Week 1: May 2-6, 2018

Crew 2: Rocky Bald Rehab

working with Nantahala Hiking Club

click here to see the full photo album


Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, trail aficionados of all ages, the Konnarock Volunteer Trail Crew’s 2018 season is officially in session! Crew 2, led by Crew Leader Brian Allgood and Assistant Crew Leader Josh Reynolds, kicked off another summer of A.T. maintenance with a trip to the Nantahala National Forest in NC, south of the Smokies, for some much-needed rehab work on the slopes of Rocky Bald.

 The summit of this bald features a short blue-blaze trail up to a scenic overlook, but the A.T. itself is deeply gullied where it climbs steeply to the blue-blaze junction. Years of hiker traffic and water erosion have caused the gullying, and so the goals for Week 1 were twofold: first, install stone water bars to improve drainage on the trail; second, install as many stone check steps as possible to harden the tread surface, slow the flow of water, and prevent further erosion.

Crew 2 began the week by setting up camp on a Forest Service Road off of Burningtown Gap, which involved condemning a rotting timber bridge and installing a set of stepping stones to mitigate a dangerous stream-crossing. Other essential tasks like digging a privy and setting up the kitchen tarp proceeded smoothly thanks to a seasoned group of alumni volunteers. By the time camp was looking ship-shape, it was early evening and soon an inaugural dinner of Hoppin’ John was cooked up, a dish so delicious and charismatic that it inspired the composition of a poem by one volunteer.

The following day, work was finally able to commence. The day began with the first and most arduous of the daily hike to work - a 0.5 mile walk up a bushwhacked access trail to the A.T. followed by a 1.8 mile trek along the A.T. itself. With heavy rock work tools in hand, the first day’s hike proved to be quite the challenge, but it did nothing to daunt the spirit of crew members eager to tackle a project.

The work immediately required the quarrying of large (the bigger the better), flat rock slabs to be used in water bar construction. Fortunately, slab-shaped rock seemed to be the rule, rather than the exception at this site, and it didn’t take long for the crew to pry loose a variety of solid material. Where some of the rocks were a bit uneven in shape, the crew was able to make ample use of stone shaping tools like the carbide-tipped “stonebusters” and the larger rifting set in order to split and chisel the material to perfection. Success is never guaranteed when shaping stone, but the rock on the aptly named Rocky Bald proved surprisingly cooperative and it didn’t take long before water bars started to take shape along several strategically located drainage
points.

Construction was far from easy, however, thanks to the presence of large, embedded rocks under the soil in some of water bar locations. The creative problem-solving so inherent in trail work was certainly needed to maneuver in and around this challenging soil. In some cases, the underlying rock was able to broken up thanks to Konnarock’s new carbide hammerpoint tool, while in other cases a slight shift of water bar location proved to be the simplest solution.

 Quarrying rock and digging narrow trenches was accompanied, of course, by copious crush production. At least one crew member was always occupied with this tasking of smashing bigger rocks into gravel - used for locking structures firmly into place. As the trail work saying goes, “you can never have too much crush.,” and this was proven true throughout the week.

As the water bar construction progressed from day to day, the work shifted to installing stone check steps in order to stabilize the tread and slow down the flow of water in the steepest sections of gullied trail. Getting the steps to sit just right required a mix of patience, teamwork and the careful application of crush. By the end of the third work day, two solid steps had been set in addition to the five rock-solid water bars already constructed, drainage swales had been dug and future step rocks quarried. The Rocky Bald project work reached a stable ending point and remains on deck for a second week of major step construction to come on Week 2.

The members of Crew 2 were joined on several days throughout the week by members of the Nantahala Hiking Club, who hiked in to lend a hand with the hard work. In addition, several volunteers met the crew in the field, boosting the numbers of what was initially a very small roster for the week. Thanks to the dedication of all who made the effort to come out, an impressive quantity of quality work was installed in spite of the remoteness of the work site which meant close to 5 miles of hiking each day.

The Nantahala Hiking Club also provided a phenomenal treat to the crew - a trip out to breakfast at the Nantahala Outdoor Center on the way home on the morning of the last day. The NOC’s signature River’s End Restaurant served up some seriously substantial portions - biscuits, eggs, piles of homefries and all manner of fried veggies were enjoyed by the hungry crew member thanks to the generosity of the NHC. Special thanks to Don for meeting the crew and representing the club at the breakfast!

Finally, with many volunteers going their separate ways, a small contingent of crew members journeyed north, making a brief stop at Second Gear in Asheville to peruse used outdoor equipment, and eventually returning to the much beloved Sugar Grove Base Camp for dinner and a t-shirt ceremony. Considering some unconventional logistics, the week ended up being successful and a solid start to the 2018 season. A big thank you to all the volunteers for dedicating their time and effort, and answering the call to maintain and preserve the Appalachian Trail. Thanks as well to Konnarock’s camp coordinators, Janet and Becky, for getting the season off to a good start with delicious meals and logistical support. Stay tuned for Week 2 at Rocky Bald for the culmination of this ambitious rock work project!

--Assistant Crew Leader Josh Reynolds