Nantahala National Forest 2010

Corridor clearing 12,560 ft
Retread 1515 ft
Blow down Trees removed 31
Drainage dips installed 2
Old growth removal 1

We have been on the lower portion of the Stratton Bald trail and it really feels warmer without the elevation. The dog days of summer are upon us and the afternoon showers are a welcomed cool down.
We faced some challenges this hitch removing an old growth out of the trail. We had two options 1. Build stairs around it or 2. Use gravity and move the tree down hill. We decided that moving it down hill would be the most efficient way to solve the mammoth problem- boy we were wrong! In the end the tree was removed safely, but there were many calories burned removing it! It looked like it would move easily, but it quickly became an engineering project. Everyone pitched in and it was fun to collaborate ideas on how to best use our wilderness resources. This is a nice change from our typical days of digging new tread and corridor clearing.
We are finishing up a bunch of work on these trails every week, but there is still so much ahead. We will continue to meet the challenge of all our work ahead as we approach the last month of our trail work. We will turn our focus to corridor clearing for the next few hitches to be sure that all the trails are clear for the wilderness users enjoyment.

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Education/ outreach 1 day
Check steps 13
Check Dams 22
Drainage dips installed 2
Dirt moved 55 bags

This hitch we took on new trails and different types of projects. Despite a cruddy cough mid summer funk that hit the group, everyone took great care of themselves and performed at an amazing level. The projects consisted of lifting, carrying, and strategically placing many locust logs and bags of mineral soil! No one in this group needs a gym! We are getting svelte and strong the good old fashion way!
We started off our hitch in Big Fat Gap. This location has 4 trails that branch out from… you guessed it a “Big Fat” gap. Both sides of this gap are very steep and are washing out. We decided the best way to hold back the bank was with locust timber stairs. That way it will be easier for the public to walk up the hill, and the hill will become stabilized by the logs holding back the soil. This was a fun project for all and gave us something different to accomplish other than the typical brushing and digging drainage dips.
Alex came to visit the group from Boise and we attended a great event in Asheville! The Americas Great Outdoors listening sessions was an awesome opportunity for the group to get the word out about what we are doing, and for the group to hear about other great outdoor achievements and ideas that are happening in Western NC. We celebrated our half way point this week and everyone agrees that the time is flying! We have accomplished so much and it is excellent to see all the transformations we have put into Joyce Kilmer coming together.
The second half of the hitch was spent on the Stratton Bald trail. This is a fall line trail that is heavily eroded. One could mistake this trail as a stream bed! The best solution to this trail was to place many check dams to eventually build the trail soils back up. In a few days the trail really started to transform. We have started the reversal of some erosion that took many years to develop. This whole process will take a few years to fully restore, but eventually the soils will build and walking the trail will be more enjoyable.
There was a ton of signs of Russian Boars on this trail and they are really tearing things up! They have been grubbing the sides of the trail creating a nice trench down each side. We will have our hands full when we start the deberming in this area! We need to teach those boars how to dig trails their technique is all wrong!

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Corridor clearing 1500ft
Berm removal 200ft
New trail/ rebenching 700ft
Check Dam steps 8
Drainage dips installed 55
Dirt moved tons

