Konnarock 2013 - the season has begun!!

Clean Up Week

In mid April, club volunteers piled into Konnarock base camp as the Crew season got underway! There were some major improvements to the camp including the replacement of a pod deck and a new gate to the facility.

 Of special note is the Konnarock legend himself Dean Sims came and worked for the week completing his 30th year of service to the Crew program! Absolutely amazing. Here's a pic of Dean while he was working with the crew more than a few years back.

Thanks to everyone who came down! Fueled by Czars gourmet meals, a good time was had by all! 

Sign up for Konnarock 2013!!

Registration is now live for the 2013 Konnarock Trail Crew season! Learn more about the crew and register for a week or more TODAY!

A BIG THANKS!!

It’s hard to believe the Konnarock 2012 season has come to an end!  We wanted to send out thanks to all of our partners for the great support of the Konnarock program this year.  We had a very successful and fun season! Thanks for all of your great planning leading up to this season, as well as your hardwork out on the trail with the crew.   And most importantly, thanks to all of you who came out to volunteer a week or more this season!! We look forward to seeing you in 2013!! 

Happy Trails!

Week 12

Dividing up tools before the big hike in! 

Crew one spent their last week of the season working with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club on the Beartown Mountain Relocation.  They enjoyed the beautiful views near Roan Mountain and managed to get a lot of work done on the Trail!  They built nearly 500 feet of new sidehill and put in 10 rock steps along the way.  They also built 40 feet of grade dips to help shed water of the future A.T.!

New rock steps

Happy volunteers! : )

Crew 1! 

BEEEAUTIFUL 

Don't worry - Konnarock volunteers don't go hungry!

Painting a white blaze!

Hanging out in camp

Crew 2 also headed south for their final week of the season to work with the Nantahala Hiking Club on the Water Oak Gap Rehab project.  They rehabilitated over 350 feet of trail, installing 22 rock steps and a lot of rock cribbing.  It was assistant crew leader, Kathryn's favorite project of the season (check out her sweet crib wall below)!  

Moving BIG rocks!

Drilling holes for the rebar

Impressive backcountry dessert!

Kathryn's Crib Wall -- oh yea!

Crew two!

Week 11

Crew 1!!

Crew 1 spent the week working with the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club on the Thunder Ridge relocation.  They were build 600 feet of new sidehill -- wow!  They also put in a few rock steps and check steps along the way to help properly shed water off the trail.  

Digging new sidehill

Rock steps

Beautiful rock work!

Crew Leader, Tori

Crew 2 went up near Catawba to work with the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club on the Dragons Tooth rehab project.  It's a very rocky, challenging section of trail that sees a lot of visitors every season.  They rehabilitated 280 feet of trail with 39 rock steps and 35 cubic feet of junk cribbing to keep hikers on the trail.  

Using the rock drill

Enjoying the view from Dragons Tooth

Putting in new rock steps

Crew 2!!

Week 10

Tailgate safety meeting

Crew 1 headed south to work with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club to work on the Round Bald Rehab project.  They put in 26 rock steps and 20 log steps along the Trail.  They crushed and carried a lot of rock and placed over 130 pieces of rebar to hold everything in place! 

Crushing rocks!

Moving crushed rocks

More Crushing! 

Ta- dah!

Crew 1!

Crew 2 headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to work on the Humpback Rocks Rehab project with the Old Dominion AT Club.  They put in 27 new rock steps and rehabilitated over 270 feet of trail!  

Enjoying some dancing after a hard day of work :)

Hanging out with ODAT at the volunteer camp

Crew Leader, Josh, working hard!

New rock steps

Lots of rock moving this week

Storing tools and equipment for the evening

More rock steps & junk cribbing to keep hikers on the trail

Week 9

Super Crew!

 Wow - this season seems to be flying by! Week 9 was the second "Supercrew" week of the season where Crew 1 and 2 teamed up to work on the Flint Gap to Shelton Graves relocation.  Together, they completed nearly 500 feet of new trail including several grade dips to help shed water.  

Taking a break :)

Digging sidehill

Building a log crib retaining wall