Trail blazing

By Caitlin Sullivan
Washington County News

You probably don’t notice them or even know they exist but once a week a group of dedicated hiking enthusiasts set out on the Appalachian Trail and take care of it. Someone has to.
On Monday morning a handful of Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club members met in the chilly parking lot at Fox Creek, strapped on gear, loaded up their saws and set out on the Appalachian Trail. About a mile up they met their mission. A fallen tree lay heavy across the trail.
The group stabilized the log and Jerry McDowell and Anne Maio got to work, each taking turns pulling the crosscut saw over the wood. (No electric machinery is allowed in National Forests.)
Twenty minutes later the log was sliced wide enough for the trail to fit through, the excess wood rolled to the side and their mission was accomplished.  Down the mountain they went.
“If we didn’t do this, hikers would have to climb over the tree or worse, they’d make another trail around the down tree,” said club president Anne Maio.
The Club began in February of 1960 and took on 56 miles of the Appalachian Trail stretching from Damascus northbound to Sugar Grove.
There are over 100 members, although due to the old age of many members, only about 12 are active members that get out on the trail each week, Maio said.
The group conducts trail maintenance which includes controlling trail erosion, cutting fallen trees and overgrown brush, and bridge, shelter and privy repair. The club also monitors rare and endangered plants and controls invasive and non-native plants along the trail.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy provided a $1,000 grant this year to the club for maintenance of trail signs but aside from that, many members use their own equipment.
“I’ve always liked to hike and it fit right in with my retirement,” said Jerry McDowell who’s been a member for 15 years. He said he joined the club because he liked “being in the woods, I love the woods, and the fellowship with friends.”
Club member Terry Kammer said without the group there wouldn’t be a trail.
“If we didn’t do this, in four or five years it’d be in real bad shape,” Kammer said. “The forest would take back what was there’s.”
The Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club turns 50-years-old in February and a celebration is scheduled.
To contact Caitlin Sullivan email or call (276) 628-7101.