Welcome to May
Last month was busy with many of you out on your section of trail. Water bars and blow downs were our main area of focus. With warmer weather, we begin planning for the trimming of grass and control of weed growth. Thank you for all your hard work.
We encourage everyone to know and establish a connection with our sawyers. If you discover a blow down on your section, please take a picture and add the GPS coordinates for each. You may contact the sawyers directly for more assistance on the removal. Our sawyers are:
Dave Bowen: [email protected]
Bruce Illusky: [email protected]
Jim Core: [email protected]
Mark Perschel: [email protected]
Kyle Brost: [email protected]
Finally, if you discover a project that you need some help with, contact Kevin Cwalina to add it to the list for the Flying McLeods. [email protected]
Last month was busy with many of you out on your section of trail. Water bars and blow downs were our main area of focus. With warmer weather, we begin planning for the trimming of grass and control of weed growth. Thank you for all your hard work.
We encourage everyone to know and establish a connection with our sawyers. If you discover a blow down on your section, please take a picture and add the GPS coordinates for each. You may contact the sawyers directly for more assistance on the removal. Our sawyers are:
Dave Bowen: [email protected]
Bruce Illusky: [email protected]
Jim Core: [email protected]
Mark Perschel: [email protected]
Kyle Brost: [email protected]
Finally, if you discover a project that you need some help with, contact Kevin Cwalina to add it to the list for the Flying McLeods. [email protected]
Featured Hike: Wildcat Trail to Sawmill Run Overlook
Pam Heinrich is leading a series of hikes this year to help others hike the AT in the South District. On April 3rd, the group hiked from Wildcat Ridge Trail to Sawmill Run Overlook. This was a special edition of our AT Hikes as we helped Bill Jones finished hiking the South District AT of Shenandoah National Park. Our group took a picture at a cool tree down along the section from Crimora Lake Overlook to Turk Gap. Thanks to Mark Perschel for his creative sawyer work. We celebrated at Sawmill Run Overlook with Sparkling White Grape Juice. Hikers that joined in on the fun were: Roger Smith, Betsy Solomon, Martha Gibbons, Barbara Martin, Diane Mayer, Brenda Uekert, Gary Forrest and Bill Jones.
The next hike is planned for May 9 from Blackrock Gap to Wildcat Ridge Trail. Come join us.
Pam Heinrich is leading a series of hikes this year to help others hike the AT in the South District. On April 3rd, the group hiked from Wildcat Ridge Trail to Sawmill Run Overlook. This was a special edition of our AT Hikes as we helped Bill Jones finished hiking the South District AT of Shenandoah National Park. Our group took a picture at a cool tree down along the section from Crimora Lake Overlook to Turk Gap. Thanks to Mark Perschel for his creative sawyer work. We celebrated at Sawmill Run Overlook with Sparkling White Grape Juice. Hikers that joined in on the fun were: Roger Smith, Betsy Solomon, Martha Gibbons, Barbara Martin, Diane Mayer, Brenda Uekert, Gary Forrest and Bill Jones.
The next hike is planned for May 9 from Blackrock Gap to Wildcat Ridge Trail. Come join us.
Phantoms From the Past:
Ghosts Shelters of the Southern Shenandoah
By: Roger Smith
In his 1921 essay in The Journal of The American Institute of Architects, where he first proposed the Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye wrote about the need for a series of Shelter Camps which he described as the “usual accompaniments of the trails”. He wrote: “They are the trail’s equipment for use. They should be located at convenient distances so as to allow a comfortable day’s walk between each. They should be equipped always for sleeping and certain of them for serving meals – after the fashion of the Swiss chalets.”
He envisioned the building of these camps to be done by volunteers, since “volunteer work is really play.” Of course, back then, MacKaye wasn’t considering the need to maintain water bars and trying to keep up with invasives, which can be described in no uncertain terms as anything but play.
But regardless…the Camp Shelters are an integral part of MacKaye’s vision for the Trail with more than 250 of them built and maintained beginning in the 1930’s by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps along with many other volunteers including the PATC. Most are simple, wooden three-wall lean-to buildings, though some feature more grand designs with windows, a second floor, a front porch and even showers.
Nearly all are located near good water sources and are the natural gathering points for both thru and section hikers, just as Benton originally intended.
Some of these shelters, though, are “ghost shelters” – phantoms from the past which have been lost over time. These are shelters which have been deconstructed and removed for a variety of reasons.
