Hoodlums May Outing – Bees, Rodents, Snakes, and Poison Ivy - Another Beautiful Day in the Park
By Tom Moran
Just shy of 30 volunteers met at Shenandoah National Park’s Piney River CCC Camp for the May 17 Hoodlums outing. Head Hoodlum Tom Troutman was on a vacation, so Noel Freeman and Wayne Limberg co-led the affair. By the end of the day they were overhead negotiating with Tom to expedite his return a.s.a.p. Still, after introductions and the safety briefing, crews were organized and dispatched to their assigned tasks for the day.
Beahms Gap Crew - Steve Parsley and Wayne Limberg led a crew that included Richard Lee, Greg Foster, Andy Warthen, Dave Nebhut, Bob Kilby and Don Ball to work on the AT between Beahms Gap and Neighbor Mountain. Steve took half the crew and started at Beahms Gap and worked north, mainly weeding and repairing tread. Wayne took the other half to Neighbor Mountain and headed south clearing blowdowns including a large four-prong one reported by the Ridgerunner.
The two crews met at the large blowdown and then proceeded back down to Beahms Gap. On the way they installed a temporary stream crossing near the spring about half a mile from Beahms Gap parking lot and removed a blowdown blocking access to the spring. Recent rain meant heavy water flow, flooding the trail above the spring. The rain also meant weeds were already high but the good news was that the section has recovered from the fire last year with native plants returning, including some chestnut sprouts. Hoodlums will be returning to work on the spring and improve the stream crossing.
A.T Crew - Jim Fetig led a crew to a section of the Appalachian Trail near Jenkins Gap for a collection of water control updates and improvements. Jim’s crew included Nicole Bridgland, Jay McCaffrey, John Young, Julie Bauer and Roger Fast
The crew installed eight check dams forming steps in two sections to mitigate erosion issues in areas with 36-inch rise over four linear feet. In other words, a very steep grade! They also built one rolling grade dip, which is a time consuming effort but results an a more sustainable, durable solution than the original water bar, which they retired.
Pass Mountain Crew 1- Led by Justin Corddry, Roger Friend, Michael Gergely, Venus Foshay and Rich Lordahl met at the parking area on Route 211 by the Pass Mountain Trailhead, and hiked up clearing blowdowns as they went. They stopped at the Pass Mountain Shelter for lunch, and met up with the second crew. While dining, they hastened the departure of a northern ring-necked snake that had taken up residence in the fire pit.
Pass Mountain Crew 2- Led by Joe Phillips, this crew, including Tom Moran, Marie Seymour, Rosemary Seymour and Kyle Brost, parked at Panorama and after crossing 211 hiked up the A.T., clearing a number of blowdowns on the way up to the Pass Mountain Hut, where they joined up with Justin’s crew. En-route a juvenile black rat snake made a brief appearance before making a hasty retreat.
After lunch a special situation awaited them – a multi-trunk blowdown fully engulfed in a poison ivy crown that had come down with the trees. One trunk of the ivy was over 4” in diameter, and the leafy fines smothered the trail and trunks such that you couldn’t see through the mass. The trail was completely blocked, the inevitable social trail had evolved but the blockage was unacceptable.
There was only room for 3-4 people to work in the vine choked corridor. Each member was able to decide if they wanted to risk the poison ivy or defer. The task first required clipping / lopping the many vines and removing them from the trail work area. Only then could the trunks be approached. In the end the poison ivy was fully cleared, and one of the two trunks before time was up. The trail was now passable, and the second trunk will be addressed in the near future. As a postscript, some minor rash was experienced by several of the crew but the mitigations employed were largely effective.
Shed Crew - Chris and Michelle Viggiano, and Cindy Ardecki joined crew lead Noel Freeman to work on one of the sheds the Hoodlums are renovating to support their North District trail maintenance activities. The work was not without its hazards – Chris, who was staining the exterior, was constantly harassed by carpenter bees upset at the intrusion on their airspace. And the inside crew discovered a substantial rodent incursion that caused them to adjust the scope of work for the day, pending a solution to the issue.
After work, in an All-American twist on the more typical potluck after-work gathering, Joe Woods grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, vegan burgers, and brats which were complemented by fixings and sides contributed by attendees.
