Trailwork on the Atwell Hill Trail

We met this Sunday Morning 7/30/06 at Hillwalker's house in Wentworth, NH to do some trail work. Tom recently became the trail maintainer for the Atwell Hill section of the AT. The trail is very muddy in large portions. Many of the corrugations have become rotten over the years and with all the rain this year, the trail is washed out in many portions.

Tom organized a work party this Sunday and six of us: Toe Cozy, Unfrozencaveman, cp2000, RoySwkr, Markk, Periwinkle and Paradox. Tom had previously identified a gravel source in a small stream about a quarter mile from the northern terminal of the trail. We spent about 2½ hours filling pickle buckets and hauling the gravel up the trail and dumping it in the soft and muddy spots. Tough work but it was good to stretch my shoulders and I don’t have to do any squats this week. Many areas that were very difficult to traverse are much easier now.

We then met at Tom’s house about two miles away for beer, an excellent cookout of shrimp, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, and a very nice nap.

pictures

Thanks

Thanks to all of you who helped on this project. The Appalachian Trail is 2100+ miles of little trail sections that require immense amounts of work from the hundreds, maybe thousands of volunteers that each take care of their little portion. This little two mile section is just a tiny link in a long chain of American hiking history. But without the efforts of these fine people, the trail would cease to exist as a historic footpath.

Thanks, all of you. Nothing like spending the day carrying 50 pound buckets of sand while stumbling up muddy path in the woods in the very best of company

Tom Wheeler

It was cool to meet everyone and to make quick work of that section. I spent yesterday helping friends move and that was a ton of work. Two pretty simple grunt work tasks that no one really loves to do, I suppose. In fact it could be downright miserable. But both days were fantastic! A good time even! Didn't even seem like work. Enlightening to experience how "work" actually becomes fun when everyone's intentions are sincere and positive. I think we get bombarded with so many media images of teamwork failing or just being non-existent that we start to think that it's impossible for people to work together with any kind of concensus and progress. But our capacity for cooperation and positive outcome is no less likely than the opposite, we just get primed throughout our lives to expect the negative. I think we all need to find more opportunities to experience the positive possibilities of working together.

Anyway, it was just helping friends move and a little bit of trailwork...no need to get all philosopical I suppose. And of course, either of those tasks could go drastically the other way...just this weekend with these people it didn't...so there you have my two cents on...whatever.

I'll look forward to doing more trailwork in the future!

Tom yer thah man. had a blast. When the Moose Mt. thang comes round count me in............................................

And if any1 needz trail help just post it............Im there.............

Toe Cozy said:

.......Enlightening to experience how "work" actually becomes fun when everyone's intentions are sincere and positive.

........I think we all need to find more opportunities to experience the positive possibilities of working together.

Click to expand...

I can't agree more with the above statements. I've spent the last year hiking a lot of trails in the Whites, I'm an AMC member, and I've donated financially, but the physical donation I made this weekend, had tenfold the satisfaction. My shoulders, back, and legs are sore this morning and I feel GREAT!!!

I strongly encourage any and all who may stumble upon this tread to volunteer, you gonna love it.

Great meeting you all!

Steve

The DOC and the rest of the hiking community thank you all for your efforts.

-dave-

Thanks Dave, it was fun too. I have added two more pictures to the album referenced above that Tom took.

Just wanted to chime in with thanks from the Dartmouth Outing Club. That section has been a hassle for a long time and with Tom on the job it is finally getting the attention it needs. I asked once why the trail was there, it's pretty much a swamp all the time, and was told "Earl believed the water had healing powers." So any of you who had rheumatism, boils, consumption or anything before, should be good now.

(Really, the federally-owned "corridor" there is just very narrow and there wasn't anyplace to put the trail that was not in the swamp. The alternative was a roadwalk down 25A to Cape Moonshine and back up to the trail!)

Thank you, thank you!