The Cadillac Crew Smooths the Ride on the Rollercoaster
George Jones et al.
On the weekend of March 21, the Cadillac Crew gathered at Bear’s Den to continue work on the "Roller Coaster" section of the AT that leads to Raven Rocks. Saturday was a beautiful spring day, and the constant stream of hikers made it clear why this popular section needed to be improved: heavy traffic has taken its toll over the years, exposing rock and roots. The trail keeps shifting downhill off its original course because hikers invariably walk downhill in search of easier walking. This widens the trail and grows the area of disturbance around it.
Friday night, we arrived at Bear’s Den, where host Glen and his dogs welcomed the crew with fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.
Following a hearty potluck breakfast, Saturday began with a short drive to get us closer to the worksite. District managers
Chris Bruton and
Rob Lamar received permission from a friendly land owner to let us park and walk to the AT from their land. This really helped us by making it faster and easier to get tools to the trail.
Project manager
Robert Fina arrived with his truck-o-tools and we gathered for a "safety circle" talk, where everyone contributed, and we grabbed tools and headed into the woods.
The worksite was about 0.9 miles north of Snickers Gap. Our project was removing rocks, moving the trail back uphill, and improving the tread. Everyone helped remove rocks, including a team that used a gas-powered drill and a grip hoist to move the largest ones. Another team found two rich sources of mineral soil under blowdowns to help fill the holes made by the first team. Two other teams repaired and widened the tread by sidehilling, scraping away the organic soil and properly contouring the trail.
Robert described the process for removing big rocks: “Getting a chain around a buried rock can be challenging. First, we use a gas-powered rock drill to make a hole in the rock on the opposite side from the grip hoist. Then a steel rod is inserted, and the grip hoist cable is attached to the rod. Gradually cranking the grip hoist pulls the rock free. Once slightly lifted, crew members crib it up with smaller rocks beneath. We can then loop a chain around the rock to pull it out the rest of the way and off the trail if we need to.”
As the work progressed, we observed visible improvements. Near the end of the project, it was rewarding to see hikers following the new, smoother path we had created. Dozens of hikers walked past during the project. Many asked questions and a few wanted to join.
First-timer Greg Wilson had this to say of the experience: “I didn't really know what to expect when I volunteered to help with trail maintenance. All I was told was to wear clothing that I didn't mind getting dirty. (This advice was given, for the record, by a crew member who worked in a nice Patagonia sweater.) I spent much of the day "mining" next to the base of a fallen tree as I quickly learned that buckets of non-organic dirt are a critical component in trail maintenance. I kept saying that "mining" is a fancy word for "digging a hole" but it did allow me to dream of mining for gold. Although no gold was discovered, the many nice comments from passing hikers did make the whole experience worthwhile. It is an amazing and dedicated crew and I look forward to joining future outings.”
Back at Bear’s Den, we cleaned up and transitioned to a "happy hour" and a fine potluck dinner. Songs were sung. Card games were played ("Up And Down The River" is a Cadillac Crew favorite). After a long day of hard work, aggressive relaxation ensued!
Sunday’s project was at Bears Den Rocks. We began moving the trail to a more sustainable area, trimmed back some brush to improve the view, and then cleaned out some rolling grade dips to keep them in shape to move water off the trail. We’ll be back before too long to improve the view more and finish the trail.
These improvements will help PATC in achieving its mission of "Connecting people to the outdoors" with trails that will last for years.
A fun time was had by all, after a little ibuprofen and a hot shower! Many thanks to all the crew members who dedicate so much time to this unusual passion! This time we had:
Edlyn Becton, Becky Berman, Karen Brown, Dan Feer, Ellen Feer, Kirsten Elowsky, Robert Fina,
Bill Greenan, Neil Hopper, George Jones, Rob Lamar,
Molly McKinley, Veronica McMahon, Brian Napier, Lynn Olson, Ian Page (Patagonia sweater),
Steven Phillips, Tysha Robinson, Ellen Shaw, Kate Walker, Greg Wilson, and
Dan Wooley. We’d love for you to join us next month! Just drop a note to ccrewpatc@gmail.com to learn how you can participate.
A Limerick: So many, Never Enough
Mattocks and pulaskis, shovels and picks,
For tools we tend to not use sticks.
We carry the pile
In a line, single file
And inevitably we need more tools for the trail fix.
-Molly McKinley
*note: this article was written with the help of ChatGPT
