Section 4 Maintainers: Early Spring Trip

 The steps to Glass Hollow Overlook get a spring cleaning.

(Photo: Dennis S.)

 

After a very late winter with snow and ice closing the BRP multiple times, the weather has finally relented and the Section Maintainers are now able to get out and about on the AT.  Reports from the Section Maintainers are coming in to "Maintenance Central" (that would be the Trail Maintenance Supervisor) with the condition of the various AT sections. This information is very important for planning the first AT work trip of the year on April 20, 2013.

On April 4, the Section 4 maintainers were on the AT and here is some of the narrative from their report:

Jim H. and I walked our section yesterday.  It was in pretty good shape, but we raked leaves from stairs; rogued a few rocks and roots; picked up trash; and trimmed back vines in a couple of spots.  

We only saw a couple of things that might merit attention on a work trip.  One was a tree hanging over the trail as you approach the Glass Hollow side trail (going north).  It’s high enough to walk under, and I think this may be an old tree, not a newly fallen one.  The other is that at Big Tree (where Jim S. has done a nice job of trimming the root ball to allow people to pass on the uphill side), Jim H noted that the big rock just uphill of the root ball may be loose enough to be moved with a pry bar.  Moving it would widen the trail enough that no further work might be required on Big Tree’s stump [note: this would be a separate 'Big Tree' from the one just north of Bear Spring that was the subject of a prior post Spring of 2012].  

The worst problem we saw was at the Humpback Rocks parking area, where the trash bin is overflowing and trash has been strewn all over the area, probably by animals.  Weather was fine (except cold, windy and damp).

One thing of note ..... some section maintainers have to hike over other sections to get to theirs and if they see an issue, even though it is not their section, they will take care of it. This happened with the Section 4 maintainers when they passed by the steps to the Glass Hollow Overlook, which is on Section 5, and cleaned off the steps:

We know Glass Hollow is not on our section, but that’s a place that inexperienced hikers like to go, often with their children ..... the steps just looked dangerous under a massive cover of leaves. ~ Dennis S.

Thanks to the Section 4 Maintainers (Dennis S. & Jim H.) for their work and report!

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