Winter - The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association

Transcription

The Long Distance Hiker
The Newsletter of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association
Vol. 26, No. 4
‘ALDHA News That Fits We Print Since 1983’
INSIDE THIS
EDITION
Finances,
programs
discussed
at SoRuck
OUTREACH EFFORTS
n
It promises to be a big
year for the ALDHA Care
hostel program. And we get
a sneak peek at what goes
into those ALDHA hostel
notebooks. Page 8
GEOFF AND MOLLY
n
The sad saga of their
murders 25 years ago was
intertwined with ALDHA
and has left a lasting
legacy with one longtime
member. Pages 16-21
By jIM SAMpLe
ALDHA Coordinator
longer had use of this asset.
The result was that those various
items ended up in three members’
locations in three different states.
While we had that access it was
greatly appreciated and its absence
impressed on us just how much we
needed a replacement.
Two situations quickly became
apparent. First, we have a large
event tent and pole system, display
tables and chairs, signs, our store
merchandise, etc. that have to be
stored between events and transported where and when needed.
The ALDHA board took advantage
of being at the Southern Ruck and
held a scheduled meeting where several items and updates were discussed.
LuAnne Anderson (“Tigger”), our
treasurer, presented the board with an
update of our association’s financial
status. As we expand our program
outreach we strive to have a positive
financial balance as it is impacted by
an increased cost of some of our programs versus generating a growing
membership base that can result from
those outreaches.
Two new initiatives planned for
this year are the implementation of a
financial auditing program and the securement of a fiduciary bond for the
treasurer’s position. Both of these initiatives are focused on our increasing
recognition of the treasurer’s duties
and the minimization of exposure resulting from the growth of our financial profile.
These are prudent measures undertaken to assure our membership that
their financial support of ALDHA is
being given proper oversight.
Sue Spring (“Mama Lipton”), is
our point person for participation in
discussions with the task force that is
looking for the support of ALDHA
along with other organizations to address concerns about hiker behavior
at Baxter State Park. An initial conversation was held at a meeting in
Millinocket, Maine.
Continued on Page 28
Continued on Page 29
jim sample
Merchandise coordinator Mike Wingeart stands next to ALDHA’s new
trailer for storing and hauling merchandise. It’s been dubbed Sherpa.
WALKIN’ JIM’S ART
n
A gallery of some of the
paintings of the late singer
Walkin’ Jim Stoltz. Page 27
FINAL STAMP PUSH
n It’s not too late but you
have to act now to voice
your support for a series of
trail stamps. Page 24
INDEX
Coordinator’s Report
2
News & Notes
3
The Rucks
4-7
Baxter Task Force
10-11
The Gathering
12-15, 44
A.T. Hall of Fame
25
Memorial Wall 2015
30
Meeting Minutes
31-33
ALDHA Almanac
34-38
Registration Form
38
The ALDHA Store
39-43
NOTE: The deadline for the
next issue is March 15, 2016.
Winter 2015-16
Presence at trail festivals
will leave no doubt now:
ALDHA’s trailer is here
By jIM SAMpLe
ALDHA Coordinator
For the past several years
ALDHA has had access to a utility
trailer owned by one of our members to transport our materials and
merchandise from one trail event to
another.
As we have grown as an organization, so has the volume of items
needed to support our mission at
events such as Trail Days, our annual Gathering and also the sale of
our store merchandise. Following
the close of last spring’s Trail Days
activities in Damascus, Va., we no
2
Winter 2015-16
january 2016
editor -in-Chief
bill o’brien
Vol. 26, No. 4
The Long Distance Hiker is published four
times each year by aldHa, the appalachian long distance Hikers association,
a 501(c)3 nonprofit registered in New
Hampshire at 10 benning st., pmb 224,
West lebanon, NH 03784.
membership is open to all. there are no
prerequisites to join. to sign up, fill out and
mail the form on page 38, or go online to
www.aldha.org/join.html.
to contact us via email, write to us at:
[email protected]. our home page is at
http://www.aldha.org. For a list of key
email addresses, see page 37.
