Record Hoodlums Turnout Welcomes Spring
By Tom Moran
Spring was ushered in by the Hoodlums with their inaugural 2026 outing on Saturday, March 21. The day favored us with near perfect weather that was pleasantly warm on the heels of a prior cold snap. Over 40 turned out for the outing, such a large turnout that the attendees were divided into two groups—one meeting at the Hoodlums’ regular home at Piney River CCC area, the other meeting at the Elkwallow Wayside. The Elkwallow group represented a new concept for Hoodlums outings—they were to spend the day learning trail maintaining techniques and practices under two of the Hoodlum’ Certified Trail Maintainer (CTM) instructors, Mike Gergely and Jim Fetig. The Hoodlums’ fall CTM workshop has proved so popular that attendance has to be limited, and this first time experiment was no exception—the program was oversubscribed, proof that there is an appetite for improving trail maintaining skills.
The other, main group met per usual outside the Piney River CCC building under the always attentive eyes of Head Hoodlum Tom Troutman, who made final crew adjustments, led introductions, and held a safety discussion before crews were released to start the working part of the day.
Certified Trail Maintainer Crews
The two crews met at Elkwallow Wayside and started off with a joint training session where they went over trail maintenance fundamentals like tools and safety. After that, Mike Gergely’s crew went up the road to Hogback Overlook and Sugarloaf Trail for on-the-trail instruction. Trainees learned how to handle some conveniently placed blowdowns with handsaws. They went over assessing a few previously installed waterbars that weren't performing due to poor placement, and walked through replacement for both a traditional waterbar as well as rolling grade dips. They learned how to observe water flow patterns in the trail based on the type and size of debris in the trail bed, going from larger rocks and stones (fast flow) through smaller pebbles and finally dirt and twigs (stagnant water). Lunch was on the overlook with views of the Shenandoah Valley and passing bald eagles. This crew included Julie Bauer, Kristin Horning, Mike Kennedy, and Tom Fay.
Jim Fetig’s crew worked on the AT from the junction with the Elkwallow Trail to a few hundred yards past the intersection with Jeremys Run Trail. Similar to Michael’s crew they discussed stone and wood erosion control structures, cleaned waterbars and check dams, discussed blazing and weeding, and built several rolling grade dips. Several stayed after training to clear multiple blowdowns found during our training activities. Jim’s crew included Connor Moynihan, George Jones, David Pierce, David Johnson, and Steve Woofter.
Since the CTM program was initiated just a few years ago, a number of CTM program participants have decided to take the next step and become dedicated Trail Maintainers after having gained a foundational understanding of tools, basic skills, and the level of effort required. By the end of the day, two of the students had signed up to become maintainers— Kristen Horning (Middle Thornton River) and Tom Fay (Sugarloaf). Welcome and congratulations!
The “Regular” Hoodlums Crews
Dave Nebhut led a crew down the Thornton River Trail from Skyline Drive, turning around at the first stream crossing and working back uphill. Their work included a potpourri of trail-maintenance tasks including clearing many of the lateral drains on that section, rebuilding waterbars and check dams that were no longer working, and building several new rolling grade dips—a new activity for several crew members. We also discovered a campsite with a fire ring that was too close to the trail and the stream, which was decommissioned. It was a beautiful day to be out, and because the leaves had not yet come out, we got a good look at the rusting vehicle (rumored to be a LaSalle) that serves to remind us of the sacrifices some made when the park we cherish was created. Dave’s crew included Julie and Tim Zimmerman, Mark Wrobel, Nicole Bridgland, and Cindy Ardecki.
Crew leader Justin Corddry led a veteran crew straight from Piney River parking down to Piney Ridge Trail where they found plenty of blowdowns to clear. In addition to Justin, both Joe Phillips and Bruno Carlot had earned their crosscut saw certifications in 2025 and they were eager to get their sharp blades cutting. After Piney Ridge, they continued down a portion of Fork Mountain Trail where they found a few more to clear. Ken Ferebee, Kent Bauer, Noah Robertson, and Roger Fast rounded out the crew. The six-man crew was able to employ as many as three saws as they headed down which kept them busy and moving. All the sawing was accomplished with crosscut (or hand) saws—quiet, sharp, and relentlessly effective in the hands of experienced sawyers.
Marie Seymour maintains the upper Pass Mountain Trail, starting at the hut and running downhill about 1.5 miles. Marie makes frequent visits to the trail but the substantial hike in (and later, out) doesn’t provide ample time to reach the most distant portion of the trail. This crew, led by Tom Moran, was formed to focus a day of effort on that most remote section of the trail. In order to maximize time working the crew drove up the fire road to the hut so they could begin work immediately. The plan had its hiccup however as a substantial blowdown was encountered on the road in. The crew was laden with saws and first timer Brendan Meyer’s axe, so the tree was quickly cleared and the real assignment could start. Almost. On the hike down to the end of the segment an additional seven blowdowns demanded attention, including one 20” one. Still, the crew ultimately made it to the end, and working back uphill, cleared 11 waterbars and three check dams before time was up. Roger Friend and Greg Foster rounded out the crew.
Visiting Supervisor of Trails Rush Williamson went with DM Wayne Limberg, Richard Lee, Andrew Warthen, and Kyle Brost to tackle some reported blowdowns on two sections of the AT north of Thornton Gap. This was Kyle's first trip as a certified chain sawyer, and he wanted to get in some trigger time so he and Rush drove up the fire road to the intersection of the AT and the Pass Mountain Hut Trail and started bucking some big ashes. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew hiked up the AT ultimately clearing seven blowdowns as they went and joining up with Rush and Kyle for lunch. After lunch, Rush went down to Elkwallow to check out the Certified Trail Maintainer classes being run by Jim Fetig and Mike Gergely. The rest of the crew continued up the hill, taking out five big blowdowns before they and the saw ran out of gas. A passing Trail Patrol crew reported three more big blowdowns on the south side of Pass Mountain so the Hoodlums will probably be back. Andrew Warthen and Richard Lee rounded out the crew.
Tom Troutman is best known for his work as Head Hoodlum, but he was not letting that get in the way of leading a crew out to a needy trail. Tom led his crew up a section of the AT from Jenkins to Hogwallow Gaps where he had scouted out issues in need of work. Heading south, they skipped lots of minor check dam and other control structures tasks in favor of ones that had or were about to fail. In this manner the crew rehabilitated over 14 waterbars/rolling grade dips and cleaned up many drains. We also removed two blowdowns. Tom’s crew included Steve Parsley, Ruth Stornetta, Rose Moss, Anna Wilson, and Meghan O’Leary.
In keeping with Hoodlums tradition, an optional potluck gathering was held by the old Piney River CCC building, with the theme being St. Patrick’s Day / Irish. It was a great way to cap off a fine spring day.
Backcountry Plan First Implementation
This was the Hoodlums’ first chance to test out the park's new mandatory reporting system for volunteers and crews. Thanks to Tom Troutman's advance work and SNP volunteer coordinator Corrina Wendel's help all went surprisingly well. The system still needs some fine tuning but generally manageable. Corrina welcomes feedback. Club District Managers in the park have details.