Check out the Upcoming Activities section below for the*which highlights newly added events.
Coordinator's Corner
May 2020
Now that the COVID-19 epidemiological curve has been flattened, the country is struggling with how to reopen… without a definitive treatment, cure, or vaccine. This is a politically charged issue that we will not debate. On the other hand, a question important to the long distance hiking community is: “When will we be able to safely get back to the woods and Trail that we love?” I wish there were a definitive answer. At present there are glimmers of hope with the Smokies starting a phased reopening and some States relaxing restrictions.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) has backed off its letter requesting official closure of the entire Appalachian Trail (A.T.) and is now striving to develop guidance and best practices for reopening it. The ATC’s Adaptive Recovery Task Force (ARTF) is diligently working to get a handle on a very fluid situation. Preliminary actions are to evaluate what will be needed to allow ATC staff and volunteers (including trail maintainers) to safely reengage. Another of the “Task Force” sub-groups specifically focuses on visitors to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Visitors include: Day Users, Section Hikers, Thru Hikers, and those simply stopping into visitor centers. A daunting task in the best of times.
The following list is far from all-inclusive, but it demonstrates the scope of issues being weighed by the Task Force:
How to reopen and still remain in compliance with regulations placed by State and local governments as well as relevant National Park and Forest Units?
Determine the status of available screening, requiring that individuals be symptom free,and determining what weight should be given to high risk categories or pre-conditions.
Will hand sanitizer, masks, and other personal protective equipment be available or required?
Will recommended social distancing practices be achievable and if not what additional steps or continued closures be required?
When will trail work be allowed to resume?
What guidance changes need to be provided to hikers?
How will those desiring to use the A.T. know what trail sections are open and what
Services are available?
So, you may ask… who is on the ARTF, weighing these issues and decisions that will ultimately allow the A.T. to fully reopen? The core of the ARTF are ATC staff members augmented by a select group of extraordinarily competent individuals from within the trail community. The previous comment notwithstanding, I have been asked to participate on the Task Force’s visitors Sub-Group and hope to provide our perspective throughout the process. Respectfully, Ken Bunning
ALDHA Coordinator
Another month has passed so quickly with only a few new additions to the Gathering. First, I want to welcome back to the team, our official Apple Contest judges, Tim & Nancy Van Nest. Thanks for taking up the challenge again this year of eating...oh I mean judging all of those apple entries. It is not easy choosing a winner.
Trying to connect with the staff who manage hotels, eateries and other venue possibilities in Abingdon is hit or miss. One new, exciting development occurred this month. We have at least one hotel who will be giving us discount prices for the weekend. It is the closest hotel to the Education Center, so close you can walk to the meeting site, if you so desire. The Comfort Suites at 1095 Old Berry, Dr, Abingdon, VA, 276-608-3040will be offering an early bird discount of $119/night for those who register prior to September 9, 2020. We have rooms blocked. We are working with several other hotels but have not heard from them yet.
Saturday & Sunday's breakfast and lunch will be on site and catered this year at the Higher Ed Center. It is, especially, important for you to buy meal tickets for the meals you wish to eat prior to the Gathering because they will be pre-ordered a week in advance. The menu and sign up are on the Gathering Registration page.
Go to https://aldha.org/gathering, scroll down to Logistics and click on the link for online registration under Dining. Cut off for ordering meals will be Thursday, Oct 1, 2020. This date is final. No reservations can be taken or cancelled after this.
We need workshop presenters to share with us their passion for hiking and for the trail. Your knowledge on any hiking related subject could help us all. We need panel discussion participants, knowledgeable AT, PCT & CDT hikers to host and sit on these annual panels. Were you planning to hike a trail this year but your hike had to be cancelled? Please, come share with ALDHA members your planning process and why you want to hike it in the future.
