Clearing the Appalachian Trail – Sept. 21, 2013

Reported by John Shannon
A couple of previous trips found some trees down on the northern part of the Chapter’s section of Appalachian Trail between Rockfish and McCormick Gaps. Today, John Herrity came to help remove the fallen trees; while with the Carolina Mountain Club, he participated in numerous trail worktrips, although today’s reliance on hand saws was different from what he was used to.

We drove through fog to McCormick Gap, where John H. thought that the initial breath-taking climb might have been an initiation rite. After some easier walking, we came to the first downed tree. This tree fell in a storm early this year but did not fall to the ground until last week. At two of the trees, we made the two needed cuts at the same time but took turns making one large cut on another log. At the last log, John H used a fork in the tree as a lever to push it off the trail, which was possible because of a cut made earlier this year.

We declared lunch because my memory said that we had cleared all fallen trees; yes, my GPS had a record, but I did not find it earlier in the day. While eating, we looked up to see John Brandt emerge out of the fog, disappointed to find that his bowsaw was not needed. With the primary mission of the day accomplished, and the mist turning to light rain, we proceeded to the entrance station where John B took me to get my car from McCormick Gap. As expected, we encountered some delays returning to Albemarle High caused by football traffic but still returned earlier than expected.