Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 28, 1990 TAG: 9007270423
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JUSTINE ELIAS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: PEMBROKE LENGTH: Medium
Hikers also will see uprooted trees, erosion and rock slides, the legacy of Hurricane Hugo and heavy spring rains.
Nature has been working overtime, according to Jefferson National Forest officials.
"On one face of the mountain, on the upper trail, the trees have been flattened in several places," said ranger David Collins. "After the heavy rains in March, we had to close part of the trail." All trails have been reopened, he said.
"Ninety-nine percent of what you see is Hugo," said resource assistant William Compton as he led visitors up a two-mile trail. Near the waterfall, the dense forest gives way to a sunny clearing. The reason: Half the trees were uprooted by the September hurricane and heavy spring rains washed away topsoil, leaving bare rock exposed.
"That isn't the worst of it," Compton said, pointing to a steep incline where a fourth of the trees have come down. "Wait until we get higher up."
"The choice we had was to move the slide or to relocate the trail," said Compton. A temporary detour leads hikers around the fallen trees. "We are going to clear it. These trees that are blown over, entangled, have to be cut and moved. That's very risky business."
Rangers plan to seed the hillside to prevent further erosion. "The contour will be pretty much as it was. Nothing in nature stays the same," said Compton.
"People get us confused with the National Park Service, and they shouldn't." The Forest Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has a mission to provide a "sustained yield in perpetuity," said Compton. National forest lands are often leased to logging, mining or oil interests.
The Cascades Recreational Area, acquired 50 years ago, is one of the most popular Forest Service attractions in the region, Compton said. The 100,000-acre Jefferson National Forest is used mainly for preservation of woodland and recreation.
Improvements scheduled to be finished by late August include a new viewing platform at the foot of the falls. "It'll be a very nice addition here. It's going to be quality," said Compton.
Another project, still in the planning stage because of budget constraints, will be the construction of another platform halfway up the 60-foot waterfall.
Officials hope the new construction will prevent visitors from climbing to the top of the falls or edging out on the rocks halfway up. Three hikers have died after falling from the slippery rock ledge.
"There used to be a path to the top," said Compton, indicating a steep slope near the top of the falls. "But Mother Nature decided she didn't want one there, so it's all washed away."
Forest officials also plan to fill in some gaps along the last, most difficult part of the rocky path.
Rangers' vehicles can make it only halfway up the old logging road that's become one of the trails.
"Maybe 15 tons of stone will go in, all carried on pack frames or on our backs," said project director Charles Dundas of Tri State Co. Inc. The Huntington, W.Va., company has worked in the George Washington National Forest.
"All the concrete has to be made on the site," said Dundas. "The excavation is done by hand, with pickaxes or rock hammers. We have a gasoline-powered jackhammer to break up the bigger rocks, and we carry in a generator."
"We can't get any big equipment in here," said Ted Kayes, who joined the crew last month.
"We hope to have it done by the middle of August," Dundas said. "We are on schedule, but if it rains, it'll slow us up."
"You get done what you can get done. It takes us an hour and a half to get in, and an hour and a half to get out at night."
"We've carried things a lot further than this," Dundas said.
Tri State Co., once associated with the Boy Scouts, was incorporated eight years ago to create jobs for Huntington area boys with scouting backgrounds.
"We got our experience doing volunteer work," said Dundas, a colonel in the Marine Reserve. He said his three assistants are all former Eagle Scouts.
"If you want something moved from the bottom of a mountain to the top, this is who you call," said Compton.
"We prefer to move things from the top down," said Dundas.
"There are some pleasant diversions to the job. It's in the 90s out there, and its in the 70s down here by the falls."
by CNB