Crew 2: South of Sams Gap Rehab
working with Carolina Mountain Clubclick here for the full photo album
“CREW 2!!”, “HELL YEA BROTHER!!”
Shouts ring out across the hall in unison as Josh Reynolds musters the crew chant, bringing an end to an incredible week on the Appalachian Trail.
This week we teamed up with Carolina Mountain Club and The University of Central Missouri to tackle a heavily worn section at Sams Gap along the Tennessee/North Carolina border. After travelling 20+ hours to arrive at base camp and several hours to the project, site our crew of university students and active duty military personnel was eager to get to work and completed log step installation on the very first day.
Resources for this site were abundant, with dead black locust looming above just waiting to be repurposed into tread for the A.T. Draw knives carved long swaths of bark, splitting wedges manicured large logs into perfect steps, and hammers pinged constantly making crush to stabilize our work.
Even after 2 grueling days of rain with no chance of sunshine, morale stayed high, filling the woods with laughter and cheers of victory as trail transformed before our eyes. Saturday May 11th we stopped work early due to heavy rains and risk of hypothermia and decided to travel to Asheville NC to celebrate my birthday with fried chicken and ice-cream! Truly one of the best birthdays I have experienced so far, which is easy to say when the A.T. and fried chicken are combined after a long work week. 
The next day the crew hiked out to Hogback Ridge Shelter, digging drainage ditches along the way and getting the full A.T. experience (plus an actual toilet seat, in the privy!). Regardless of rain, fatigue, and sore muscles, laughter was constantly present. We were able to stay positive and productive and have a blast at the campsite, playing games like Werewolf and sharing stories.
Gourmet meals provided by our camp coordinator Janet were prepared in field by the crew, including chicken burritos, made-to-order omelets, and marsh mellows toasted over a camp stove. Carolina Mountain Club members spent two action-packed days working along side us to install logs steps, log cribbing, water bars and tread definition before treating us to an incredible lunch at Little Creek Café to cap off the week! 
Does the Appalachian trail beckon to you? Will you be the next to answer the call? Come join the Konnarock Trail Crew, preserving the AT one step at a time.
--Paul Sealy, Assistant Crew Leader
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