The original plan for the day was rebuilding waterbars, but clearing some overgrown trail near Loft Mountain for an injured overseer was considered more urgent. In one of life’s ironies, I arrived ahead of crew leader Mark Gatewood, who arrives early, because of an exotic species; a felis catus, which invades homes by being cute and affectionate, had a different idea about getting up Sunday morning from humans. On the way, Mark, who was a little behind me, and I saw what he called the wildlife trifecta; a doe and fawn, a bear, a turkey sitting on the rock work on the road side; these sightings, and numerous cyclists, are why the speed limit is 35 m.p.h.. Mark Gatewood, Al Dahler and André Dahler each had a weedeater or brush cutter, while John Shannon, Bette Dzamaba and David Sellers used clippers, shears and loppers to cut small branches and briars above ground. I pulled some bittersweet and ailanthus hoping that they will die rather than be encouraged to grow more.
Hikers and backpackers admired our work which was a classic 4 feet wide corridor without grass brushing against legs. Then we could see the trail cupping from heavy traffic and limited drainage. However it was not obvious how to drain this section of trail well.
On a previous flight by this crew, one member said that one of the products of BreadWorks was one reason he came. I could not remember which one, so offered him a choice of chocolate or cranberry orange pecan.
The goal for the day was clearing about half the trail, much of which we finished by lunch, which was cooler than expected because of clouds. The power tool operators walked on along the trail they planned to clear several days later, while those of us with hand tools walked back the way we came, finding a few more things to cut. The following Wednesday, students from Harrisonburg Valley Ridge Governor's School came to help Mark and Al finish clearing this section.
After finishing, I went down the road to Doyles River Trail, and headed up the section of AT we worked on during spring. Our waterbar clearing remodeling, and regrading worked well to stop water flowing down the trail. A section where we repaired some eroded tread looked good. As usual, I saw where we will have to dig out some more, although in some areas, the slope of the land will not allow us to create ideal drains. I did a little remodeling, but saw enough drains to feel confident our work was holding up. I started pulling some of this year’s bittersweet growth, but rain started, and I did not want to get my tools or clothes wet, so headed out to clear laundry baskets, dirty dishes and floors.
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