Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was humid. 🥵 But everyone was out of the woods before the temperature hit 90°, and what an AMAZING work party it was!
We had hoped to attract enough volunteers to run 3 DR mowers, 2 string trimmers and loppers. Instead, we had the largest volunteer turnout EVER for Deep Step Trail!
And a really cool part? Three generations of the Tritz family came out together and worked on more than a mile of trail. Now THAT is some amazing trail stewardship!
We had an incredible mix of experienced and brand-new volunteers, and just like the trails themselves, we had runners, mountain bikers and hikers all working side by side to give Deep Step some much-needed love.
A HUGE thank-you to these trail heroes:
Chris Driver, Deep Step Trail Champion
Chris Ashwell
Duane Jennings
Erica Hanley
Gabe Hoffman
Jeff Lippe
George Murphy
Kris Tritz
Rebekah Tritz
Kathy Tritz
Michael Tritz
Arabelle Tritz
Julie Voegtlen
Miles St Peter
Jennifer Maurer
Brent Carter
Daniel Allen
Jackie Sanders
Angela Allen
You all ROCK! ❤️
And then there is one of our favorite parts of every work party: the part after the work is done.
Jackie cooked hot dogs, we broke out the chips and dessert, handed out cold, wet towels and ice-cold Gatorade, and most importantly, spent time together.
Because trail work is about so much more than clearing foliage. It is about building a community of people who care about these trails and about each other. There is something pretty special about sitting around after sweating together, laughing together, swapping stories and getting to know the amazing people who make up our trail community.
That may be the best reward of all.
And now for the important part…
Deep Step is READY!
Get out there as soon as you can and enjoy it. The foliage is still growing, so now is the perfect time to see what a little trail love can do!
Up Next: Big Rock Trail, Saturday, August 22
Big Rock has had some attention along the way from our diligent volunteers with string trimmers, but it is time to hit it hard and get it ready for fall!
If we have enough volunteers, we will also give the top of Tower Trail a quick cut. That section was cut very early, in early June, during the recovery effort to get Tower back open after Hurricane Helene, so it is ready for some regular foliage maintenance too.
Got some time to give? Or know someone who might lend a hand?
Have them reach out through sorbacsra.org or email sorba.csra@gmail.com.
With Big Rock, we will complete the scheduled foliage maintenance work at FATS. We do anticipate some additional tidying up before the FATS Flow Master and FATS 50K in October, and we have a couple of outlying trails that we will put on the September schedule.
But for today…
Deep Step is ready to RIDE. RUN. HIKE.
Come enjoy it, and if you see a trail volunteer out there working on any of our trails, give them a big thank-you, or even better, sign up to join us sometime!
