Volunteer Spotlight – Jon Massey
Jon has been adventuring with Wild South in Linville Gorge Wilderness for 8 years and has logged over 4,000 volunteer hours. He loves to explore the steep terrain of the Gorge and names Shortoff Mountain as one of his favorite places.
When asked to share one of his favorite Wild South memories, Jon said… “Hauling tires out from beneath Wiseman’s view. 4 front loader tires had been thrown over the cliff by litterers. Each tire weighed about 350 lbs. Took a team of volunteers two days to drag them up the hill to the base of the cliff. The tires were hauled to the top of the 150’ cliffs by trail crew volunteers and a local volunteer rescue squad, who used the cleanup as a training. The tires were then taken to a local high school where they were used by the sports team as exercise equipment.”
When he isn’t volunteering with Wild South, you can still find him in the woods. He enjoys long backpacking trips and attending technical rescue trainings. He is a dedicated Search and Rescue member, running calls in and around Linville Gorge. In the next few years, Jon hopes to join either a hotshot fire crew or a trail crew out west.
Jon is an essential part of the Wild South team and we appreciate his enthusiasm and continued dedication to the Wild South mission.