Work Trip Report - ODATC - April 20, 2013

Hi All -

Sorry, a little late in getting this note out of our adventures on the April Work Trip. We had a wonderful day in the mountains with a whopping twenty-one people joining us split into five different crews.

The crew that started south from Rockfish Gap spent the day constructing three new waterbars, rehabbing six others and didn't stop there.  At the end of this very busy day, they picked up trash on the way out on the hill at Rockfish Gap.  Thanks so much to Jim S, Lee, Charlotte, Lisa and Ed F for their terrific work on that section. ( Sec 1 Crew: A Layaway Locust Log Gets A Job )

More waterbars were installed at the back of Humpback Mountain.  This crew of Karen, Dave W, Bob, Lynne and Craig had a long hike ahead of them, tools in hand, to install two waterbars on an area that was eroding.  Once at the location, they did a super job of finding and installing super rocks in the trenches of the waterbars.  Thanks waterbar crew for your super efforts.
( Sec 7 Crew: Setting The (Water) Bar High )

The crew that went down to the shelter spent the day installing a new set of steps to replace the old ones that were showing signs of age.  This task was made more difficult due to the slope at the base of the stairs.  The crew did get assistance from all the people camping out at the shelter that night, ODATC Backpacking 101 Class, Boy Scouts, etc.  It was a popular place.  Thanks to Dave G, Margaret, Jim and Mark for the fabulous set of stairs. ( Wolfe Shelter Crew: New Steps  & Wolfe Shelter Crew: New Steps (Addendum) )

The sawyer crew of Chris, Eric and Richard got the award for the most hiking. They started out with a tree near Cedar Cliffs, traveled back to get two trees on the Jack Albright Loop, then went to the overlook on the way down to the shelter and cleared the tree of heaven.  This should have been the end of their day, but, some scouts reported a tree down near Bear Spring so they headed up Humpback Mountain to get that one.  Turns out, the tree was actually near the top of Humpback Mountain and the sawyers met up with the waterbar crew up there. Thanks so much for your efforts to get ALL the trees reported down on the trail. (No pictures .... sorry!)

The final crew worked on the Howardsville traveling north to Glass Hollow Overlook. The crew was kept busy clearing leaves from under the log bridge, rouging out rocks from the trail, sidehilling and taking care of water that was not channeling properly on the trail.  They did fantastic work.  Thanks Betty, Regina (Ridge Runner), and David A. ( Sec 5 Crew: Water, Water Everywhere! )

A special thanks to our first time crew members on the AT....... Craig, Charlotte, Jim D, Lisa and Bob.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful trip in April.  Hope everyone had a rewarding and fun filled day.  Can't wait for May!!!!

Lori

Trail Maintenance Supervisor