–by Adam Polinski
Over the weekend of November 3rd and 4th, the Coopers Rock Foundation led volunteers on a trail maintenance hike-through of Roadside Trail, at Coopers Rock State Forest. Volunteers used rakes, shovels, and mattocks to clean out drainage features along the 3.1-mile trail, just as home owners clean leaves from their gutters and downspouts every Autumn. Dips, water bars, drainage ditches and culverts along the trail were all cleaned out and restored to full functionality. In some cases, dips and water bars were re-dug and re-shaped, and a few new dips were added. The objective of Coopers Rock Foundation trail maintenance is for official trails to be dry, clear, and well-marked, and this effort focused on keeping Roadside Trail dry.
A total of 41 Volunteers worked a total of 156 Hours over the course of the weekend. “Everybody who worked got to eat as much Halloween candy as they wanted, but nobody gained any weight because they all immediately worked it off!”, said Adam Polinski, Trailwork Coordinator for the Foundation. “Saturday’s volunteers were so good at converting candy power into trail improvements, that I had to buy more candy for Sunday’s crew.”
While some of the volunteers came from random classes or clubs at WVU, or from the community at-large, most of them came from two main sources. “We’re really grateful for how much WVU’s Adventure WV Program helps out at Coopers Rock. They sent a vanload plus a couple of group leaders both days. Over the years, they’re a regular major contributor to Community Service at Coopers Rock.” The other major source of volunteers was the WVU Climbing Club. “The Climbing Club kids are some of the most fun of all volunteers to work with, plus they don’t care what kind of weather it is – they’re ready to get into it.” The remaining volunteers mostly found out about the event through WVU’s iServe system, a volunteer clearinghouse connecting the university and the community. “I’m so glad iServe exists,” said Polinski. “We get such a variety of students and teachers helping out at Coopers Rock through that system. Not every college has such a thing. Coopers Rock definitely benefits.”
Sunday the 4th was particularly notable for the excellent autumn weather and the huge crowds of visitors who came to Coopers Rock to enjoy it. Not only was every parking lot from the I-68 Exit to The Overlook full, and not only was every one of those parking lots overflowing, with people parking along both sides of the road, but the parking lots were overflowing at perhaps an unprecedented volume. The WV DNR had to turn people away from the Overlook Lot and the Overflow Lot, and send them down to the Lower Picnic Loop. “It may have been a record-setting day. The numbers of people out loving nature at Coopers Rock that day was staggering,” observed Polinski. Hundreds of those nature enthusiasts hiked, ran, or mountain biked on Roadside Trail, and trailwork volunteers were particularly gratified to get “thank you’s” from so many trail users.
