The
BLAZE
MT. ROGERS
APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB BULLETIN
Fall 2009
(to see this newletter as a .pdf file, please click here: Fall 2009 Newsletter)
Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company,
Winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation,
It beckons not merely north and south,
But upward to the body, mind and soul of man.
-Harold Allen
The MOUNT ROGERS APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB, a member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, was organized February 29, 1960. The club has maintenance responsibilities for 56 miles of the APPALACHIAN TRAIL in the Jefferson National Forest, Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, Grayson Highlands State Park and additional trails in the area.
The primary focus of the MOUNT ROGERS APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB is to help insure that the APPALACHIAN TRAIL remains available for future generations, fulfill its maintenance responsibilities to the highest degree possible, undertake projects that would enhance use of the Trail without sacrifice of beauty or serenity and provide opportunity for Club members to enjoy activities associated with the Trail.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
2010 is fast approaching, and with it, the Club’s 50th Anniversary. Our special Anniversary dinner will take place at the Abingdon Senior Center on Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 5 to 8:30 p.m., to commemorate the founding of the Club at the end of February, 1960. The dinner will be catered rather than potluck and special guest speakers have been invited. So far, Dave Startzell, Executive Director of the ATC, and Beth Merz, Area Ranger of the Mt. Rogers NRA Headquarters of the Forest Service have agreed to speak. Appalachian National Scenic Trail Manager from the National Park Service, Pam Underhill, has also been invited, and we have sent a request to Congressman Rick Boucher. Invitations and RSVP cards will be mailed out to members in January. We need members to help get the invitations to and from the printer and stuff envelopes for mailing. Please call me if you can help (276-475-3065). Also: please tell me or any Club Board member if you have ideas about other special things we can do for our 50th Anniversary year.
Because of the special occasion and guest speakers, there will be no business meeting at our 50th Anniversary dinner. Election of officers (Secretary and Treasurer) and Board members will be by paper ballot that evening and results announced in the March newsletter. Contact Nominating Committee members Bascom Pratt (276-669-7719) or Bunny Medeiros (276-475-3065) if you would like to suggest people to be put on the slate. Ed Clayton, who has been working on a history of the Club, plans to have it available for purchase at the Anniversary dinner.
Several Club members attended the ATC Biennial Conference at Castleton State College in Vermont, July 17-24. Planning has already begun for the 2011 ATC Biennial Conference, which will be held in our own region at Emory & Henry and run by the Virginia AT maintaining clubs. MRATC’s tasks will be to help arrange lodging, including dorms and tenting, and food services.
MRATC offered several hikes for the Virginia Highlands Festival, which ran from late July into August. Unfortunately, attendance at most was poor due to rain. People came out for Eleanor Grasselli’s wildflower walk on White Top. Judith Foster led a fun hike on the Virginia Creeper Trail to the Abingdon Winery on the Fourth of July and Carol Broderson led a hike to Nick Grindstaff’s monument on Cross Mountain (TN) at the end of June. We don’t do trail work all the time!
Joanna Wolfe, Susan and Joe Erdeky, Judith Foster, and I staffed a booth for the Club at the Eco Fair during the Highlands Festival (See photo of Judith Foster talking to Ed Davis of Emory & Henry at our booth, p.7). We sold several T-shirts and gained a few new Club members.
~Anne Maio, President
TRAIL REPORT
Unlike the past two summers, this has been a wet one. Frequent rains have caused water control and erosion problems on the trail. We have spent time clearing water bars and working on trail rehabilitation, sidehill, and water diversion channels. The Konnarock Crew, who had worked on these problems between Deep Gap and Brier Ridge during a rainy week in May, had some unscheduled time and returned in July to construct steps and water diversion channels in the same location. That area is now much improved. Heavy use of shelter sites this summer has kept us busy with privy maintenance.
Our ridgerunner finished his three months of monitoring our trail section and shelters and educating trail users in July. Kerry Wood, ATC Regional Trail Resources Manager, Virginia Regional Office, moved to a new position with the Forest Service in the Cherokee National Forest in mid-August.
