Hoodlums’ April Outing – Great Weather and a Large Turnout Again
By Tom Moran and Wayne Limberg
As if a replay from March, over 40 people showed up for the April 18 Hoodlums outing, welcoming a beautiful day. Head Hoodlum Tom Troutman was unavailable, so Wayne Limberg led the morning introductions and safety discussion. The crews were formed and departed for the day’s work.
Justin Corddry’s crew headed north up the AT from Hogwallow, primarily focusing on dirt work, replacing rotten wood water bars and check dams with stone and locust logs. We were working on a water bar and Justin spotted a potential perfect rock. As if on call a group of young hikers came through and somehow the question of moving a rock came up as a joke, but before the crew knew it the challenge was accepted and the group muscled a 300lb rock down the hill to its new home. Lest the reader thinks the trip was all fun and boulder games, the crew did all the regular maintenance as well, clipping back briars and cleaning out drainage. Justin’s crew included Kevin Cwalina, Jay McCaffrey, Roger Fast, Terry Shaw, Jake Evans, Rich Lordahl, and Steve Parsley.
Dan Hippe’s crew clipped vines and saplings constricting the AT for nearly a mile near the intersection with the Pass Mounttain Hut side trail. The worked trail section is clear. During break at the Pass Mountain Hut the crew removed two campfire rings located at tent sites, removed shrubs growing up around a bear pole and its access trail, and cleared a blowdown. No outstanding issues remained in the area.
Not done yet, the crew moved on to the AT north of Beahms Gap and proceeded to address any issues encountered. The crew cut back vines and saplings sprouting with abandon in a burn area. They wrapped it up by bucking a high stepover 18-20" oak blowdown. Dan’s crew included Connor Moynihan, David Pierce, Kent and Julie Bauer, Tricia Neves, Erin Taylor, Brendan Meyer, and 2026 Ridgerunners Marissa Fulton and Josh Sheets.
Back by popular demand – Michael Gergely, one of PATC’s Certified Trail Maintainer (CTM) instructors, led his crew of five first to the Hogback Overlook, where they went through a tools and safety discussion before heading to Sugarloaf trail for hands-on instruction. There they went through several examples of assessing existing structures and determining if improvements were needed. They then rolled up the sleeves and installed several rolling grade dips and both stone and wood check dams. The crew also inspected structures which last month's CTM crew had installed - all showed signs of holding up and successfully removing water from the trail.
The following trail maintainers completed PATC CTM Certification Modules 1, 2A, 2B, and C: Anna Wilson, Edgar Howell, Jamie Benson, and Roger Christ.
Tom Moran and co-crew leader Marie Seymour led their crew to the top of Little Devils Stairs at Fourway, where they worked the trail section down as far as the top waterfall, sidehilling multiple sections where trail was moving towards or onto the downhill edge. Marie utilized her experience with the work and moved between two sub-crews providing guidance and insight. They also rebuilt a lateral drain at a persistent problem site—a spring seep where trail was muddy for about 10 feet. Hikers had been detouring around the area enlarging the problem. With time remaining on the hike out they cleared some water bars and check dams. It was a busy day on the trail, the crew had to pause frequently as they were passed by over 100 hikers throughout the day, including two large club groups. Besides Tom and Marie, the crew included Tim and Julie Zimmerman, Michelle and Chris Viggiano, Meghan O'Leary, Erik Kitchen, and Alexander Clavette.
The Shed Heads—Greg Foster, Richard Lee, Dave Nebhut, and Wayne Limberg—were back at it this trip after a slight lull over the fall and winter. Top priority was repairing a broken windowpane on the small shed at Piney. Someone or something had broken the pane and adjoining mullion that had been in place since the shed's construction in 1934. Greg removed the entire window, replacing it with a temporary plywood panel. New Hoodlum recruit Brendan Meyer, who like Greg has a background in restoration and construction, volunteered to take the window home and repair it. The crew hopes to put it back in place at the Hoodlums' May 16 work trip. The Shed Heads spent the rest of the day cleaning out the small shed and sorting and storing tools and assembling a new Weber grill for the potlucks. Noel Freeman and Cindy Ardecki, who had attended a club cabin and shelter meeting at Bears Den, joined them after lunch.
Jim Fetig’s crew was by far the smallest of the day, but they made up for it with a flurry of activity as they moved from section to section, four in all, working on a list of blowdowns compiled in the pre-trip planning. They also clipped vegetation as they moved. Jim was assisted by co-swampers Niclole Bridgland and Tina Rafalovich.
The Hoodlums traditional potluck dinner after work was a popular theme – Southwestern/Tex-Mex. Multiple stoves and skillets were working overtime in addition to the large selection of sides – something for everyone!