Spring 2026 Trail Days, Winter Photos

Spring Trail Days

This winter’s Ice Age froze some of our usual winter volunteer fun, but spring is in the air and trail days are back!  On the Appalachian Ranger District, look for cleanups on the upper Noli, South Toe, and Big Laurel Creek.  On the Grandfather Ranger District, we’ll initially focus on completing the reroute of upper Pinch-In Trail.

 

Winter Photos

STEELS CREEK – The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail supported community volunteers and the Wild South Trail Strike Team in repair of hurricane flood damage on Steels Creek Trail. It was an all-hands affair, and we were joined by SAWS, USFS, and the MST Segment 4 Task Force.

 

SHORTOFF, LEADMINE, and the LGT – Shout out to the G5 Trail Collective for supporting our Trail Strike Team in pre-season hurricane recovery efforts on Shortoff Mountain and the “Leadmine” trail to Daffodil Flats.  The Team also removed the last of Helen’s hazard trees on the Linville Gorge Trail, and built a reroute over a deadly landslide.  The LGT section from Spence Ridge to Babel Tower is now officially reopened.

 

Linville River Flood Debris – Christen and James fished a big tank out of the Linville River and staged it on the trail for removal.  Outward Bound will join us in early April for a mock rescue exercise, carrying the tank out of the deep Gorge as part of their Wilderness First Responder training.

 

Pinch-In – Volunteers can now plug back into this big project to reroute parts of Pinch-In, soon to connect north to Rock Jock.  Most Thursdays and Saturdays for the next month or so will see us working alongside the strike team on this important project.  We’re pushing to get as much of this one done as possible before the summer heat.  Helene smashed this area, and the remaining trees offer little shade.