On October 7th, trail work commenced on the Wildcat Gap trail in Rothrock State Forest. The trail descends from Bear Gap Road approximately 3/4 miles until it meets up with Laurel Run Road. While the trail was partly ridable before we began, much of it begged for maintenance and clearing.

Until now, the majority if not all of the trail work done throughout Rothrock was left to a handful of members from the Nittany Velo Club (NVC), which included Frank Maguire, Beth Gross, Mike Cerenzia, Jim Glover, Mark Dontigny, and Aaron Pontzer. However, NVC was not alone in the great forests of central PA on this day. Thanks to Don Andrews, NVC was joined by NMBA and the Laurel Highlands Off-Road Biking Association (LHORBA). NMBA members who were able to show included Mike Sharer, Beth Sharer, Adam Repsher, Mary Repsher, Rob Sharer, and Don Andrews. LHORBA was represented by Randy Rusnak and Ken Hartung. It's important to note that none of the work done could have been possible without the efforts of Forester Brian Phister.

Work began on the trail around 9:30am as everyone broke into groups, each with specific tasks...

• Bench Work
  Aaron Pontzer, Mike Cerenzia, Mark Dontigny, and Adam Repsher tackled the difficult job of reworking the entrance to Wildcat Gap. Originally, the trail broke off of Bear Gap in a rather technical fashion while descending quickly, leaving most to walk their bikes past this section. Not only was this entrance difficult and dangerous, but it was harsh on the environment as well. In an effort to redirect riders and ease further trail damage, the entrance would have to moved and recreated. Creating a new entrance thus required bench work as now the trail would cut across the slope it had once descended initially. It's difficult to describe and give credit to those who worked on this part of the trail without pictures. Expect to see some soon.
 
• Clearing

  Wildcat Gap must have gone for some time without maintenance as much of the trail had become overgrown with bushes and trees. Consequently, most of us headed down the trail, snippers in hand, to clear as much of the trail as possible within a reasonable amount of time. Thanks to the knowledgeable Mr. Andrews, we were all given a quick course on proper cutting techniques according to IMBA's standards. Beth Gross, Mary Repsher, Beth Sharer, Rob Sharer, and Mike Sharer all manned the snippers, though there was no sharing amongst the Sharers. Beth and Clark eventually moved on to raking the trail, giving it a more finished appearance as well as clearing hazardous debris.

  And now we come to the efforts of Frank, the wandering brush-cutter extraordinare. Manning the hazardous brushcutter, he cut brush like none before. No one dared touch him, least they disobey the 50ft warning sign displayed on the brushcutter strap. Many, many thanks to Frank for cutting a gargantuan excess of brush.

 
• Log and Rock 'Relocation'

  While the upper majority of the trail descended over soft singletrack, the lower end of Wildcat Gap features a short but technical section including rock gardens and some logs. Prior to today's work, much of the trail was impassible to all but the more advanced riders. Thankfully, Don, Jim, Randy, Ken, and eventually Rob, are huge beasts of excess muscle, enabling them to move and 'relocate' the various rocks and logs that littered this part of the trail. Amongst their zeal to move one log in particular, Ken suffered a fatal blow to his thumb. His thumbnail may not have survived had his friends not quickly rushed him to the hospital. Thanks to the doctors of Centre Community Hospital, they were to revive him and reattach his arm. Well, maybe they just sewed his nail back to his thumb, but he survived nonetheless.

  A special hoorah goes out to Don for braving the NVC chain saw. In one of the pictures below you can catch a glimpse of Don's magnificant struggle against his malevolent archenemy, the gigantic fallen tree. After many hours of intense melee and multiple refuelings, Don's perseverance won the day and the tree gave way. Of course, without Jim's assistance, the tree may have bested Don, but don't tell anyone...

EndNotes 

A BIG Thanks goes out to everyone that helped open the Wildcat Gap Trail. Neither stone nor log stood in our way today. Frank manned the brush cutter, and Don the chain saw, while others raked, snipped, cut, and cleared. A total of 85 hrs of sweat went into opening more than a mile of singletrack thanks to members of three different bike clubs including LHORBA, Nittany Velo Club, and NMBA. This is a great example of what can be accomplished when clubs work together. Pictures will be posted on the web as soon as they can be developed.

Sadly, twigs and brush weren't the only things snapping today. Ken, a LHORBA member, broke a portion of his thumb while helping to move a log. His nail was nearly pulled off in the process. Luckily, Centre Community Hospital was nearby, where he could eventually have his nail sewn back on and given ample pain killers. Rob, a NMBA member, also suffered a finger injury, though not as bad as Ken's. An extra thanks goes out to them, as I hope they'll return for future trail work days.

Also, in the efforts to bench cut the upper portion of Wildcat Gap, a McCloud was misplaced. If anyone knows the whereabouts of it, please let me know, or contact Frank Maguire.