Hoodlums June Outing – Hot But Not TOO Hot
By Tom Moran and Wayne Limberg
Summertime temperatures can make trail work uncomfortable, or even downright dangerous, but the June 21 outing beat a heat wave that in a couple of days would see temperatures rise above 100 in the region. But a high in the mid-80s and moderate humidity passes for “excellent” in late June, and a solid turnout of 24 convened at breezy Piney River CCC camp for crew assignments and a safety briefing.
Trail maintainers vary widely in what aspects of the job are most appealing. Removing invasive plants, building or rehabbing water control structures, clearing blowdowns all have their fans. Few enthusiastically look forward to weeding, however. “Weeds” consist of all manner of unwanted vegetation that encroach on trail passages, including poison ivy, wood nettles, briers, and grapevines. The weeding process essentially chops the veg back to make the trail passable for hikers without requiring them to make contact. Besides the obvious benefits of avoiding contact with stickers, poison ivy, and stinging nettles, these plants are host to ticks that themselves represent a whole set of additional risks to hikers and maintainers. Although the task can be unsavory, reducing the risk of tick-borne illnesses as well as improving the hiking experience make the effort valuable. Several of the June crews had a heavy emphasis on weeding.
Jim Fetig led a crew down the Sugarloaf Trail from Skyline Drive. The regular maintainer for the trail had reported substantial weed growth blocking the section at the top but was not going to be able to address the issue for some months. Aside from the known weed issue, it was not known what else the crew might find. As they worked downhill, they cleared the dense vegetation with a power weeder, and hand trimmed overgrown mountain laurel. Additional challenges presented–the crew cleared five blowdowns with their hand saws and a power pole saw, but didn’t have the tools necessary to clear a 14” diameter blowdown before they had reached the end of their day. Jim’s crew included David Johnson, Rosemary Seymour, and Abbie Fine.
Like Jim’s crew, Tom Troutman’s parked at Skyline Drive and hiked in to work a couple of sections of the AT adjacent to Beahms Gap that had known weed issues. They also addressed other typical maintainer duties, including fixing four water bars and clearing a blowdown with Marie Seymour’s new hand saw. Bob Malkowski, Dan Hippe, and Steve Parsley rounded out the crew.
Certified crosscut sawyer Justin Corddry led a hardy crew up the AT from Thornton Gap, then down Pass Mountain trail all the way to its end at Route 211. If this is beginning to sound familiar, you would be correct! Just a month earlier, crews had covered the same trail end to end, clearing all but a single stubborn trunk. But in the month since the May trip, more storms had roared through and a number of additional trees had fallen, including yet another vine covered complete trail blocker and several other substantial trunks. Eager to try out Bruno Carlot’s new crosscut saw, they found it a great tool for the job and finished the downhill run in time for the potluck dinner back at Piney River. Roger Fast and Greg Foster rounded out the crew.
Tom Moran’s crew followed Justin’s partway up the AT from Thornton Gap, but stopped to address some trail bed issues that had arisen from extreme rain back in May. Significant erosion and spring seeps had made a short section of the AT muddy and rutted. The crew identified three waterbars that had been buried in encroaching vegetation and sediment and restored these to function. Several locust logs had been dropped off by park staff, and the crew stripped the bark off three, but only was able to install one new water bar with one of these. The other two were staged for follow-up work. They constructed a rolling grade dip in a place where they were able to take advantage of the existing contour of the ground. Then, they carried sediment from runoff back onto the trail and packed it into where erosion had cut deep ruts. There is more work to do but the completed structures were certain to mitigate ongoing erosion issues. Chris and Michelle Viggiano, Rich Weisman, Rich Lordahl, and PATC Shenandoah Ridgerunner Marissa Fulton provided the muscle for this project.
Noel Freeman, Cindy Ardecki, Dave Nebhut, and Wayne Limberg remained at Piney River to continue work on the big shed the park service had turned over to the Hoodlums last year. At the May Hoodlums trip Noel had discovered a serious rodent infestation. After emptying the shed, he and Cindy donned gloves, masks and Tyvek suits and went to work with sprayers and scrapers. Four hot hours and four gallons of bleach later, the mouse problem was solved. Meanwhile, Wayne worked on a new workbench for the shed.
After work the Hoodlums returned to Piney River for a Mediterranean themed potluck dinner, and were entertained with a reading by Marie Seymour of her latest poem – “Hoodlums Get It Done.” Indeed!
