Volunteers pick up a fallen tree that was blocking the trail. (Photos courtesy of Tracy Weaver/Carolina News & Reporter)
Tracy Weaver took a week off work and was ready to thru-hike the Foothills Trail in Upstate South Carolina.
Then the storm hit.
Hurricane Helene made the trail impossible to hike, Weaver said. So she reached out to the Foothills Trail Conservancy, a group of volunteers that regularly maintains the trail, to see how she could help.
Conservancy members told her the damage was extensive and they needed extra volunteers to clear the trail.
She brought together fellow members of Girls Who Hike South Carolina, a group of S.C women who hike together. Members from Columbia, Greenville and other cities across the state went to the Upstate and got to work. And they’ve been going back to clear different sections every week since.
“I feel like this is our opportunity to give back to the trails that we use all the time,” Weaver said.
The group’s work has been “instrumental,” said Anita Edgemon, a trail captain with the conservancy. Volunteers sawing limbs and picking up branches make it possible for her to come in with a chainsaw.
“A lot of them have never done any trail maintenance before,” she said. “And they are just super workers and really gung-ho because they’re just avid hikers.”
Volunteers say they’re also learning about themselves and their community in the process.
They’re learning little successes can be big and that clearing a half-mile of the trail is something to celebrate, said Jessie Hudson, an ambassador for the group.
And they’re learning the value of being surrounded by supportive women.
“That’s the thing with this group, is this group makes you realize you can do things that you didn’t think that you could do,” Hudson said.
The cleanup efforts may take years. Volunteers say they’re up for the challenge.
It’s a dedication rooted in love for the outdoors and care for future generations, Weaver said.
“It’s your duty to give back to whatever you’re passionate about,” she said. “I have just learned that that’s even more important to me than I realized.”