Week 9: July 15-19, 2015

Crew 2: Highcock Knob Relocation with Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club

The small but mighty crew of four volunteers hiked up a steep two miles to the work site at High Cock Knob each day to work on a re-route that is being established to avoid a highly eroded fall line trail. 


Rock drills could come in handy on the rocky sidehill, but this section of trail runs through James River Face Wilderness. In federally designated Wilderness Areas, no power tools are allowed so other means of chipping rock out must be used. 



John Tartara, Lindsay Dunbar, Michael, and Travis Stanley worked on the griphoist to winch out a big dead tree stump, and built rock steps, dug side hill and constructed rock cribbing to hold up the delicate treadway. The Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club’s (NBATC) active trail maintainers supported Konnarock by working alongside us every day. 



Nearly 20 members from Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club prepared a huge picnic with many delicious homemade dishes one evening. One of the members brought a slack line to set up which made for an hour of many smiles and balancing for those who chose to participate.  We at Konnarock extend a large thank you to NBATC for the mouthwatering meal and all the cold beverages! 

Also, Cave Mountain Lake campground hosted our crew for the work week which meant plenty of swimming and warm showers for the crew after each work day. It was a week of challenging projects and high humidity so having those amenities available was a special treat! You know it was another successful week when everyone comes back to Base Camp with many stories and loads of laughter.

 



Crew 1: Scales to Old Orchard, Mt. Rogers ATC

Konnarock came back from its second week-long break to begin the last four sessions of the season. Crew 1 set off for the Nantahala once again to work at Rocky Bald, a rehab project the crew had already worked two weeks at last summer. 


However, on the first travel day the crew truck was involved in an accident. Thankfully neither the volunteer passenger nor the assistant crew leader were hurt, but the crew had to return to Base Camp and cancel the week's project with Nantahala Hiking Club. Instead, the crew worked in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, rehabbing eroded trail between Scales and Old Orchard.

Picking up where a Konnarock Supercrew left off Week One this summer, volunteers Clark Britt, Billy Williams, Hyesun Yi, and Mt. Rogers Ridgerunner Ben Cowan worked with rocks all week. They installed rock waterbars and rock steps in order to control the intense water erosion existing in the Virginia high country. 

Finding great weather each day of work north of Scales, Crew 1 put in 13 rock steps and 3 rock waterbars, crush and filling behind these structures over 40 cubic feet. The crew also put in over 50 linear feet of junk cribbing, lining the trail with rocks and brush in order to keep hikers on the A.T.

When the crew wasn't working, they were riding on the bumpy road to and from Scales, experiencing longhorn-cattle traffic congestion, listening to the radio ministry of Scratch Gravel Road, and putting grassfed, unsalted butter in their coffee.

Thank you Crew 1 for pulling together during this unusual week. Thank you Clark, Billy, Hyesun, and Ben for your patience, good humor, and hard work!

Week 8: July 4-July 8, 2015

Crew 2: New River Relocation near Pearisburg, VA

Crew 2, with leaders Bobby Berry and Sarah Ford, returned to the New River near Pearisburg, VA to work on a major trail re-route. 



This location takes a bit of effort to get there, but it is well worth the hike in because of the spectacular view from Rice Field at the crest of the ridge. The crew became familiar with the view through stretch circles and sunset hangouts on the outlook.  



Seven trail maintainers from the Ozark Trail Association- Kitty, April, Kathie, Katie, Sara, Rosie, Johnnie- and one multiweek Konnarock volunteer, Hyesun, made up the crew for Week 8! It’s not every day Konnarock has an all-woman volunteer crew- but they definitely rocked it out with several heavy rock construction projects. 




Many rock bars and rock drills were lugged out to the work site to accomplish the tasks ahead. With the stretch of woods where the trail will go sporting slabs of bedrock, lots of rock was drilled to be split out and be filled with crush for tread. Through the heavy downpours, loads of bedrock, and days of fog, these ladies killed it and accomplished some substantial work under challenging circumstances. 

There was a group working on a large staircase, for which each rock weighed over 500 pounds! The finished product was worth every minute. This re-route will close down a blue blaze trail that turns into a river during a downpour (which we witnessed). The AT will cross back through the other half of rice fields, where it was initially, when it is completed.

Crew 1: Return to Wayah Crest with Nantahala Hiking Club

Crew 1 returned to Wayah Crest for its second week in a row, working in Nantahala Hiking Club's territory. The crew picked up where it left off last week, installing more log steps and waterbars in order to curtail water erosion issues on the A.T. south of Wayah Bald.

The crew was met with more rain this week, though not as much as the week before. Two families -- the James family and the Thomas family -- joined the crew this week, making up over half the group. Lindsey Dunbar, Rachel Moses, and Clark Britt were all returning volunteers from weeks or seasons prior, and Matt Kaplan, a 2008 thru-hiker, joined Konnarock for the first time.

