Rain Dance, Stop Dancin'.....

Volunteers get to work on a "dry" day..

Is that? Yes, it is, the one and only former assistant crew leader, Ellen Gass.

If you live in the southeast, you most likely had rain recently. Our crews were no exception this week; whereas the season up to this point had blue skies and at times unseasonably cool temps (last week Ted's crew woke up to 40's in the morning), this week was definitely the exception.

With rain almost every day, crews managed as much work as they could in wet conditions. However, spirits were high as the crews took various "field trips" to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and Kincora Hostel to dry out and wait out the storms.

TEHC club members remove one of many stumps with a Griphoist

Hmmmm, don't have to explain this one....

Smiles all around despite the wet weather!

Ahh, Kincora Hostel, showers, laundry, and one of the best hosts you could have! Thanks Bob!

Spreadin' the love, thanks again!

Not to worry though, the skies have parted and the forecast is looking up for week #11 (wow, did I say week #11 already?)!

Cheers,

Kerry

Konnarock Ingenuity

On occasion, while on the Trail, our crews are forced to come up with new ideas to solve a particular problem. As both crews rolled into camp today I learned of some inventive ways our Crew Leaders and/or Volunteers got things accomplished despite problems.

First:

Is the stake you're using to hold up cribbing a little weak? Well no problem, just use a former Konnarock Camp Coordinator as a "steak support;" just give it a little tap and it will be just fine…..

I really have no idea what's going on here but Janet might want to put a helmet on....

Second:

OK, seriously though, while moving a massive amount of rock on the Brown Mtn Creek project, Crew 2 had some technical difficulties with their griphoist. What to do with this massive rock we need to move you say? Well, how about the ole' log roll maneuver? That works…..

A Volunteer "supervises" while others move "mother earth."

Isn't this how they built the pyramids?

We're off to Cheoah Bald and Unaka Mtn for Week #10!

Cheers,

Kerry

New River Relo Pics

Here are some more pictures from Week#7 at the New River Relo http://picasaweb.google.com/eknorr79/Konnarock2007.

Thanks Eric!

Kerry

Crews Eat Too Much and Get Big in the Process!!

A beautiful stretch of new trail courtesy of Konnarock

The crew patiently waits for their first round (of many) servings at the The Homeplace resturant in Catawba, VA

Cristine breaks through the ribbon for the trail opening ceremony (it was also chrisened with a bottle of water)

A Volunteer paints a new blaze on the newly opened

Ted, Brian, and Crew #1 headed up to the Roanoke area to continue working on the Angel's Gap project with the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club. On Saturday night, I was fortunate enough to meet up with the crew at The Homeplace for their famous never-ending parade of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, roast beef, apple butter, cobbler, ice cream, coffee, tea, and lemonade. We of course ate way too much but as you probably know, it's not too hard to burn it off the next day.

Meanwhile, Christine, Kelly, and Crew #2 headed down to finish up work on the Big Bald project on the North Carolina/Tennessee border. As you can tell by the pictures, the crew had a "BIG" time (sorry, I couldn't resist) opening a new section of the AT and got to paint blazes to boot!

Cheers,

Kerry

Take a Sneak Peak!

As you may or may not know by now, this year marks the 25^th anniversary of the Konnarock Trail Crew. In celebration of this momentous occasion, I and Ed Clayton (MRATC member and longtime Konnarock Volunteer) wrote a short article about the crew for the upcoming issue of AT Journey’s. I’m definitely not a journalist/writer but the article isn’t too bad and the pictures aren’t too bad to look at either…..

Here’s a sneak peak, enjoy!

Kerry

Where Did Week 7 Go?

Ted gets hungry for dirt every once in a while....

Cribbing the outslope with large rocks on Unaka Mtn

Christine, Brian and crew sit atop of some newly constructed rock steps

I'm almost done with the first switchback....

Crew 2 takes a swim in the New River after work for the day (then they went to Dairy Queen for Blizzards....)

After the break, Week #7 just flew by with both crews turning out some impressive work in Virginia and Tennessee. Crew 1, spent the week in TN working with the Tennessee Hiking Club on the Unaka Mtn project; the club continues to provide some great support in the way of trail work and most importantly, a cook-out on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Crew 2 spent their second week working on the New River Relo in Pearisburg, VA. Likewise, the Outdoor Club of Virginia Tech (including me!) came out to support the crew with trail work and pizza on Sunday night.

For week #8, we’re off to Angel’s Gap and Big Bald to continue projects there.

Enjoy the pictures!

Kerry

Back in the Swing of Things

Happy 4th of July! The crew is in full swing again after a nice two-week break. For the holiday, were treating the Volunteers to a cookout a la "Czar" and will be heading out to Unaka Mtn and the New River Relo in the morning.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Kerry

Lost & Found

Currently there is a small pile of stuff left from the previous weeks that need to find a home. At the moment, we've got several hats (baseball and toboggan style (that's a hat not a sled for us southerners...)) as well as a stuff sack and other misc stuff. If you think you left something get a hold of us at camp and we'll get it to you!

Cheers,

Kerry