Todd's final post [1]
In the spring of 2010, I made the decision to join SCA to make a difference in a remote region of Virginia in my native county of Highland and improve its hiking trails. I really didn't know what to expect, other than Laurel Fork was one of my favorite places on earth, and that would be my workplace. I have always enjoyed hiking and camping, but have never had the opportunity to do these things for more than a week at a time. Also, the people I would be working and living with were unknown to me, and I wondered if we would all get along.
In every instance, my expectations have been exceded. After 4 months of sometimes grueling work, Laurel Fork's most loved trails are in the best shape they have been in for 20 or 30 years. Its rhododendren-choked trails have been opened up for years to come and now people can access areas that were previously places to get lost.
The camping lifestyle is over for now, and I miss it greatly. I find it hard to sleep in a quiet house, without the sound of the roaring stream next to me and an occasional owl hooting. I knew that spending this much time in the woods would give me a different perspective on life, and it has made me realize that it doesn't take much for me to be truely content in nature.
The friendships and the bonds that I have formed with my four other crew members are unlike any I have experienced in my life. This has been an a great summer, and it would not have been without these people. They share the same humor and passions as myself, and I will miss them more than anything. I hope we can get together again in future years and relive these amazing times.
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Marlene's Final Post [13]
How do I begin? Five months ago I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything about the Laurel Fork, but now I consider it a big part of my life. I not only met four amazing people, I worked in an amazingly beautiful section of Highland County. I knew in the beginning, when I first met my crew, that I was in for a wonderful summmer. I am honored to have worked with four incredibly hard-working people, and the credit goes to them. Our starting goal was 23 miles, and we ended the season with 17 miles of completed trail. The appreciation that the crew has shown for the work we have completed makes me a very proud crew leader. Every smile and handshake received from hikers in the backcountry prove that we were at the right place at the right time.
I'll always remember Todd's wonderful laugh that echoed through the canyons and his dedication to Laurel Fork.
I'll always think of Ben as our human grip hoist, with an amazing strength that contradicted his sweet, shy smile.
David's wit and sense of humor took the pain away from each day's work. I will miss how easily he made me laugh out loud.
A great many thanks to Justin for his music, his knowledge and his deep appreciation for his work.
I really believe our lives have all changed for the better. We've become as close as family, and we owe a great deal of gratitude to the people of Highland County for welcoming us in, for feeding us and for sincerely caring. I'm going to really miss this place.
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Ben Hooks Final Days of Work [15]
It's been an amazing summer. I have been surprised to find an accepting and loving community of people who have appreciated our work in a remote part of their area and welcomed us into their homes and lives. Living out of a tent has become second nature and camp had begun to feel like home. It will be difficult to re-acclimate to the absence of most of the night-time skyscape and the presence of mechanical sounds, electricity, and all the things I would have previously deemed comforts of modern life. I will miss Laurel Fork and the good times that it has hosted.
Making trails accessible which were largely inaccessible previously, we have opened the Laurel Fork to a lot of visitors who may have otherwise had difficulty navigating the trails. All the people we have encountered throughout the summer have been appreciative and praising of the work we set out to do and have done. I am extremely proud of the work our crew has accomplished in the short summer months.
While at first I may have worried that committing to living with 4 other people in the woods for 4.5 months could be more than I could take, I found myself surrounded by, in some ways, like-minded people, while at the same time being introduced to a variety of backgrounds and life experiences which have broadened my views on parts of the country that I had little knowledge of. Since arriving in Staunton, VA in May and spending the following months all around Virginia I've met a lot of people that I will not forget and who I hope to stay in touch with and it is going to be sad to see it end.
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Dave's Final Post [17]
Yesterday, a friend asked me what my favorite moment or highlight of the season was. I struggled to answer because so many factors went into making my season with SCA an excellent experience that choosing one would not do justice for the rest.
I met hikers who showed appreciation for our work, encouraging us to push on to open the trail to the beautiful fishing spots and swimming holes of the Laurel Fork. Local residents invited our crew to dinner like we were old friends. I had more fun than I would have thought possible in small West Virginia towns. I learned how to build a rock retaining wall. I felt a sense of accomplishment at the end of each week, and returning to camp after the weekend felt like coming home.
At the beginning of the season I was already passionate about trail work, and these experiences have only added to that passion. That is the best thing I could have gotten from my summer.
