Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 28, 1994 TAG: 9403010010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Only for him, that back yard is the Appalachian Trail. And the cleaning will require more than a rake and a bow saw.
After February's big ice storm, the Appalachian Trail, a scenic 2,146-mile footpath which runs along the ridgetops of Southwest Virginia, was devastated. Parry, trail supervisor of the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club, is one of many people helping to restore it to it's "pre-ice storm" condition.
With a skin-and-bones budget and reduced staff in the National Forest Service, it looks like it will be up to area volunteer groups to make the Appalachian Trail passable.
Rangers in the Jefferson National Forest flew over the Appalachian Trail two weeks ago to observe the damage. In a nutshell, said interpretive specialist Bob McKinney of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, "it looks just like a war zone."
At Mount Rogers, about 25 of more than 60 miles of the trail is damaged, mostly with downed trees, called blowdowns.
"I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a 10-mile section that is clear," McKinney said.
McKinney said volunteers from several area clubs have done the only cleanup work in the area. And even with their help, "some of these trails will not be cleared until well up into the summer," he said.
"We have no extra equipment, money supplied or plans to hire people - although we'd like to," McKinney said. "But we've had real good response from volunteers and we're relying heavily on them."
As for Parry, he and several other Roanoke trail club members have hit the trails to clear them in time for the rush of springtime "thru-hikers," those who attempt to hike the entire trail in one season. These long-distance hikers usually come through Virginia in late April through early June.
In Bland County, near the small community of Holybrook, Parry and two friends worked an entire day to clear a two-mile section on Brushy Mountain.
"There were 100 blowdowns or more in [that section], but they weren't single trees," Parry said. "They were the tops, trunks and branches, and they were going every which way. There were three or four areas where it took up to a half-hour to go 100 feet."
Other sections with heavy damage
include an area near U.S. 220 in Botetourt County. Homer and Therese Witcher of Troutville have spent countless hours clearing from U.S. 220 south to Angel's Gap, and north to Fullhart Knob. The damage, said Homer Witcher "was definitely worse than [Hurricane] Hugo," which raged through Southwest Virginia in the fall of 1989.
A trail maintainer since 1970, Dr. Siegfried Kolmstetter said he has never seen the trail in worse shape. He has worked to clear the trail from Virginia 311 to Campbell Shelter, just past the popular McAfee Knob rock outcroppings.
"There were all small branches and vines, and the pines were hit bad, too," he said. "It's all tangled up and you have to use your brain when cutting these areas."
The "messy" blowdowns are much harder to clear than a single, large downed tree, said Kolmstetter.
The Wythe Ranger District, south of the New River Valley, was hit particularly hard, with rangers reporting 40 miles of the 75- mile stretch of trail in their district littered with downed trees, vines and other debris.
"We still have a large number of open roads that need to be cleared first, and that will receive top priority," said district wildlife biologist Sandy Florence. And with only four full-time staffers, and no hope for any temporary positions, Florence said their district, too, will depend on volunteer help to clear the trail.
"I think it's going to be at least the middle of the summer" before trail crews, summer college students and volunteers can complete the work, she said.
Areas in the higher elevations of the New River Valley - Sinking Creek Mountain, John's Creek near Kelly's Knob and Virginia 42, the Peters Mountain wilderness and parts of Dismal Creek - sustained damage, as well as sections as far north as Spy Rock, maintained by the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail club. The Glenwood Ranger District seemed to sustain little damage in comparison.
The long-term prognosis is still favorable. Trail workers say nature has a way of healing herself, and in time, no one will even notice the hundreds of "topless" trees or the splintered scrub pines.
Nine consecutive weekend work hikes have been planned by the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club beginning SundayMarch 6. For further information, call Mike Dawson of the Regional Appalachian Trail Conference in Newport at 544-7388, or Charles Parry in Blacksburg, 231-5516.
by CNB