ALDHA Coordinator
jim sample
Assistant Coordinator
vacant
Treasurer
luanne anderson
Membership Secretary
robert sylvester
Recording Secretary
pete passalacqua
At-Large Board Members
ron bungay ’16
Ken bunning ’17
ron burger ’16
justin burns ’16
betsy Kane ’17
jim Niedbalski ’17
Gathering Coordinators
betsy Kane, program
jim Niedbalski, facilities
eric White, campsite
Outreach Coordinators
jim sample, ron burger, jim Chambers
2016 Companion editor
robert sylvester
Webmaster
bill o’brien
Merchandise Coordinator
mike Wingeart
ALDHA Care Coordinator
jim Chambers
A.T. Museum Representatives
Noel deCavalcante & bill o’brien
DeADLINe FOR NeXT ISSUe: March 15
mail items to [email protected] or to
181 Highland ave., meriden, Ct 06451
No copy of this newsletter may be posted online
in whole or in part without the editor’s consent.
From left, Ron Burger, Mike and Martha Wingeart, jim Sample and Rhea patrick.
W
CoNtributed
Activities keep ALDHA busy
inter is upon us and as I write this
column six of us members are at
the Bears Den Hostel in Bluemont, Va., participating in the
ALDHA Northern Ruck. This weekend winter
storm Jonas has visited the eastern states and
has deposited more than 36 inches of snow at
our location (see story on Pages 5-7).
We are now three
into this
From ALDHA’s months
ALDHA year and I am
happy to say the association’s activity calendar
has been filling up and will continue to do so as
the months progress. There is much enthusiasm
among our program coordinators with new and
exciting ideas continuing to be developed. At
the Southern Ruck at the Nantahala Outdoor
Center in Wesser, N.C., your board held one of
its three annual meetings (story on Page 1).
The equipment and merchandise trailer we
purchased to enable our gear and hiker store inventory to be taken to hiker events made its
debut at the Southern Ruck. The comments received from those who saw the trailer there
were very complimentary. Many spoke of the
positive ALDHA image it will provide as it
travels to hiker outreach events in the future.
Mike Wingeart (“Wing-Heart”), who also
heads up ALDHA’s Search and Rescue Team,
is continuing to identify and recruit new members. Newly elected board of directors member,
Ken Bunning, has recently earned his certification as a Search Team Member. Ken is assisting
Mike in the ongoing development of the SAR
coordinator
program. This program was started two years
ago and its development involves many stages as
well as requiring much member time involvement as it progresses.
I am heading up our outreach effort. This
year that effort will initially find ALDHA at the
AT Kickoff (ATKO) in early March at the Amicalola Falls State Park Lodge in Ellijay, Ga.
Representing ALDHA will be Jim Chambers,
Ron Burger, Mike Wingeart and myself. Our
outreach will include recruiting and informing
hikers and other attendees about ALDHA, trail
hostel courtesy, trail care and Leave No Trace,
the Thru-Hikers’ Companion, and selling
ALDHA merchandise from our online store.
Following the ATKO stop, our outreach program will be at the Kickoff in Dahlonega, Ga.,
the Hiker Trail Festival in Hot Springs, N.C.,
the Hiker Bash in Franklin, N.C., and other
venues along the trail. As I said at the start, this
year’s activity calendar is filling up. If readers
want to suggest an event or program that you
feel should receive consideration please contact
me at [email protected]
On a closing note ALDHA’s spring board of
directors meeting will be on Saturday, April 2,
at Bears Den Hostel here in Bluemont, Va.
Remember to keep on hiking, and as you go,
please follow good trail preservation practices
leaving the trail better than you found it for
those who follow in your footsteps.
For the good of the trail,
Jim Sample
Coordinator
Winter 2015-16
3
NEWS & NOTES FROM ALL AROUND ALDHA
Blurbs gleaned from emails, ALDHA’s
Facebook pages and elsewhere about folks you
know and love from your Trail Family:
LAST ISSUe WAS A ReAL HOOT(eR)
WITH pIC OF FORMeR COORDINATOR
Dennis Webster writes:
What a wonderful surprise to receive The
Long Distance Hiker on Christmas morning with
photographs of my best hiking friends, all completely in character.
