PATH Members Keep Wilderness Open for Travel

By Karl Kunkel

ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL - Call it a homing instinct.

Gordon Burgess' ancient Volkswagen Beetle has lumbered up the same mountains southwest Virginia nearly every month from March through October for almost 20 years.

A recent crisp October weekend was no exception, Burgess is a wiry 75-year-old retired mechanical engineer from Winston-Salem. For his most recent trip to the mountains he loaded camping gear into the trunk of his car and headed for the campgrounds a few miles north or Wytheville, Va.

It was another monthly workday for the Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers (PATH), who maintain a 48-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail. PATH is one or 33 groups of volunteers who maintain the 2,147-mile hiking trail that stretches along the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Maine.

PATH is unique in that the more than 200 members who care for this serpentine length of Virginia wilderness are almost entirely residents of North Carolina. Many of them live in the Triad.

This is the 31st year of service for the group and they show no sign of slowing down, not with the constant influx of new blood signing on to help.

Members represent a wide range of ages and careers, and many drive from as far as Raleigh and Charlotte to volunteer their services.

Burgess, besides being the unofficial greeter for newcomers, is in charge of assignments.

"It takes a lot of planning," Burgess said.

When PATH members roll into the Virginia campground, they check with Burgess so he can organize the groups of workers who will go out on Saturday morning.

Most of them arrive Friday night after putting in a full day at work. Others drive in on Saturday mornings, arriving in time for the 8 o'clock start.

The temperature is usually 10 to 15 degrees cooler than in North Carolina, and weather changes are as frequent as the twists and turns in the trail. The same shorts-and-T-shirt outfit that felt fine in High Point is usually too skimpy for the brisk mountain temperatures.

An increasing number of hikers and the natural elements wear out parts of the trail. PATH members concentrate on these areas throughout the work season.

March is generally reserved for removal of "blow-downs" - large branches and sometimes entire trees that have fallen across the trail during the winter.

This spring, some of the larger trees that were toppled by ice storms and hurricanes gave some parts of the trail the appearance of a war zone.

PATH members removed as much as they could with chain saws and branch loppers that they had lugged for miles, because much of the trail is inaccessible by vehicle.

Some of the trees are too big to remove, and backpackers still have to bend down to walk beneath them.

The trail is always subtly shifting due to encroachment by land developers and changing natural conditions.

A few years ago, part of the trail was relocated to an entirely different mountain because of a lack of available water for long-distance hikers.

The Appalachian Trail of the l930s is far different from today's.

This year alone PATH members completed two "relos," or relocations of stretches of the trail. That work involved rerouting the trails along the side of steep, heavily wooded hills ("side-hilling") under the supervision of the Appalachian Trail Conference headquarters in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and the U.S. Forest Service.

Virtually every foot of the trail that is changed must be documented, and it's Ken Rose's duty to work closely with these officials.

Rose, 69, is PATH's trail supervisor. He joined the group 20 years ago as a means of helping one of his sons who had dyslexia, grow as an individual.

"He loved the outdoors and the open space fitted his condition," Rose said.

Rose continues a rigorous schedule despite his age. He and Burgess often work on the trail during weekdays, getting things ready for the weekend volunteers.

"I love the outdoors," Rose said. "Climbing mountains helps with weight control, and I like to accomplish something. (The trail) looks nice when it's finished. I'm proud to be associated with it."

PATH also maintains several wood-and-stone camping shelters for long-distance hikers who are "thruhiking" from Georgia to Maine. Those shelters, which are designed to be impossible to reach by vehicle, must be repaired periodically.

This summer PATH members replaced a heavy door at one of the shelters, lugging the heavy boards and tools more than a mile up a steep mountain.

Another group carried more than 80 pounds of cement and gallons.of water to a shelter so the spaces between the logs could be chinked, to prevent the wind from seeping through the walls.

Many of the summer work trips involved weed-whacking, cutting back thickets of briars and other fast growing vegetation that threatened to obliterate portions of the trail.

October is the favorite month for PATH members. That is when they paint "blazes," touching up the white rectangular markings on trees, which denote the trail. The bugs are gone, and the hot, sticky weather is replaced by crisp days with rays of sun coming through the autumn leaves at their most radiant.

