[at-l] trip report from Rocky Top crew

[Slyatpct@aol.com (Slyatpct@aol.com)]

In a message dated 10/29/2001 9:03:46 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
hopefl@juno.com writes:


> Hey everybody, I got back late last night from working a week with the
> Rocky Top crew. 
> 

Great report Hopeful.  

For the last few years I've always fancied working on the Rocky Top Crew, 
unfortunately it always came at a time where it's best for me to get back to 
the real world to start putting money back in my pocket, least I totally lose 
it.

Maybe next year!

Oh ya, one thing about cribbing, I know it's there and I look for it.  I also 
admire the work that went into it. 

Thanks, Sly



< The projects this year included more trail rehab and
> relocation, building some cribbing, demolishing the old Birch Spring
> shelter and building a new moldering privy at Double Spring Shelter.
> 
> Over the last several years, I've dug more side hill than I care to
> remember so I jumped at the chance to do some rock work. Last year, I had
> my first taste of rock work building some steps on Mt Rogers. This past
> week, we needed to crib the side of a steep hill where the Trail used to
> make a sharp step up about 4 feet to go over the top of a rock
> outcropping. In that whole section of about 120 yards the tread was
> narrow and hung on the side of this steep hill. Now, there is an easy
> walk and gentle climb to the top of the outcrop. The top of the rock will
> surely be a good spot to stop and rest and even snooze. I took most of my
> rests on there and I particularly enjoyed looking down on the tons of
> rock and fill that we moved to form the crib, most of which is buried
> down under dirt where it will never be seen. 
> 
> We hiked into the new camping area at Birch Spring on Sunday, 10/21, and
> did a few small jobs there. One of the most enjoyable was burning parts
> of the old shelter. We had a wonderful camp fire every night; it was all
> the more pleasant because we didn't have to hunt for fire wood. The old
> rock walls of the shelter are now lining paths to the bear cables and the
> pipe spring. Many will remember that Birch Spring shelter was always a
> damp, gloomy place with the ground in front muddied by the spring. Now
> there is a good drainage system to divert the water away from the cooking
> area which is where the shelter formally stood. A pipe was installed and
> a hardened tread built so it will be much easier and safer to get water
> now. 
> 
> On Monday, we headed to the site of the main work about two miles north
> of the shelter. This is where we dug side hill to either widen or
> relocate the tread. Late Monday, Laura (the crew leader) decided that a
> crib was needed so I offered to help with that. Tuesday, Wednesday and
> Thursday were devoted to the crib. We had to hunt far up the side of the
> mountain to find rock suitable for the work. A funny thing happen during
> the hunt. A co worker found a perfect base rock not to far up the hill.
> He started digging it out and then hollered down for us to stand aside
> while he let it slide down to the crib site. Once it got going it looked
> as if all was well but once it hit the tread it seemed to get a mind of
> its own and just rolled right on past and kept going down the mountain.
> It was too large to try and stop so we just watched the rock and all the
> effort required to free it from the ground, go cartwheeling down towards
> Townsen. All the rest of the rocks had slings attached so we could make
> sure they couldn't follow their former neighbor. 
> 
> On Friday, we took down the kitchen and all the tents, packed up the
> tools and supplies and hiked out to Twenty Mile Ranger station where the
> crew van was waiting. Once back at the crew base camp at the park
> headquarters we spent the evening washing clothes and getting ready to
> carry the materials for the new privy up to Double Spring shelter.
> Because of the weather and the time of day, we didn't have much trouble
> with traffic between Cherokee, NC and the Gatlinburg area. That was a
> nice change for this time of year.
> 
> We left out very early on Saturday morning so as to get a jump on the
> leaf-lookers and arrived at the Clingman's Dome parking area about 07:30.
> The morning was nice and crisp down in Gatlinburg and colder than a well
> digger up at the Dome! The wind was blowing strong with gusts that would
> make you dance a little to keep your footing. We later learned that the
> dawn temperature recording at New Found Gap was +11F. I don't recall how
> much wind there was but we were all scrambling to get into extra clothes
> as soon as we got out of the van. 
> 
> After strapping 4x4s and such to our packs, we headed south about 2.5
> miles to Double Springs. Some of the more durable crew members (read
> younger, much younger) made a second trip to haul in the last of the
> materials. The rest of us found the site for the new privy and began to
> assembly the base. Next, we moved the old "portapotty" style structure
> from the old place to the new one. Thus was born the newest of the Back
> Woods Olympic games, privy pushing. We set the standard to be beat in
> future years of 12 minutes 82 seconds over a broken course 150 meters
> long. 
> 
> While waiting for the rest of the crew to return with the last of the
> materials, we build a fire and enjoy a sunny break in an otherwise cloudy
> day. I noticed the my little thermometer showed a balmy +20F at mid day.
> A few hikers came by and were very happy to warm up by the fire. One
> decided to stay the night so he became the official photographer to
> document the completion of the privy. 
> 
> The hike out back to the parking area was beautiful, the mist and clouds
> had frozen to the trees and the afternoon sun peaked out enough to paint
> the mountainside in magic. Back at the base camp, the crew began to pack
> for leaving on Sunday. Several of us got up at the "usual time" so we
> were first at one of the pancake houses in Gatlinburg where we ate and
> then said goodbyes til next time. Because I live so close, I decided to
> stay most of Sunday and help load up the gear to be returned to winter
> storage. I am sure looking forward to my next crew week. My hands are
> very sore because I'm no longer used to hard physical labor, I'm still a
> bit tired from all the work but I have to tell everyone that the week was
> worth every little pain and even the big ones.  Hopeful
> 




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