After some people made
arrangements to participate in the AT relocation at Little Calf Mountain, the
weather changed plans by threatening rain and thunderstorms. Don White, crew
leader for the project, had to decide two days in advance to either proceed
with the project or cancel to avoid having people working in rain and lightning.
He chose the latter. So John Shannon swapped his work tools for hiking boots
and led a hike.
We started at McCormick Gap and
crossed over Bear Den Mountain, noting both the steep trail sections that have
led to a proposal for a trail relocation and the lack of significant new
erosion resulting from work several years ago by Flying McLeods and trail
maintainers.
We stopped at the famous tractor
seats but saw little beyond the nearby small trees. On the other side of Beagle
Gap, we took the partially constructed new Appalachian Trail.
Halfway to the summit, we found that canceling the work trip had been a good
decision as cold rain started falling on us, which combined with a breeze, made
us quite cool for late April.
The rain didn’t deter us from
continuing to the summit. During the hike back, we heard thunder in the
distance, but before we reached the cars, the rain stopped. Although the rain
and thunder were short lived, people were wet and chilly, which would have been
unpleasant for trail building. As it was, we were able to make an early return
to warm, dry houses. The hardy hikers included Joanne and Maynard Davis, Andy
Willgruber, Dan Ralston, and Lindsay Brown.
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