(165) 5/5, 6, 7/2023
AppalachianTrail bog-bridging
Kloiber Field, Monroe NY - begins

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Friday morning, 5/5/2023, we will be working on the A.T.

Black locust planking stock has arrived, it‘s 9:15 am

75 pcs. Each milled to 2" x 8"
each piece is any where from 8‘ to 12‘ long

Ok let‘s move them off the road

Surprise, visitors, Moe, Ryan, and Kurt

Kurt is eager to learn everything about our crew

Ryan, Moe and Dr. Dave swap hiking stories

But there‘s still a lot of wood to move

And it all has to be carried down through here

Almost done, just one more plank

With everyone pitching in
all the planks have been moved in 35 minutes

Dan carries this 12‘ plank by himself

OK let‘s begin

Flipping the bog bridge over
so we can fill the support holes with gravel

Removing and replacing damaged top planks

It‘s 11 am, here comes the gravel

A full 3 yards of clean gravel

Back to the task at hand

Flip a bog bridge section over

The crew discusses how it will all flow together

Work progresses nicely

Let‘s flip the next section

Tip it up, then over

Fill the base support holes with gravel

Pack it down and adjust as needed

Lunch break

Erik checks the bubble

Geez, sorry somebody just walked in front of the camera

OK time to flip it back

A little wiggle wiggle, check the level… done

Now, on to the next one

Same routine flip the boards and fill the base holes with gravel

Then flip it

Back into place

This is a real muddy area,
that‘s why bog-bridging is needed

Marion does her best to pound those nails

Dr. Dave and Chris work to replace a damaged plank

Chris uses a power saw
to cut the plank to the correct length

Local homeowner Misha welcomes us to his driveway
for our end of day crew meeting

It‘s a beautiful Saturday morning

New volunteers Jack and Jennifer are already hard at work.

The chief explains an option for removing old nails

We are in need of an empty wheelbarrow

Dan and Terry empty this one

Why did we need the wheelbarrow?
The "rounds" have arrived

"Rounds" are solid sections of the trunk of a black locust tree

The 6x6 supports are from an earlier rehab.
If in bad shape, we will replace it with a round

"Rounds" will be used in this wet area to keep the trail high and dry

Saturday 10:15 am, second gravel delivery. This time it‘s 6 yards.

Safety break time, everybody stops and has a snack,
drink some water and tries to relax

Don trims a new plank to fit

Then he drilled holes for the 6 inch nails

Further down the line, another section gets flipped

Flipped, gravel added, time to flip it back

A somewhat shady crew meeting in Misha‘s driveway

Sunday it is going to be hot, so Jeff will set up a canopy

Up in seven minutes

Added some flooring to keep us out of the mud

10 minutes later, a new floor

Further down the line work is well underway

More flipping more flipping

Instead of pulling old nails,
Joe cuts them off with a grinder

New volunteers,
Ivan and Angel Junior (sons) are eager to pitch in

Now they are prepping some base holes for gravel

Angel,(Dad) will help carry the next plank

Russ, preps a base area
while Erik and Chris guide the new volunteers

The chief cuts the next plank to length

Now Joe takes a turn at hammering the nails

Dan helps the new volunteers
understand the whole process better

End of the weekend
and everything is put back into place,
for now

With the pond on the right, we have come to the halfway point this weekend

Looks like Marion might be the last one out tonight

No, last out will be Marty and Jeff

That‘s it, time to load the tools,
Great weekend everyone, Thank You



© Marty Costello-2023