CMC Enewsletter - Maintenance News

For those of you who receive CMC's "Let's Go" there is a grand piece on Bill Newton's retiring from trail maintenance leadership of the Pisgah Friday Crew. Many of you may recall that I use Bill and his large Friday crew (close to a reinforced battalion) as a good hearted "pick" now and again in my musings. Like Don Walton, Bill has graciously absorbed my jibes for a number of years and has refused his crew from turning their wrath on me, especially lying in ambush in the woods of western North Carolina.

A few of you on the Wednesday Crew know Bill and have worked with him from time to time over the years. Like all of us, he got into trail maintenance volunteer work by wondering who in his right mind would go out weekly, often more than one day a week, and carry heavy equipment miles into a forest and perform manual labor in all kinds of weather. Like Rodgers and Hammerstein's song from "South Pacific"..."Some Enchanted Evening," there is a lyric that says...."Fools give you reasons, Wise men never try...." I believe Bill may have summed up the reason "why" by saying simply it is the people we work with in this volunteer endeavor. In the future, we'll be seeing some of Bill's shadow on the trails for sure but also we wish him well on his crew leader retirement. As for me, I'm rather sad... as I'll need another escape goat for my feeble mind and poorly barbed wit. John Soldati

To this white blaze trail a decree was made
That too much tread was in the shade.
So from John Brown’s town the Conference spoke
And handed this Relo to a few Carolina folk.

With flags in hand, McDonald and Sommerville Surveyed the land.
North of the Blackstacks and above Camp Creek Bald
They slithered over rocks and swags on a ridge called
Firescald.

It was decades ago that this summit was named
Because of a destructive force of flame.
This knife-edge stood five thousand feet in the air,
Home to blueberries, rhododendron, the snake and bear.

A three-year project that turned to one and five;
And some that started are no longer alive.
Trail crews in vehicles with their equipment load
Traveled the nine miles up Paint Creek Road.

The loppers and sawyers were the first to go,
As the rock crews’ progress was very slow.
The first year’s work appeared rather tame
But the Konnarock crews then joined in the game.

Year by year as the summer seasons flew,
This Relo section challenged every crew.
With pinched fingers, sore backs and burning knees,
The workers were plagued by rain, wind and stinging Bees.

Each summer for years the gangs heeded the call
And ascended to battle the rock on the ridge at Firescald.
Though the labor was strenuous, the crew found joys
And sweated along side some good ol’’ Tennessee boys.

High on the peaks, as each warm season diminished;
The crews would question if this trace would ever be Finished.
For the hike up to the pinnacles grew to a mile and More
And the volunteers felt this task becoming a chore.

Yet finally, and at last, this trail was pushed through,
Now to other projects and paths will return the crew.
Of the names of these workers, few will recall
Who labored for years on the heights at Firescald.

Years hence, as to the rock work laid, a hiker may say:
“It appears that a legion of Romans has passed this Way.”
It’s easy to find this rocky trail, with endless vistas above the Bald.
Just travel north of Allen Gap and hike across the ridge Named Firescald.

Dedicated to each volunteer who labored over the years to build the Appalachian Trail
Relocation, just north of Camp Creek Bald along the border of North Carolina and Tennessee: trail crew workers of the Asheville and Brevard/Hendersonville Crews of the Carolina Mountain Club; the Greenville Hiking Club, Tennessee; the Florida residents who joined these crews during the summer months and especially the volunteers of Konnarock.

NC 215 to Devil’s Courthouse Junction
Buckspring Tral Junction to Pisgah Inn
Glassmine Overlook to Balsam Gap Overlook
Rainbow Gap to NC 128

If you are interested contact donwalton@bellsouth.net

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