On a beautiful early autumn day, approximately 17 volunteers met at the Peter's Kill area of Minnewaska State Park Preserve to participate in the Access Fund's annual Adopt-A-Crag day. The event was hosted by the Gunks Climbers' Coalition. Minnewaska Ranger Bob O'Brien was ready to hand out assignments, including wheelbarrows and tools for spreading mulch around the bases of heavily used climbing areas which will protect the root systems of nearby trees and reduce the compaction of soil. Others did trail maintenance, fixing muddy areas, blocking unofficial "social trails" with brush and outlining the maintained trails with logs to keep climbers from wandering off and causing further erosion. And others used water and brushes to wash the layers of caked-on chalk from popular boulder problems. The crowd was enthusiastic and finished all assigned tasks quicky, allowing for time to socialize over a picnic lunch. The volunteers received valuable freebies including The Rock Warrior's Way books from Arno Ilgner, carabiners from Rock and Snow and all sorts of goodies from the Access Fund (t-shirts, Nalgene water bottles, sample cliff bars and sunscreen, etc...), and also got to spend the rest of the day climbing in perfect conditions at Peter's Kill (no fee). An excellent time was had by all.
Ranger Bob O'Brien sent the Gunks Climbers' Coalition a thank you letter shortly afterwards, and you can read the details of the work we did below.
Thanks to all who participated and made this year's Adopt-A-Crag day a huge success!
To all of the Adopt a Crag participants,
Heartfelt thanks for all of your hard work. In the few short hours we had an amazing amount of work was completed on several projects. The meaningful work of this years Adopt a Crag included laying down and securing water bars and then wood chipping the West Cliffs Bunk bed Area, a very impacted high guide use area, the same for the area known as The Enterprise or Captain's Log which sees a lot of family use, another popular and highly impacted areas chipped was the Reach Around or Next West Face area. The chalk removal on the Warm Up boulder near Kadejah and the Outbreak Boulders made these areas very clean although chalk removal is something I think we need to get away from it was a great job. A few of the strong improved the new walk in a swampy area along the main trail that looks great. Also the brushing out of social trails and the creation of a wood lined walkway on the approach to Head Bangers Ball should help keep the wandering on track. Most of these projects are long-term improvements that the park recognizes as a job well done. As someone who works with volunteers often, I was personally impressed with the level of enthusiasm and the sheer number of people who showed up to give back on this national day of climbing area volunteerism. Nice job!
Cheers,
Bob O'Brien
Robert T. O'Brien
Ranger - Minnewaska State Park Preserve
P/O/ Box 893
New Paltz, NY 12561
845.255.0752