Tornado Shuts Down SNP Central District Trails – PATC Responds
By Tom Moran
On July 21, a tornado touched down close to Thornton Gap, passed a few yards south of the Entrance Station and proceeded east, crossing Buck Hollow and Buck Ridge trails, leaving trail-closing destruction in its wake. The extent of the trails damage was not initially recognized. A Hoodlums crew on Pass Mountain trail nearby saw massive trees down but luckily the trail was not significantly impacted. Shortly however, hiker reports began to trickle in and a reconnaissance hike up Buck Hollow revealed the blockages. The Park Service closed both trails.
Starting July 26, Maintainer Kevin Lew and SNP Central District Manager Patrick Wilson made multiple trips to the trail and were able to render it passable by trimming brush and smaller branches. However, more than 20 large trunks remained. And this is before the issues on Buck Ridge were fully understood. In order to jump start the clearing process, Patrick and co-District Manager Josh Fuchs reached out to the SNP North District Hoodlums to see if crew members could be recruited. Over the last three years the Hoodlums had developed an experienced bench of crosscut sawyers, with US Forest Service Certified and a number more with significant experience. From this ready pool, the Hoodlums were able to recruit 13 volunteers to work under crew lead Josh Fuchs to clear Buck Hollow end to end.
Because the areas of damage on both trails lie within Wilderness boundaries, no powered tools are permitted, so all the cutting was to be performed with crosscut saws.
PATC has a little-known group known as the GPS Rangers. They are versed in documenting trail locations and conditions, often being invited to work in parks outside PATC’s normal range. They provided vital scouting of each downed tree, location and pictures, that informed our planning. Leader Jim Tomlin, Bob Macke and Joe Laws made up the GPS Ranger crew that hiked both trails several days before our trip.
August 9 was a hot day, but morale was good as the crew set out. Breaking into smaller groups, they hopscotched up the mountain, slicing up the blockages. The trail was fully cleared, except for one duck-under trunk that proved the old adage – “leave it for the maintainer.” Later in the week an NPS crew cleared Buck Ridge, restoring the area to its previous condition, albeit with a lot more sun shining in.
Led by Josh Fuchs, the crew consisted of Ed Howell, Tom Moran, Rich Lordahl, Roger Friend, Jamie Benson, Justin Corddry, Jim Tomlin, Kristin Hancock, Kyle Brost, Bruno Carlot, Jacob Evans, Tom Troutman, and Stephen Haller.