If you were at Rockfest 2014 at Coopers Rock at the end of April, chances are you had a great time doing trail work, camping out, eating good food, drinking good beer and sending some sandstone.
This was our largest Rockfest with more than 80 people in attendance, which is pretty awesome. Big thank you to everyone who came out for the event.
Here’s a rundown of the trail work that we accomplished:
-Laid gravel and installed a fence by the Trout Pond
-Scrubbed and washed chalk off the Picnic Table boulder
-Constructed dip drains and made improvements Henry Clay Furnace trail
-Removed graffiti in Upper Rock City
-Habitat restoration at Roof Rocks
-Painted a gazebo and gates throughout the park
-Cleaned up the picnic area to get the area ready for the spring picnic season
-Cleared brush from the Trout Pond dam spillway
Despite a little rain on Friday night, volunteers woke up early Saturday morning to get a free breakfast with snacks from KIND and sign up for projects. Teams worked through the morning on all of the projects and broke for lunch courtesy of Pies and Pints.
After lunch, many volunteers went bouldering and returned for dinner from Black Bear Burritos. Mountain State Brewery and Chestnut Brew Works also provided beer for us. Some volunteers continued working on various projects before dinner.
After dinner, we gave away over 30 prizes from our raffle, including a pack from REI, a crash pad from Asana and harness from Misty Mountain.
And what may have been the most fun part of the evening was laughing together to Almost Alpine, a mockumentary film about climbers putting up a new epic traverse in West Virginia.
Sunday volunteers were treated to a delicious breakfast from Solid Rock Climber for Christ. After packing up, volunteers either went off to climb or took part in one of the three clinics thanks to Evolv Coach Taylor Reed, Leave No Trace and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.
Thanks Earth Treks Climbing Centers and the American Alpine Club for supporting this event.
And finally, a huge thanks to all the wonderful volunteers, and a special thanks to the Coopers Rock Foundation for providing guidance and leadership.
Be sure to check out photos from the event on Facebook, courtesy of our fantastic volunteer photographers.