A BIG THANKS!!

It’s hard to believe the Konnarock 2012 season has come to an end!  We wanted to send out thanks to all of our partners for the great support of the Konnarock program this year.  We had a very successful and fun season! Thanks for all of your great planning leading up to this season, as well as your hardwork out on the trail with the crew.   And most importantly, thanks to all of you who came out to volunteer a week or more this season!! We look forward to seeing you in 2013!! 

Happy Trails!

Week 12

Dividing up tools before the big hike in! 

Crew one spent their last week of the season working with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club on the Beartown Mountain Relocation.  They enjoyed the beautiful views near Roan Mountain and managed to get a lot of work done on the Trail!  They built nearly 500 feet of new sidehill and put in 10 rock steps along the way.  They also built 40 feet of grade dips to help shed water of the future A.T.!

New rock steps

Happy volunteers! : )

Crew 1! 

BEEEAUTIFUL 

Don't worry - Konnarock volunteers don't go hungry!

Painting a white blaze!

Hanging out in camp

Crew 2 also headed south for their final week of the season to work with the Nantahala Hiking Club on the Water Oak Gap Rehab project.  They rehabilitated over 350 feet of trail, installing 22 rock steps and a lot of rock cribbing.  It was assistant crew leader, Kathryn's favorite project of the season (check out her sweet crib wall below)!  

Moving BIG rocks!

Drilling holes for the rebar

Impressive backcountry dessert!

Kathryn's Crib Wall -- oh yea!

Crew two!

Week 11

Crew 1!!

Crew 1 spent the week working with the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club on the Thunder Ridge relocation.  They were build 600 feet of new sidehill -- wow!  They also put in a few rock steps and check steps along the way to help properly shed water off the trail.  

Digging new sidehill

Rock steps

Beautiful rock work!

Crew Leader, Tori

Crew 2 went up near Catawba to work with the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club on the Dragons Tooth rehab project.  It's a very rocky, challenging section of trail that sees a lot of visitors every season.  They rehabilitated 280 feet of trail with 39 rock steps and 35 cubic feet of junk cribbing to keep hikers on the trail.  

Using the rock drill

Enjoying the view from Dragons Tooth

Putting in new rock steps

Crew 2!!

Week 10

Tailgate safety meeting

Crew 1 headed south to work with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club to work on the Round Bald Rehab project.  They put in 26 rock steps and 20 log steps along the Trail.  They crushed and carried a lot of rock and placed over 130 pieces of rebar to hold everything in place! 

Crushing rocks!

Moving crushed rocks

More Crushing! 

Ta- dah!

Crew 1!

Crew 2 headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to work on the Humpback Rocks Rehab project with the Old Dominion AT Club.  They put in 27 new rock steps and rehabilitated over 270 feet of trail!  

Enjoying some dancing after a hard day of work :)

Hanging out with ODAT at the volunteer camp

Crew Leader, Josh, working hard!

New rock steps

Lots of rock moving this week

Storing tools and equipment for the evening

More rock steps & junk cribbing to keep hikers on the trail

Week 9

Super Crew!

 Wow - this season seems to be flying by! Week 9 was the second "Supercrew" week of the season where Crew 1 and 2 teamed up to work on the Flint Gap to Shelton Graves relocation.  Together, they completed nearly 500 feet of new trail including several grade dips to help shed water.  

Taking a break :)

Digging sidehill

Building a log crib retaining wall

Week 8

It's always fun on Konnarock :)

Crew 1 spent the week with the Carolina Mountain Club working on the Flint Gap to Shelton Graves Relocation.  Konnarock and the club have been working on this project for the past few years and completed another 287 feet of sidehill this week!  

Indian Pipe along the trail

Getting roots out of the new trail

Feels good to build new trail!

Building trail... the future A.T.!

Crew 2!

Crew 2 headed north to work on the Thunder Ridge Relocation with the Natural Bridge AT Club.  They built nearly 1000 feet of new trail as well as some rock cribbing and steps.  This was the second year Konnarock worked on this project, moving the trail on to more sustainable sidehill.

What a GREAT week!

Week 7 ... back at it!

Trail snacks -- getting ready for a week out!

After a 2 week mid-season break, the staff headed back to base camp to kick off the second half of the season!  They even mixed up the crew leaders with Tori and Kathryn leading Crew 1 and Josh and Susan leading Crew 2.

Czar - base camp coordinator - welcoming the volunteers

Crew 1 headed up to Pearisburg to work on the ongoing New River Relocation project.  This relocation of approximately 5 miles of trail has been in progress over the last 6 years.  Working on a section requiring a lot of rock work was slow moving, but the results 


were great!  They put in 11 new rock steps as well as cribbing and drainage features.  The volunteers were treated to a potluck dinner at Woods Hole Hostel and were lucky enough to spend an evening with owners Michael and Neville at their beautiful home.

Crew 2 went to work on the Three Ridges Overlook Rehab with the Old Dominion AT Club.  They installed 24 rock steps and rehabed nearly 400 feet of trail.  The crew definitely didn't go hungry this week -- thanks to a potluck provided by the club!  Thanks ODATC!  It was a hot week, but the crew stay energetic and had a great time working on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail!

Crew 1!

Yea - Konnarock! 

Enjoying the view from Rice Fields after a long day of work!

You may get a  little dirty if you sign up for the Konnarock Crew :)

Helping out in the kitchen! 

Loaded van ... headed out for a week of fun and hard work!

Crew 2 at the trailhead

We like to move big rocks!

Newly rehabed section of trail

Putting in rock steps

Thanks to all of our volunteers for another great week!!!