Some because they were located in wilderness areas and had to be removed following the passing of the Federal Wilderness Act in 1964. Some because of misuse and excessive partying during the counter-culture revolution in the 1970s (perhaps a story for another time). Some because of limitation of resources available to monitor and maintain them. Some, like the Mosby Shelter located between Manassas Gap and Chester Gap in Northern Virginia, were stolen by persons unknown, likely to make use of the chestnut logs that had been used in its construction.
There are several ghost shelters that used to reside in Shenandoah National Park. One such shelter was at Sawmill Run.
Sawmill Run Shelter
Sawmill Run Shelter was built in 1941. Grandma Gatewood stayed here during her historic thru-hike of the AT in 1955. Like other shelters of its generation, it was a simple, three-wall log or timber lean-to shelter located near a reliable water source (Sawmill Run).
While the exact date of its deconstruction isn’t known, the National Park Service (NPS) History indicates it was removed between 1970 and 1980 due to overuse. However, in some ways this shelter lives on as its remains were used when PATC built Calf Mountain Shelter in 1984
The shelter was accessed from a side trail which is no longer maintained but can still be seen today, especially in the Winter months when there is less foliage. You can find it near the first, sharp right turn as you make your way northbound on the AT from Sawmill Run Overlook toward Turk Gap.
While no remnants of the old shelter remain, there is a flat spot with a fire pit where it used to reside. If you’re interested in visiting the site, Jeff Monroe wrote an excellent article describing his visit to the site several years ago along with some excellent pictures. Jeff’s article can be found at Wandering Virginia: Shenandoah National Park: Former A.T. Sawmill Run Shelter Site.
Other Ghost Shelters in the Southern Shenandoah include Bigflat Mountain Shelter and South River Shelter. An interesting exhibit is available on Professor Mills Kelly’s Appalachian Trail History site found at Appalachian Trail Histories | Ghost Shelters · Trail Shelters.
Ghosts Shelters of the Southern Shenandoah
By: Roger Smith
In his 1921 essay in The Journal of The American Institute of Architects, where he first proposed the Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye wrote about the need for a series of Shelter Camps which he described as the “usual accompaniments of the trails”. He wrote: “They are the trail’s equipment for use. They should be located at convenient distances so as to allow a comfortable day’s walk between each. They should be equipped always for sleeping and certain of them for serving meals – after the fashion of the Swiss chalets.”
He envisioned the building of these camps to be done by volunteers, since “volunteer work is really play.” Of course, back then, MacKaye wasn’t considering the need to maintain water bars and trying to keep up with invasives, which can be described in no uncertain terms as anything but play.
But regardless…the Camp Shelters are an integral part of MacKaye’s vision for the Trail with more than 250 of them built and maintained beginning in the 1930’s by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps along with many other volunteers including the PATC. Most are simple, wooden three-wall lean-to buildings, though some feature more grand designs with windows, a second floor, a front porch and even showers.
Nearly all are located near good water sources and are the natural gathering points for both thru and section hikers, just as Benton originally intended.
Some of these shelters, though, are “ghost shelters” – phantoms from the past which have been lost over time. These are shelters which have been deconstructed and removed for a variety of reasons.
Some because they were located in wilderness areas and had to be removed following the passing of the Federal Wilderness Act in 1964. Some because of misuse and excessive partying during the counter-culture revolution in the 1970s (perhaps a story for another time). Some because of limitation of resources available to monitor and maintain them. Some, like the Mosby Shelter located between Manassas Gap and Chester Gap in Northern Virginia, were stolen by persons unknown, likely to make use of the chestnut logs that had been used in its construction.
There are several ghost shelters that used to reside in Shenandoah National Park. One such shelter was at Sawmill Run.
Sawmill Run Shelter
Sawmill Run Shelter was built in 1941. Grandma Gatewood stayed here during her historic thru-hike of the AT in 1955. Like other shelters of its generation, it was a simple, three-wall log or timber lean-to shelter located near a reliable water source (Sawmill Run).
While the exact date of its deconstruction isn’t known, the National Park Service (NPS) History indicates it was removed between 1970 and 1980 due to overuse. However, in some ways this shelter lives on as its remains were used when PATC built Calf Mountain Shelter in 1984
The shelter was accessed from a side trail which is no longer maintained but can still be seen today, especially in the Winter months when there is less foliage. You can find it near the first, sharp right turn as you make your way northbound on the AT from Sawmill Run Overlook toward Turk Gap.