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JB's Final Post [19]
What a successful summer! I've gained a deeper appreciation for the hiking trails I once sauntered down without a thought. I will never take them for granted again. I know that all the blood, sweat and more sweat we poured into the Laurel Fork area will result in improved recreational experiences for the lucky hikers, bikers and fishermen who stumble on this remote mountain. I want to thank SCA for this opportunity for my live is truly improved. I've gained four friends, a lifetime of memories and a deeper respect for the land.
As we repair tents, clean tools and package our cooking utensils, I dread the end to a magical season in the woods. I do not know exactly where life's journies will take me, but I will never forget this area, and never look at trails the same way.
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Open For Business! [21]
Hikers, fishermen and fisherwomen of Highland County, we are proud to announce that the Laurel Fork Trail will soon be open from Cold Springs Run to Bear Wallow! This will allow access to some of the most beautiful and pristine parts of the river while opening up several loop trails for day hikers and weekend backpackers. We have spent the past few weeks blasting through miles of seemingly endless and impenetrable rhododendron. Fueled by the "Rhodo Rage", Marlene cuts the twisted, gnarly trunks with the chainsaw while Jenkins, Willy, Cletus and Maggard drag the carnage into the woods and out of sight. Sometimes the only thing that keeps us going is the thought of Marlene's cooking: Who would have thought that dehydrated chili and soup mix could be made into something delicious simply by adding summer sausage, fresh veggies, Reverend Willard's XXX hot sauce, fire-seared Spam, and a big dash of love? We spend our evenings around the fire, staring up at a hornets' nest that was the size of a softball several months ago but is now rapidly approaching the size of a basketball. Nobody seems willing to carry out our extermination schemes, which range from throwing a rock and running the other way to affixing a can of hornet spray onto the rope-activated lopper mechanism of the pole saw.
As the season comes to an end, it seems that the hornets will stay after we go our separate ways: Todd over the mountain to Monterey, Marlene and Ben to California, Justin to Alabama and David to Pennsylvania. Our accomplishments are not small: We have opened over 15 miles of trail on Buck Run, Locust Spring Run, Locust Spring Run Spur, Buck Run Spur, Christian Run, Cold Springs Run, and Laurel Fork. This included clearing the corridor, restoring the tread, installing waterbars, steps, rolling dips and retaining walls, and heavy blue blazing.
It feels like these trails are ours, and it is wonderful to see them open and accesible to the public.
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Progress Continues in Laurel Fork [25]
We all had another productive couple of weeks on the trail, having completed 2 miles of corridor which required essentially tunneling through a mile or more of 10 year old rhododendron in addition to a 50' rock wall (with the help of alex olson) that now serves as a beautiful reroute to an entirely blownout section of trail. To watch marlene take down the only tree that stood in the way of our wall visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMVBvl9q38s&feature=youtube_gdata [26].
Following a string of raids on our mashed potatoes, beef jerkey, and Neosporin we were introduced to an excellent alternative to inhumane mouse removal methods. "The Chief" revealed "The Wheel of Misfortune," which is easy to build and incredibly effective. To construct you will need a can, 2-3' of fishing line, and one of those useless orange buckets with which we were all supplied. You simply poke a hole in your empty can through the middle of the top and bottom, lace through a piece of fishing line, tie both ends to opposite sides of the bucket's handle, and voila! you have the wheel hanging atop the bucket. Now you simply coat the wheel in the sticky food stuff of your choice and wait. If you're lucky enough you may catch a surely hilarious encounter between mouse and "Wheel of Misfortune" and watch the mouse slide awkwardly off of the unstable but enticing wheel of goodness and into the bottom of the bucket. For humane mouse disposal, simply carry bucket across stream and release into a new home away from your food and dishes.
Thanks to a lucky encounter with Tom Brody on the trails and a little help from our local, Todd "Maggard" Frye, we were invited to stay in 2 cabins at "Bear Mountain" free of charge for a weekend of R&R. We had a great time listening to Mr. Brody on guitar, J "Jenkins" B on Mandolin, Todd playing slide guitar, "The Chief" on coin and bottle(?), and a few others jamming late into the evening attop the Mountain. While we were socked in with fog all weekend, just as we were leaving it began to clear and we could see the beautiful view from the top that we had been told so much about.
A late, but important, Take-5 for Safety note: When starting a campfire with unleaded gasoline (and probably leaded gasoline as well) use a long stick to light, as a little gasoline goes a long way. Cletus will tell you that this is especially important while trying to maintain steady beard growth, as hair is also incredibly flammable. He may well have burnt a week off his beard which is now in an impressive fifth month of growth.
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"Thank you" goes a long way [32]
What an incredibly uplifting feeling it is to hear a sincere "Thank you" from trail users after they hiked the sections we have worked so hard to clear.
