Work Day 24Sep2009 South Rockjock

Date: 24Sep2009
Workers: 1  Ken Crump
Time Spent: 10 hours (includes commute)
Work Done:  Sheared Rockjock from road to beyond Crevasse Creek

I caught up with Jim's truck on the way up Kistler.  We parked and hit the
trail.  Like Jim said, we clipped lightly on the way down the hill, and probably
a little more intensely after passing through the back of Mossy canyon.

The objective was to work the area between Moonshine Canyone and Tshirt Point
really well.  We didn't quite make it do Moonshine due to time and the hot/humid/buggy
conditions, but the area from beyond Crevasse Creek back to Tshirt is now in really
good shape.  The trail beyond that was very discernable, so I'm sure Moonshine is
not too bad since we were there in July.

We also threw some deadfall out of the trail in several places.  There are a few
new logs down, but due to the weather conditions we left them for cooler times.
They can be gotten over easily.

I took a few photos, and I'll try to get those posted somewhere tonight.

We saw lizards, buzzards, a wood pecker, lots of deer tracks, a turkey on
Kistler, and Jim almost killed a Deere on 126 (that guy was really lucky).

Another good day in the woods Jim.  I enjoyed it in spite of the conditions.

Ken

Work report 9/24/2009 Southern RockJock

Date of work: 9/24/2009
Number of workers: 1 (Jim de Friess)
Time spent: 9.5 hours (includes commute)
Work accomplished: Shear work on the southern end of Rock Jock,
concentrated in the area north of Tee shirt point.

Details: I met Ken at the southern entrance of Rock Jock and we
proceeded down the trail. Our initial plan was to hike to Moonshine
canyon and work back, but we clipped a little along as we went north.

We made it to tee shirt in about 1.5 hours, and beyond there the trail
thinned significantly. It is still easily discernible, but the path is
crowded. We went two drainages past Tee shirt and out to point beyond
the second one furthest east along the trail. Clipping the non grass
(and some grass) back to where it should be.

We then hiked out pretty well spent from the full son, high humidity,
and 80 degree temps. The bugs were out too- all day.

In reflecting back to last year it took a lot more trips to get the
trail pushed north and open as far as we did yesterday in one trip. So
it is getting easier. Walking out -up the last hill to the road, tired
did not make me feel like it was getting easier however.

It was a good day in the woods, Mossy falls was flowing cool refreshing
water, and the company was first rate.

Sept 17th work report Conley Cove/RJ

Date of work: Sept 17, 2009
Number of workers: 1 Jim de Friess
Time spent: 8.5 hours includes commute
Work accomplished: Shear work mostly, some pulaski, and hauled out some
trash. Details as follows.

I parked at "old conley" proceeded to RJ and sheared the small section
of RJ from the campsite to Conley cove trail. It could use some more,
but its much wider now. Sling blade may have been better- but left at
home.

At Conley Cove I turned right (down the hill and was planning to shear
only "worst offenders" as I proceeded down the trail. I get carried
away though. I left the truck at 9 am and got to the Conley Cove/LGT
intersection at 1:24 pm. With all the posts on snakes I kept my eyes
open. Conley could use some more work too, but it too is better.

At LGT I was planning to hike north to the downed trees I had heard
about. Standing at the trail intersection I counted 5 tree trunks
across LGT within 50' of Conley. Two of the trunks are small and on the
ground, easy to step over. One other is about a 2' diameter tree, which
I de-branched in one spot to allow a safer step over and around- it is
on the ground. The major obstruction is a 3+' diameter tree that fell
from a campsite above the trail all the way to the river. Someone had
placed (very well) rock steps up to the campsite, and the base of the
tree could be walked around going that way. I cleared to hopefully make
it obvious. The big tree is 1-2' above the trail where it crosses so
going around is the only option for now. The last trunk is beside the
big tree, and once I figured going around was the only option I paid it
no attention.

I then took out a trash bag and started getting trash out of the fire
rings north of Conley. I had nearly a bag full when I decided I better
check the fire ring to the south. It too had trash in it, I found a
rain suit, pair of pants, tee shirt (in the tree), and water container-
a big nice five gallon one south of the southern fire ring. I already
had a bag full of non-combustibles (cans, beer cans, bottles, and some
paper trash, so most of the garbage in the campsite south got left. I
did get the non- combustibles out of the fire ring though. I double
bagged and placed what I felt I could carry out in my pack and started
up the hill.