There is the crafty “Flatlander,” holding an
apple at arms length, as if tempting the innocent
“Mama Lipton” out of the Garden of Eden,
while she stares demurely at the floor. So typical of both.
Is that an official ALDHA S&R T-shirt I see
peaking out above the apron of the champion
pancake flipper? “Wing-heart,” I was very
pleased to see that your hormone therapy is
showing such astounding success. It must be
something you’ve wanted for a long time. Do
you have surgery scheduled yet for the rest of
the...ah...anatomical reconfiguration?
I just hope Martha is as delighted with the
changes as you must be.
Thanks for the surprise Christmas present,
Bill. A Happy New Year to you all.
Mike responds:
That Bill really got me with this issue!! LOL.
Yes it was a fun read. But alas I am pretty much
back to normal.
BeAR THAT TOOk HeR THeRMAReST
MUST Be HIBeRNATING IN COMFORT
Bill, I read the article. You guys are marvelous!! Thanks for the laughs.
— Elina Green
WALkIN’ jIM’S FINAL CONCeRT
IN 2010 NOW AVAILABLe ON DVD
After years of effort and commitment from a
few individuals, a live, HD-format DVD from
Walkin’ Jim Stoltz’s last concert tour is available. The recording is from the May 7, 2010,
show in Spokane, Wash. “Forever Wild 2010”
has 16 songs, some with Jim’s breathtaking photographs and some without the images.
Captured on film is Jim singing and telling his
stories about his unique life, his wide-ranging
travels and his joy and dedication to wild places.
The DVD is available through the Wild Wind
Foundation website at www.walkinjim.com.
NIMBLeWILL NOMAD NeeDS A BOOST
Linda “Earthworm” Patton writes from Florida:
Hey folks ... Nimblewill Nomad is having
several health issues at once. He’s sort of down
in the dumps and would probably enjoy hearing
from friends.
If you’d like to write, his address is
[email protected]. Thanks.
WORk IT, yeLLOWSHOeS
Carol buNgay
ALDHA’s work trip coordinator, Ron Bungay, chose a 26-degree day to show off the new trail
crew work shirt that’ll be available for anyone taking part in an ALDHA work trip. ‘I was just
being wild and crazy,’ he explained. ‘Thought it would be a cool way to introduce the shirt.’
ALL SHe NeeDeD TO kNOW ABOUT A
THRU-HIke SHe LeARNeD AT ALDHA
A retired letter carrier for the U.S. Postal
Service in New York state had always wanted to
do an A.T. thru-hike after she retired, so when
retirement finally arrived, she was set to go.
But Lois Kowalyk, aka “Mosey,” didn’t do a
lot of research beforehand. Instead — as she explained to The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y. — she went to an ALDHA
Gathering to find out how to hike the trail.
“I read some books, looked at some maps and
joined the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers
Association,” she’s quoted as saying in a story
that ran Jan. 24. “They held seminars all over
the country, so I went to one in Massachusetts
and learned a lot about nutrition, equipment,
cost, really anything you wanted to know.”
We’re glad to hear ALDHA’s 2014 Gathering
in Williamstown, Mass., helped make a difference during her 2015 thru-hike. Congratulations
to “Mosey” on her successful completion of the
A.T. It took the Deerpark, N.Y., woman 151
days to do it, and despite the pain and other ailments, she told the paper she’d do it again.
“Everyone out there was helpful. We’d look
out for each other, share stories. I didn’t find a
mean person out there,” she said.
We trust that included her time at ALDHA. :-)
FaCebooK
Renee Shedino wrote on Facebook: ‘Congratulations to Niki Rellon for becoming the first
female amputee to complete the Appalachian
Trail!’ Niki did a flip-flop, finishing near Glasgow, Va., on Dec. 27. An extreme adventurer
who had thru-hiked the pCT and bicycled all
across the country, Rellon lost her leg while
mountain climbing out West in 2013. just 18
months later, she was on the A.T. at Springer.
The first above-knee amputee to do the A.T.
was Scott Rogers in 2004.