After clearing the Rhodo jungle on the section of Laurel Fork up to Christian's Run then working on the corridor on the steep Christian's Run trail, I asked, rather yelled, that hikers take advantage of the newly opened trails. Through the thickets and hollers of rural Western Virginia, a group of animal enthusiasts must have heard the call. Just a couple of days later we met a group of backpackers who did indeed hike the trail and were happy to report seeing more than 60 newts on the forest floor during their hike of Christian's Run, Laurel Fork, and Buck Run trails. I found this somewhat of an unusual undertaking, but smiled as they thanked our team for the trail work. Then I pondered exactly what they did. Just two weeks ago these hikers would have had to literally crawl through sections of those trails, traversing through brush so thick only the dimmest of daylight would reach them. Now, not only were they able to enjoy the newly opened trails, but were able to hike it with such ease that they had the freedom to count tricky-to-spot wildlife. This thought put a little extra meaning to all of the rainy mornings, sweaty days and dehydrated dinners we suffered through over th past two months. Knowing that users are having a better recreational experience because of the work we did is why this has been a great summer.
Since the last post, here are a few of our accomplishments:
Completed 2,695 feet of trail restoration on Christian's Run Trail.
Volunteered with the nearby Greenbrier Ranger District office to help with gardening work for their office in Bartow, WV.
(Thank you Melissa Rexrod and Ranger William Dunk for the hospitality, lunch and gift)
Survived the tremendous downpours and thunderstorms they blanketed our area.
Todd Frye did a brilliant interview with the local radio station, Allegheny Mountain Radio, which aired throughout the region. The audio file and written transcript are available here http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wvmr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTI... [33] .
-Jenkins
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Our new home and new territory [38]
7/13/10 thru 7/16/10
Due to a rainy forecast, we postponed our move to the backcountry and concentrated our efforts on the nearby Buck run spur trail. We cleared 5280' of corridor, constructed 13 rolling dips, and installed one locust water bar. The mile long Buck run spur is now complete and allows visitors of Locust Springs Picnic area to enjoy a 2 mile loop trail.
During the week we also installed two Recovery Act Signs. One was placed at Locust Springs campground and the other at the beginning of Middle Mountain forest road. On the way to Middle Mountain, we drove into the Laurel Fork area from the East and saw some of the Blue Grass Valley. Three of the crew had not seen this area and thought that it was gorgeous.
Unfortunately we are back to a 5 member crew,...again. However this has not kept us from continuing to take care of business. The original group is still intact.
7/20/10 thru 7/23/10
We finally have a home in the backcountry. Though we moved in nearly continuous heavy rain, we were still very happy to be setting up camp by the river. Our campsite is right on Laurel Fork with our Kitchen and family area overlooking our swimming/fishing hole (which has a rock water slide,...in higher water) We are enjoying easy access to water, whether that be water to drink or taking an evening dip after work. Life is good. We put in a lovely latrine in the Rhodo juggle. Thanks to Ben for hiking in the toilet seat!
Original plans to go North to Cold Springs Run were scrapped due to rising waters preventing us from fording the stream. So we headed South and cut our way to Christians run. The Rhododendron had grown completely shut in some sections of trail making it difficult to crawl through. Now it is opened up so much that someone could drive a truck down it. Cutting this section of Laurel Fork trail is an engineering feat topped only by the contruction of the Panama Canal and Hoover dam. Next week we will probably press on in the same direction and start on Christian Run trail.
We saw two Rattlesnakes near the mouth of Christian Run. So that is 3 Rattlers to date and many other small non-threatening snakes.
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Our new home and new territory [40]
7/13/10 thru 7/16/10
Due to a rainy forecast, we postponed our move to the backcountry and concentrated our efforts on the nearby Buck run spur trail. We cleared 5280' of corridor, constructed 13 rolling dips, and installed one locust water bar. The mile long Buck run spur is now complete and allows visitors of Locust Springs Picnic area to enjoy a 2 mile loop trail.
During the week we also installed two Recovery Act Signs. One was placed at Locust Springs campground and the other at the beginning of Middle Mountain forest road. On the way to Middle Mountain, we drove into the Laurel Fork area from the East and saw some of the Blue Grass Valley. Three of the crew had not seen this area and thought that it was gorgeous.
Unfortunately we are back to a 5 member crew,...again. However this has not kept us from continuing to take care of business. The original group is still intact.
