THE BLAZE

Newsletter of the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club 

Winter 2024

MRATC Winter 2024 Newsletter.pdf

MRATC RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES REPORT:  Fall 2023

The club has sponsored five recreational hikes during the fall, led by 3 different members, and one early winter hike is planned for December. From 3 to 7 participants hiked each time, and this included 2 new members, one of whom has been on 2 hikes and is interested in helping with trail work. Three hikes were partially on the AT: Roan Mountain (also the Grassy Ridge spur), Laurel Falls in Hampton (along with the Blueline trail), and from Damascus to the Beech Grove trail and back on the Creeper. One hike was to the Scales via the Wilson Creek, Scales, Horse, and Seed Orchard trails. Another was up White Rock Mountain in the Clinch Mtn Wildlife Management area. These hikes were from 5 – 8 miles in length. Great views were visible from Roan Mtn, the Scales, and White Rock Mtn. Beautiful creek views and a somewhat dry but still pretty waterfall were seen on the Laurel Falls hike. Some cold weather was encountered on the Roan Mtn hike  (although it was early in October) and on the AT near Damascus, but no snow hiking yet. Because there was so much uphill on these 2 hikes we managed to keep warm. Two winter hikes are coming up, one on the Backbone Rock and Appalachian trails in December, and a New Year’s Day hike to Molly’s Knob at Hungry Mother State Park. For our November Board and Partnership meetings, held on November 1, desserts and snacks were brought by board members and the club provided drinks. These meetings were well attended by board members, and many folks from the Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, as well as the town of Damascus were present as we discussed Visitor Use Management on our trail section.

                Laurel Falls                                                                                                      Roan Mountain - Deep Red Blueberry

Steve Russell, Maria Salgado, Steve Ferris, Steve Mason, Sharon Trumbley,                                        Grayson Highlands State Park

Felicia Mitchell

TRAILS REPORT

Fall was a season for shelter staining and group projects. In early October the club led two projects with help from attendees of the annual ALDHA (Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association) Gathering, held this year in Abingdon.  One group helped replace the roof on the Straight Branch shelter (a former AT shelter now on the Iron Mountain Trail), while the other installed new posts and signage north of Elk Garden. Both projects were well attended successes.  Thanks to Gray Hauser for all the planning and effort involved with the roofing project and our partners at the USFS for their help purchasing and transporting materials to the site.  The club also partnered with Emory & Henry students several times this quarter, working to stain Old Orchard Shelter and break up redundant fire rings, do much needed tread work just north of Damascus and perform boundary monitoring just south of town.  In all, the club stained all or part of five of the seven shelters on our section this fall, blotting out a substantial amount of graffiti in the process and helping to preserve them for years to come. Site surveys were conducted at two of our three remaining pit privies (Saunders, Lost Mountain) and potential sites for new moldering privies were identified. It is expected the pit privies will be retired and replaced in 2025, in accordance with water quality regulations. Our maintenance crew will go into light hibernation from Thanksgiving until about the end of February, but we’ll still be out there monitoring the trail and will address issues as the need arises. If you see an issue on our section of trail, always feel free to report it to mratcinfo@gmail.com. Pictures and detailed location information are most helpful.

MRATC MEMBERSHIP REPORT

The Mt Rogers Appalachian Trail Club currently has 205 members, a few more than the 200 which is average for us. This includes individual, family and public relations members. Thanks to Anne Maio for keeping up with the PR members, as they change, for example: when new employees are hired, or folks leave the employ of the Forest Service or Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Club annual memberships expire March 1 of 2024, and I will be sending out reminders in early January. Some folks renew online at our website and others print off the renewal form and mail it to our Post Office box. Just to review, Annual Memberships are $10, Family Memberships $15, and Lifetime Memberships $100. If you’ve been an annual member for many years and think you will continue, consider becoming a Life Member. It may save you money in the long run, and you won’t have to try to remember to renew every year. Being a member means you receive the weekly Sunday email which updates what is happening with the club: trail work, recreational hikes, meetings, and social events. You will also receive the quarterly Blaze, our newsletter, either by email or USPS mail. You will be helping to support keeping our section of the Appalachian Trail, from the Tennessee state line to Teas Rd, almost 60 miles, in good condition. 

2022-2023 END OF SEASON REPORT

50 MRATC Members contributed 2,998 volunteer hours.  105 Guests contributed 453 volunteer hours.

Volunteer hours by Work Category:

TRAIL & FACILITY MAINTENANCE:           1,804 HRS             Forest (MRNRA) work hours: 3,308

CORRIDOR MONITORING:                               1 HRS             Park (GHSP) work hours: 133

NATURAL RESOURCES:                               162 HRS

OUTREACH/EDUCATION:                             312 HRS

ADMINISTRATION / LEADERSHIP:               406 HRS

Trail Miles Maintained:  FOREST (MRNRA)   913   PARK (GHSP) 34

Forest Service Recognition Awards for 2022 – 2023 Trail Season

50 Hour Patches                             100 Hour Bar                                   200 Hour Bar

Jennie Hauser                                  Frank deNobriga                              Robert Hagen

Steve Mason                                     Max Guggenheimer                         Felicia Mitchell

Mike Pivirotto                                    Emily Mayo                                       Frank White

                                                            Mike Pivirotto

300 Hour Bar                                   Chip Sparks                                      400 Hour Bar

Maria Salgado                                  Marywood Sparks                            Edie Bobko

                                                            Gloria Surber                                                           

600 Hour Bar                                   Heidi White

Marcia Purner                                  

700 Hour Bar                                   900 Hour Bar

Gray Hauser                                    Gerry Davis

Marcia Pruner

ATC Volunteer Recognition Awards for 2022 – 2023 Trail Season

3 Hour ATC Sticker       30 Hour ATC Pin        100 Hour ATC Patch         300 Hour Buff

Jim Baum                          Steve Ferris                 Frank deNobriga                 Maria Salgado

Erin Enfield                        Bob Huff                       Max Guggenheimer           

JR Enfield                          Steve Mason                Emily Mayo 

Rachel Enfield                  Mike Pivirotto               Mike Pivirotto

Tyler Irving                        David Wilson                Chip Sparks

Steve Mason                                                         Marywood Sparks

Mike Pivirotto                                                            Gloria Surber

Lauren Smith

Susie Stevens

Stan Tucker

David Wilson

           Iron Mountain Shelter gets a much-needed new roof.                                  Emory & Henry students gather   at the Trail Center in Damascus.                                       

Thankful today for the wild land firefighters who have worked along the AT this fall. Pictured in the photo are The Nature Conservancy employees monitoring the Matt’s Creek AT shelter in Bedford County the day after fire was burning close by. TNC’s James Davis (far right), is one of our MRATC members and son of Mary and Gerry Davis. Besides monitoring this AT area they cut a number of large trees on fire along the BRP.

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