I had the pulaski out for the walk up. I slipped where the Boy Scouts
had helped me make a path around another fallen tree about 3/4s of the
way down. I was going to dig flatter places to put feet on the hill.
There was also a couple trees across the trail I noticed on the way down
that I was going to try and cut. First tree I came to cut real well,
then I cut in the foot falls. By the time I got near the top, I walked
over the last tree I was planning to cut- I was tired and heading for
the truck.

Lessons learned- I hate my internal frame back pack because it has no
compartments. I decided to use it today because I felt it would be good
to haul trash out with. No compartments mean only one bag of trash and
it can be fairly large. On the way down it had my pulaski in it, the
hip belt it had was way better than my normal day pack on my shoulders.
I now like that pack for trail work.

On the way down there was a yellow jacket nest beside the trail (near
the bottom) - looked like a bear had been in it, I looked but not too
close- its on the downhill side, it can't be missed.

I got away without water (by accident) and then spent 6.5 hours on the
trail. All the creeks were still flowing none to little. I was pretty
tired as I reached the top, and left a step over tree for another time.

I passed 2 people and a dog on the way down- they said they were
"heading out because they were too moist". It had rained all the way up
there hard, then at dogback it was just a mist. It only misted on me
all day- when it did anything. Just like last week (on Pinch In) there
was fog at the top, and better visibility at the bottom.

Other than the fall I referred to earlier which was really an unintended
slide, the most frightful thing was on the way out. I was near the
bottom and all of a sudden there was a tremendous crash about 20 yards
behind me and 10 yards off the trail on the uphill side. I went back to
investigate and saw a huge dead standing tree, I guess it lost a limb as
I walked by. I also heard the loud crack of a tree falling on the way
down.

The Boy scouts did a marvelous job in June. I could tell where they had
worked on the trail (lower Conley), and the areas that would normally be
drier required almost no clipping- although I can usually find something
to clip. The moister areas had growth, but 6-8" high only.

It was a wonderful day in the woods, I almost let the forecast persuade
me not to go. I'm sure glad I didn't - what a wonderful world the
creator made.

There is still a bag of garbage that can be gathered on LGT south of
Conley. The sights to the North look OK- you never get it all.

Work Report - Pinchin - 10September2009

Date of work: 9/10/2009
Workers: 1 - Ken Crump
time spent 10 hours includes commute
Work done:

As Jim said, he had the parking area looking good when William and I arrived just before 9am.

We pulled our gear together and started down the hill.  I carried shears and clipped some as
we went.  The upper third of the trail was already in good shape, so the snipping was occasional.

At the river trail, we took a short break, then William left us to explore downstream a bit.  Jim
and I turned back uphill and started to work. An old food can was the first trash.  Jim had
a bag, so he became the "trash hauler".  I won't mention the later items, but they have now been
removed.  When we exited the woods, the shearing started in earnest.  We were moving slow
and clipping a lot, so Pinchin really didn't even get our heart rates up.  Standing on the steep
slope while working was a challenge in places, but all in all it was an easy climb.  William
later caught up to us again and kept us entertained with stories and good conversation the
rest of the day.

Pinchin is now clipped nice and wide.  The only challenge is the hill itself.

Thanks Jim and William for another good day in the woods.

Ken

Sept 10, 2009 Lower Pinch In

Date of work: 9/10/2009
Number of workers: 1 Jim de Friess
time spent 9.5 hours includes commute
work accomplished:

Pre work- I clipped around the parking lot on both sides of the barrier
as needed. I gathered 12 beer cans from the woods to the left as you
are exiting the parking area.

Ken and William got there and we walked to the bottom of Pinch In trail,
Ken clipped a little as we went down, I cleaned out a few waterbars. At
the bottom we turned around and worked up with shears. We clipped along
the entire lower 2/3s of the trail. We also picked up trash on the way
up.

William explored and kept us amused while we worked our way up the
trail.

I cut down a dead dogwood that was hanging over the trail, and cleaned a
waterbar or two on the way up, but it was mostly shear work. Widening
the trail- clipping back growth.

We saw sumac that was "just right" that a "lemonade" like substance
could be made from- Ken tried it - I passed. We saw bear foraging signs
and scat (right in the middle of the trail), we saw where deer had been
eating acorns.

The weather was nearly perfect, we started in a dense fog, and just
below falcon rock the visibility improved. It was overcast all day and
consequently remained cool- I would say 70s, and there was a hint of fog
when we got back to the parking lot at the end of the day. The dampness
also seem to make the green more vivid, and there is some early autumn
color starting to creep in. The sassafras, and sourwood was turning.

It was a great day in the woods with good company.

Thanks Ken and William.