Appalachian Trail Section Maintainer
The Carolina Mountain Club manages and maintains 92.6 miles of the Appalachian Scenic Trail and has an agreement with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy as follows: The CMC agrees to maintain the Trail for which it is responsible to ATC’s standards for marking, clearing, and treadway care, as specified in such ATC publications as Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance. The role of the Section Maintainer is a significant part of this agreement because you will be the "eyes and ears" of the club for finding and reporting the need for heavy maintenance and for doing the light maintenance. CMC has the reputation among the 30 AT maintaining clubs for doing excellent maintenance on our trail section. This high quality is created entirely by the efforts of the Section Maintainers and the Maintenance Crews.
Trail Responsibilities: You, as a Section Maintainer, will be expected to follow the guidelines on Blazing, Clearing, and Waterbar construction and cleaning that you will receive from CMC. These are taken directly from or based upon the information in the ATC publication Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance.
1. In the early Spring (February, if possible), evaluate your section for blow-downs and other major problems while clearing the trail of trash and other materials as shown in the Clearing Guideline.
2. In the early Summer (June, if possible), cut weeds and other growth at sides of trail as shown in the Clearing Guideline.
3. At any time, evaluate and renew blazes as shown in Blazing Guideline. At any time, but particularly in the Fall, clean and shape waterbars as shown in Waterbar Guideline.
4. A shelter, either within or at the end of a section, should be kept clean, the water source kept free of debris, and the notebook replaced when full (or at the beginning of a new year). Maintenance of the privy should be done as shown in the Moldering Privy Guideline.
Communication Responsibilities: Part of what you need to do is communicate with CMC both before and after any maintenance trip. Before, look up your section of trail in the CMC Maintenance website or contact the AT Supervisor to determine if there have been any reported problems.
After the trip, complete the Hours Worked form and the Trail Conditions form (if there are any) in the CMC Trail Maintenance section of the website and/or send a written report to the AT Supervisor. Include information on the general condition of the trail and/or the shelter.
The AT Supervisor is: Paul Curtin, 259 Fern Way, Black Mountain, NC28711 e-mail atsupervisor@carolinamountainclub.org. 614 256-3401 (cell/home)
Rev 3/14