An alert doe .... probably wondering why her breakfast was being interrupted.
It was an auspicious start for our monthly work trip to the mountains. The sky was a beautiful blue with not a cloud in sight. A cool breeze blew occasionally and the humidity was very low. A large number of folks were participating and everyone was in good spirits. What could go wrong?
As we motored for the mountains down I-64, suddenly it was a sea of red brake lights ahead ..... both lanes. Uh oh. We had just passed a sign for "Louisa-Ferncliff in 1 mile". We stopped. We crept. We crawled. We pulled out the VA state map and decided that in one mile, we would be off of I-64, unless we could get past whatever the problem was before then. We made some cell phone calls. We watched an 'Animal Control' vehicle go by on the emergency lane. We passed a sign that said "Emergency Scene Ahead". We had another maintainer (coming up from Williamsburg) pull alongside and we exchanged information through rolled-down windows. Finally, the exit ramp was in sight and it became obvious that everyone was being re-routed off of I-64. We crept and crawled up the long exit ramp and expected to be directed to turn left and on toward Rt. 250 as a detour. As we got to the top of the ramp, we were directed straight across the road and back on to the "entrance" ramp and the interstate road where we merged into the traffic that was whizzing by!
It seems that while we were creeping slowly up the exit ramp, I-64 had been re-opened ..... we had just missed being able to stay on the road instead of wasting time on the exit ramp. So we were off again, only to quicly slow down as I-64 narrowed to one lane to get by an accident scene. There had been fuel all over the road and we could really smell it as we passed by. There were two large tow trucks - the kind that handle the big semi rigs, parked on the side of the road. Best guess is that a large truck or semi turned over and spilled a tank full of diesel fuel across the road. The scene was old enough that it was in the final cleanup stages. Once we got past this one-lane accident scene portion of the road, we were back to making good time again.
We didn't get to the Humpback Visitor's Center until almost 10:00, about 45 minutes later than usual. Crews were being given instructions and tools obtained from the tool shed. Shuttles were being worked out and before too long, our crew was headed for the Humpback Picnic Area. HB Picnic is closed for repaving so parking along the narrow grass strips beside the BRP was our only option. Finally, we were able to get underway and start hiking in to the section we would be working on.
Our mission was to work on Section 8, also known as the 'Wintergreen' section. This section includes Battery Cliffs which has some nice views, including one of the Wintergreen ski slopes. At 2.6 miles, it is the longest of all the trail sections. The main task was to weed whip and snip/clip what we could. There were also some extra folks added to the crew to deal with any small rock projects along the way. In total, there were seven of us - quite a large crew, but necessary since we were on a large section needing a variety of work (2 swing-blades, assorted loppers/shears, a rock bar, a pick, & various pruning saws).
As we hiked in, we saw a large doe, browsing until we disturbed her breakfast. She stared at us, but did not bolt, even when we all stopped so pictures could be taken. She finally ambled on. By her fairly casual attitude, it would not be surprising if she has spent some time hanging around the nearby picnic area and is accustomed to seeing people. During our hike in, we saw quite a bit of Columbine blooming and lots of weeds/grass, all looking very healthy and lush ....... a good indication of the work that would be ahead.
The Columbine are blooming now.
The north end of the section begins at the intersection/sign of the blue-blaze trail to Humpback Rocks and the AT. The first 0.1 of the AT had been weed-whipped on the last work trip and the major water bar dug out so we moved on, heading south. We climbed the first set of long rock steps to the top of the ridge and then moved on past the beautiful stone fence toward Hole-in-the-Wall. At this point, all of the work was snipping/clipping and weed whipping.
First long set of steps on the way to the summit of Humpback Mountain.
Stone wall along the trail heading for Hole-in-the-Wall.
Hole-in-the-Wall
We worked our way further south, brushing up a spot where hikers were missing a little switchback, then passing a large tree that the sawyers had cut on a previous occasion and finally reaching the Rock Step Project and below that, the lush greenery of a spot that is known for a stand of Black-eyed Susans. The weeds/flowers here can get shoulder high so we whipped it back severely along the trail corridor and continued on.
A large tree with some excellent sawyer work keeping the trail open.
The Black-eyed Susan patch ... before weedwhipping. The 'after' shot was out of focus, but the weeds were cut back about two feet on each side.
After the Black-eyed Susan patch, we went up a second long set of stone steps and water bars and the trail dipped into another small, lushly vegetated area that had some nasty and fierce-looking thorny plants. The diameter on some of them was the size of our swing-blade handles. Motivated by needing a lunch break at this point, we made short work of getting rid of them and within a few minutes, reached an overlook near the summit of Humpback Mountain where we enjoyed the views and our lunches.
The second long set of rock steps/water bars heading for the summit.
In a word ... "nasty" .... and this was a small one! Originally thought it was Devil's Walking Stick, but don't think that is correct. Whatever it is, any of it close to the trail has been cut down.
A tree with a very large branch going straight out. This is a good marker that the overlook where we were having lunch was minutes ahead.
Our lunch spot - an overlook near the summit of Humpback Mtn (elev 3,600)
One of our lunch time views - looking northwest into the Shenandoah Valley.
After lunch, we snipped/clipped and weed whipped our way through a lovely wooded section on the other side of the mountain until we came to an area that clearly needed some "help". What we think was the original section of AT was being by-passed by little 'go-around' trails on both sides. One trail only needed to be defined and the straightest route was chosen and work began. The two 'go-arounds' were brushed up and after a lot of leaf debris was removed, the crew started prying/digging/pulling out rocks to establish a tread. Of course, in order to remove one rock, you usually have to remove a couple of others first so there was some considerable work with a rock bar and the pick ..... and what initially looked like a fairly 'simple little rock project' quickly morphed into a more complex project that took a couple of hours and a lot more work than originally anticipated.
Picture of project site (taken during an earlier trail assessment) ... between the two trees starting at the tree with the blaze. You can see a 'go-around' trail to the left. This rocky, messy spot became this .........
......... a new, straight trail tread with a rock step
Close-up of the new and beautiful rock step.
We finished the rock step and tread repair around 4:00 and began the process of hiking out since we were to meet back at the tool shed at 5:00. Along the way, we stopped briefly to take in the views from Battery Cliffs.
Looking west at the Shenandoah Valley from Battery Cliffs.
Finally, we were at the blue-blaze trail to the Humpback Picnic Area and hiked out to our cars parked along the BRP. It was interesting to see the work going on in the picnic area (see pictures at: Humpback Visitor's Center & Picnic Area Update). Back at the Visitor's Center and the tool shed, crews were coming in with details of their day. It seems that, despite the slow start with the traffic backup on I-64, it was another great day in the woods and the completion of a succesful June work trip.
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