On November 19, Mountain Club volunteers replaced the plywood covers on the privy tanks at the James Fry Shelter at Tagg Run near Gardners, PA. The old plywood covers were rotting after decades of use and had become susceptible to leaking. The job of hauling the lumbers and tools was difficult. We strapped the two largest plywood pieces into a trail cart and—with a combination of men pulling from the front and pushing in the rear, and sometimes lifting the cart over logs and rocks–we towed the cart two-thirds of a mile, over two hills and some very rocky trail sections to the shelter. The other volunteers carried or hauled in the “smaller” plywood pieces, tools and supplies. Then we tore off the old rotting lids and assembled the new lids. While most of us were working on the assembly, Dan Martin hiked back to his car to retrieve a chain saw and cut a large tree that had fallen across the side trail to the shelter.
The new lids should last for decades, and I am very grateful to all the volunteers who helped with this effort. Many thanks to Bob Blansett, Frankie Hall, Jr., Dan Martin, Chuck Randall, Dave Ricketts, Steve Williams, and David Yanosik for lending their time!
