A number of people had signed up
for the relocation project the week before, but some were unable to attend
today because they had made other plans prior to the rescheduling. So when John
Shannon arrived at Beagle Gap at 9 a.m.,
he did not see any familiar people or vehicles but discovered to his surprise
that the two young people waiting had come to join the relocation project. After
the arrival of crew chief Don White one other helper, so the five of us started
to the work site.
The plan for the day was to
concentrate on completing some rock cribbing by filling space with small rocks
and soil. Some of us collected suitable sized rocks, while one person broke the
larger pieces in to the preferred size for fill. Two of us then started looking
for a suitable place to dig out some clay soil to make a new trail surface over
the rocks. We moved the soil by bucket to a wheelbarrow, and the first priority
was filling a low spot on the trail that was difficult for the wheel barrow to
negotiate. Light rain started late morning, but unlike a week earlier, it was
not cold.
After lunch, a couple of people
traded tasks, with two or three digging out clay while others compacted the
soil on top of the rockbed finished earlier. After participating in a major
trail repair project, Mark Gatewood came to see what was happening.
The drizzle made things messy, and
just before the rain became heavier, Don White said it was time to stop. By the
time we reached the cars, the rain slowed. Cleaning lots of mud off tools was
messy, but we had enough water to rinse most of the mud away.
The two new people found the
experience interesting and said they would join more trail-building and repair
trips, possibly closer to their homes in northern Virginia.
With fear of rain Sunday and only
a handful of people committed to showing up, Don White cancelled the Sunday
work and announced continuation the project on May 19-20.
On Sunday, three members of
Charlottesville Chapter and several other PATC members had lunch with Dan
Vining and his wife, who made Dunlodge available to PATC’s cabin system.
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