Appalachian Trail Spring Cleaning June 7, 2014

Reported by John Shannon
The previous week's trip and the calendar both said that it was time to cut grass and shrub growth on the Chapter’s section of the AT between Rockfish and McCormick Gaps. I hoped to make a one-way trip with a string trimmer so the trail would stay clear for a while. Debra Fisher and Marian Styles offered to help with setting up a car shuttle, lugging gas and supplies for the string trimmer, and clipping things too large or high for the trimmer.

Along the first section of trail at McCormick Gap where we had pulled garlic mustard the previous week, a few plants had come out of hiding; then a little beyond that, where Emily Berry had pulled the invasive plant, only a few garlic mustard were visible.


One of the most rewarding aspects of working on trails is the sincere thanks we get from hikers who are out using them. We met several grateful hikers who commented on what great shape the trail is in. Some of the hikers we met today were through-hikers who had been on the trail 2 months. One hiker found Debra’s glasses along the trail and left them on her car accompanied by a nice thank-you note.

Early in the afternoon the trimmer and workers all stopped for fuel. My coworkers said they were willing to keep going when I mentioned a route to Skyline Drive halfway along the trail that would have allowed us to quit for the day.

Toward late afternoon, even though I was looking through a face guard and sunglasses, I recognized areas on the trail and knew we were approaching Rockfish Gap. Then came cleanup chores in hopes of avoiding contact with poison ivy residue. On our way back to retrieve the car parked at McCormick Gap, the entrance ranger remembered me from last week when he thought we were illegally taking native park vegetation instead of doing the park's working of slowing invasives.

 Today was one of the longest trail work days that Marian and Debra have experienced—not the longest for me, but probably the hardest because of carrying my normal pack and wrestling a noisy, vibrating string trimmer.


Editor’s note: The club’s section of the AT is 3.5 miles, and John single-handedly weed-whacked both sides. The trail had some weed-free zones that didn’t need attention, but still, that was a whole lotta’ real estate! I had trouble just carrying the gas can (which seemed to get heavier rather than lighter each time John emptied some into the weed-eater).