[at-l] What Skippie did this weekend

[Ferguson@CWF.org (Ferguson, J. Mark)]

Maintenance Trip Report 8/11/01

Well, we got most of the section cleaned up.  Swing bladed and trimmed from
the shelter to the base of the switchbacks. There is one large and one
medium step over in the second vee headed up the hill and the same in the
big vee.  None of them is a problem and they can wait until the October
trip. Pretty uneventful morning, cool with a thunderstorm over on the
Priest.  But... just as I rounded the corner to cross the flat section
leading to the first switch there was a flash of lightening from the east
side of the ridge over across Cub Creek.  I turned around, went back to the
group and in my best John Wayne said "Down the mountain".  We got down
almost through the big rock garden near the top when the storm popped over
the ridge.  We managed to get to a sheltered spot, away from the open, but
not all the way through the rock garden.  Dropped our tools down the hill,
packs up the hill and we're crouching on the treadway.  Oh, yeah, its been
pouring since 2 minutes after I reversed course so we are all soaked.
Lightening popping all around us, so I didn't want to move on.  We had a
large number of flash/one/bangs, several flash/bangs and two fblaansghs
(that's a flash and bang at the same time).  Duncan's dog Corrie was really
spooked by that one, and Corrie is a pretty mellow dog. Well, 45 pouring
torrential rain minutes later, the lightening moved off, so I got everyone
up, retrieved the tools and then FLASH with no bang.  I would guess it was
less than 100 feet down the trail.  Tools down the hill, packs off, and
squat on the treadway for another 15 minutes.  This time it really died
down, so we lit off down the mountain back to the shelter kicking drainage
gaps in the downhill side of the tread was as I went.  

When we got back to Harpers Creek Shelter we found 3 young ladies from
Raleigh, NC who had been doing a Mau-Har/Three Ridges circuit hike from
Reeds Gap.  We suggested they not continue up Three Ridges, which they
seemed disinclined to do anyway.  The creek which had been dry at the
surface when we went in, was now about 12 to 18 inches deep, covering all
the step rocks.  I suggested we get out of the rain (see, I do have some
sense), into the shelter and have lunch.  In the 30 minutes we were in the
shelter eating, wringing out socks, and figuring out how to get the North
Carolinians back to their car, the stream went up another 6 or 8 inches,
running over the top of the rock just above the wadding hole in front of the
shelter.  The crossing at the shelter was probably passable but I was really
worried about the one at the foot of the switchback on the access path back
to the pasture.  So, we followed the old road down the shelter side of
Harpers Creek to avoid both crossings.  All went well for the first half,
but then we lost a clear track of the road.  The hillside was steeply angled
but we followed a game or hunter's trail that got better and better as we
went.  We came down on the road at the old bridge site and walked on out
just like normal.  Duncan took the ladies to Reeds Gap on his way back to
the cabin, and the rest of us went to the winery.  The folks at the winery
thanked us for showering before we came this time.

I'm unsure how many hours to claim on this trip.  We started up through the
pasture at 9:30 and came out a little after 3:00.  Does the hour of
squatting count as maintenance?  Does the testing of the escape route?  Oh,
we did a real good job of washing the shelter floor.  I'd give the crew 5
hours, and 5.5 hours travel time.   I am NOT counting time at the winery.
Corrie has already received an extra dog biscuit for his bravery.  The rest
of the crew received my sincere thanks, especially as nobody whined during
the entire day.