On August 29th, two groups of students from Emory & Henry College joined Club members for two projects: removal of invasive, non-native Autumn Olive at Bear Tree Gap and trail rehabilitation between Feathercamp and Taylor’s Valley.
ATC Biennial Meeting at Castleton, VT
The 37th annual biennial meeting of the ATC, “Forever Green,” was a truly enjoyable experience. This was our 7th conference for my wife, Juana, and me. Having stayed in the past in dorm, tents and condos, this time we opted for the dorm room option and split our meals between the college cafeteria and the few restaurants in the small town of Castleton, VT.
Castleton is the quintessential charming New England college town. Taking the short walk from campus to town was no problem. Although the atmosphere was a bit marred by progress-- the installation of new sewer lines, the construction of new buildings on campus, and the creation of the campus’ first football field, the campus is surrounded by homes with picture perfect wildflower gardens and by friendly town residents. The merchants even moved their weekly-sponsored music entertainment from the town green to the campus to make it easy for conference attendees.
By the way, if you are ever in the area, do make a detour to eat at the Birdseye Diner in Castleton. Yes, it’s a real 1940’s Silk City Dining Car manufactured in Patterson New Jersey. After 18 years in service on the railroads, it was refurbished and brought to town in 1959 to replace the wood diner that had burned to the ground. The “new” diner has been a local fixture for 50 years and serves wonderful food. When offered the selection of breads, do pick the “Baba a Louis” bread. Baked by Chester, Vermont’s Baba a Louis Bakery, this artisan bread is alone worth driving to Vermont.
As for the “meat of the conference” workshops and hikes, these were excellent. I went to the very informative presentation on privies and was given a copy on the “be all and end all” privy manual which I have given to our president, Anne Maio. I also was invited by Green Mountain Club Executive Director Ben Rose to visit their club headquarters in Stowe. My wife, Juana, enjoyed the workshop on snakes of Vermont, especially about the rattlesnakes of the area. Did you know that the original “snake oil salesmen” were from a town just north of Castleton? She also enjoyed going to the presentation on the AMC’s major excursions program, where experienced leaders lead groups on active vacations. A list of upcoming trips can be found at http://www.outdoors.org/recreation/majorexcursions/index.cfm
Finally, the highlight for us was a couple of “family” hikes: one was rated as easy; the other, moderate. The hikes were on private property owned by Kit and Margaret Davidson. Carson “Kit” Davidson is a well respected filmmaker which most of us probably have seen one of his 20 or 30 episodes of original Candid Camera show. Margaret “Mickie” Davidson is the author of some 38 children’s books. They allow the public (“encourage them to trespass”) to hike their “Taconic Mountains Ramble”, 400+ acres which they purchased in 1966 for $9 an acre. Consisting of a number of spectacular nature trails on the face of Mt. Zion, near Hubbardton, Vermont, responsible hikers enjoy the cliffs, waterfalls, and Japanese Garden that Davidson has built.
On our easy hike, we saw some spectacular waterfalls, the piping for maple sap collection and actually met Davidson as he worked on the newest addition to the Japanese Garden. The “moderate” hike led us to the top of several cliffs and over some rockslides where we could imagine being the American patriot lookouts during the Battle of Hubbardton, the only Revolutionary War battle fought in Vermont. Our sweep for this hike, GMC President Marge Fish, shared some interesting facts about Vermont and the Green Mountain Club.
We ended our trip to Vermont by going to the GMC headquarters in Stowe, just down the road from the “Sound of Music” von Trapp family’s ski resort. The GMC complex has a newly dedicated “green” building. After looking at the maintenance barn with the many tools and signs, we hiked their new mile long trail that is within the headquarters complex. This trail shows all but the alpine area that can be found in Vermont. What a wonderful way to end this wonderful experience!
Submitted by Daryel Anderson and Juana Quinones
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