4
Winter 2015-16
SEASON OF THE RUCKS
Films, forays &
food fill out fun
in the foothills
By jIM SAMpLe
ALDHA Coordinator
ALDHA’s 2016 Southern Ruck,
coordinated by member “Sly” Sylvester, was held this year from Jan.
15 through 17 at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Wesser, N.C., where
it has been held for a number of
years.
More than 70 hikers and dreamers
attended the ruck.
Aside from some inconvenience
brought about by a broken water
pipe that necessitated having a ditch
cut in the roadway between the property entrance and the buildings we
needed for the ruck activities and
camping, the weekend was enjoyed
by all.
Several of us showed up on
Thursday evening, while the majority began arriving on Friday afternoon. As is customary with both the
Southern Ruck and the Northern
Ruck scheduled for the following
weekend, Friday’s first activity was
a potluck supper held in the dining
hall.
Following the supper, Kip
Redick, “Hippy Kippy,” presented a
video travelogue on his four hikes on
the Camino de Santiago across
northern Spain. The presentation
was well received by the attendees.
On Saturday a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, eggs, fruit and beverages greeted the hungry folks. This
was followed by an eight-mile A.T.
Blue Blaze hike from Telico, led by
Brandon Dowling, which was available for those wanting some exercise. A second two-mile hike to the
Rufus Morgan Shelter and back was
also available to those who wanted a
shorter trip. These hikes were followed by a lunch of soup and sandwiches.
In the afternoon, “Baltimore
Jack” Tarlin conducted a backpacking and thru-hiker clinic for new
A.T. hikers on the logistics of hiking
the trail. Those planning to thru-hike
pHotos by Carol buNgay
pOST-SORUCk WORk TRIp
For For some aldHa members, the 2016 southern ruck
didn’t end at the Nantahala outdoor Center in North Carolina. ten of us braved some of the coldest weather of the
season in georgia in order to assist the georgia a.t. Club in
building a new tent area south of Hawk mountain shelter.
Some folks at the Southern Ruck
hiked to Rufus Morgan Shelter
on Saturday. In top photo, from
left: ‘Crooked Sticks’ H. Dean
Clark, ‘Gray jay’ judy young,
‘Bearcharmer’ Sue kanoy, ‘yellowshoes’ Ron Bungay, ‘Giggles’
Beverly Hess Murano, ‘playground Annie’ Rogers, unidentified hiker, Dan Rogers and
another hiker.
In bottom photo, Dean and Beverly on the A.T. during their hike.
this year had their questions answered here. A pasta dinner followed the session. Afterward, Chris
“Frost” Gallaway’s film, “The Long
Start to the Journey,” was shown.
Continued on Page 6
ron bungay, aldHa’s trail work coordinator, worked closely
with the gatC in order for aldHa to have an opportunity to
help prepare the a.t. in georgia for what
pHOTOS on could possibly be record numbers of hikers
pages 22-23 in 2016. the aldHa contingent included
ron & Carol bungay, mike Wingeart, aubrey
& lynnette ansell, matthew Norman, rhea patrick,
H. dean Clark, ron burger and myself. We worked closely
over two days with the trail maintainers from gatC to build
13 tent pads and help prepare a blue-blaze trail from the a.t.
our aldHa work crew was graciously hosted by gatC
project manager david stelts and his intrepid wife pat.
david and pat opened their beautiful cabin to us, which
made a fantastic base camp for the aldHa work trip.
the hospitality didn’t end there as all of the maintainers from
gatC made us feel like a true part of their team.
the two-day work trip ended with much appreciated hot
drinks, snacks and gifts from the gatC right at the trail head.
the last night concluded with a lovely meal prepared by
Carol bungay, and aldHa trail crew shirts and patches from
ron. although we all had to hit the road early to stay ahead
of the winter weather in georgia, we all left feeling as though
we left our mark on the a.t., and that we represented aldHa
in a way that would make all of our membership proud.
