Week 5 - Humpback Rocks & Fontana Lake

Crew 1 spent the week working with the Old Dominion AT Club on the Humpback Rocks Rehab project. Humpack Rocks picnic area, right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, sees thousands of visitors a year and is heavily impacted. The crew worked to close down some visitor created trails and did some rehab work on the popular blue blaze trail headed up to the A.T. They put in 12 rock steps, several waterbars and some rock cribbing.

Crew 2 worked with the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club on the Fontana Lake Relocation. The new location of the trail will provide hikers with a great view of the lake. The crew put in several rock steps, crib wall and dug nearly 300 feet of new trail. It was a steep slope to build on, but these volunteers really went to work digging trail! Check out some photos below....

Crew 1

Rock work is fun!

New rock steps

Konnarock Trail Crew signs!

Regina the Ridgerunner joins the crew for the day!

Closing off a rec trail

Check out that lovely waterbar!

Hanging out on Humpback Rocks

Crew 2

Diggin new trail

Having too much fun! Is there such thing on Konnarock?!

Putting in a crib wall to help support the trail on a steep slope

Dig that trail!

Beautiful new sidehill

Suspenders... not a required piece of gear, but definitely sweeeet!

This could be you!! Sign up for crew today!

Week 4 - Beartown Mountain & Paint Mountain

Crew 1 headed down to work with the Tennesse Eastman Hiking Club to begin work on the Beartown Mountain Relocation. The relocation is working to eliminate a very steep, eroded section of trail. The crew put it 10 rock steps and built over 400 feet of trail. They also built several rock crib walls.

Crew 2 worked with the Nantahala Hiking Club and continued on the Paint Mountain Relocation in North Carolina. They built over 950 feet of new side hill trail, completing the relocation. There are just a few blazes to paint and the trail will be ready to hike!

Following the flagline & digging new trail

Konnarock kitchen & field camp

Gearing up for a day of work!

Rhododendron in full bloom!

Ready to carry the tools up for the week

The soon-to-be Appalachian Trail

Digging sidehill trail

Morgan joined the crew for a few days!

Week 3 - Paint Mountain Relocation

While Crew 1 was spending time down in Georgia, Crew 2 headed off to work on the Paint Mountain Relocation with the Nantahala Hiking Club in North Carolina. They built 1000 ft of new sustainable sidehill trail - finishing up nearly half of the relocation! It was hard work digging through a lot of roots, but they pushed through and built some beautiful trail! Great work!!

Digging sidehill all week long!

Wildlife! Moving a turtle off the trail...

Before the digging begins...

AFTER!

Morning stretches and some evening games

Keep up the great work!

The final product, recovered with leaves to protect the soil

Beautiful view from the hike in to the worksite

Whew... this trail building is hard work!

Great place to setup camp for the week!


More digging...

Crew Leader Kathryn - always keeping everyone in good spirits!

Good times - packed in the van!


Check out more photos from this season's Konnarock Trail Crew on Flickr!

Hope you can join us for a week!

Weeks 2 and 3 -- Lovin' Georgia...

Every year, one of the highlights of the Konnarock Trail Crew season is when they spend 2 weeks in Georgia with the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club (GATC). This year, Crew 2 headed down to do rehab work from Bull Gap to Swaim Gap. They put it over 70 rock steps and installed 17 waterbars. They also made quite a bit of crush and fill to help with their projects. On their days off, they explored nearby Georgia and saw some amazing waterfalls and wonderful views! Check out photos from their two weeks of hard work and fun!

Kaley's signed up for 6 weeks of Konnarock this year and loving every minute!

Thanks for all of your hard work!!

Can't get better than a great view from the project site!




Some of the hard working volunteers

Using the sledge to make some crush and fill

Assistant Crew Leader Jeff leading the way

Yum ... dessert!!

Enjoying the view on a day off

Beautiful!

Yea waterfalls!!

Ready for another week of work!

Crushing some more rocks to use on the rock projects

Redefining the tread of the A.T.

Putting in rocks steps

Stopping by Neel Gap