Following the Blue Blazes

Here at Laurel Fork we have continued to push throught he heat of the summer and continue to turn out quality work. We have now completed work on 3 trails in our area. We are preparing to head into the back country next week.

On Buck Run we have cleared 16,896' of corridor, restored 1,320' of tread, dug 24 rolling dips, and put in 3 rock steps and 4 log steps.

Locust Spring Run Trail is now complete having cleared 18,480' of corridor, restoring 2,200' of tread, putting in 7 rock steps, 7 rolling dips, a 50' cobble stone walkway, a 30' rock retaining wall, and a 3'x4' rock retaining wall which provided an interesting opportunity for teamwork... Having moved a rock into place 8-10' above a culvert, next to which we were constructing a wall to prevent blowouts, Jenkins "let the rock be a rock," and rolled it down hoping for the best... Well, far from the best, the rock rolled down the hill took a left turn directly down the culvert, or tunnel, and lodged 1/2 way down. It ended up taking 3 of us to move the rock out of this seriously sub-optimal position. As Willy crawled in head first, Sweetness pushed on Willy's feet while Maggard got his shovel underneath the rock and helped to drag and push the rock out. The finished project is beautiful and the rock will serve a far better purpose in it's final resting place at the bottom of our wall.

On Locust Spring Spur trail we have completed 6,336' of corridor clearing and a 600' trail reroute through what had become a jungle of small trees and shrubs, you can see some pictures of that work in space below.

Our new member Christina wanted to put in a few words, reflecting on her experiences so far:

Hello everyone. I just wanted to talk about some of the cool things that have happened so far. I am the only member that was called in late so this will be my thrid week of work starting tuesday. My leader and crewmates are awesome. The weekend before starting work a couple of us went to Seneca Caverns which were beautiful. After that we took a trip to Spruce Knob which, at 4863', is the highest point in West Virginia. I have been surprised how friendly the people we have met are, we even had dinner with a father and son that we met at the Spruce Knob observation deck. I can't wait to see what else Virginia and West Virginia has to offer. -Christina