Do you have some kind of outdoor skill, like navigation or bear bag hanging? You can teach these vital skills to new hikers. Have another idea? Ask me if it is appropriate…right NOW we have lots of room on the schedule. To volunteer to be a presenter, click on [Workshop Presenters Form] on The Gathering page: https://aldha.org/gathering
It is not too early to register for this year’s Gathering. You can register by clicking on [Gathering Registration Form] on the Gathering home page: https://aldha.org/gathering
We have a wonderful Vendor area available this year. If you are a vendor or know of a vendor who would like to participate, please send an email or register on the ALDHA Gathering page,https://aldha.org/gathering We're always looking for volunteers to help with activities and contests at the Gathering. If you're interested in volunteering, email us at: gathering@aldha.org.
Please don’t assume that all positions are filled because they are not. If we must cancel, all moneys will be fully refunded. Please continue to plan to attend and mark your calendars NOW so you can join us in Abingdon on Columbus Day weekend, October 9 – 12, 2020!
How do you keep hikers sane when they have to stay inside? You get them to tell stories, talk about trails or view pictures of trails
AND
I am going to need content for the Blaze!! With that in mind please send me photos, articles (which will be edited), funny stories, trail ideas, things you want to do, pictures of you gear testing or 'tuckerizing' your pack....you get it. Help me flood this email newsletter with good news about how we ARE coping with COVID-19. Must be trail (any) related and no longer than 300 to 400 words. Pictures need to be in jpeg format and be yours.
Email all information, photos, etc for inclusion in the Blaze to: blaze@aldha.org
Thanks!
Vera Hurst
ALDHA Blaze Editor
Smiles not Miles
*First of a series dedicated to providing suggestions on how to raise the next generation of long-distance hikers.*
Most of us love to take children hiking and while doing so it is exciting to show them the nature all around them which we love so much. It is so satisfying, to hear them ask me, “When is the next time we can go hiking?” Our outings at first, don't result in a ton of miles a day, but that is not usually the goal; learning to love what’s outside is. Here are a few suggestions to help you have fun in the outdoors with your kids or any other young person you decide to bring along on your wanderings: Cultivate fun Traipsing in the woods should be an adventure and adventures are fun right? Walking on every fallen log, skipping stones in any body of water, climbing on every boulder, or watching a deer cross the path, are ways to cultivate fun. It becomes the experience. If you are walking on blazed trails, finding the next blaze is great fun for many of us but can be made to be big excitement for younger hikers. You can make it a learning experience by counting blazes and naming colors for the very young up to kindergarten age. Frequent snack breaks keep the legs and fun going. And while you are sitting on a log, a large rock or the ground, check out the bugs and tiny plants, look for their homes and what kind of place they are living. You are after all in their home and it is good to teach children to be mindful of this. None of these things crunch miles but if hiking is fun for them now, then the miles will come later.
Nuture knowledge and wonder of the outdoors This may require children to quiet themselves so that they may observe their surroundings. If a spirit of wonder, awe and even, magic surrounds adventures into the wild, then as they grow, respect and a desire to preserve this space will follow.
Older children might be encouraged to research the area to be hiked, then let them teach what they have learned during the walk. You might consider dedicating a special backpack or bag to hiking so that children can bring creative materials with them to encourage thoughtfulness during their outside adventures. Sitting quietly in observation mode using their special paper, colored pencils for journaling or doing rubbings, small magnifying glass and a plastic/glass observation container for bringing stuff back during the hike, encourages creativity while learning to sit quietly for the reward of seeing ‘outdoor stuff happen happen around them.’
As always, children should be taught to do no harm when observing and all things need to be left where they came from. However, being able to view a caterpillar in a plastic butter container is safer than trying to carry it around to show everyone. There probably should be a NO smooshing wildlife or tearing leaves/branches off trees while hiking rule invoked. These things do not add substantial weight to their packs yet open up all kinds of learning for them.
On some day hikes, older children may want to carry binoculars for bird watching and field guides are available from small and simple to quite detailed. Learning how to read and study field guides for their own knowledge gives them needed skills for future school projects, also.
