NBATC - 90 Miles To Maintain

 

A winter blowdown on the R2R section of AT,

later cleared by our sawyers.

(Photo: Dave G.)

 

 

The Natural Bridge AT Club maintains 90 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Central Virginia from Blackhorse Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Tye River in Nelson County.  Obviously, when "weather" occurs, like the recent snow storms, they have a lot of trail to cover to make sure that their 90 miles is clear of blowdowns.  Here is a good article that appeared in The Rockbridge Report, March 21:

Area 'maintainers' fire up chainsaws to clear, preserve 90 miles of Va. trail

 

 

 

A couple of quotes from this article that deserve some highlighting
 and additional consideration:
 

 

The NBATC’s 90 miles of trail cross through three wilderness areas, where volunteers must cut by hand with crosscut saws, rather than using chainsaws. Half of Kyle’s trail section overlaps with Hammer’s on the Priest, which lies within a wilderness area.

 

R2R Note: Rockfish to Reeds has no wilderness areas so we can use chainsaws to clear blowdowns.  Did you know .... cross-cut sawyers must also successfully complete a sawyer certification workshop to work on the AT.

 

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Between their training and experience, maintainers develop acuity for identifying potential problems and hazards on the trail. Hikers who aren’t maintainers don’t necessarily notice trail obstructions.

“There’s a lot more to it,” Hammer said. “If you see rock stairs or something on the trail, it’s there for a reason.”
 

R2R Note: Yes, we do develop 'acuity'! Maintaining adds to the hiking experience because you can truly appreciate the trail you are on and what it took to build it and keep it in good shape.
 

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For now, the NBATC holds strong at 360-400 members but young people are not joining AT clubs at a high rate, Hammer said. As older officers and members retire, there are few volunteers to replace them.

 

R2R Note: This is an issue for Rockfish to Reeds and the AT as a whole ..... who will follow in the current maintainers' footsteps as they age or have changing circumstances that take them off the trail?

 

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