The Summer Heat Breaks, Hoodlums Near Record Turnout
By Tom Moran, Michael Gergely, and Tom Troutman
After heat caused cancellation of the July Hoodlums work trip, August was much more pleasant and a large turnout of 35 provided plenty of resources to tackle a wide array of projects.
Tom Troutman led a small crew to target some of the many blowdowns in the North District. Sawyer Dan Hippe cleared two major blockers on the Pole Bridge Link Trail (a critical trail for the Sugarloaf Loop) and cleaned up two older ones that intruded onto the trail. Erin Taylor and Tom provided swamping services for Dan. Their next two stops were on the AT, the first providing navigation assistance to a family they had previously encountered on Pole Bridge Link Trail and that had been relying on park maps that didn’t provide sufficient details. They made one last stop, which was just north of Rattlesnake Overlook on the AT. It was a simple blowdown, but the hunt for another reported one was fruitless as the maintainer of the section had already cleared it. As the crew proceeded to the next section, the sky let loose with what someone called sun showers–more like downpours!
A large crew was sent south to assist Central District with some emergency trail repair at Thornton Gap. Heavy summer storms had caused runoff to cascade downhill where the AT crosses Route 211, scouring gravel from the trail and leaving a six to eight inch deep channel significant enough that even thru-hikers were noticing. Because the Hoodlums were already planning to be out, the National Park Service asked if they could step in to mitigate the situation until additional resources could be brought to bear on the trail section.
Led by Mike Gergely, the crew of Ben Morris, Greg Foster, Jamie Benson, Kyle Brost, Mark Wrobel, Mike Kennedy, Richard Lee, Tricia Neves, and David Pierce got to work. The Park Service left a few cut logs for emergency check dams, but the crew put Tricia's crosscut saw to use harvesting additional wood from the area for 11 new check dams. Putting skills learned from the PATC's Certified Trail Maintainer course to work, the crew installed a rolling grade dip at the top of the slope in order to divert the majority of the road runoff into a nearby drainage area before it hit the trail proper. In case the rolling grade dip wasn't enough, they also installed two more traditional "Harvey Bars" (combination water bar/check dam structures) further down the slope to divert any additional runoff. Finally, the crew recovered much of the gravel that washed downhill to refill the newly reinforced trail bed to eliminate the large, eroded channels.
Marie Seymour led a crew of four, including Gerard Weatherby, Rich Lordahl, and Andrew Warthen from Neighbor Mountain parking area to perform basic maintenance tasks on the area trails including weeding, clearing water bars, and sidehilling on a degraded section of trail. They also cleaned up litter around the parking area and trails. While Marie is a Certified Trail Maintainer and has extensive experience, this was the first time she was the sole leader of a crew, and she did very well.
The Hoodlums are a prime group for not just learning and developing trail maintaining skills, but also for leading crews and mentoring less experienced volunteers.
Jim Fetig led a crew onto the AT from Beahms Gap with a single objective–to rehabilitate a spring pipe at the adjacent spring. The pipe was a mere 1” in diameter and 12” in length, too small in diameter and too short to be properly secured. They dug out the catch basin and reinstalled the existing pipe as a temporary solution. They then cleared a tree crown across the trail before finishing up for the day. Jim’s crew included Robert Kilby, Rosemary Seymour, David Johnson, and Brian Blackman. Six days later, Jim and David returned and installed a 2” by 36” pipe, securely packed into a rock bed.
Tom Moran and Joe Phillips led two crews down Jeremys Run from the Elkwallow Picnic area, hunting for blowdowns. Joe’s crew included Chris Viggiano, Molly Bolan, and Roger Fast. Tom’s crew had first-timer Akash Ajmera, SNP Ridgerunner Ray Stinson, Bruno Carlot, and his daughter Maddy. While Chris, Molly, Roger and Akash had never used a crosscut saw before, Bruno, Joe, and Tom are all United States Forest Service certified crosscut sawyers, while Ray is a certified chain sawyer. The crews leapfrogged past each other as they worked downstream, clearing as they went. Twenty one blowdowns in all were removed from the trails before it was time to turn around, just shy of the sixth stream crossing.
Since 2024, the Hoodlums have been refurbishing two sheds designated by park leadership to be used to support SNP North District trail maintenance. While the bulk of the vermin eradication, construction and painting is completed, there remains a lot of effort still to furnish and fit out the insides with work platforms, storage units and other accessories to allow for a well-organized work and storage space. A crew led by Wayne Limberg and assisted by Noel Freeman, Dave Nebhut, and Cindy Ardecki, started this effort in earnest on the large shed. Cindy, determined to prevent a recurrence of rodent and wasp infestation, applied copious quantities of sealing caulk throughout the structure. Dave focused on refinishing a work bench, while Noel installed hooks and made other exterior improvements. Wayne was observed cutting wood but he was able to avoid more probing questions from reporters on the subject.