Another great week on the Naked Ground trail in Joyce Kilmer Wilderness. We are really getting to know this trail personally! Our focus on this hitch was drainage, drainage, drainage. The Naked Ground trail is benched into a very steep hill that is often times on a 75% grade. The trail naturally wants to fall downhill, but we are determined to keep it in the bank! Wherever the trail is falling off the hill and the tread was just 6 inches, we benched it back into the hill to get at least a 24 inch area to give it a fighting chance. In many areas there are rotten trees literally holding the trail together. It seems counterintuitive to pull them out but that is exactly what we needed to do. We pulled out the trees and rebenched into the bank to insure a longer lasting trail. When the trail flattened out we knocked off the berm to make sure that water flows off the trail rather than down the tread.
The check steps we installed were on a hillside that was heavily eroded and had a tread width that was down to 6 inches. This project was a real improvement to the trail! We used our carpenter skills and our master gardening skills on this section. We moved tons of soil to make a more workable slope and supported the bank with beautiful vegetation. As the group would say “It was epic”!
The second half of the hitch was drainage on some very steep terrain. Imagine a trail that increases 1100 ft in the span of one mile. We found a lone locust tree that we are installing to back up the drainage dips in this area. This part of the trail starting at about 3200ft has very rich soil. It is almost impossible to find any good mineral soil but we were determined to get that water off the trail. We ended up the shift creating a 20 ft X 20ft reroute for a washout that appears to occur when we get a heavy rain. We literally redirected a stream so that it doesn’t come down the steep trail. We are nurturing nature to keep the trail as dry as we can, hopefully Mother Nature will agree with our plan!
There were two large old growth trees blocking the trail and hikers were creating trails to get around them. These are not the kind of trees that one can step over, and behind them tends to be a build up of organic soil. This creates a challenging tread repair. Removing the tree can cause the soil above to wash away so we utilized our natural recourses and use the tree wisely. The team worked hard to axe beautiful steps into the trees to allow hikers to pass thru the tree. On the other side of the tree we backed the trail up with drainage dips.
Our agency contact Dwayne came out for a visit on Tuesday. He was pleased with the work we have completed so far. This was encouraging for the whole group to have a professional trail builder tell us that he liked what he was seeing. We also had a hiker report that he had walked the Naked Ground
trail about a month ago and found this trip much more enjoyable. He was able to really see the differences since his last visit was so fresh in his memory.
The hitch was full of beautiful days. We had mostly dry weather and although the surrounding cities were in the 90’s we stayed much cooler because of the height we work at and the lush vegetation over head. Nature provides us with natural air conditioning!

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My name is Daniel Ruedin and I am from Illinois. I have worked for the Department of Natural Resources for three year and I was a finish carpenter for a couple years. I attended Western Illinois University where I majored in geography.

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My name is Tony D. Kiger. I am from the upstate of South Carolina. I graduated from Clemson University with a bachelors of science in Agriculture Mechanization and Business degree. I have worked building houses and doing construction grading work. In my free time I enjoy mountain biking, fishing, and hiking. I enjoy anything that has to do with the outdoors.

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Trail Corridor brushed Approx 3 miles or 15,830 ft
Blow down removed from trail 18 trees
New trail/ rebenching 600ft
Structures removed 2
Drainage dips installed 5
Dirt moved tons

Our first day on hitch we hiked the Naked ground trail 3 miles and we noticed it needed a lot of help to keep it an established trail. The thickets of rhododendrons grow into the trail whenever they are given the opportunity. Lots of rain and blow down provide a perfect environment for the rhodo to grow rampant. We spent the first half of the hitch becoming proficient in the art of clearing corridor in the wilderness. There was much to cut out and to hide away from the trail. This is no small feat on a steep old growth trail. Our goal was for the trail to not look cut at all, and we certainly took pride in making that happen.
Of course, there was plenty of large blow down mixed into the trail corridor clearing. Some of these trees were small but several were mighty large. There was a particularly large hemlock across a small stream that made a natural “bridge” but in the current condition it was not at all passable. After clearing away the many branches and cutting a walk able surface into the log it made a great bridge! (See before and after below)
The group excelled in making do with the tools we had. It was a great time for the whole group to master the single bit axe. Everyone had plenty of opportunity to hone axe swinging skills in order to get 18 trees out of the trail tread. Dan had a boot blowout that allowed him a more stationary day of full- on axe swinging.
Many muscles were built during this shift! Lopping and sawing was an all-day affair for several days, too. The digging of new trail tread was sprinkled in as needed. I am still a fan of the hazel hoe, but the mattock worked so well when we needed to cut through a root or break up a rock!
The old saying goes “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?” Well I can’t answer that question directly but I can attest that an old growth hemlock makes a big sound when it falls and one is nearby. We had a bunch of rain this hitch and the dead trees became saturated. We were on our way out of the worksite on the 3rd day and there was some noise on the other side of the river. Within a minute there was a huge tree that took its last fall, and we witnessed and felt the tree come down to its final resting place. We know the chances of this are very small and we were glad that we were on the other side of the river.
The group worked together to help our new member EJ feel welcomed and to get him up to speed on what he missed from training. The group is in the early stages of forming and is learning how to cooperate and work effectively together. The few things that have come up as different opinions have been smoothed out in a respectful manner. The group is heading into the next hitch with a clear understanding of how to interact with one another. This will be important in communicating ideas, and meeting individual needs in the future. We are establishing a safe environment ready for the group to grow together.

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