Maintainer Potluck (Planning) - Jan. 19, 2013

 

 

After the food and social part of our maintainer potluck (Maintainer Potluck (Food & Social) - Jan. 19, 2013), Trail Supervisor Lori went over the list from last year's potluck of things to work on in 2012. It was satisfying to see a lot of those items get marked off the list as 'accomplished'. Some items happened, but in a different way than originally planned; for instance, the maintainer weekend became a maintainer/volunteer picnic at the Humpback Picnic area in September. Some of the items are a work-in-progress and will get carried forward, others like the grant for a GPS camera will get worked on from a different angle. Lori started a new list for 2013 (no picture) so we can continue to track what we are working on and the progress on those items.

 

Over the last two years, Lori has focused on: getting volunteers in general out on work trips, taking steps to be more certain of providing new volunteers with a good first work trip experience, and providing quality work trips that will keep all volunteers coming back on future work trips. Turnout on the 3rd Saturday of the month work trips has gone up and stayed up, with a number of first-timers returning after their initial trip, so this has been a successful effort! For the next year (at least), the focus will be on the 'Section Maintainers', those volunteers who take on the responsibility of doing the routine maintenance work and watching over a specific section of AT. This is the individual attention and "TLC" needed section by section to keep the AT in great shape and to keep Lori informed of the status, issues, and potential projects for work trips on each section.

 

There are trail sections that are now vacant and more will be coming vacant over the next year. The goal is to obtain, train, and retain new section maintainers and provide support for those section maintainers who are not so 'new'. To help with this process, a list of section maintainer responsibilities (*based on ATC standards and guidelines) was put together so each section maintainer knows what they are getting into when they take on a section and everyone has guidelines to follow and assist them in maintaining the sections. A shorter 'checklist', summarizing these normal maintaining activities, was put together for ease of use/reference and this also includes areas/issues on the trail for assessment and monitoring. 

 

Communication is also something we are going to work on:

• communication from the trail maintenance supervisor with section maintainers giving them info on assessments on their trail sections, work scheduled on their section, etc. and feedback on the routine maintenance on the section(s)
• section maintainers are going to work on keeping the trail maintenance supervisor up-to-date on issues they perceive as needing attention on their section so an assessment can be done ('fresh eyes' on the problem) and situations where they may need assistance and/or training on aspects of trail maintenance they are encountering on their section, as well as the routine maintenance that has been done to assist with scheduling work trip crews

 

Overall, it was a productive meeting with lots of thoughtful, serious discussion and comments. The section maintainer responsibilities and checklist documents were issued for reference and use, however they are considered in 'draft' format for the purpose of being open to comments and suggestions. Everybody who attended the meeting has the goal of a beautiful, well-maintained section of Appalachian Trail and these two documents should enhance the Section Maintainer Group's ability to fulfill their responsibilities as maintainers of a small piece of the 2,000+ mile AT, one of the greatest volunteer effort success stories ever (For further thoughts on this, see:  Appalachian Trail: Roof of the East Coast )

 

The checklist (draft) as presented at the meeting is reproduced below so you can see what was discussed and also so the casual visitor to the RtoR blog or person considering volunteering can see what it takes and how maintainers keep the AT a good experience for all those who hike its many miles .... especially those very 'near and dear' 19.1 miles between Rockfish Gap and Reeds Gap.  For an official, up-to-date maintaining club copy of this document, please contact the Trail Supervisor.

 

Trail Maintenance and Assessment Checklist

 

A. ACTIVITIES NORMALLY PERFORMED BY SECTION MAINTAINER

1. Trail Obstructions (remove limbs and loose rocks, etc., if feasible). Important: When reporting blowdowns, please note size (diameter) and type of tree, exact location, can it be stepped over, have hikers been walking around it already?
2. Weeds (cut down as required)
3. Brush (cut back as required, cut woody and annual growth on uphill side of trail i.e. 'angle of repose', consider leaving annual growth on downhill side of trail to encourage walking to the inside of the trail tread).
4. Water Bars and Other Erosion Control Features (clean as required)
5. Clean leaf and other debris off of rock step features
6. Sidehill (report areas where rehab is needed or rehab if trained/experienced on sidehilling)
7. Close off short cuts on switchbacks and abandoned trail sections
8. Blazes (remove tree branches as necessary to maintain clear view of blazes)
9. Springs (clear and scoop out space large enough to fill water bottle)
10. Litter (remove pamphlets, solicitations, food and litter from trailheads, trail and shelter areas)
11. Camping Areas (remove litter and bootleg fire rings)
12. Shelter Area (remove litter, wasp nests, and bootleg fire rings, sweep out, fill lime in privy, etc.)

 

B. ASSESSMENT POINTS AND OTHER MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES

1. Safety problems such as trees ready to fall, particularly in shelter area.
2. Blazes, markers & posts, signs & related support posts (appropriate frequency, position, readable, accuracy, conditions)
3. Spring or other water source (how reliable, usable condition, signage need replacing)
4. Treadway Stability (Erosion Control) (drainage dips, waterbars, check dams and drainage ditches adequate in number and in good condition)(cupping of trail less than 3 inches)(outward slope of 5%)
5. Treadway Dryness (Drainage)(does treadway have wet areas?)
6. Treadway Width (18-24 inches)
7. Trailheads (trail signs at parking areas, kiosks, litter, evidence of parking problems or illegal activity)
8. Litter at trail heads, along trail and at shelters indicating large groups.
9. Evidence of Unauthorized Usage (mountain bikes, horses, ATV's, structures, other)
10. Evidence of Switchbacks being cut
11. Evidence of Possible Illegal Trails
12. Tent Sites (is it a planned site or bootleg, fire rings, erosion problems )
13. Shelter - general (evidence of leaks, missing shingles, repairs needed, paint, or evidence of unauthorized use, picnic table in good condition, is fire pit full?)
14. Shelter - privy (evidence of leaks, repairs needed, paint, fullness of pit)

 

IMPORTANT: A section maintainer should not attempt any work which the section maintainer is not comfortable doing, he is not certified to do, is contrary to agency regulation, for which he does not have the proper PPE, or which may present a problem with safety.
 

The first blazes on the trail at Rockfish Gap

(Photo: Merlot.)

 

 

* Appalachian Trail Design, Construction and Maintenance (Second Edition) by William Birchard, Jr., and Robert Proudman.

* Appalachian Trail Fieldbook (Maintenance and Rehabilitation Guidelines for Volunteers)(Second Edition) The Appalachian Trail Conference