Rockfish to Reeds: Rogue Rocks Meet Their Match!

View looking east into Rockfish Valley from the only overlook on Sec. 4.

Ahhh, the continuing "war" that maintainers wage against "rogue" rocks. What in the world (you may be wondering) is a rogue rock? A bit of explanation first ..... Section 4 is a good example of what happens as trail that has been 'dug' or sidehilled, ages over the years. Anyone who has not put in brand new sidehill trail might be surprised at the 'engineering' that goes into such a trail, for example: the slope of the entire trail section, a slight outslope of the tread to keep water rolling off and not down the trail, attention to tread width, and other water diversion features that may be put in at construction. Despite all of this work on the new trail at the outset, including digging out rocks that are indeed 'diggable', over time hiker wear and tear compacts the tread and the elements gradually take their toll. What begins to emerge are those "rogue" rocks ... rocks that were just beneath the original tread surface, rocks that at the time were too small to worry with digging out, or that seemed too big to spend the time and energy to dig up. Now, with the trail compacted and the dirt around the rock(s) worn down many inches, maybe even washed away, the formerly unseen or benign rock has become a hiker inconvenience, perhaps even a hazard.

So, what do hikers do when there is a fairly large rock in the trail tread? They do what hikers mostly do when they come to an obstacle - they 'go around'. This going around instead of staying on the tread to avoid obstacles, either rogue rocks or even blowdowns (this is one reason we try to clear downed trees on the trail quickly), causes big problems for maintainers - a new path that is often destructive to the remaining tread or the edge of the trail. Frequently, a 'go-around' is unsightly and can cause or exacerbate erosion issues. So what to do about those rogue rocks? The maintainers put on their gloves (and other PPE :-), get out their pick mattoxes and rock bars and dig up those rogue rocks! It is time consuming and labor intensive, but it surely does make a difference and improves the trail tread for the hiker and the integrity of the trail itself.

The crew working on Section 4 (this section ends at the shelter when hiking north as from the HB Rocks Parking Lot) spent the day 'rogueing' rocks out of the trail tread, they cleaned/rehabbed water bars along the way and cleaned the rock steps of those pesky leaves that hide the steps, this time of year in particular. These pictures "tell the story" of their day on the trail except for one (fairly major) detail. The crew was carrying a bag of lime to the shelter for use in the privy. If you've ever participated in "schlepping" a bag of lime the 2.5 or so miles to the shelter/privy, it's not a fun job (think 'heavy', awkward, fine white dust getting on things) - necessary, but not fun. Fortunately, on this day, a troop of Boy Scouts came to the 'rescue' and carried the lime, their good deed for the day ...... well, let's make that their good deed for the month. Thanks, guys!

The crew gets busy.

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Before: see the two nasty rogue rocks to the left of the big rock ... the one on edge and the rounded-top one?

During: there's just no easy way to get these rogue rocks out - lots of digging involved.

After: rocks are gone and the tread has been restored around the one HUGE rock that just can't be moved - looks a lot better and hikers will definitely stay on the improved tread.

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