The Nantahala Hiking Club came out this week as well. Bill Van Horn and Gail Lehman came and worked two days with the crew, helping rehab the trail alongside Konnarock volunteers.

Crew 1 put in 20 log steps and 8 waterbars this week, and made 70 cubic feet of crush and fill to go behind those structures. The crew also put in 20 feet of junk cribbing to keep hikers on the A.T. and protect the trail corridor, and they installed over 130 feet of drainage behind their water-diversion structures.

On the crew's downtime they visited Wayah Bald Lookout Tower to watch the sunset, were mesmerized by Lindsey's photo-encyclopedia of the natural world from which they chose their spirit animals, and were treated to a Mexican feast in Franklin one evening by the Nantahala Hiking Club.






While there is still more to do at Wayah Crest, two weeks of trail rehab have greatly helped restore this section of trail. Thanks Crew 1 for another successful week in the Nantahala!

Week 7: June 26-30, 2015

Crew 1: Wayah Crest Rehab with Nantahala Hiking Club

Crew 1 went to Wayah Crest this week for their first of two weeks working at this Nantahala Hiking Club. The crew worked on a badly eroded piece of the A.T. that was in need of water diversion and steps to alleviate steep sections of the trail.

The crew used locust logs harvested on site -- some of which were cut in advance by the Club -- to install waterbars and steps in order to control water erosion. 

Most of the volunteers had done at least one week of Konnarock before, including Sandy Bell and Clark Britt, alumni who have come multiple times for the last few seasons, and Candice Wallace and Hyesun Yi, two volunteers who had already done previous weeks this summer. Jack Skipper and Patrick Slaughter, an ATC intern, joined Konnarock for the first time and rounded out the crew.

Rain impacted the crew's first full work day, keeping the work site wet and muddy, but the next two days were sunny and productive. 

The crew finished 31 log steps and 8 log waterbars this week, and crushed 92 cubic feet of rock to fill behind these structures. The crew also put in 42 linear feet of junk cribbing -- rock and brush set next to the trail in order to keep hikers on the main footpath.

When Crew 1 wasn't banging out log steps, they hiked up to the nearby Wayah Bald Lookout Tower to watch a beautiful sunset behind the Smokies. From the top of the tower, the crew got an almost 360-degree view of the surrounding valleys and mountains near Franklin, North Carolina.

Thanks Crew 1 for a very productive week at Wayah Crest!

Crew 2: South of Allen Gap Rehab

Crew 2 continued their work with Carolina Mountain Club, rehabbing damaged trail south of Allen Gap near Greenville, TN.

Week 6: June 18-22,2015

SUPERCREW!

Report from Assistant Crew Leader Davis Wax:


Crew 1 and Crew 2 worked together this week north of Massie Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park. 


The crews split up into small groups and tackled multiple rockwork projects, including rock waterbars, rock steps, and lots of rock junking of braided trail -- places where multiple paths exist due to hiker use -- in order to keep the A.T. on one set course.

The crew was made up of a handful of multi-week volunteers, including Justin Farrell and John Ackerson, both who have worked with Konnarock for six weeks this season. Anne Maio from the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club -- the volunteers who maintain this section -- and helped out on Sunday.


After the work day was over, the two crews came back to Sugar Grove Base Camp to cook dinner and played a huge session of 12-person werewolf and a big game of PELT. After work one day, a few volunteers who wanted to go see the Grayson Highlands gift shop got to peruse exhibits of old Appalachian tools.

Crew 1 put in 21 rock steps, one rock waterbar, and over 50 cubic feet of crush. In addition, they put in over 60 feet of drainage and over 60 feet of junking in braided trail. All in all, the crew did 260 feet of trail rehabilitation.

Report from Assistant Crew Leader Sarah Ford:

This week completed the half way mark for 2015 Konnarock season!

Yet again there was a wonderful group of volunteers up for the challenge of rock work in the Grayson Highlands State Park.  This week was a super crew week, meaning both crew one and crew two got to work together, which always makes for a lot of fun. At the end of the day, the crews returned to base camp- a rare occurrence- to cook dinner, relax, play games and even take a shower. Former Konnarock Crew Leader Josh Kloehn even filled in me during the middle of the week while I was on vacation--so this week was really full of surprises.

The work completed by crew 2 included 34 rock steps and defining and re-defining over 500 feet of braided trails! John Ackerson, a six consecutive week volunteer, said this was his favorite week because the work was all in a small area and so much improvement could be seen.

The highlands area is very rocky and is also home to wild ponies so the trail can be confusing for hikers. Part of the work was focused on defining the pathway and removing loose rocks, as well as closing off sections with junk rocks and dead trees. By the time we were done, there was a clear and distinct walkway.  Good job to all those that dedicated a week of your time to help make the Appalachian Trail a more beautiful and sustainable hiking trail.