(191) 5/17,18,19/2024
Appalachian Trail relocation
on Surebridge Mountain
Finale

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Friday morning at the Tiorati Circle parking lot

It rained overnight
but should be dry all day today

Jeff can't wait to get started

We have a crew of 13 volunteers out today

Time to head to the worksite,
and finally the Sun is shining

Marty sets up his stationary camera

With Len as his swamper,
Dr. Dave gets ready to clear a path

He has cut through the small one
next comes a bigger one

Making a plan on how to proceed

We all agree this stump has to go,
while Jim takes an important call

The ramp is slowly taking shape

Marion doing what she likes to do,
breaking big rocks and making crush

Using the four person tub,
the next rock/step is moved down the hill

Break time Break time,
time to take a little safety break

Marty and Joe start digging a foundation hole
to set the first step

Russ uses an axe to cut the larger roots

Next, they try using small hammers
to break away the bedrock

That didn't work, let's try chipping it off

Wow the hammer just bounces off

And nothing broke off

Tom to the rescue with a bigger hammer.
FYI that didn't work either

After cutting the logs,
we determined steps were needed

Two small steps should be enough

The steps are in, next comes the treadway

New treadway will be added across here

This is the northern end
of this Appalachian Trail relocation

It's the end of the day,
and Marion is still clipping roots

Saturday morning,
with 13 volunteers, we will get a lot accomplished today

That's Russ, taking a picture of Jeff

That's Jeff, taking a picture of Russ

That's Marty taking a picture of everyone

We can't put a step where we wanted to,
we'll have to work around the bedrock

Pat and Rich drag another rock/step down the hill

We were able to work around the bedrock
by adding an additional step

We've gotten a lot done,
and it's only break time

Positioning another big rock on the ramp

A little further up the ramp,
we are setting another step

Oh yeah, it will be level
… .they all are

Back at the southern end of this relocation,
work continues on the crib-wall

Making a new path,
and blocking off the old

Bob checks to make sure it's stable,
before letting go

Almost level, but it'll get there,
it just needs a little more crush under this one side

No four person tub used here,
we needed the high-line to move these big rocks

We safely returned to the woods lot

Then onto the Tiorati Circle parking lot,
for our EOD crew meeting

A crew of nine volunteers
on this beautiful Sunday morning

Some old and new faces today

Oops, an over night blow down blocks the trail

Margaret is ready with the next crib-wall rock

Peter shows the rookies how to set big rocks

Now that's a crib-wall to be proud of

Fill a crack with crush,
cover with mineral soil, ..repeat

Rich makes it official
this is now the newest section of the Appalachian Trail

The southern end of our relocation is complete,
and now open to all hikers

The northern end of our relocation,
is almost finished

Just this short connector section has to be completed

First crush, then mineral soil,
this connector section looks fantastic

Where does all that mineral soil come from?
Marty knows the hole reality

Close off the old path,
we are ready to go live

One last improvement,
add a water bar on the ramp

It's not much,
but will help keep water off the trail

Yes that's a temporary turn blaze
on the Appalachian Trail

Finally, we closed off the old trail
and put up a turn blaze

Appalachian Trail relocation
phase 2, final walk thru

All tools are gathered together,
now just waiting for the gator

One of today's most interesting visitors
was a juvenile ring-neck snake

Another visitor was this Millipede

Marty's truck is fully loaded,
let's head back to the parking lot

Final crew meeting on this project
Where to next? … TBD



© Marty Costello 2013 - 2024