— Jim Chambers
Winter 2015-16
5
Hunkered
down for
the inch
count
A
fter the Southern Ruck at NOC in
Wesser, N.C., the ALDHA activity moved up the trail to Bears
Den in Bluemont, Va., site of the
Northern Ruck scheduled for Jan. 22-24 with
Mike Wingeart doing the organizational honors. These rucks appeal to hikers as mid-winter trail-related activities. For the past few
years, attendance at the NoRuck has averaged about 40. This year was a little different
because winter storm Jonas made its presence
known just as the NoRuck was set to begin.
The region around northern Virginia
where Bears Den is situated was forecast to
be at the center of the storm. With snow and
wind on the way, several of us drove to Bears
Den on Thursday, arriving at dinner time.
Thought was given to postponing the Ruck
but Bears Den was booked through April and
a cancellation was the only alternative. On
Thursday, arrivals included Mike and Martha
Wingeart (“Wing-Heart” and “Teach”),
Rhea Patrick (“Razor”), Ron Burger (“Gray
By jIM SAMpLe
ALDHA Coordinator
At right, the intrepid group of
ALDHA men and
women who
braved the elements to keep
the Northern
Ruck’s streak
alive and well despite a crippling
blizzard that
snowed them in
for days.
jim sample aNd miKe
WiNgeart pHotos
Beard”), and myself (“White Sidewalls”).
Keith Kimball (“Wolf”) arrived on Friday as
the snow was starting to accumulate.
As many as 15 others had indicated they
would attend and others usually just show up
but the road conditions prevented them from
coming. Several of those people were scheduled to present programs. It was obvious that
the planned agenda would become an abbreviated one. We were in a secure structure
with lots of firewood and food. There was an
emergency generator at the hostel if the
power was interrupted.
Ah, a weekend of solitude!
Continued on Page 6
6
Winter 2015-16
‘SNORUCK’
Continued from Page 5
From Thursday night through Friday night
our time was spent reading and talking about
hiking and ALDHA. Friday a pasta dinner was
provided by Chuck Izzo (“Action Wipes”),
owner of Appalachian Outdoor Readiness and
Essentials, as he has for the past two Rucks.
This year he was unable to stay for the meal because of the storm. He left the food with caretaker Glen Breining before we arrived. After
dinner Mike entertained us with a DVD video
on thru-hiking the Continental Divide Trail.
Before turning in we took another snow
measurement and it was then 6 inches deep. The
scheduled presentations for Friday night which
were canceled included the topics of boundary
work trips, the ALDHA Care program, and the
Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Saturday dawned and a new snow depth
check at 8 o’clock showed 16 inches. Following
breakfast we all went outside to try to make a
dent in the snow in the parking area and road.
Snow continued to fall, building to a 24-inch
depth. Following Mike’s Plan B, more logs
went on the fire and more coffee was brewed.
The Ruck presentations for Saturday also had to
be scrapped, except for Wolf’s. He gave a wellreceived program on lightweight backpacking.
As we turned in for the night, the snowfall
was easing. Glen previously had made arrangements with a contractor to open up the hostel
road with a backhoe during the night. Alas, the
backhoe never arrived. We figured everyone in
the area was needing his services. On Sunday
morning the road still had not been touched. A
pHotos by miKe WiNgeart
Before and after photos at Bears Den Hostel, site of the Northern Ruck that occurred in the
midst of a blizzard that left more than 36 inches of snow on the Bluemont, Va., area.
new snow measurement showed over 40 inches.
After Sunday breakfast we went out for a
group photo, followed by a physical exercise
program that involved shoveling snow. The afternoon was spent watching other movies and
talking about hiking. While watching the
movie, the contractor arrived and got to work.
We anticipated the snow removal would extend through the evening hours. Extend it did!
While the contractor toiled, several of us enjoyed the NFL conference championship
games. Glen prepared a tasty dinner for us with
a menu of flank steak with peppers, kale salad
and a fruit bowl, and Martha whipped up a
dessert of shortcake biscuits with raspberry topping and whipped cream.
After dinner several of us continued digging
out our vehicles. It was a slow process because
it only took a short amount of time before there
was nowhere else to throw the snow. Eventually the snow removal contractor had to shut
down and go home to get some sleep, without
finishing the project.