While no remnants of the old shelter remain, there is a flat spot with a fire pit where it used to reside. If you’re interested in visiting the site, Jeff Monroe wrote an excellent article describing his visit to the site several years ago along with some excellent pictures. Jeff’s article can be found at Wandering Virginia: Shenandoah National Park: Former A.T. Sawmill Run Shelter Site.
Other Ghost Shelters in the Southern Shenandoah include Bigflat Mountain Shelter and South River Shelter. An interesting exhibit is available on Professor Mills Kelly’s Appalachian Trail History site found at Appalachian Trail Histories | Ghost Shelters · Trail Shelters.
Figure 1 - Undated Photo of Sawmill Run Shelter from the PATC Archives, courtesy of Jeff Monroe.
Invasive of the month- Wavyleaf Basketgrass
By: Ruth Stornetta
Wavyleaf basketgrass (Oplismenus undulatifolius) is an invasive perennial grass that was first detected in the park in 2005. It thrives in shady areas but can also grow in partial shade along trails. There are sightings of wavyleaf in iNaturalist near Simmons Gap and Pinefield Gap in the South District and it is likely in other areas now. If you spot this plant, please take a photo and report your observation on iNaturalist, as well as to Jake Hughes ([email protected]). Wavyleaf basketgrass is known for its shade tolerance, rapid growth, and sprawling nature, which allow it to outcompete native plants. It can take over and blanket an area-worse than stiltgrass! The grass produces numerous seeds with sticky awns (long, pointed bristles) that readily cling to boots, clothing, or animal fur, enabling easy spread through infested zones. Seeds quickly reach new locations on trails, forming dense patches via creeping above-ground roots called stolons.
You can hand pull it now if it’s a small infestation. Be sure to get all the stolons (roots) and bag it- the roots can resprout if left on the ground. This is a very dangerous invasive plant and has been devastating in Maryland- please help protect SNP from this
relatively new threat. Don’t let it spread!
By: Ruth Stornetta
Wavyleaf basketgrass (Oplismenus undulatifolius) is an invasive perennial grass that was first detected in the park in 2005. It thrives in shady areas but can also grow in partial shade along trails. There are sightings of wavyleaf in iNaturalist near Simmons Gap and Pinefield Gap in the South District and it is likely in other areas now. If you spot this plant, please take a photo and report your observation on iNaturalist, as well as to Jake Hughes ([email protected]). Wavyleaf basketgrass is known for its shade tolerance, rapid growth, and sprawling nature, which allow it to outcompete native plants. It can take over and blanket an area-worse than stiltgrass! The grass produces numerous seeds with sticky awns (long, pointed bristles) that readily cling to boots, clothing, or animal fur, enabling easy spread through infested zones. Seeds quickly reach new locations on trails, forming dense patches via creeping above-ground roots called stolons.
You can hand pull it now if it’s a small infestation. Be sure to get all the stolons (roots) and bag it- the roots can resprout if left on the ground. This is a very dangerous invasive plant and has been devastating in Maryland- please help protect SNP from this
relatively new threat. Don’t let it spread!
Featured Flower: Red Trillium
There is one special place in Shenandoah National Park where you can see Red Trillium (Trillium erectum). We are lucky that this spot is on the AT leading to Hightop Summit. From Hightop Summit Parking, head south towards the summit. The Red Trillium bloomed a little early year and were seen around mid-April.
History and Legends:
This flower is also called "wake robin." This name was given to it because the red hue of the flowers was said to mirror both in appearance and timing the red breast of the American robin.
Red Trillium is also called "beth root" which is from "birth root." The root was thought to assist in childbirth as root teas were made to help induce childbirth and aid in labor. Native Americans also created the whole plat into a poultice and used it to treat tumors, inflammation and ulcers.
There is one special place in Shenandoah National Park where you can see Red Trillium (Trillium erectum). We are lucky that this spot is on the AT leading to Hightop Summit. From Hightop Summit Parking, head south towards the summit. The Red Trillium bloomed a little early year and were seen around mid-April.
History and Legends:
This flower is also called "wake robin." This name was given to it because the red hue of the flowers was said to mirror both in appearance and timing the red breast of the American robin.
Red Trillium is also called "beth root" which is from "birth root." The root was thought to assist in childbirth as root teas were made to help induce childbirth and aid in labor. Native Americans also created the whole plat into a poultice and used it to treat tumors, inflammation and ulcers.
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