The Unturned Stone

We start at dawn because there are more ‘lifties’ in the air when it’s cold. Monday we began staging our latest construction project on the Deep Gap trail in Mount Mitchell State Park

near Burnsville, North Carolina. Located on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mount Mitchell is the highest point in the eastern United States at 6,684 feet tall.

We decided to stage the project by helicopter because of the rugged terrain and the amount of materials needed to complete the trail. We are working with Mike Provost of Pirate Airlift from Atlanta, Georgia. He flies a Sikorsky S-58 which can carry up to 3,500 pounds. Because of the elevations we are working, we have restricted weights to about 1000 pounds per flight. A good working relationship with Mike and his crew and careful planning (and problem-solving) allowed us to move 100 tons of stone, gravel and sand-rock yesterday. Fog has limited our flying time today. Monday we were on the news.
The park closed its uppper parking lots to allow us to stage the materials and the helicopter and for public safety. To move so much material so quickly, we have developed a efficient and fast-moving operation. Cargo nets and tarps are used to lift the material, which are flown to designated drop zones along the trail. The empty cargo nets are flown back to parking lot and reloaded with whatever supply is needed. By having 20 plus cargo nets we are able to keep ahead of the chopper, meaning there’s no waiting between runs. Only the people hooking up the next load work under the helicopter. Everyone else stands clear until the chopper is on its way and then they move in to prepare the next load. We have tried to keep the parking area as clean as possible, to minimize the dust storms thrown up by the rotor wash, the fierce winds kicked up by the helicopter’s blades.
There’s a restaurant in the park that has been gracious enough to feed us breakfast every morning at 5:30 a.m. and dinner whenever we wander back in every evening. Last night we had burgers and fries and peach cobbler. After dessert, we sent Will off to Cleveland to be married this weekend. Congratulations, Will and Molly!

It’s exhausting work and makes for long days, but as Steve of Pirate Airlift said, “What an office!”

Last week the Unturned Stone had a company day. We reviewed our new policies manual and the schdeule for the very busy spring and summmer seasons. We have trail projects in Mount Mitchell and Stone Mountain State Parks as well as a small private trail that will lead into a very exciting project, building a strucural stone cabin deep in the woods.
The last time we all met, we made a company wide wager on how many timber terraces would be required to get us out of the last section of the Ledge Spring Trail at Pilot Mountain. Guesses varied from 60 to 350. Mike came closest (without going over a la Showcase Showdown) with his guess of 155. He was rewarded with a wind chime built by Fred of left over bits from the year long project. A worn out diamond blade is suspended from a saw chain. Toasted drill bits dangle delicately in the breeze. Nicknamed the “tetanus chime”, it is more a tornado warning system than wind chime, but when shaken, it does sound lovely. Congratulations, Mike.

After our meetings, we welcomed some of the crew from Peter Jensen & Associates, another trail company that has been working recently in Hanging Rock State Park. Bocci, disc golf and volleyball were all popular, as was drinking beer and eating grilled things and cookies. The front lawn was devoted to the unfortunately named game cornhole (sometimes also called bag toss.)

At dusk Fred pulled out her juggling pins and illuminated the yard with spinning fire. Before becoming a trail-builder, stone mason and business owner, she spent time busking on the street.

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We’ve just added a new page about cutting stone. Written by Lester C. Kenway of Trail Services, the article details the old school techniques used to cut granite for trail and stone construction in Acadia National Park. While the article focuses on granite, most of the techniques can be applied to most varieties of stone.
Thanks to Lester for sharing the article with us. Thanks also to Ian for typing up the web page.