Students blaze service trail on Appalachian

While most college students doing any traveling were southbound towards the beaches of Florida or the streets of Savannah for St. Patrick's Day this spring break, some chose to take the road less traveled by exploring the Appalachian Trail as part of GT Trailblazers.

The group, which was composed of a team of nine participants and three student leaders, chose to combine an outdoor adventure with a service project focused on environmental awareness to create an alternative spring break plan that involved nine days of trekking, rock drilling to create a slope and sharing stories of their experiences.

The nine participants were selected from an applicant pool of 20 by a panel of faculty members to participate alongside the student trip planners Martha Lesniewski, a first-year Materials Science and Engineering major, Sydney Shaffer, a first-year Chemical and Biomolecular Enginering major, and Will Boyd, a first-year Physics major.

The trip was funded in part by the GT Honors Program Student Challenge Fund, REI Atlanta, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and the participants themselves.

Boyd explained how he got started with the idea of planning an alternative spring break this year.

"Over [the previous] Christmas break, [my friends and I] spent a week backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. Enthusiastic about backpacking again, we wished to organize a campus-wide alternative spring break trip that promoted environmental awareness through outdoor adventure and community service," Boyd said.

According to Boyd, the purpose of the trip was to not only backpack on the trail but to also serve the community. For the service part of the trip, the Trailblazers helped to build a side trail on the Appalachian Trail.

"By building the side trail, we hoped students would better appreciate the hard work put into building and maintaining the Appalachian Trail, as well as the hiker camaraderie surrounding the trail and its community," Boyd said.

Apparently, an exposed portion of the Appalachian Trail's hillside was prone to severe erosion. Apart from being an environmental hazard in itself, the erosion also proved to be an inconvenience to hikers.

"Prior to this project, hikers had to stumble and slip on a steep hill to reach the ATC [Appalachian Trail Conservancy] Visitor Center within the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park," Boyd said.

Alleviating the erosion was the goal of the service project. To do so, students assisted the ATC and Potomac Appalachian Trail Club by cutting steps out of slabs of sandstone along the hillside.

"[We had to] use steel hand tools and gas-powered rock drills, transport [the cut steps] via an overhead cable system, and lay the steps on the slippery slope," Boyd said.

Led by two Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) volunteer guides, the Trailblazers worked and played hard, even when things looked difficult. "Backpacking in the rain for two days made for muddy trails and wet gear, but our spirits remained high," Boyd said.

"As Chris, one of the PATC members, said during a toast on our last day of trail work, it was the Appalachian Trail that brought together a diverse group of students and volunteers who would not have met otherwise," Boyd said.

"Since the first day of trail work, [we] noticed a sense of camaraderie and a love for the Appalachian Trail among the volunteers. While eating dinner together after a full day's work, the [PATC] volunteers entertained us with anecdotes from their hikes and advised [us] on our future hiking endeavors," Boyd said.

The trip leaders are looking forward to expanding GT Trailblazers.

"Currently, we are an independent and student-led alternative spring break program. After the trip, we will look into applying to become a chartered organization on Tech campus," Boyd said.