Reported by John
Shannon
From time to time within PATC, I hear stories of the
dedication of some members to the mission of having good trails in the PATC
area and to the associated activities of PATC. For some years, Andy Willgruber
has kept the summit of Little Calf Mountain open, using his truck and chainsaw
skills in a combination that for years no one else in the chapter had. In the
last few years, Don Davis has dedicated many hours and his skills to working at
Dunlodge Cabin, relieving the workload on Andy keeping Little Calf Mountain
clear, and in between, helping with regular trail maintenance.
Nevertheless, after announcing on July 2 that the Chapter’s
section of Appalachian Trail had 31 blowdown sites, and 16 were chainsaw sized,
I was surprised when Don Davis said he could cut fallen trees with a chainsaw
on July 4, 6, 7, or 8 and Andy asked when he should help. Brad Young said he
was glad to help carry chain saws and other equipment, and move large logs,
even if it was 100 degrees. The willingness of these people to give hours of
their time and years of experience is why our section of Appalachian
Trail is largely cleared of the worst damage in over 25 years.
As the weekend approached with 100 degrees forecast, the
southerners, including District Manager Don White, said that we could cut trees
in that weather, but others prevailed in the view that it was too hot. However,
Don White said he had arranged to meet some overseers, and wanted help on July
7 in removing one blowdown north of McCormick Gap, so I reached out to my way-south
origins and went to help. Before meeting Don White, I damaged some bittersweet that
may have been a factor in one tree falling and did a little tidying on a couple
of the major blowdowns. After helping Don White with a small but messy
blowdown, I soon was watching my air conditioner run.
On July 15, the clearing crew, all wearing hard hats, assembled
near Rockfish Gap. We put a car at McCormick Gap in case we were able to clear
all or most of the trees and walk to the northern end of this section of trail.
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| None of these logs fell on heads or toes or anything in between |
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| Don Davis in action |
This area seems to have suffered more storm damage than
elsewhere in 50 or more miles of the park. The first blowdown involved three tangled-up
trees. This site did not have the largest tree but had the most complex
situation, with ten problems to solve. Andy and Don thought about what might
happen, drawing on their years at the school of hard knocks and the weekends
they spent in chainsaw classes, and then started cutting.
The trees fell where we wanted but did grab the chainsaw a
few times. Andy had brought his chain saw in addition to the PATC saw, and the
second chain saw simplified reclaiming the stuck saw. Brad moved logs with
enthusiasm and strength and did some hand clearing. I spent a few minutes
damaging bittersweet in the hope of slowing damage from this tree killer.
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| More conventional chain saw work |
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| The storm also damaged Lindsay Brown's blazes |
After the first couple of blowdown sites, the work became
more conventional. However, all the work took its toll on the chain of the PATC
saw, which had led a hard life. So we were down to one saw sold for home use,
so we took extra care to ensure that it did not get stuck in the logs.
Finally we reached the monster: a log 30” top to bottom. Don
cut a couple of smaller parts, one of which was hollow. However, when the time
arrived to make the biggest cut of the day, the saw was getting hot, and further
use might have broken the chain. The crew, if not hot, was wet, thunder sounded
in the distance, and one member said he needed to do some things at home, so we
turned around.
After hearing District Manager Don White mention a case of
an experienced chainsaw operator causing a scare when fatigue caused a
miscalculation, I was again glad for Don Davis’ wisdom, also displayed at
Dunlodge, in knowing when not to try to do more. Then we met Don White, who had
said he was coming both to help us and to get help removing a large tree
further north. Besides assembling reports on the storm damage, Don has made
some trips from Richmond to remove
some of it. On this day, unexpected events delayed his arrival.
During the day, I saw three people whom I had seen on that
trail section two weeks earlier. Two of them admired our progress. Later, I met
two Australian tourists.
So it was a very successful day. No injuries. And no scares,
thanks to the skill of our chainsaw experts. We cleared a lot of big, tricky trees.
Don White—who oversees 40 miles of AT, runs a trail crew, and was PATC
supervisor of trails in the past—was impressed with the word we’d done. The
areas we cleared looked very different with the fallen trees removed.
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