by Morgan Sommerville

Stomp Stobs Flashback!

What is a stob? A stob is a stub of a branch or a stump of saplings left after trimming them out.

This article was originally printed in The Register May 1986.

“One of the most frequently overlooked maintenance and construction tasks is the removal of stobs. Stobs, for those who do now know them by this name, are the stubs of saplings, branches, and twigs left after trimming out the A.T. either during annual maintenance, or during Trail construction.

I have always been wary of stobs, but recently my fright has been heightened by the addition of my children on my hiking trips. My two older kids, ages 4 and 6, rarely walk on these hikes, generally running back and forth ahead of me on the Trail.And when they do walk, they rarely watch where they are going! This leads to a lot of falls, and stobs along the Trail greatly increase the potential for disaster.

Some of my stob phobia probably originates with an experience I had while thru-hiking the A.T., and the closest I came to death while on the Trail was as a result of stobs! I caught the loop of my shoelace on one stob which pitched me forward. My pack slid up over my head and pressed my throat inexorably down onto another! Only at the last split-second was I able to roll just far enough to the side to avoid my neck being impaled. As it was, I got a deep scratch, right over my jugular vein. (I now tie my shoes with a square knot, but a pant leg could cause the same problem.) So, PLEASE, trim all sapling stumps flush with the ground, or better yet, dig them out entirely. (One exception to this: leave the entire tree, or a 4-6 ft. section during trail construction until the sapling is removed to provide extra leverage when digging out the stump.) PLEASE, trim all branches and twigs flush with the trunk or branch from which they are trimmed. Stumping stobs will stob stabbings of stunned steppers!”