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| Session 1 Crew & Leaders at Newfound Gap |
SWEAT 2015 has commenced! Let the work (and fun!) begin!
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| Taking a break on Charlie's Bunion. |
Day
1:
On the SWEAT Crew's first session in 2015, the volunteers took a break on the
ascent to check out Charlie's Bunion.
Afterwards, veteran trail volunteer Randy led the way to our
camp for the week.
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| Restored sidehill trail |
Day
2:
On our first day of trail work, the crew quickly got to know each other, as
well as the tools they'd be using all week.
Andy enjoys working with pulaskis, Sharon, the pick-mattock. It was quickly apparent that Andrew (aka
Redbeard) is an expert rock worker, so his experience was put to use with the assistance
of Kayla, Andy, and Randy. Meanwhile
David, Sharon, John and Morgan worked on restoring about 75 feet of trail near
Laurel Top.
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| Rock waterbar being installed |
Day
3:
Chris, the ATC Trail Specialist, joined our efforts for the day in order to
instruct us on design and installation of diagonal stack rock waterbars. Near the end of the day John had a minor
accident with a folding saw that resulted in him and David hiking out to seek a
medical opinion. Luckily, the doctor let
him return the following day. We had a
great dinner—mac and chili—packaged up ahead of time by our camp coordinator,
Meg. After eating, we told some funny
stories, ha, ha.
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| Our Crew Leaders back at camp |
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| Kayla clears a gnarly blowdown |
Day
4:
This was a day for brushing. The whole
team worked together to clear more than a mile of overgrowth, including a few
blowdowns. Back at camp, everyone shared
their ideas for camp recipes (some sounded better than others!).
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| Andy restores some sidehill trail |
Day
5:
More brushing. Our motto changed from
'think like a raindrop' to 'think like a hiker' as we continued clearing
impediments. Meanwhile Redbeard did a
fabulous job cleaning waterbars and using crushed rock to fill in low, muddy
areas.
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| Can we eat yet? |
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| Enjoying a beautiful sunset in the Smokies |
Day
6:
The hike out. Everyone got up super
early, packed fast, and hiked even quicker to get some great grub back at base
camp. After cleaning up, the team
received their shirts and went their separate ways. Banner SWEAT Crew opener this summer! Great work
everyone on Session 1!
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| Great work great week! |
