crew stopped in at a Konnarock classic, The Burger Bar in Bristol, VA. Crew 2 enjoyed a variety of mouth-watering burgers, fries, and milkshakes before finally making the last leg of the drive and bringing Week 2 to its successful conclusion.

A huge thank you goes out to the UCM volunteer team for making the long drive to southwestern VA to work with Konnarock this year. Special thanks to Jeff Huffman, UCM’s Director of Military and Veteran Affairs, for joining Crew 2, and furthermore for co-organizing the UCM trip. Thanks also to Paul from the Nantahala Hiking Club for treating the crew to lunch at the NOC, as well as joining the crew for a day of work on Rocky Bald. The week was a huge success, wrapping up work on Rocky Bald for the season. Stay tuned for exciting adventures yet to come on Week 3, in the Wilderness of Ridgepole Mountain!

--Assistant Crew Leader Josh Reynolds





















Week 2: May 10-14, 2018

Crew 2: Sinking Creek Mountain Relocation

working with Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club

click here to see the full photo album


Week 2 of the Konnarock Trail Crew season is complete! Crew 1 headed up to Sinking Creek Mountain near Newport, VA for a week of rock work. This week our crew was made of 10 military and non military students from the University of Central Missouri (Go Mules!) and 3 other awesome volunteers from surrounding states. This is the third year UCM students came to take over Konnarock and get some great trail work accomplished. The other 3 volunteers, all past thru-hikers, came to learn some trail building skills and make their mark as well.
We had a pretty intense hike, especially with rock bars and sledges in our hands on the first day. About a mile and a half walk up, each day, I'd say the crew enjoyed the challenge and the awesome experience of walking on the Appalachian Trail. We had beautiful weather, sunny and humid, but really had no reasons to complain. And every day on the hike down the crew loved dunking their head or feet in the refreshingly cold stream.



Our tasks for the week were mainly to begin taking two large rock fields and putting the trail through them, along with placing some rock steps. We worked in 3 mini teams for the most part and worked alongside Jim Webb of RATC (Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club) a couple club volunteers, and ATC's own, Kathryn Herndon-Powell, to put in some hard working hours on this relocation project.


I enjoyed this experience working with the Mules because they all seemed so genuinely interested in trail work, service learning and being a team. They had deep personal questions and reflections at the end of each day that we were able to participate in. I was introduced to a new AMAZINGLY fun and addicting game called "Werewolves", which is similar to Mafia if you've ever played. That was a nightly ritual that I just couldn't get enough of. I'm pretty terrible at it but I hope to continue playing and improve my skills.



The preparation the UMC students had done for this week really showed when we were out in the field as well. They were so eager to help, work hard, and provide assistance in any way they could. Around camp at Joe's Trees (which was a pretty glampy campy experience) they were more than helpful cutting veggies, making delicious meals, and cleaning up.

The crew this week moved a great deal of rock, built rock crib walls and made an absurd amount of crush. The "Clark School of Rock", led by multi-year Konnnarock alum Clark Britt, created some extremely nice rock steps this week. People who had never used a rockbar or a sledgehammer became pros in the field.

We put hot sweaty dirty hours of work this week and decided that on our last day we would take the crew to see Cascade Falls, and get some lunch and ice cream, a well deserved treat! The hike and the waterfall were breathtaking and enjoyed by all. After a few minor hiccups for lunch and ice cream, we satisfied all our food and sweets cravings and headed back to base camp for cleaning and the end of the week celebration! 

It's amazing what we can accomplish in a week, personally and in a group, physically, mentally and emotionally. Most of the work done by the crew may not be seen when the final trail is done but their work is what will the keep the trail in place for years to come! 

Werewolves, cherrywine, rockbars, crush, all in supply
Crew 1 came and made their mark, literally
Friends made, rocks moved
Just give it a few Konnarock days 
UCM students and volunteers are changed
Trail bonding, villagers making it through the night
Joe's Trees- the name of the campsite
Rock settin', stone steppin', reflectin'
OK jokes, new perspectives, stretchin
To the Mules from Missouri, Bisquick, Pony and Boy-Howdy, we thank you
As do the hikers as they pass through
For working so hard on the Appalachian Trail 
Just sorry to say there won't be any checks in the mail.  ;)
HOORAH!

--Julia (JU-ly) Smith, Assistant Crew Leader 











Thursday, May 10, 2018

Week 1: May 2-6, 2018

Crew 2: Rocky Bald Rehab

working with Nantahala Hiking Club

click here to see the full photo album


Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, trail aficionados of all ages, the Konnarock Volunteer Trail Crew’s 2018 season is officially in session! Crew 2, led by Crew Leader Brian Allgood and Assistant Crew Leader Josh Reynolds, kicked off another summer of A.T. maintenance with a trip to the Nantahala National Forest in NC, south of the Smokies, for some much-needed rehab work on the slopes of Rocky Bald.


