Crew member profiles
Meet Dave Carre!
Dave has been a Rover for 6 years, and has also taught workshops and chaired our Board of Directors.
I grew up in Monroe, CT, about 2 towns away from where Kent now lives. As a kid I loved exploring the woods and following trails in my part of town, which had a lot of open space. I also spent many summers in Maine and got to know Acadia National Park from a very young age.
How did you hear about the Rovers?
A Jeopardy champion described his volunteer hours with the NYNJTC helping to lay stone steps on Bear Mountain. I really wanted to learn some true "hardscaping" skills because my profession as a software engineer is so virtual. So with a little research I found and joined the Megalithic Trail Crew, working with Pineapple, Kremlin, and Duster (trail names). Kremlin would test the contact points between stones by trying to slip a piece of printer paper between surfaces. The work was done at a high standard, but all the steps were delivered pre-shaped and there was no highlining going on. My team told me if I really wanted to learn everything there is to know about building trails with stone then I should find the Jolly Rovers. In 2019 that's exactly what I did. Five years later I ran into Pineapple and Kremlin setting pavers on the Schooner Head Trail . . . in Acadia National Park.
Have you done trail work before?
I have picked up other skills working with other crews and organizations. Using a crosscut saw, I have cleared blowdowns from trails in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana. I have also cleared invasive plants from otherwise pristine rivers within "The Bob". I have build bog bridges with the Friends of Acadia and I have served as a trail maintainer with NaturalLands Trust, in Southeastern PA.
How long have you been on the crew?
Seven years. Coming from the Philadelphia area and several years from retirement, I often don't contribute as many hours as I would like. But I have earned the Jolly Rovers "Extra Miler" distinction twice, for exceeding 160 hours in 2021 and 2023.
What do you like most about working with the Rovers?
I really enjoy the teamwork and the camaraderie as we work for a common purpose. I am also in it for the high quality of the stonecraft that this Crew achieves. It is very gratifying to belong to a such a talented group that is best in its class.
What are you looking forward to this season?
I am really stoked to be working legitimately on a segment of the Appalachian Trail. The Jolly Rovers is an exceptional Crew and we draw some really prominent commissions. What a privilege to be creating a lasting impact on our premiere National Scenic Trail in a location that is so heavily used. I am all in with Anthony's Nose!
Does working with the Rovers relate to your day job at all? If so, how?
I have always found numerous parallels between the profession of software development and the way that the Jolly Rovers function in the field. Some of the strong similarities include working collaboratively in small teams, full-Crew discussions of objectives and methods at the start of the day, breaking down complex projects into manageable subunits like sites and tasks, reinforcing the elements of the build with dependencies and points-of-contact, and always seeing a composite plan emerge from the clever inputs across peers. This is a workstyle that suits me fine.
Anything else you'd like to share? Hobbies, favorite public parks, stories about the crew, etc.
For 15 years now, my son Alex and I have escaped to the backcountry or far-flung mountains for an annual hiking adventure. In July, we hiked the Grand Tour des Ecrins (GR54) in the Alps of France. The stats were: 100 miles distance covered, 6 miles of vertical elevation gain. Actually, we climbed 31,117 feet and descended just about the same amount. The Everest summit is at 29,032 feet. Alex and I love hiking remote areas, with long vistas above treeline. We have hiked the Wonderland Trail, the Teton Crest Trail, Yellowstone, Olympic, Glacier, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Alta Via 1 in Italy, the circuit of Katahdin in Baxter State Park, the Wind River Range, and a string of 13 ADK high peaks. I am so lucky to have such a fantastic hiking partner. Over all these years we have been well-matched in everything. And we have succeeded in these extreme challenges by syncing on our strengths. We have a bucket-list of hikes that could run for another 15 years.
