Catskill 3500 Club
Section: Northern Peaks | Central Peaks | Southern Peaks | Off Trail & Winter | Hiking Resources
John Robb lean-to project
The Grand Finale!
12/6/09
As with the previous two work dates, a fabulous group of 17 volunteers showed up on Sunday morning to see if we could finish the new John Robb lean-to. Some were returning for a second or third time, some were helping out for the first time. There was Tom, Joe, Colin, Wanda, Bill, Jeremy, Vince, Tony, Art, Jean, Doug, Jeff, Pete, Rick, Jay , Cal and Moe. Some had the luxury of riding up on top of the wonderful smelling cedar shake shingles, while a few chose to walk instead.
And once again, as with the previous work days, folks just struck out to accomplish a task, some got up on the roof, some cut out and signed the trail to the spring, some "obilterated" our work access trail, some built the fire pit, some cut out and signed the new access trail to the lean-to, some worked on the over flow campsites, some painted, some did a bit more mitigating at the old lean-to site.
The camraderie was great, there was whistling and laughter under a beautiful blue sky. Many took their much deserved lunch break at the new vista which with the leaves off even affords a good view of the tower. And while we began to worry that we would have to break out headlamps for the final bits of work, we heard from Pete the boss, "There it's done! Can you believe it?" Pete has worked behind the scenes for the last several years to accomplish this project and with the help of so many volunteers on these work days and a few behind the scenes trips as well, we had reached the Grand Finale!
We hated to leave the site, a truly beautiful place to spend the night for sure. Please accept our sincere appreciation to each of you who helped with this project on any of the trips. What you accomplished in just a few short days of work is truly amazing! I hope you all get the opportunity to spend the night in this wonderful place and enjoy the fruits of your labors. See Pictures
First Report
7/2/09
Twelve hearty soles with strong backs and a great sense of humor showed up on Saturday to do the site work for the lean-to. I should also mention that all of them came with rain gear.
We not only prepared the site by removing the trees and brush, but also we prepared a path for bringing in the stone and eventually the logs and other materials to the site as well as the trail to the view point. Paula and Ed made sure that the overhanging branches that would trap the quarry men were removed from the path. Pete was the chain saw man, others pitched in to build a huge pile of fire wood for the first few months worth of folks staying at the new lean-to. Gordon searched out the view point that he knew was there. The stones were quarried from several areas, first from the old lean-to site, then brought down hill by wheelbarrows and strong men to the new path, very carefully moved along the new path and then eventually to the foundation itself. If local quarries are looking for any help, may I suggest Ralph, Jay, Bill, Tom and Alexander. Doug and Jeff worked on mitigating the old lean-to site. The fireplace was dismantled as was the outhouse, the hole was filled with debris from the base of the old fireplace as our demolition man Bill sledged it apart into small pieces. Trees were planted to discourage people from camping in the area. This area was our "staging area" and as Doug and Jeff saw the very dark cloud rolling in from East Rusk, they erected a tarp to put our packs in under and were we ever thankful for that as the skies began to pour upon us in lovely short bursts. The rain did mitigate the bugs which were also coming in downpours! At this point our group was joined by Assistant Forest Ranger Andy, who donned his rain gear and jumped in to help as well.
As the afternoon progressed the clearing of the ground was done by each of us as we leveled the sight and chopped roots, occasionally found a rock and chopped roots, measured for length and width, and chopped roots, and the deliveries of stone to the stone dock continued. The laying of the stone seemed to deplete the piles of stone in record time and a new round of quarrying began, but at last a finished product! We brushed in the path to try to discourage to much investigation.
Covered in mud and bug bites, complete with lots of sore, aching muscles and a wonderful sense of accomplishment, we loaded all of the gear back into our gear truck and made our way back to the parking lot. We somehow found enough energy left to talk non-stop on our walk back to the trailhead. There a few cold ones and a snack in the rain which we were not even noticing now and our day was done! Very well done!
Thanks you so very much to Pete, Doug, Jeff, Ralph, Jay, Bill, Gordon, Alexander, Ed, Paula, Tom, and Andy for making this such a successful outing. Your work and your attitudes were AWESOME!
Pete is keeping in touch with the DEC and at this time reports that the new logs are being cut and milled and will be taken to North Lake. There, the lean-to will be put together to be sure everything fits correctly, then it will be disassembled and carefully numbered. At that point (Pete expects that point to be sometime toward the end of August), it will be time to truck them to the site and gather together the next round of volunteers for carrying them along the new path and erecting the lean-to! You will be hearing from me again then.