Monday morning dawned bright and partially sunny. The snow removal operation had
not yet restarted. After breakfast some of us
continued to shovel out our vehicles while others
started to pack up the store merchandise and
move it to the trailer. We could see the backhoe
parked in the empty parking lot about 100 yards
down the road from the hostel. Finally about 4
o’clock the contractor returned to finish his project, benefitting from our shoveling efforts.
About 5:30 we were able to move our vehicles. Three of us decided to start our trip home.
The other three stayed over until Tuesday.
While it was different than planned, the Northern Ruck was enjoyed by those who were able
to attend. Several commented on their appreciation of the quiet pace and the camaraderie of
the weekend.
All are looking forward to next year’s Ruck.
The 2017 Northern Ruck will be Jan. 27-29,
2017, again at Bears Den.
SORUCK: Weekend wrapped up
Carol buNgay
Dan Rogers shows his daughter Annie the finer
points of choppin’ wood during the Saturday
hike to Rufus Morgan Shelter.
Sunday morning began wih a sunrise service
led by “Circuit Rider” and “Sherlock.” Following breakfast, an A.T. work trip near Wright
Gap with the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club offered an opportunity to those who wanted to give
back to the trail.
The Ruck presented an opportunity for
ALDHA’s board of directors to hold one of its
three annual meetings. This meeting was held,
as usual, with several interested ALDHA members in attendance. The meeting lasted over
seven hours and covered a number of items related to the coming year. (Story on Page 1.) Reports were presented by the coordinators of the
various ALDHA programs, and topics including
ALDHA Care, Hostel Notebooks, Trail Days
activities, the 2016 Gathering, and so on.
After lunch was finished, most of the participants departed the NOC for home. Ron Bungay
and several others stayed over Sunday night so
they could assist the Georgia Appalachian Trail
Club with some improvements at Hawk Mountain Shelter just north of Springer Mountain.
(Story on Page 4, photos on Pages 22-23.)
The board members who were not on the
Hawk Mountain project or did not depart Sunday
took part in a retreat on Monday morning. Because most of the board’s business meetings are
conducted at association events or via electronic
media there is minimal opportunity for its members to sit together to exchange ideas and react
to each other’s ideas. The retreat ended at noon
and the rest of the members headed home.
The Ruck was successful and a lot of business
was conducted. We will return to the NOC next
January.
Winter 2015-16
SNORUCK! Clockwise from left, ‘Wolf’
keith kimball gets ready to go out there;
jim Sample measures up to the snow;
Martha Wingeart digs out her family’s
SUV; the Gazebo on the grounds of
Bears Den Hostel, both before and after;
and a bull session in front of the fire.
7
8
ALDHA OUTReACH pROGRAMS keep GOING
Winter 2015-16
Busy year awaits
A.T. as well as
ALDHA Care
By jIM CHAMBeRS
ALDHA Care Coordinator
CoNtributed
2015 was a great building year for the ALDHA
Care Program, and 2016 looks to be a busy and
productive year.
ALDHA Care has been hard at work this winter
giving the ALDHA Care program a more polished
appearance and gearing up for what could be the
biggest year ever on the Appalachian Trail.
Along with a new program symbol, outreach
materials and an overall new appearance, the
ALDHA Care program has also taken on a goal for
2016 of outstanding support, outreach and preservation on the Appalachian Trail. This year the
ALDHA Care program will be able to show support to even more service providers on the A.T.,
The brand new ALDHA Care exhibit is seen at right. It includes a care box, which has become
the iconic symbol of the ALDHA Care program. The new logo for the program has been put to
good use, including on jim Chamber’s truck. That’s jim in the inset photo.
thus more of the very popular ALDHA Care packages will be delivered to deserving hostels in 2016.
As the Appalachian Trail becomes even more
widely known and popular, community outreach
and information has never been more important.
As such, ALDHA Care will be represented at all
of the spring A.T. Kick Off and trail festival
events during the year.
With the increased popularity and use of the
A.T. comes a much higher need for the maintenance and preservation of the Appalachian Trail.