Jeff Brown of Winston-Salem said the blaze-painting trips helped him introduce each of his three children to PATH when they were around 2 or 3 years old. He would place a child in his backpack, which happened to be the same height as the blaze, and turn so the child could repaint the marking.

"They always love the blazing," he said. "Separating kids from paint is difficult."

PATH members are an eclectic bunch, and it's that diversity which makes the group so enjoyable, Brown says.

He has noticed some changes in the membership over the years.

"I've seen a whole bunch of new members, and they are bringing their families," he said. "The trail is in good shape."

And so is PATH.

Volunteers Find Their Task Enriching

By Karl Kunkel

Being a member of PATH isn't easy.

Some weekends PATH members have to endure cold weather and rain. They've waded through ankle-deep mud to get to their work stations. On warm weekends they're fodder for hungry insects, and every weekend they can expect to return home with sore muscles.

Their work is strictly voluntary. They receive no compensation, not even for gas to get there.

So why do they do it?

PATH members have a number of reasons.

"I'm a big believer that we have to give something back," said Marcia Cope, a Winston-Salem office administrator who became involved with PATH last year. "I'm enriched by it. I feel that whatever I do to contribute, PATH is grateful for it."

Cope was one of the Triad's key organizers of a "Trail Neighbors Supper" that PATH held in September for the Virginia residents whose homes are adjacent to the trail. In some cases, the trail cuts through their pasture land.

Cope, Paul Clayton of Winston-Salem and Dave Emrey helped prepare the meal. They marinated chicken, baked bread and ordered a large cake with the inscription, "Thanks to our Trail Friends!"

Felicia Hayton, a Ceres, Va., resident who attended the cookout, said she and her husband now deceased, had made many friends over the years because of the trail. She still receives postcards and letters from hikers who stopped by her house and remember her generosity. She is also in frequent touch with PATH members, whom she sees practically every month. "I've met a lot of nice people from PATH," she said.

Emrey, a Greensboro consultant for manufacturing companies, joined PATH 17 years ago. Being around technology and machinery all the time, he relished a chance to pitch his tent under the pine trees and listen to whippoorwills and owls instead of the grinding of gears.

"There is an inherent need for me to connect with the earth," Emrey said. Participating in PATH has enabled him to hike, perform community service and surround himself with trees, streams and wildlife at the same time.

Many members see the PATH experience as a valuable educational tool for their children.

Jerff and Mary Brown of Winston-Salem are the parents of three children, ages 11, 8 and 6.

In the nine years they have belonged to PATH, the Browns have woven PATH outings into the fabric of their family. Brown is a sales executive for a packaging company. He and his wife have tried to introduce each of their children to PATH's environmental goals - and to the fun part of PATH, such as camping and hiking,

Brown remembers carrying one child, who was in diapers, in his backpack to the top of Chestnut Knob, one of the most scenic parts of the trail.

"I've tried to make sure the weather is good and that they have a positive outdoor experience," he said. "It has always worked well."

If the weather is nice, the Browns camp out, but if it's too cold or rainy, they head home after working on the trail.

Scott Chapman, a High Pointer who joined PATH last year, signed up to spend time with his children in the outdoors. Camping, he said, is a good way for parents to learn about their children - and vice versa.

"They see you as you really are," said Chapman, chief financial officer of a company that designs office interiors. "It's an opportunity to let them see "out in an unencumbered environment."

It's also an opportunity to support an organization that strives to preserve natural resources.

"We are oriented to conservation," Chapman said.

Ken Rose, 69, PATH's trail supervisor, joined the group 20 years ago as a means or helping one of his sons, coping with dyslexia, grow as an individual.

Rose remembers when one of his sons met a hiker who had raved about the great condition of PATH's section of the trail.

"He told the man, 'You hiked on a section my daddy and me had worked on,' " Rose said.

PATH members are an interesting bunch. Many are retirees who can devote several days at a time to the trail. Younger members are able to make their own unique contributions, too.

Tony Roberts, a new member from Greensboro, has been using his software and publishing knowledge to help revamp the group's web pages. Vaughn Thomas was field editor for the latest "Appalachian Trail Guide for Southwestern Virginia," and she is busy on the next edition.

Mark Clayton, a noted Winston-Salem backpacker and adventurer, has led many introductory backpacking trips for novice PATH members.