Cadillac Crew: A beautiful Sunday at Prince William Forest Park
Dan and Ellen Feer
We start watching the weather at least 10 days before Cadillac Crew trips begin. Our long history with Northern Virginia weather guides us to wait until the day before the trip starts before making final decisions, but we always give everyone a heads up if the weather looks questionable for the weekend. The Thursday before we were supposed to head for Prince William Forest Park to stay in Cabin Camp 3 (Camp Orenda) and work on the High Meadow Trail, we took a final look at the weather and decided we needed to make this a Sunday-only trip to avoid possible thunderstorms. A few people were planning to work Saturday only and had to cancel. Saturday afternoon, after the storms had passed, the crew began to arrive. We had a nice dinner with good friends and went to bed. Sunday would be a full day.
Breakfast was at 7:45.
Kirsten Elowsky had the kitchen set up, the coffee was fresh, and the oven was hot. Sausage, eggs, bagels, fruit, and yogurt were prepared by
Dan Feer, Kirsten,
Don Oellerich, and
Ellen Shaw. A bucket of high-energy candy was passed around by
Tysha Robinson. We were ready for the safety and project briefing at 8:30. Spooky Beavers crew members
Dennis Calhoun and
Bruno Carlot joined us. By about 8:45, 13 of us carpooled over to the trailhead (Nina Blagrove, also a Spooky Beaver, met us on the trail).
The projects from
Mike Custudio (National Park Service Ranger and crew member) were replacing 14 old, ineffective waterbars with rolling grade dips. These water management devices take more practice and patience to build, but they are easier to maintain and are more hiker friendly. We divided into five teams and started working on the first five grade dips. As a team finished, it leapfrogged onto the next waterbar. One waterbar was so deteriorated that it was not noticed until several teams had walked right over it. Project manager
Robert Fina was called on to give feedback on layout and final geometry, but the crew has gotten pretty good at this.
As the day wound down, the teams consolidated. In the end, all 14 of us, Nina, Dennis Calhoun, Bruno Carlot, Mike, Kirsten, Dan Feer,
Ellen Feer, Robert Fina,
Erica Glembocki,
Chris Glembocki, Don Oellerich,
Steve Phillips, Tysha Robinson, and Ellen Shaw were working on the same waterbar or moving tools back to the trailhead for cleaning.
Thanks so much to Dennis and the other Beavers, Mike and Prince William Forest Park for the project and the accommodations, and the members of the Cadillac Crew who are always so flexible and joyous when hauling bucket after bucket of the beautiful Virginia red clay. Let us know if you’re interested in joining. We would love to have you. Just send a note to
ccrewpatc@gmail.com.
