Author Topic: The Weather - 2022  (Read 5753 times)

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Offline imref

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Re: The Weather - 2022
« Reply #75: January 13, 2022, 11:56:53 AM »
Interesting read, thanks.  I joined PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) last week and have already been volunteering on trail maintenance.  Last week's storm did a number on trails all around the region.  Snow was incredibly wet, sticky and heavy; pines of all kinds, any other trees with leaves still on capable of catching snow got really wasted.  So many trees bent over with their tops now anchored to the ground in snow & ice. 

One of my friends qualified as a "sawyer" with PATC / Natl' Park Service, I'm his go-to "swamper", meaning working in a team for safety and efficiency.  He cuts 'em, I move em off the trail.  We cleared 2 miles of neighborhood trails last week and today we worked on a larger team of about 14 in Prince William Forest Park, clearing about 2 miles of trail (Pyrite mine area).  Hard work but really fun, and the trails are completely unusable without this sort of effort.  Parks don't have the manpower to do this alone - of the 14 2 were park employees, the rest PATC volunteers.

There are also a heck of a lot of "widow makers", trees broken off at the trunk and dangling over a trail, or just bad leaners.  This upcoming storm could force us to go back out and re-open trails we just cleared.  Meanwhile lots of miles of trail still remain untouched.  One way to get in shape I guess.

Glad to hear you in the PATC Tom, lot's of Scout leaders are in there from what I've seen. :)