(231) 3/20,21,22/2026
Appalachian Trail rehabilitation continues
at Agony Grind

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3/20/2026
First crew work trip of 2026

Rich recently removed a major blowdown
to make the trail usable again

First order of business,
put up the highline

We all hope spar tree number 1
doesn't fall over

Dan and Rich begin removing the duff

This is our worksite
and it's really tough just walking here

Continuing from where we left off last year

Bob surveys the area and makes a plan

First rock of the day / year is ready to go

And of course, all our steps are level

To add new steps, we first have to dig out
all the smaller rocks

Tom agrees this is a tough worksite

The chief looking for our next step

End of day crew meeting.

Saturday morning, Peter and the chief
are eager to get started

After a rainy night
it's a cold and damp start to our day

But 20 brave volunteers showed up today

Even Dr. Dave made it on time

Before long,
Bob and Jeff were back to moving big rocks

Everyone pays attention when there's a rock on the line

We are working in a lot of tight spaces

Currently we have two worksites
this one is where we left off last year

The second one is a little further uphill

Linda is happy being back on belay

Peter and Dan clearing out many small boulders

Slowly another big rock is lowered into place

Peter helps guide the next step into place

Yup, that look's about right

Moving uphill towards the white blaze

The chief starts drilling holes
using our new battery powered hammer drill

Holes drilled, feathers and wedges are in place

Russ calls out, tension hoist

And another rock is on the line

This time it's Stephanie on belay

But this one seems to be stuck

Using a rock bar,
Peter gives it a nudge

Now that it is free,
Joe guides it safely along the wire

Then Peter, Joe and Dan muscle it into place

With the first break in this rock finished,
Linda starts over again

This is Terri's first crew day in 2026

Another big rock is moved slowly into place

We really do like big rocks

Peter is using the angle grinder,
to make a grove in a big rock

Next Chris uses cold chisels to trim a piece off

Linda continues making steps out of this big rock

Taking it slow, equals straight breaks

Another step gets moved into place

Adjusting an anchor rock so it fits in tight

End of day crew meeting

Our day in 3 minutes

Sunday morning
a crew of 10 volunteers out today

Howie and Chris working on the next step

Trying to trim away a small section of bedrock
using a rock splitting hammer

It took more than a minute,
but Chris finally got a little trimmed off

After a careful measurement,
more bedrock needs to be trimmed

Chris uses a diamond blade cutting wheel
to attack the bedrock

New Volunteer Brigitte building steps with Dan

At the lower section, Bob has another step on the line

And it looks like it'll fit in just nicely

No surprise, here's Terri making more crush

Ed and Bob digging a base for the corner step

This one is a little small
so we'll use it as an anchor rock

We'll use this bigger one
as the corner anchor rock

Brigitte tries her hand at trimming the bedrock

She didn't get much off,
but she was happy to try

Howie takes a turn digging the corner step base

Now Jeff takes a turn.
We need a two foot deep hole as the base

Yes Terri is still making crush

Marty is digging the corner step
out of the hillside

We still have to remove more bedrock,
so the step will sit level

More dirt has to be removed
from the corner step base

Corner step (X) now ready to be moved into place

Adding steps to the upper section
will be a challenge because the hillside gets steeper

No crew meeting today

Our day in 3 minutes



© Marty Costello 2013 - 2026