It was one of those days when there is just no place else you'd rather be than on the AT, doing trail maintenance. This day was going to be spent 'cruising' the 4.3 miles on the west side of the BRP and since it would be an "out-and-back" trip, total mileage was going to be 9.6 miles .... an ambitious day, especially if I ran into situations that needed a cleanup. These two sections do not have much in the way of elevation change, but they are probably the two rockiest sections we maintain so the footing can slow you down, especially if the rocks are the least little bit damp. The trip was before weed season, so the intent was primarily to check for blowdowns, do a little 'snipping and clipping' where necessary, and just make sure the trail was in overall good shape for hiking.
After making it fairly quickly to Cedar Cliffs (from Dripping Rock) and briefly enjoying the view, it was on into the woods, heading south. Maybe ten minutes later, there was a nice large rock lying in the middle of the trail. It was big enough that it took two hands and a bit of 'heave-ho' to pick it up and toss it off the trail. Sometimes, natural rocks work loose and roll into the trail and this section had a fairly steep slope above the trail; however, I didn't think this was a 'natural' rock. When you are constructing trail, loose rocks that are dug up should be discarded off the downhill side rather than put on the uphill side because all too often, over the years, they end up working their way down into the trail. This was probably one of those rocks inadvertently discarded on the uphill side so the problem was quickly remedied by tossing it downhill and on I went.
Rock number two .... and not too far down the trail from the first one ..... tossed it off the trail. Not that far again, rock number three, then four. Hmmm, starting to get a funny feeling about this - too many rocks for the 'discarded uphill' problem. The rocks were not that small either and once I started paying attention to exactly where they might have originated, it became obvious that they were being deliberately pulled out of the bank, causing them to roll into the trail. More rocks in the trail ..... who in the heck was doing this? I was really starting to get a bit hot under the collar that some hiker(s) was so bored that they would go along pulling rocks out of the bank. The rock cleanup effort, especially when it appeared to be a deliberate 'trashing', was more than annoying!
Then I got to a spot where the largest rock yet had been dislodged and I could clearly see claw marks scratching where the rock had been and the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. Within five minutes, I knew exactly who the culprit was when I came across a pile of fresh bear scat. A bear was walking down the AT and looking for insects, grubs, and small rodents under the rocks along the trail. Bears are incredibly strong and these rocks were no problem at all for him/her to pull out of the bank. I eventually got to a rock that was so large, that I could not move it. It was in a really bad spot as well ... an area where you had to pick your way through rocks and it had come to rest in exactly the only flat place to step. Other large rocks were around it so getting this 'bear rock' over those rocks and off the trail was not going to be easy. Despite several "heave-ho" efforts, including trying to use a nearby length of log (which broke) as a rock bar, the rock had to be left in the trail. It took an iron rock bar on a subsequent trip to get it moved and then, just barely.
This particular bear had made the west side AT his 'bear buffet' line as he strolled along, looking under any rock that struck his fancy (or maybe passed a 'smell test') for food. In addition to insects, grubs, and rodents, bears will dig up and eat 'ground bee' nests which, considering some of the painful encounters we have had with angry bees, I think is a great idea ..... so eat more ground bees, bears! Since this experience years ago, I have come across other rocks in the trail that were obviously dislodged by bears, but I have never had a stretch of trail so thoroughly "rocked" by a bear as this one. The rocks in the trail finally stopped, but not before I had to expend a lot of extra effort to get the trail cleaned up. Once the 'buffet line' ended, I was able to make good time and did indeed get the whole 9.6 miles covered, but I have never forgotten all the 'rock work' that hungry bear left for me on the AT!
For more info on black bears, here are some good links:
This is a website with some fabulous pictures, information and a blog about the black bears in Shenandoah National Park, our trail neighbor to the north:
Here are two Department of Game & Inland Fisheries links for some concise information about black bears in Virginia:
Note: Will you see bears while out doing maintaining work? Maybe, maybe not. While other maintainers have had bear sightings on R to R, in almost two decades of maintaining, I have personally seen only one bear on a work/maintaining trip and that was this past October. All of my bear sightings, at least a half dozen or more (including a cute cub about the size of a cocker spaniel), have been in the SNP.
~ Merlot
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