UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. — In a rugged patch of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee, volunteers size up a massive, gnarled tree lying on its side. Its tangled web of roots and dark brown soil, known as a root ball, is roughly the size of a large kiddie pool.
The collection of volunteers and staff from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and local organizations, doesn’t plan to move the tree. Instead, their job is filling the gaping holes left by it and many other downed trees along iconic East Coast trail.
Almost a year since Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains of the Southeast, restoration is still ongoing. In places like the Appalachian Trail it’s powered primarily by volunteers, at a time when federal resources are strained and uncertain. That labor, made up of people spanning several generations and continents, aims to not only return the trail to its former glory but make it more resilient against future inclement weather.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Appalachian Trail,” said Jake Stowe, a program support specialist with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Stretching more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) miles from Georgia to Maine, the trail attracts more than 3 million people every year, according to the conservancy. Some committed hikers traverse its entire length to cross it off their bucket list. Others visit sporadically just to indulge in its scenic views.
Last September, Helene killed more than 200 people and wrecked entire towns. Many rural businesses have struggled due to the drop in tourism, Stowe said, such as in places seeing fewer trail hikers.
Directly after the storm, more than 430 miles (690 kilometers) of the trail were closed, the conservancy said. That’s down to 5 miles (8 kilometers) today.
Hikers still have to take detours around two damaged sections of the trail, both in Tennessee, according to the conservancy.
One spot where a bridge collapsed requires a 3.6-mile (5.8-kilometer) walking detour. The other location is near the destroyed Cherry Gap Shelter, where an Associated Press journalist accompanied volunteers this week making the area passable again for visitors who currently have to take a 6-mile (10 kilometer) detour.
Fixing trails is hard work
Local groups typically take on day-to-day trail maintenance, such as hacking back plant overgrowth, Stowe said. Larger organizations like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy step in to assist with severe damage, although in Helene’s case, safety concerns delayed restoration.
“At the time, we weren’t really in the position to put people in the woods,” Stowe said. “It was such bad damage that it was just- you couldn’t safely do that.”
The area near Cherry Gap has already been “sawed out,” meaning downed trees that blocked the trail have been cut and moved out of the way. But root balls are still a major problem because of how labor-intensive it is to deal with them.
When a tree tips over, the root ball lifts a big chunk of earth with it. Filling that hole can sometimes take a week, said Matt Perrenod, a crew leader with the conservancy. The trail runs along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, and that rough terrain means crews must rely on hand tools like shovels, rakes and pruners to do the job, rather than heavy equipment.
The conservancy also has to consider more sustainable improvements to the trail, such as building steps or features like water bars, which are essentially little ditches that divert rainfall off the side of the trail.
It’s a slow process, Perrenod said, but a worthwhile venture to improve the experience of hikers.
“You don’t actually want to think about the thing you’re walking on very much. You just want to walk on it,” said Perrenod, who hiked the Appalachian Trail’s entirety about a decade ago. “Well, if we don’t do the work, you won’t be able to do that. You’ll spend all your time climbing over this tree and walking around that hole.”
Volunteers travel the world to help out
Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service has long been a critical component of preserving the Appalachian Trail. Through contracts, Perrenod said the agencies fund equipment, gas and the wages of some Appalachian Trail Conservancy staff members like himself. The Forest Service also helps the group lug their gear up to the trail, he said.
That’s why Perrenod says it’s imperative the federal government does not slash those agencies’ budgets and workforces. Disrupting support for volunteers could be detrimental for the trail’s restoration, as volunteers provide “a lot of muscle” to complete the vast majority of its maintenance, he said.
In Helene’s aftermath, volunteerism across the region was “super high” because everyone wanted to help, Stowe said. This year, interest in volunteering has dipped, Stowe said, but he’s heard from people all over the country — and the world — who cited Helene as a major reason they wanted to come out and help.
Among the volunteers on the July maintenance trip were three visitors from Japan who work on long-distance trails back home. They were enthusiastic to learn about best practices for improving trail longevity and take those ideas back to Japan.
The trio was also motivated by their own experience with natural devastation. After Japan’s massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, volunteer Kumi Aizawa said people from across the globe came to rebuild.
By restoring part of the Appalachian Trail, she’s returning the favor.
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