Wolfe Shelter Crew: New Steps

 

Starting point:  the rickety old steps with a few recent patches visible.

The Wolfe Shelter was a popular place to be this weekend. The weather was gorgeous with blue skies and although the day had a chilly start, it turned into a perfect day for being on the trail. This was the weekend that the 'beginner backpacking' class got to practice all that they had learned with an overnight at the shelter, plus there were Boy Scouts out and about on the AT and also planning to spend the night at the shelter. In the midst of all this activity Saturday, there was a work trip crew with a mission of their own  .... replace the rickety old steps on one end of the shelter porch with something more stable and a lot sturdier.

The crew leader was David G. and the other crew members were Margaret, Mark and Jim D. They had a full day of work because they had to hike in all the lumber and supplies to build the steps, plus deal with preparing the site for the steps. The ground slopes off sharply (you can tell from the picture above) so getting the steps level and having a 'landing' at the bottom of the steps required some extensive, labor-intensive cribbing and fill work.  The crew leader took some excellent photos of the project, both in-progress and after it was finished, so here is how the crew got the 'new steps project' done:

 

Digging, cribbing ........

 

and more cribbing ........

 

Steps nearing completion with a good view of the cribbing, placement of the steps

 in relation to the shelter porch, and how the steps were leveled.

 

Notice the really flat, heavy rock that provides a landing at the foot of the steps .... one of the Boy Scouts helped Mark with that rock.

 

Results for this work trip: some great looking steps and landing area.

 

The Wolfe Shelter Crew & the new steps!

(Photo: Dennis S.)

Some work remains to "pin the logs in correctly", but time had run out on this particular work trip day .... the crew still had a 2.5 mile hike out to meet up with the other crews back at the tool shed by 5:00.

As noted before, there were lots of folks at the shelter  ..... also out for the day on the AT and visiting the shelter were Wolfe Shelter Maintainers Walter and Pat, along with their friend "Wounded Warrior":

 

The shelter has received a lot of attention in the last couple of weeks to repair the shelter fire damage and now to get the new steps installed.  The folks working on all the shelter projects, from the first report and pictures of the fire damage, the damage assessment/temporary repair crew, the porch permanent repair crew, and now the new steps crew have the shelter in beautiful shape and ready for hikers and backpackers to enjoy.

Thanks to this work trip crew and everyone who has put in so much 

time and work on the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter!

Wolfe Shelter Crew: New Steps (Addendum)

(Photos: David G. unless otherwise noted)