While the children are in school, it is important to remember that any school subject from Math to Music can be either taught or enhanced by outdoor experiences. Especially now, all the curriculum requirements for grades can be found on your Board of Education website and/or can be found with a little digging. (google curriculum guidelines for x grade in x school corporation or something like that)
H.A.S.T.E Coordinator
(comments added & edited by Vera Hurst)
In the spirit of using nature to assist with your children's 'home-schooling' and keeping US busy, engaged and active, our partners at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy sent us some suggestions:
Hike the Appalachian Trail virtually with iOS app – Walk the Distance. For a limited time, downloads of this iPhone are absolutely free! The app tracks your steps and shows you how far you would have walked on the Trail using the Health data from your phone. Connect with the Trail, keep friends and family motivated to be active and more, as you track your progress using shelter and landmark checkpoints.Click the picture below to go to the Istore.
Gather the kids and discover the nature that lives around you with a Phenology monitoring plot. Register your location and any plants or animals you want to watch, and then keep track of their movements and any changes you see. Click here to become an observer with Nature’s Notebook.
In collaboration between the CA Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society, iNaturalist, the app, connects a community of those observing native species and identifying invasive species. Join, share and discuss your findings!
Each Thursday from May 7th-28th, join Blue Ridge Hiking Company at Noon (EST), for an Armchair Adventure Book Club, featuring authors of books like “Stand Up that Mountain” and “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk.” Join on ATC’s Facebook page (@ATHike) or via Zoom:https://zoom.us/j/115242078.
When home is a school, there is a lot you can learn about how to interact and connect with nature. Refresh your Leave No Trace skills and knowledge of the Seven Principles with an online awareness workshop or check out our “Don’t Be That Guy” videos on YouTube.
Thanks, Alyssa Reck, Social Media Manager at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, for your great suggestions to help us all keep active, busy and observant of nature.
Below are the first of YOUR stories. Remember last month when I asked for content for the Blaze in the form of stories and pictures with captions from YOU, our fellow ALDHA members? Peter, Bob and Henry were brave enough to be among the first to share. I tried to get Henry to send me a picture but was unsuccessful. Thanks so much, Peter, Henry and Bob!
Dominic Cavallari and ALDHA member Peter Passalacqua, hiking partners for over 40 years, recently traveled to Guatemala to learn Spanish and to visit the natural beauty of the country. Two weeks after arriving, the country was shut down due to COVID-19 and they were entrenched at Lago Atitlán for several weeks.
Here are a few pictures of them hiking the sides of the volcanic caldera that makes up the lake area. This was the only weekend in which the country was open for internal travel.
* Editor's Note: Peter just arrived back home around Mother's Day, after spending just a little more time sequestered in Guatemala then he had originally planned. The ALDHA board is happy to have its Recording Secretary back home in the USA!
Coffee
By: Henry R. Lafleur, AKA Key-Mho-Saw-Be
SOBO 1995
I awaken and cannot see. I do not know if it is day or night. It is very cold. My mummy sleeping bag is cinched very tight. The opening in the bag is fist size, just enough to let in air for breathing. I loosen the drawstring sufficiently to see out. It is dawn, and the temperature is below freezing. There is a dusting of snow on the ground, and the trees are coated with ice. The sky is clear, and the sun will soon brighten the day.
I am comfortable in my sleeping bag, and tempted to stay in my warm and safe cocoon. Except I envision the smell and taste of my addiction - coffee. I reach out with one hand and light my stove, fill my cooking pot with water, and place it on the stove. I sit up, still in my sleeping bag, and unhook my food bag. The bag is suspended from a rafter, safe from the hungry, persistence mice that inhabit most shelters. From the bag I take out my breakfast; two pop-tarts, 5 dried prunes, 3 dried apricots, and a Ziploc bag filled with instant coffee. I am accustomed to this fare for my breakfast. It is practical and requires no clean up. The pop-tarts are not in a carton - the flavor will be a surprise. The dried fruit will keep the scurvy at bay.
At the moment, my attention is focused on the coffee. With boiling water, I make a pint of strong coffee in my water bottle. I sit against the back wall of the shelter, wrapped in my sleeping bag, sipping coffee from my cup filled from my supply bottle. The supply bottle of coffee is stuck into one of my frozen boots, to help defrost it. I alternate the bottle between my boots each time I refill my coffee cup. Later, when I am packing up, I will warm my hands on the coffee bottle.
