Our second hitch on the Chattooga brought an exciting and productive close to the season. Having finished clearing the trail and repairing the drainage on our last hitch, we spent our last hitch tackling some more interesting projects. Our first was a set of timber steps in a short but steep section of trail near a popular swimming hole. We built the steps out of a black locust tree that had fallen about ¾ of a mile down the trail, and salvaged some leftover 10x10 sections of pressure treated lumber. The whole crew worked as a team shaping the logs, setting the steps and securing them in place with re-bar. After the steps were complete we re-benched a 15ft section of trail that was slipping down the hill and had been overrun with rhododendron roots.

Our major project for the hitch was replacing the decking boards on a 50ft steel bridge that spanned a tributary creek about 2miles in from the trail head. Hiking in the freshly pressure treated timbers proved to be somewhat challenging, but the crews experience from the vertically daunting flanks of Mt Mitchell left them well prepared. Additional help from Richie, our new member and Rob, who volunteered with us for three days, allowed us to tackle the hike with relative ease. After the boards and hardware were all brought to the bridge, we started removing the old boards, re-drilling the angle irons to accept the new bolts we were given, laying down new boards, spacing the boards, drilling new bolt holes in the boards, and finally bolting everything all back together. Replacing the deck was a fun change of pace from our normal work, and we were proud to have a good looking finished product. Our last few days were spent removing a downed tree that needed a combination of Griphoist and chainsaw work, and finally cleaning and sharpening our equipment and packing up camp for the last time. Now it’s time to get ready for the next adventure, whatever it may be.

Hi, my names J. Im 22 years old and live outside Asheville NC. I finished one year of school and have plans to go back when im ready. I love to travel as much as possible and hike to places untouched. I like doing hobbies like mountain biking, snowboarding and soccer.

My name is Ashley, I just finished school and was looking for and opportunity where I could combine my desire to backpack all summer with a need to find a job, so what could be better than here? I am originally from Jamestown, NC and Pisgah Forest is one of my favorite places in the world. I am both extremely excited and lucky to be working here and serving an outstanding community of outdoorsy folks and interesting locals.

Brushing 4miles
Rolling Dips repaired 99
Rolling Dips built 10

Our first hitch on the Chattooga river was fantastic. After spending most of the summer on the rugged slopes of Mt. Mitchell, the mellow grade and opportunities for after work swims were a welcome change.

We spent the first 6 days of our 9 day hitch doing corridor work and drainage repair. We split into two teams; Three of us cruised the trail with loppers and hand saws opening up the corridor, while the other two would leapfrog between filled in rolling dips repairing them, and adding a few new ones as needed. The brushing crew stayed mostly ahead of the drainage crew until the end of the week when they hit long tunnels of rhododendron. The final 3 days we spent with our power tools, the chainsaw and the brusher, and made a final pass through the trail clearing everything the hand tools missed. We cleared several areas where trees had fallen across the trail, and even found a tangle of locust and pine trees that had fallen since our hitch started (The pile was on top of a freshly maintained rolling dip that we had worked on two days prior).

Next hitch we are looking forward to tackling some projects including a set of wood steps, some grip hoist work to remove some hazard trees, and possibly replacing the wood decking on two iron bridges. Even more exciting is our new addition, Richie Moore, who will be joining us for our next and final hitch of the season.

Trail Brushed: Approx 2.5 miles

Program Manager Alex Olsen filled in as Project Leader for this hitch, and due to some various circumstances, was joined by a reduced crew of Ashley Resh, “J” Ramsey, and Josh Franklin. Next week Program Coordinator Shane Sheldon will fill in, and member Marion Wing will return, and the next week after that things will go back to a more regular pace with replacement leader Toji Sakamoto (formally of the Mt. Rogers Crew) will fill in for the rest of the season.

We started this week on Tuesday, August 3. Waking at dawn, we had a quick breakfast and drove to the Black Mountain Crest trailhead. The crew pointed a potential camp out to me on the map, and, after a 2.5 mile, 2000 vertical-foot gain hike in (phew!) we did indeed find a pleasant camp site on an old narrow-gauge grade: near water , with space for several tents, and off the trail enough to satisfy LNT requirements.

We then gathered up the tools we needed and began our push to brush out the section of trail from the base of the Black Crest trail up to Winter Star Mountain (about 6.5 miles). Though the original plan was to brush up to the tool cache left up on Winter Star peak (about 4 miles from the camp), it soon became obvious the severity of the brushing required would take at least the 4 10-hour days we had, if not more. Sure enough, we ended up just completing about 2.5-3 miles of brushing, from just below our camp up to about a mile short of the point brushed by Winter Star. We shouldn’t (and didn’t ) hang our heads about this- the brush on the top of the ridge was often shoulder to head high, and completely obliterating the trail. I estimate about 3 more days will be needed to clear out the remaining section.

We encountered just about every sort of weather- from scorching hot sun to torrential downpours, though we did get some absolutely superb views from the top of the Black Crest Trail, and the camp we lived in, seated as it was next to a babbling brook and nestled among some beautiful big trees, was rated by the members as “the best one yet.”

Many thanks to J, Ashley, and Josh for hanging in there and introducing me to this gorgeous section of North Carolina.

Welcome To The Pisgah National Forest SCA Trail Corps!

