So I found about the Uwharrie Trail Club after almost 20 years of visiting the area. I had no clue it even existed, even though it's been around since the 70's. As soon as found out, I immediately bought a family membership, and my daughter and I participated in our first trail maintenance day last Saturday.
Tiv and I got up Saturday morning at 6am and had breakfast right around sunrise at a small restaurant here in town. After we fueled up on pancakes and coffee we made the 1 hour drive to the Jumping Off Rock trail head in Ophir. We met 13 other UTC members and 2 employees of the U.S. Forestry Service and attended a small safety meeting before signing waivers and agreeing to work under the direction of the forestry service.
Several people cut brush while others cut bigger logs out of trail and picked up trash. Tiv's job was painting new blazes on the trail on she loved every second of it. This maintenance day was focused on the Dark Mountain section of the trail and was only about 2 miles long. We finished up about 1 P.M. and headed home with a sense of accomplishment! We both had a blast.
I haven't told anyone in the club that I am hanger. I plan on slipping that in slowly. My plan is to set an example for us hangers and educate the people that haven't been exposed to it yet by showing them my gear and letting them know that are values are in alignment with LNT practices, even more so than most ground dwellers. Maybe i'll even convert a few. Anyway, if you visit the Uwharries and care about that area you should join the club. It's very cheap. PM me for details.
I am currently working on a website for the club with all of this information.
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