Hoodlums May– An All-American Day in the Park
By Tom Moran
The Shenandoah National Park North District Hoodlums were once again greeted with pleasant temperatures and a light breeze as they pulled into Piney River CCC Camp for the May outing. A robust turnout of 28 provided plenty of opportunities to tackle priority projects in the District and have some fun doing it. Following Head Hoodlum Tom Troutman’s introductions and safety briefing (yes, the snakes ARE out), the group divided into crews and set out to tame the unruly district.
Tom Troutman led a crew of four, including Erin Taylor, Steve Parsley, and Ruth Stornetta on a trip down Tom’s section of the AT between Jenkins and Hogwallow Gaps where they knew they would find work. They cleared a blowdown and tended to quite a few water control structures along the way when not being distracted by nature’s bounty. Erin and Ruth bonded over their appreciation for nature, which expressed itself with a freshly shed black rat snake, leaving its skin for inspection. With further observation they noted abundant Solomon’s seals, and False Solomon’s seals among other attractive flora. Lest one think that all focus on work was lost in nature appreciation, they did eventually finish the section and return in time for the potluck.
Dan Hippe led a crew of five on a section of the AT between the two Hogback overlooks. The focus was on tread and water bar maintenance repair on the section. They cleared 36 water bars and a large number of check dams, with careful attention to uphill trail bed sculpting to intercept water sooner and improve approach angles to the control structures. They also cleared a 30’ lateral drain, which notoriously attract clogging vegetation. As is common, they dealt with unplanned issues – in one case disbursing remains of a campfire directly on the center of the AT, just yards from the parking area! They also bucked one stepover blowdown. The trail was very busy with large numbers of backpackers and hikers through the morning hours, including a few through hikers.
Ed Howell had recently become the Maintainer for Middle Piney Branch trail, and had put in multiple trips to attend to blowdowns and a backlog of trail bed issues. But one unresolved issue had persisted for years and was beyond what a single maintainer could address – a spring seep had moved uphill over years so that substantial flow ran onto the trail for about 25 feet, leaving a muddy, sloppy mess for hikers to deal with. This is a perfect setup for a crew dedicated to a specific task-- enter the Hoodlums. Ed, Chris Viggiano, Kent and Julie Bauer, and crew lead Tom Moran hiked in and spent their day extending an existing lateral drain up the trail far enough to capture the uphill flow that was on the trail. Soil and excavated rocks were moved to the nearby, newly elevated trail bed to provide a dry way past the now flowing drain. The work was, to be frank, a sloppy, muddy mess but the crew was happy in its mucky work!
Michael Gergely led a crew to a section of the AT near Elkwallow Wayside, where the maintainer has been out of town for an extended period of time due to work requirements. Hoodlums will help each other out! They cleared water bars, check dams, and several lateral drains, as well as weeded and removed invasive garlic mustard plants. Despite not having the “correct” tool (a Pulaski) for the task, they completed two 20 yard sections of side hilling on the ridge ascent where the trail was drifting. Flush with that success and an exuberant feeling, they hurriedly removed a blowdown just before the official 'blowdown' crew arrived. The most interesting wildlife encountered? A handful of AT through hikers passing through, eyes forward as they sped down the final homestretch to Elkwallow Wayside and its famed blackberry milkshakes. Mike’s crew included Cindy Ardecki, Noel Freeman and Dave Jordahl.
Two crews were dedicated to clearing downed trees. Jim Fetig led one of these to a sequence of locations where they would clear blowdowns that had been scouted or, in some cases, reported by others. Sometimes these reports can be inaccurate or outdated, as they found when two near the Range View Cabin had already been cleared. Nonetheless, they found eight worthy specimens and clipped quite a few briars along the way before potluck came calling. Tina Rafalovich, Meghaen Anderson and Roger Christ did the heavy lifting while Jim swung his Stihl like a light saber. (Well, not exactly like that, but with skill and dexterity for sure.)
The other blowdown crew was led by Justin Corddry, back yet again to the section of the AT between Beahm’s Gap and the Pass Mountain Hut. If this seems a bit repetitive, you may be a regular reader of this column! This section of the AT is the gift that keeps on giving if cutting a path through fallen trees is your idea of a gift. Despite having a small crew, which included Richard Lee, Russell Miller and section maintainer Kyle Brost, they were able to clear the entire section of blowdowns before hiking out.
The theme this month for the traditional after work potluck was All-American BBQ, with Hoodlums Head Chef Joe Wood working the grill and dishing out the burgers and dogs, complemented by a large array of contributions from attendees. Ruth Stornetta pulled out her ukelele and laid down a beautiful backing track, adding a great vibe to the scene. All was well until a fast-moving storm moved across the mountain, sending the last hardy few back to their cars.