Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
This will be our final weekend on this Tallman project
and the forecast is for perfect weather
First move these big rocks
down to the staging area
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
This rock is very big,
it will take teamwork to move it
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Using rock bars as rails and a lot of muscle power,
the rock slowly crosses the road
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
At the worksite,
the same rock bars are used to place it into position
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
The next rock is so big,
we'll use two tubs to move it
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Without the tubs, it would be extremely difficult
to manually move these big rocks
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
At the opposite end of the new wall,
smaller big rocks, taper the end
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
New trail is almost complete,
only few more steps to go
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
This one has to come out,
and be given a backward slope
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
Back at the rock pile, Jim and Marty
continued to split big rocks
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
Dr. Dave measures twice, he wants to be sure
this one will fit where he needs it
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
A bit smaller, but without the tub
it would still be difficult to move by hand
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Now that's one big flat rock,
17 sets of feathers and wedges in that BFR
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
With a little patience (about 20 min.),
we get a nice clean break
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Here's another big rock needing two tubs to move
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Moving big rocks using two tubs sounds easy,
but rarely is
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
By the end of the day the wall is looking much better
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
But there's still much more to do
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
And the final few steps
still need a little more work
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
We are making great progress,
but I don't believe we will use all of these rocks
The park will take any rocks we don't use
End of day crew meeting
and yes today the weather was perfect
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Saturday morning and the crew slowly assembles
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Tools of our trade, awaiting action
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
Marty swings a 12 pound sledge to split this big rock
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
Noah using the rock bar
to set an anchor rock into place
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
This crush behind the wall
will help with stability and drainage
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
We carved out the bedrock
to make room for these steps
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
Build a base, set the step, make it level,
then crush it in
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
At the top of the steps,
big anchor rocks are added
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
Anchor and shingle rocks are also added to the stairs
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Looks like Howie might be the new Erik
It's a joke, if you know it, you get it
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Dr. Dave has the next wall rock selected
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
Connected to the highline and two belay lines,
the rock will be gently moved into position
Photo courtesy of Margaret Cassagrande
One sturdy wall rock now in position
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Back at the rock pile,
Fred has the next big rock ready to go
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Pulling the tub from the side,
makes it much easier to move big rocks
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Muscling it into place
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
OK, it's level now chock it in with crush
to keep it that way
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Safety break, and another beautiful day
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
After break, more big rocks are moved into position
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
This one will make a great trail side gargoyle
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Park Manager Clarke arrives
with a truckload of debris logs
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
These and other logs will be placed
alongside the new trail to help control erosion and
to encourage hikers to stay on the path
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
The next big wall rock is on its way,
but where it has to go is not under the highline,
so we will have to pull it closer by hand
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Eight strong volunteers pulled it into position
Photo courtesy of Howie Cohen
Noah guides a debris log down the hillside
Photo courtesy of Brian Lubbert
The dirt that is removed while building new steps
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
Is used to cover the crush
added behind the new wall
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
Special guest today, Casey Kelbaugh. A longtime
contributing photographer for the New York Times
Casey hiked most of the Long Path in 2024 and wrote a NY Times piece titled:
Walking From Manhattan to the Catskills on the ‘Long Path'
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
At the end of the day,
another load of debris logs arrived
Photo courtesy of Joe Spivack
Sunday morning, more debris logs have been delivered
We will roll them by hand to the staging area, then move them down the trail using the highline
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
This big rock will be our last step
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Stephanie keeps a watchful eye on the belay,
as a large debris log goes down the hill
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
While triple D guides it safely down the trail
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Safety Break
Last one for this project
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Not done yet, still one more step
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Pulling and pushing it into position
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Marty digs out more dirt to make the base deeper
Photo courtesy of Jeff Raskin
Looks good let's take the sling off
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Now all it needs is a little lift,
a little jiggle and a little push
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
And there it is, nice and level
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
What a beautiful finish to this multi-year project
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
We're done using the highline.
so it's time to roll up the cable
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Bob heads back up the ladder for the last time.
Taking down the blocks and removing the sling
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Final crew meeting for this project
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
A new sign post (x) will direct hikers down this path
Yes the trail is going downhill right here but in that direction,
hikers are heading North on the Long Path trail
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello
Today's crew. Wow 19 Volunteers
A big THANK YOU to All the volunteers
who made this project a success.
LDTC's New York Long Path project on Tallman Mountain is now finished
Photo courtesy of Marty Costello