Participants

Here are the participants for this year's work party. If you don't see your name here and it should be, send an e-mail to Anstr at anstr@vhtrc.org

Frank Probst
Mike Bur
Mike Campbell
Quatro Hubbard
Kerry Owens
Marlin Yoder
Ted and Sharon Lapkoff
Vicki Kendall
Barb Isom
Susan Baehre
Kari and Bob Anderson
Gary Knipling
Charlie Miracle
Carolyn Gernand
Chris Scott
Carl Camp
Keith Knipling
Mary Campbell
Fernando Garcia
Bill Wandell
Stan Duobinis and Margie Schlundt
Tom and Kristin Corris
Michele Harmon
Joe Clapper
Anstr Davidson

If you can make it, please e-mail Anstr at anstr@vhtrc.org

Reports from:
2007 | 2002 | 2001
2000 | 1998 | 1999

VHTRC Work Party 2008

May 3-4, 2008

On May 3, 2008, the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club will have its annual work party on trails in the Lee District of the George Washington National Forest. Come join us for a day of hard work. Make the trails your trails because you worked on them.

Here is the information on the 2008 Work Party. Be sure to contact Anstr at anstr@vhtrc.org, with any questions.

All Participants:

If you are coming and don't see your name to the left, please send e-mail to Anstr that indicates:

That you are coming. (Also, please let me know if you now can't come.)
Where you will meet us.

Work Teams

Here are the work teams that we are planning.

Kern's Mtn. Mike Bur will lead this groupd and Ed Brimberg of the PATC will join them with his chainsaw. They will clear the MT from the Crisman Hollow trail to Jawbone Gap. They will leave a car at Gap Creek and start from the south end.
211 to Gap Creek Carolyn Gernand will coordinate this team. It will drive in to the connector trail and go north on the connector trail to the MT. They will follow the MT north to Scothorn and then take the trail to Gap Creek (the way MMT goes).
Duncan Loop Gary will lead a team that will start at the Scothorn Gap trail head and make a loop that goes into Duncan Hollow.
Duncan Hollow Anstr will lead a team that will leave from Camp Roosevelt and go south on the MT toward Scothorn Gap. The Team will meet the Gary team.
211 south to Bird Knob Quatro will lead this group what will paint orange blazes from 211 E to the start of the Bird Knob trail (if they get that far). They will also clear buresh.
Picnic Area clean up Stan and Margie will lead this group. [News flash! We will be using the Picnic Area (not the 211E parking lot) as an aid station this year!] The area is in pretty good shape but needs some weed control. No more than one or two people should be needed in addition to Stan and Margie.
Short Mtn. If we have enough people, we will send a team to get a couple of blowdowns up there. But this section was done in February and is not high priority.
Edinburg to Woodstock Chris Scott (the mountain bike guy, not the other one) wants to bring a team of bikers to help us. We currently plan that they will do the section from Edinburg to Woodstock.

Meeting Points

There are two meeting points. They are set out below. Some of you may be going straight to your team's points. You will know who you are if that is happening.

Centreville Park and Ride Meeting time 6:15 am, Saturday.
Visitor's Center: Meeting time: 8:15 am. No team will work from the Visitor's Center, but it is the default meeting point. There are three ways to get to the Visitors Center from inside the Beltway. You can pick your poison. All start by taking I-66 west past Manassass.

211 Route: Take Route 29 off of I-66 in Gainesville. In Warrenton, take Route 211 west and go on 211 through Luray and on to the top of the Massanutten Mountain on route 211 where the Visitor's Center is no the left. Advantage: It's the hypotenuse of the triangle. Disadvantages: Have to go over the Blue Ridge (big hill), road is not as good, and the speed limit is 55 on 211 with heavy police enforcement.
340 Route: Go all the way to Front Royal and take Exit 13 (the first Front Royal exit). Jog down to Route 55 and take 55 into Front Royal. Go until the road ends (Route 55 will turn right at a traffic light--don't follow it). Turn left at the end of the road, and you are on 340. Take Route 340 south for what seems like about 1000 miles to Luray. Get on 211 West and, as above, go to top of hill. Visitor's Center on the left. Advantages: No hill to go over, easy coffee refueling in Front Royal, probably shorter than next option. Disadvantage: Over 20 miles of two-lane road.
Mostly Freeway Route: Take I-66 all the way to I-81. Take I-81 south to New Market and take route 211 (exit 264). Take 211 East to the top of the hill. Visitors Center is on the right. Advantage: Almost all freeway with 65 mile speed limit past Manassass. Disadvantage: Longest in distance, I-81 is a speedway for big trucks that can squash you flat!

We will work all day Saturday, stay out in Front Royal that night, and have a run on Sunday. The club will subsidize a small part of this event. The Saturday night and Sunday run activities are optional but highly recommended. (They are the fun.)

Post Run Festivities: There will be food and refreshments at Kerry's house near Front Royal. We will have directions for you. Even if you only stop by Kerry's on the way home, it's not far out of your way.

What to Bring: Working on the trail is different from running on the trail. You probably will be happier in boots than in running shoes. You will want long, heavy pants even if it's a warm day. You should have eye protection and gloves. Finally, you will need to provide for your own food and water. Bring water bottles and a lunch or heavy snacks. Heavy earth-moving tools will be provided if we are going to use them. Please bring bow or hand saws and "loppers" (long-handled clippers) if you have them.

Safety: Remember to use your head. When you start rocks or trees moving, they stop when they want to, not when you want them to. Be careful!

Wil Kohlbrenner provided his description of PATC trail work. While this describes a PATC work party, it provides some good ideas for what you should expect on this work party. Please note his comment about dogs on work parties.

Alternate Plans: While we usually don't cancel a run for weather, bad weather can mess up these plans. Watch this site for information about last minute changes in plans. The alternate is to go on the next day, Sunday, May 4.

Schedule: Here is our tentative schedule. Please watch this page for possible changes.

6:15 AM--Meet at the Centreville Park and Ride.
6:16 AM--Leave for the Visitors Center and/or work sites.
8:15 AM--Arrive at the Visitors Center. Divide into teams
4:00 PM--Our union says we can quit work by four!
5:00 PM--Reception at Kerry's near Front Royal (Portobello)
7:00 AM (Sunday)--Run the Dickey Ridge trail in Shenandoah National Park or a Massanutten training run.