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
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.
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! 
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