The Pisgah National Forest SCA members will begin the trailwork season in the Appalachian Ranger District, rehabilitating 5.5 miles along the Mount Mitchell Trail in Burnsville, North Carolina. We will continue working on the Black Mountain Crest trail and eventually travel south to the NC/SC border area for a few miles of restoration along the the Chatooga River. We are very excited to be part of a monumental effort to restore our open spaces. It is an honor to be working in such a beautiful place. If you get a chance come on out and pay us a visit- we will most likely be the very dirty people with tools in our hands and smiles on our faces, if you can't make it out anytime soon check the website often for updates!

Biggest Mountain

in the East...

The Black Mountain Range, with 18 peaks rising 6300' above sea level, is the highest east of the Rockies! Mt. Mitchell, the tallest peak, was named after Dr. Elisha Mitchel a UNC-Chapel Hill professor who died exploring a waterfall on the western slope of the mountain.

Most Rugged Trail

in the East...

"The Black Mountains of North Carolina are enormous. They are the highest mountain range in the eastern United States of America. They're so high that exploring the peaks is, ecologically speaking, like walking through a boreal forest in southern Canada. One is in a completely different world on the tops of these mountains, and it's an amazing experience."

-James Smith

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National Forests in North Carolina

Contact Info

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Calendar

Progress Report:

Program Name: Pisgah Corps Mt. Mitchell Hitch 4
MDA Code: 10_NCAROL1_UFS
Max ID: 10116
Project Leader: Jonathan Kravitz
Dates: 7/05-7/09/10
Turnpikes Installed 1

Rock Steps Installed 1
Check Steps Installed 6
Water bars with Drainage Dips 11
Rolling Dips 12
Revegetation and corridor restoration 4200’
Log Retaining Wall 14’
Trail Debermed 168’
Corduroy Installed 14.5’

Another backcountry hitch has gone by for the Pisgah crew. We got a new member who proved his worth on the first day during our excruciating climb to Deep Gap and subsequently through his insatiable taste for shooting wild animals, cutting down trees, and doing perfect headstands. In our three actual working days we covered an astonishing amount of ground that after intense brushing proved to be the trail. On our second night of the hitch we were met with group after group of hikers making Deep Gap their home for the night; the collection consisted of a dozen 12 year olds all of whom trekked up from the Mt Mitchell trail we called home on the first two hitches, 3 awesome older ladies who were more bad*ss than Jon (Jon says this is not completely true), 9 high school kids on a group trip from Montreat College (who proved that bedtimes get earlier with older age), and a couple with a dog who liked to eat camp towels. Our other new edition to the group this week is a lovely gas powered weed wacker which the forest service suggested we purchase, it cuts through blackberries like a Tasmanian devil and the hum of its motors echoed in our brains throughout the night much like the lullaby of falling rain. All in all we had a great hitch and proved to ourselves once again that we actually can do this.

Member training was a week all about learning the hard and soft skills necessary to hit the trail this summer. We participated in lots of "modules" and enjoyed the Augusta Hot Shot Base in Virginia. We participated in several workshops inlcuding tread and drainage, sustainable trail design, and got experience working with wood and rock in a few different projects. We became acquainted with eachother, the expectations of the USFS, as well as what SCA is all about. Lots of fun and games were intermixed with learning. A memory that will last forever: the Pisgah crew watched "Alone in the Wilderness", a must see for any outdoor enthusiast, projected against a trailer outside during a movie night-perhaps one of the best drive-in-like movie scenes ever witnessed. Members received Wilderness First Aid Certification and made a bunch of new friends. All 8 teams representing the WESTERN! trail corps (all though we are working in the east) slept outside in approximately 40 blue tents, it was awesome. More importantly we were able to bond with everyone who will be working trails this summer. We built a huge energy ball this week which has since dispersed as every crew made their way to their project sites and new communities...

Here are a few pics from our time together.

Progress Report:

Program Name: Pisgah Corps Mt. Mitchell Hitch 3
MDA Code: 10_NCAROL1_UFS
Max ID: 10116
Project Leader: Jonathan Kravitz
Dates: 6/28-7/02/10
Turnpikes Installed 1. 25’x3’
Rock Steps Installed 2
Water bars with Drainage Dips 3
Rolling Dips 26
Revegetation and corridor restoration 750 feet

The mental preparation for this hitch began at birth, like most sagas of epic proportions. The journey into the backcountry began on the right foot, albeit a tardy foot. As two tons of fury, the Pisgah crew reared its mighty head to charge into Deep Gap only to be met with super thunderstorms of x-men proportions forcing us to cache our bear vaults and set up camp halfway up the mountain. Come morning, our departure was harkened by singing bluebirds and prancing black bears. Some high points of this hitch were the views from the Black Mountain Crest trail, an encounter with the sweetest couple you will ever meet ( throw it up for Paula, Greg, and Baxter from Brevard), and completing serious brushing and maintenance on a whopping 750’ of trail. Our fears about the proximity of water to our camp site were quelled by our own brute strength as we collectively hauled 150 lbs of water up a ridiculous ½ mile section of trail. During the morning of our second day we were met by Fred Lashley who just so happens to be the “Mightiest Woman in the East!” She greeted us with delicious sweets and a full 5-gallon jug of water that she brought in kindly. She also worked closely with Jay on a beautiful section of turnpike sharing her wealth of knowledge with him as they worked. We pulaskied a plenty, hand sawed even more, and finished the hitch out with a toe blistering 15hr day so we could go home a wee bit early for the fourth of July.