ALDHA and ALDHA Care are dedicated to help-
ing meet the immediate needs of the A.T. ALDHA
Care will continue to perform regular maintenance, provide stewardship on specific sections of
trail, offer assistance in organized ALDHA work
trips and play a significant role in the annual Hard
Core trail event after Trail Days.
2016 is shaping up to be an exciting year in
ALDHA and an even more challenging and rewarding year on the Appalachian Trail. Please go
to www.aldhacare.org for information on
ALDHA Care as well as volunteer opportunities
with ALDHA and on the A.T.
Want to know more about ALDHA? Visit your local hostel
By peTeR pASSALACqUA
ALDHA Recording Secretary
ALDHA information can be found in many
places: on our Website (aldha.org), on Facebook, from friends, and as some of you may
not know, in binders located at hostels all
along the A.T.
Each year the ALDHA hostel binder is updated to reflect new dates, activities and information that are helpful to those of us who
love the Appalachian Trail.
Next time you are in a hostel, look for the
binder. Notice the many programs ALDHA
offers ranging from trail maintenance,
newsletters, trail etiquette and education,
search and rescue, 2,000-miler recognition,
hostel support and, of course, our premier annual fall event, the Gathering.
If you know of a hostel that does not already have an ALDHA binder, contact me at
[email protected] so one can be sent.
peter passalaCqua
Winter 2015-16
Largay’s
final resting
place
Final orange flag
(Presumed
location of
her remains)
Navy warning sign
ala
App
Orange flags were put
on what is presumed to
be the final path Largay
followed. This is the last
flag, on a ridge with distant views of Redington
pond downhill. It is the
presumed location of
Gerry Largay’s remains.
9
n Tr
chia
th
Sou
<
|
ail
th
Nor
Old railroad
bed
-->
NpS
boundary
A.T. crosses
Orbeton Stream
then RR bed
Largay case spawns host of new questions
Maine’s chief medical examiner
issued a final report on hiker Geraldine “Inchworm” Largay in January
and it revealed for the first time that
her body was found in her sleeping
bag, and she had died in her tent.
While it may help to explain why
cadaver dogs could not pick up her
scent, it also begs answers to new
questions, like why she decided not
to retrace her steps to an old rail bed
that she had to have crossed, or why
the plane flyovers failed to spot her
tent. The woods can be cruel indeed.
Chris Busby, an online journalist
in Maine, has taken it a step further,
albeit sensationally, by asking again
whether the Navy had anything to do
with Largay’s disappearance in July
2013. She vanished near the Navy’s
top-secret training base, where men
and women learn survival and interrogation skills in the middle of nowhere. The A.T. skirts the site north
of Poplar Ridge Lean-to, where Largay was last seen alive. Her body
was found last fall on the Navy site,
2½ years after she went missing.
Busby’s assumptions spawned a
lot of negative reaction online, with
some critics questioning his assumptions. He is calling into question the
way the search was conducted by the
Maine wardens and is asking again if
the Navy training school did anything to help with the search.
New theory explains a lot
On a side note, ALDHA published a map of the area in the fall
newsletter, showing her final resting
place to go with our story about the
discovery of her remains.
One ALDHA member who has
read all the stories and looked at that
map has come up with a new theory
to explain why she may have gotten
lost in the first place.
Fred Firman believes she may
have arrived at Orbeton Stream, seen
the creek flush with recent rain and
decided to walk upstream a bit to
find a safer place to cross.
“I believe she wasn’t confused,
dottie rust
The last known photo of Geraldine Largay, taken on july 22,
2013, at poplar Ridge Lean-to in
Maine. She vanished that day.
rather she was using initiative in an
attempt to overcome a dangerous
stream crossing,” Firman says.
Her going upstream to ford the
river would better explain the path
she took to get to where she finally
ended up. She might have thought the
old rail bed was the A.T., never realizing the trail was actually behind
her. Even the warning sign for the
Navy’s training site could have been
behind her when she finally climbed
uphill from the stream.
This scenario could also help explain the timing of the ping that was
recorded when her cellphone was
turned on early in the afternoon of
July 22. After crossing the stream
and getting wet in the process, she
would’ve wanted to check her phone
to make sure it wasn’t damaged.