I am very relaxed, sitting in the shelter, fueling my body with caffeine, and eating my breakfast. The air is brisk and clean. It is a treat for my lungs. I hear no harsh noises of civilization. My thoughts wander at will; no job-related decisions to make, and no agenda to follow. I have no obligation to leave this cozy nest. However, this promises to be a grand day. I am anxious to get on the trail and enjoy the wonders that nature has created.
Most of my coffee is consumed; I exit my sleeping bag and begin the process of packing. First, I dress, except for my boots. Then, I stuff and compress my sleeping bag, deflate and roll my mattress, collapse my stove, and tidy up the rest of my gear. It is my practice to sleep with my socks on all night. They are warm from my body, and the cold is not immediately transmitted from the boots to my feet. I strap my fifty-pound pack to my back. I take one last look around. I have a propensity to leave things behind. I take my first step of the day on the Appalachian Trail.
I thru-hiked the AT starting on the summit of Mount Katahdin on June 29, 1995, and reached Springer Mountain on January 3, 1996. The temperatures the last two months were often well below freezing. I was often alone. Alone in a shelter at night exaggerated my paranoiac imagination. The first light of the morning was always a welcomed sight. Not all mornings were like the one described. The weather did not always cooperate, my energy level was sometimes low, and on rare occasions my supply of coffee ran out - that was the worst disaster I experienced on my thru-hike.
What do trail maintainers do while they are quarantined? They maintain their home trails. Here is a short description sent in by ALDHA member Bob "Bamboo Bob" Sartini about what he does during his off time. The pictures are just a tiny look into the flora and fauna on his trail.
Thanks, Bob, for sharing your pictures with us.
"My wife and I have been locked down since March 16. But where we are in Vermont is not all that different from our usual routine because we are .3 miles off of a paved road and our nearest neighbors are bovines. Bovines don't seem to get or pass on the virus.
We abut about 275 sq acres. It's a working forest with occasional logging and annual maple sap lines here and there. Years ago, I cut a 3.5 mile loop trail that starts and ends in our yard. Up hills and down, some logging road, and ancient farm road makes for a nice hour and a half hike. But like any trail that hasn't been maintained for a few years, it's been over grown with tall grass, thorn bushes, and all manner of saplings and blow downs. So every day if it's not raining ( or snowing) I carry loppers, a saw, a grass whip and head out. I'm about half way done now. The most difficult part was the half mile of thorn bushes that took an old logging road. I don't use a chain saw so if there is a big blowdown too big for the tools I carry, I note it and my wife comes with me and we attack it with a two person cross cut saw. We're in our 70's so none of this is done all that quickly.
Social distancing and trail work are compatible. We have deer, bobcat, porcupine, skunk, mink, raccoons, woodchucks, a rare moose. and turkeys too.
I have a couple of woods cams set up as well. The animals don't where masks.
Upcoming ActivitiesAre you looking for an activity to motivate you to stay in shape? Are you missing trail family? Would you like to give back to the trail? Here is the latest info on upcoming activities. * Indicates that this event is a new addition to calendar.CANCELLED EVENTS: - Mason Dixon AT Trail Fest June 13, 2020
Waynesboro, PA - Duncannon Appalachian Trail Festival June 20, 2020 Duncannon, PA - All ALDHA & ATC work Trips
*The following events are still on the calendar and happening. Please check their websites for updates.*
Re-structured - American Hiking Society
June 6, 2020 Normally, National Trails Day features hiking events with your local trail clubs or in your local areas. Due to Covid-19 and CDC guidelines they are shifting from promoting in-person events to a digital activation for National Trails Day® on June 6, 2020.
They are organizing a digital campaign to inspire individuals to unite for the preservation of trails and access to public lands during this time of social-distancing. Please visit their website for more ideas and information: https://americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/
ALDHA 39th Annual Gathering October 9 - 12, 2020 Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Abingdon, VA For more information, go to: http://aldha.org/gathering Decision to Cancel around Sept. 1, 2020
All fees refunded if cancelled
*Re-scheduled* Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Induction November 7, 2020 U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, 950 Soldiers Dr, Carlisle, PA 17013, US
