THE BLAZE

Newsletter of the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club

Winter 2018 | January, February, March

Newsletter in .pdf form

Introducing the new 60 foot Straight Branch Bridge

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

This fall was a busy one for the club. The big news is that on chilly October 27th, we finished putting the decking, posts and railings on the new Straight Branch Bridge. See photos elsewhere in this newsletter. Many thanks to Ron Bobko and Doug Levin for their excellent carpentry skills and their patience with the rest of us who were there to help. We couldn’t have done it without them! And many thanks to those who came out to work on the bridge and to help with the pre-installation prep work on those round posts so we could put them up quickly and efficiently! The contractor hired by the Forest Service to do the grading near the road and the steps on the end of the bridge near the woods will be doing more work in upcoming weeks.

Working around our bridge project, in October, we hosted members of the Women’s Basketball Team of Emory & Henry for a project to dig a new pit (in hard, drought-toughened soil) and move the privy cabin at Saunders Shelter (October 5th), and two happy, trailwork-minded groups of volunteers on Oct. 9th from ALDHA (Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association) to check our AT boundary lines and monuments and dig a pit and move the privy cabin at Lost Mountain Shelter. (See photo in this newsletter.) Now those two privies are good for a while!

On November 18th, a group of students from Holston High School worked with us on trail rehab south of Saunders Shelter. (Photo)

In October, we took time to recognize two of our club members who are still active in the club at the age of 90: Wil Corbin, who joined MRATC as a trail maintainer when he moved to our area several years ago after being a maintainer in the Nantahala Hiking Club, and George Dickert, who has been on our Board for several years as well as being a trail maintainer. They are an inspiration for the rest of us.

Planning is beginning for the Damascus Trail Center. There was an initial planning meeting in November with the design firm, the Town, and the Friends of SW VA and there will be more meetings as plans develop, including public meetings to view designs and discuss goals for the center. We are looking forward to the welcome and information the Center will provide to hikers and visitors in our area.

At our meeting with the ATC and our Agency Partners on Nov. 8th, we discussed campfire and poor sanitation impacts in the Mt. Rogers high country and the problem with campers cutting branches from live trees for their campfires. We hope to jointly work on signs and educational materials. We also finalized our plans for the spring and summer projects for the Konnarock Crew and Hardcore. The Konnarock Crew will continue working on trail rehab between Thomas Knob and Rhododendron Gap. We will host Hardcore right after Trail Days again this year and the project will be trail rehab and rock work on the AT in the Wilburn Ridge area. Much to look forward to! -- Anne

Club members work on bridge posts and railings on a chilly October day

Grading to be completed later this fall

REORGANIZATION OF CLUB RESPONSIBILITIES

As of last winter, no one had volunteered to succeed Terry Walker as our club’s president. Apparently, the workload of the president looked like a scary amount to take on and keeping up with the ideas and procedures the ATC communicates to the trail clubs looked daunting as well. So during this past year, with me stepping back in as “interim president,” we have spent a good bit of time at our club meetings and at other times several of us were together talking about how to level the load.

By our November meeting, I had worked up a draft for a Steering Committee with a Chair and Coordinators. Coordinators in the Steering Committee would be voting club Board members. In this model, the responsibilities of the Chair, unlike those of the traditional club president, would be only to chair our meetings, communicate with club members, and generally oversee the work of the club’s Timekeeper, Membership Coordinator and Treasurer. There would be five Coordinators, each with a committee in charge of particular club responsibilities and activities. The Trails Coordinator and committee would plan and supervise trail work. The Outreach Coordinator and committee would coordinate club participation in events, community outreach and youth engagement, as well as overseeing club publications. The Natural Resources Coordinator and committee would work on rare plant monitoring, boundary, and open spaces/vistas. The Club Recreational Activities Coordinator and committee would prepare the club’s Activity Schedule for the newsletter, including hike listings, and arrange for coverage of club potlucks. The club’s representative to the ATC’s Regional Partnership Committee would take on the role of communicating between the club and the ATC. At our November meeting, the Board approved the plan to try this structure for the upcoming year. It will be explained again at our Annual Membership Meeting February 24th before the slate of new Board members is presented for vote. We can then evaluate the new structure later in the year to see if it makes sense to continue with it.

Making a list of club responsibilities and activities and arranging them under coordinators and committees reminded us how many interesting things the club does. It also suggested that maybe not all club members know about specific opportunities that meet their interests. So the Membership Coordinator and I made a list of club members within a reasonable geographic distance, as well as newer members who weren’t yet active, and we contacted them by email, asking what activities on our list they might like to do. We didn’t hear from everyone we contacted, but we did get quite a few responses. So in the upcoming year – good news! More of our trail club’s activities should see some new faces. If any club members are reading this and weren’t contacted – and you want to learn more about what the club does and now you can get more involved – please let me know.

                             - Anne (276-475-5114; trailsamkm@aol.com

NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT ANNIVERSARY

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, which established the AT as a national scenic trail. Anniversary events on national trails will be announced on www.trails50.org throughout the year. The actual anniversary date is October 2nd.

IN MEMORY OF GLENN MORRELL

Glenn was a trail maintainer in our club for many years, along with his brother Haskell. We will always remember his cheerful disposition and his stories. He was fun to talk to. Glenn passed away in Bristol, TN on Sept. 12th at the age of 91.

FOR YOUR CALENDARS: Please note that our January club meeting will be held Wed. January 3, 2018 at 7 p.m. at the Abingdon Library rather

than the usual January meeting date of the second Wednesday. All club members are welcome!

The club’s Annual Meeting and potluck will be at St. John Lutheran Church in Abingdon at 6 p.m. Sat. Feb. 24th. Hope to see you there!