NY-NJ Trail Conference

Long Distance Trails Crew

We Rock Your Trail

(155) 9/23, 24, 25/2022
Appalachian Trail relocation
on Surebridge Mountain - continues

A beautiful Friday morning

Heading up to the worksite

Following the existing Appalachian Trail

Eastern end of the new A.T. relocation

To accommodate our new path this rock crevice needs to be wider

Marty‘s task for today, build a crush pile

By the end of the day a crush pile is ready

Saturday morning and the crew starts to gather

Eric has his new dog Cookie out for the first time

Before we start our day, Chris leads the safety meeting

We assemble at the parking lot in the woods

It‘s an easy 1.5 mile hike up to the worksite

It looks like this is where we stopped yesterday

The new trail will go right through this rock crevice

Russ and Dan begin cleaning out the debris

A crib wall is needed to make the trail stable

Rock in a sling is for the crib wall

Jeff lowers another crib wall rock

Peter begins constructing the crib wall

We are finding a lot of big rocks for the crib wall

More rocks for the crib wall

Making the crib wall sturdy and wide

Adding more and more rocks to the crib wall

Cookie is exhausted and finally takes a nap

The rock crevice is too narrow for our path

Peter tries breaking a piece off with a big hammer

Peter then tries two small hammers, but still no luck

Another large crib wall rock is located nearby

Pulling it through the crevice to get to the crib wall

Chris uses the rope puller to move the rock along

Getting ready to place the next rock in the crib wall

Eric and Russ agree on this rock‘s final location

It‘s pretty heavy so it‘s an ‘all hands on deck‘ move

Last rock for today, let‘s get it in place

Rich has already blazed some of our new reroute

Saturday afternoon and the parking lot is now packed

We tuck in behind a few large boulders for our crew meeting today,

Sunday morning and it‘s a crew of four

A look at the new trail right after the rock crevice

The new trail will go along the bedrock wall

The new trail at the rock crevice and crib wall

The new trail just before the rock crevice

Building a few running steps up the incline

Finding a big loose rock on the cliff face

This one will make a great step

Jeff and Peter discuss which side is up

It‘s a steep hill so don‘t let it fall

That step is in but it needs one in front of it

More step building

Tearing another step off the cliff face

Slowly lowering it down so it doesn‘t break

Using a big rock bar to set it free

The next step is almost ready

Chris thinks it looks OK but it could be better

Chris feels this bigger rock would fit nicely

First Peter makes the hole bigger

Jeff tries to muscle it into place

It‘s too heavy, let‘s use the rope puller

Rock bars enable it to move easily along the ground

Finally in place

Next comes gargoyles and anchor rocks

And lots and lots of crush

Jeff starts a hole for the next step

Chris covers the crush with mineral soil

Peter and Jeff prepare the next step

Getting it in deep and battered in

Peter checks… yes it is level

End of the weekend, time to secure the tools

Peter and Jeff really know how to pack it in.