7/20/10 thru 7/23/10
We finally have a home in the backcountry. Though we moved in nearly continuous heavy rain, we were still very happy to be setting up camp by the river. Our campsite is right on Laurel Fork with our Kitchen and family area overlooking our swimming/fishing hole (which has a rock water slide,...in higher water) We are enjoying easy access to water, whether that be water to drink or taking an evening dip after work. Life is good. We put in a lovely latrine in the Rhodo juggle. Thanks to Ben for hiking in the toilet seat!
Original plans to go North to Cold Springs Run were scrapped due to rising waters preventing us from fording the stream. So we headed South and cut our way to Christians run. The Rhododendron had grown completely shut in some sections of trail making it difficult to crawl through. Now it is opened up so much that someone could drive a truck down it. Cutting this section of Laurel Fork trail is an engineering feat topped only by the contruction of the Panama Canal and Hoover dam. Next week we will probably press on in the same direction and start on Christian Run trail.
We saw two Rattlesnakes near the mouth of Christian Run. So that is 3 Rattlers to date and many other small non-threatening snakes.
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Following the Blue Blazes [42]
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
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Following the Blue Blazes [52]
Today, we asked the crew how they feel about the two weeks since the last post:
Justin (Jenkins): "Has it already been two weeks?"
Christina: "This is awesome, everyone should do it!"
Todd (Maggard): "I'm blank... Oh yes, rocks! I'm enjoying all of the rock work."
David (The Sweetness): "Laurel Fork is beautiful and we've made great strides in making the campsite homey, especially in the bathroom."
Ben (Willy): "Come experience the natural beauty and scenic vistas of Laurel Fork. Just follow the blue blazes."
Marlene: "Trails look great, I clown-approve them. Honk!"
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Keeping it Clear and Copious [54]
The GWF 3 Laurel Fork trail crew was eager to hit the ground running after the 10 day training and cleared 1.25 miles of corridor on the first day! We kept spirits high and cleared about one mile of corridor on the Buck Run trail the second day and made 23 water drainages to round out the first week. We completed the 2.92 miles of Buck Run and are nearing the end of our work on the 3 mile Locust Springs Trail. Our overall goals include clearing, brushing and enlarging the corridor for 23 miles of trails in the Laurel Fork trail system, which will also include building rock retaining walls, stairs at stream crossings and appropriate signage at predermined locations.
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Wildlife and other Highlights [78]
So far we've seen ...
Wildlife Report
-Timber Rattler, about 4 1/2 feet with at least 12 rattles
-Bald and Golden Eagles
-Great Blue Heron
-Kingfisher
-Baby Fawn (barely able to walk)
-Possible Black Bear tracks in campsite (Yikes)
Local Culture
-Seneca Rocks and Nelson Rock Preserve where we met SCA Board Member Rebb Gregg
-Nightly bluegrass jam sessions around our campfire
-Spruce Knob, highest point in West Virginia
-Blooming Mountain Laurel
-Mark at East Fork Campground who is allowing use of showers for a fee.
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Justin Brimer [81]
Justin "Jenkins" Brimer
from Birmingham, Ala.
Favorite Tool is the Rock Bar
-"Impressed at the pace the we're moving"
-"Amazed at how great I feel after an 8-hour work day and hauling the chainsaw three miles"
-Enjoying the evening jam sessions around the campfire
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Marlene Padilla [84]
Marlene "The Leader" Padilla
from Pointe Arena, Calf.
Favorite Tool is the Chainsaw
-Has more than 20 years of trail work experience
-"I've been impressed since the first meeting" and believes she has one of the better SCA crews
"We're rocking like we're on a full crew even though we're one member shy"
-"Even when members are tired, dirty and sore, they can still make each other lauch and feel good"
-"Every ache, bug bite and sore muscle is worth it!"
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Todd Frye [86]
Todd "Maggard" Frye
from Monterey, Va.
Favorite tool is the Pole Saw "even though it keeps breaking on me"
-Expert on rocks
-Only member from the area, and lives about 45 minutes from project site (huge asset!)
-"The work is hard but rewarding'
-Looks forward to work on rock retainging walls, even though there is a lack of raw material
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David Lahr [88]
David "Sweetness" Lahr
from Lancaster, Pa.
Favorite Tool is the Pick Mattock "with a name like the pick mattock it should do the work for you"
-"It's good to see people using the trails"
-Says that hikers are getting lost on sections that we have not begin maintainance, and hopes that our work will remedy that.
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Ben Hooks [90]
Ben "Willy the California Kid" Hooks
from the Bay Area, Calif.
Favorite Tool is the Bow Saw
-"I'm enjoying the work and still pumped"
-"I didn't expect the food to be this good"
-"Having fun living on the 'right' coast
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