 The summit of this bald features a short blue-blaze trail up to a scenic overlook, but the A.T. itself is deeply gullied where it climbs steeply to the blue-blaze junction. Years of hiker traffic and water erosion have caused the gullying, and so the goals for Week 1 were twofold: first, install stone water bars to improve drainage on the trail; second, install as many stone check steps as possible to harden the tread surface, slow the flow of water, and prevent further erosion.


Crew 2 began the week by setting up camp on a Forest Service Road off of Burningtown Gap, which involved condemning a rotting timber bridge and installing a set of stepping stones to mitigate a dangerous stream-crossing. Other essential tasks like digging a privy and setting up the kitchen tarp proceeded smoothly thanks to a seasoned group of alumni volunteers. By the time camp was looking ship-shape, it was early evening and soon an inaugural dinner of Hoppin’ John was cooked up, a dish so delicious and charismatic that it inspired the composition of a poem by one volunteer.


The following day, work was finally able to commence. The day began with the first and most arduous of the daily hike to work - a 0.5 mile walk up a bushwhacked access trail to the A.T. followed by a 1.8 mile trek along the A.T. itself. With heavy rock work tools in hand, the first day’s hike proved to be quite the challenge, but it did nothing to daunt the spirit of crew members eager to tackle a project.


The work immediately required the quarrying of large (the bigger the better), flat rock slabs to be used in water bar construction. Fortunately, slab-shaped rock seemed to be the rule, rather than the exception at this site, and it didn’t take long for the crew to pry loose a variety of solid material. Where some of the rocks were a bit uneven in shape, the crew was able to make ample use of stone shaping tools like the carbide-tipped “stonebusters” and the larger rifting set in order to split and chisel the material to perfection. Success is never guaranteed when shaping stone, but the rock on the aptly named Rocky Bald proved surprisingly cooperative and it didn’t take long before water bars started to take shape along several strategically located drainage
points.


Construction was far from easy, however, thanks to the presence of large, embedded rocks under the soil in some of water bar locations. The creative problem-solving so inherent in trail work was certainly needed to maneuver in and around this challenging soil. In some cases, the underlying rock was able to broken up thanks to Konnarock’s new carbide hammerpoint tool, while in other cases a slight shift of water bar location proved to be the simplest solution.

 Quarrying rock and digging narrow trenches was accompanied, of course, by copious crush production. At least one crew member was always occupied with this tasking of smashing bigger rocks into gravel - used for locking structures firmly into place. As the trail work saying goes, “you can never have too much crush.,” and this was proven true throughout the week.


As the water bar construction progressed from day to day, the work shifted to installing stone check steps in order to stabilize the tread and slow down the flow of water in the steepest sections of gullied trail. Getting the steps to sit just right required a mix of patience, teamwork and the careful application of crush. By the end of the third work day, two solid steps had been set in addition to the five rock-solid water bars already constructed, drainage swales had been dug and future step rocks quarried. The Rocky Bald project work reached a stable ending point and remains on deck for a second week of major step construction to come on Week 2.


The members of Crew 2 were joined on several days throughout the week by members of the Nantahala Hiking Club, who hiked in to lend a hand with the hard work. In addition, several volunteers met the crew in the field, boosting the numbers of what was initially a very small roster for the week. Thanks to the dedication of all who made the effort to come out, an impressive quantity of quality work was installed in spite of the remoteness of the work site which meant close to 5 miles of hiking each day.


The Nantahala Hiking Club also provided a phenomenal treat to the crew - a trip out to breakfast at the Nantahala Outdoor Center on the way home on the morning of the last day. The NOC’s signature River’s End Restaurant served up some seriously substantial portions - biscuits, eggs, piles of homefries and all manner of fried veggies were enjoyed by the hungry crew member thanks to the generosity of the NHC. Special thanks to Don for meeting the crew and representing the club at the breakfast!

Finally, with many volunteers going their separate ways, a small contingent of crew members journeyed north, making a brief stop at Second Gear in Asheville to peruse used outdoor equipment, and eventually returning to the much beloved Sugar Grove Base Camp for dinner and a t-shirt ceremony. Considering some unconventional logistics, the week ended up being successful and a solid start to the 2018 season. A big thank you to all the volunteers for dedicating their time and effort, and answering the call to maintain and preserve the Appalachian Trail. Thanks as well to Konnarock’s camp coordinators, Janet and Becky, for getting the season off to a good start with delicious meals and logistical support. Stay tuned for Week 2 at Rocky Bald for the culmination of this ambitious rock work project!

--Assistant Crew Leader Josh Reynolds