Nov 22 A Tribute to the Dassow Family

 

If you have hiked from Tot Hill Farm Road trailhead to Coolers Knob, you have walked across a stretch of privately owned property. You may have never had a clue you were on private property because the former owner, Duane Dassow and family have generously allowed access across their property since as long as there has been a trail there. Just recently, this property was acquired by Three Rivers Land Trust from the Dassow family. Now the property is queued up to transfer to the USFS sometime in the next couple years.  

To honor and thank the Dassows for their generosity, a plaque has been installed in a rock alongside the Birkhead Mountain Trail near the junction with Old Forrester Road. That timber road was part of the historic Uwharrie Trail and documented in Joe Moffitt's book An Afternoon Hike into the Past. There are a myriad of old roads in the area and it is hard to know where the Old Forrester Road went, other than this one spot which for most of us is a shortcut on the Birkhead Mountain Trail.

Dripping water on the drill to cool it

Mid morning, 3 of us set out, plaque in hand, with a plethora of tools and batteries. The plan was to chip out a section of rhyolite to place the plaque in. Using a circular masonry blade to score the rock, then hammer and chisel it, was a slow but effective way to shape the footprint of the plaque on the rock. 

The plaque had four 3" bolts which were to hold it in place. Thus, we needed to drill four 3" deep holes for those bolts. This proved to beyond the capability of the battery powered drill. After a huge effort to drill holes, we managed to drill only two 1/4" holes. 

Plan B was hatched at this time. We'd have to get a generator and a rock hammer drill up there another day. We headed back to the trailhead and headed off. About 2 hours later, Matt posted a photo of himself with a generator and hammer drill attached to an old backpack frame, with the caption "I'll let you know how it goes". I was still in the area, so back I went to join him.

Before the plaque

Carrying a generator is tiring but he made it. And it was worth it. Once connected to electric power, the 4 holes were drilled is a matter of minutes. 

A little epoxy and some mortar were added and it just slipped in the hole like it belonged there.