The cleanest Hawk Rock has been in more than 35 years.
Our second outing to clean the Hawk Rock area was a GREAT success thanks to the many wonderful volunteers who donated their time on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I think almost everyone managed to get at least a gallon of water up to Hawk Rock. We were hoping for 20 gallons of water at the top of the mountain but ended up with about 35 gallons and we used every last drop to blast off as much graffiti as possible. There’s still some paint left in the nooks and crannies but nothing is legible and you can see more of the rock’s natural color coming through.
Third Rock, the rock closer to the bottom third of the mountain, came out almost perfectly clean since it only had a couple layers of paint on it.
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- DATC basecamp at the bottom of the mountian.
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- Volunteers drop off water at Hawk Rock.
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- About 300 pounds of water.
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- Applying graffiti remover to Hawk Rock
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- MCM volunteer sprays off graffiti remover with water.
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- New step a the switchback near the top of Cove Mountain.
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- This large boulder was moved 2 feet to the right to clear the trail.
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- Multiple water bars were cleared to control soil erosion.
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- Third Rock almost completely cleaned.
In addition to hauling water and removing graffiti, volunteers from Day Hikers of Central PA, Reddit, DATC, MCM and SATC also helped: trim back trail vegetation, clear water bars, slide a big rock off the trail in the avalanche area, fix the step at the bottom of the stairs just before Hawk Rock, and collect 2 HUGE bags of trash from below Hawk Rock.
| Volunteers Who Provided Their Name | |
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- Mutzabaugh’s Market donated about 15 large buckets for water storage.
- This is Duncannon donated heavy duty trash bags.
- Perry County Conservation District donated rubber gloves.
- Mountain Club of Maryland donated graffiti remover and equipment.
- Duncannon Appalachian Trail Community donated snacks, beverages and various cleaning supplies.
This was definitely a joint effort and all of the people who helped should be proud of themselves. Everyone did a great job! Thanks again. We appreciate all you have done and continue to do to help the Appalachian Trail and the Duncannon community.
Thanks for getting this put together. This was my first time up to Hawk Rock and it’s a great trail, so I’ll do what I can to help keep it clean. It was nice meeting all of you.
It was a great day for it. Great job to everyone – the rawk looks great!
It was a beautiful day for some volunteer work and a great hike! Very happy to assist in helping this great group keep Hawk Rock and the AT clean!!!! Thanks for allowing me to help out!!!
Jen G
Just a quick note of thanks from a section hiker. I went through Duncannon this past spring, and I can say that the graffiti is a real distraction from the natural beauty of that area. Your clean up efforts are much appreciated. God Bless! CT
What was your graffiti remover and what equipment and supplies in addition to water did you need? Did you clean graffiti off of just Third Rock? How long did it take?
I live in Texas now, but when I come home to visit relatives and friends, I like to climb up to take a look at my old home town.