And now, the fact that she was in
her sleeping bag, and was in her tent
when she died, could mean she got
soaking wet while crossing the
stream, so this retired nurse and experienced backpacker decided to
make camp and dry out. Then, simple but lethal hypothermia could
have done the rest. Animals later
tore the tent and dragged her body a
few yards away, but there was no
sign of foul play, the autopsy said.
10
Winter 2015-16
FINISH
WELL
jersey joe 2005
Hike in small groups.
Celebrate quietly.
Leave the alcohol for later.
Winter 2015-16
Behavior in Baxter
to take center stage
Trail Days session sought on hiker ethics
By BILL O’BRIeN
Editor-in-chief
ALDHA continues to support the
efforts of the task force that’s trying
to come up with a plan to keep Baxter State Park in Maine as the northern end of the Appalachian Trail.
The bad behavior of a few hikers
has put that status in jeopardy. A task
force composed of members of the
park staff, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Friends of Baxter State
Park and ALDHA have been meeting since last summer.
The latest idea is to have members
of Friends of Baxter raise awareness
of the issue with hikers during Trail
Days. ALDHA has been asked to
help with that, including providing
space in our tent on the midway for
Friends of Baxter to set up a table
and interact with hikers all weekend
long. The group would also like to
get on the agenda for a program to
be held in the Rock School.
Sue Spring, the ALDHA representative to the task force, was unable to take part in the group’s Jan.
28 conference call but gave an up-
11
date to the ALDHA board during its
Southern Ruck meeting two weeks
earlier. She relayed the request for
tent space and a Rock School presentation, and Coordinator Jim Sample is working on it.
ALDHA hosted a workshop on
the matter during last fall’s Gathering at Shippensburg University. The
ATC’s New England director, Hawk
Metheny, explained the situation to
a roomful of hikers and trail volunteers. Among the suggestions from
the group were the following:
n Post a ridgerunner at the Abol
Bridge store to educate hikers who
are entering Baxter at that location;
n Set the tone early in the northbound thru-hiking season by charging fees for campsites in Georgia;
n Encourage hikers to police their
peers, to speak up if they see something and to let other hikers know if
they are violating the rules.
One of the ideas that came up at
the task force’s first meeting last
summer in Millinocket was to boil
down the message into three essential
elements, and to incorporate them
into a simple, easy-to-understand
FINISH
WELL
JERSEY JOE 2005
Hike in small groups.
Celebrate quietly.
Leave the alcohol for later.
print page 10, trim off the folio line with the page number, etc., and
you have a poster suitable for laminating and posting on a trail kiosk.
poster. The above image shows what
that poster could look like. (A color,
high-rez version of it is on Page 10.)
Baxter State Park Director Jensen
Bissell came up with the list of three
items, preferring to keep it short,
simple and on point.
Task force members remembered
a trail poster from several years ago
showing a hiker bowed in reverence
before the sign on Baxter Peak. A
hiker named “Jersey Joe” gave us
permission to use a similar image for
this poster.
Ferry operator quits over hiker behavior, other issues
In case anyone doubted the veracity of reports about bad hiker behavior in Baxter State Park in Maine, we
have now gotten reports of similar
incidents from the ferry operator at
the Kennebec River crossing.
2015 was so bad it helped convince the contractor who was providing the canoe ferry to withdraw from
his arrangement with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. There
were other, bigger issues between
David Corrigan, a Maine guide, and
the ATC, but Corrigan said poor
hiker behavior didn’t help matters.
“2015 was the worst I’ve ever
David Corrigan in his canoe on
the kennebec River in Maine.
seen,” he said. “Between 2013 and
2015 we jumped from 1 or 2 percent,
well into double digits” for the number of bad apples. And with the overall increase in numbers of hikers, it
just got untenable, he said.
He singled out “the millennial
generation” and said many younger
hikers will carry expensive gear and
use their cellphones to check on unemployment and food stamp benefits
as they hitch a ride to a store that accepts EBT cards, all while asking
where they can buy beer and cigarettes.
The dispute over the ferry mainly
involves money, Corrigan said. He
believes the ferry should be made
available more hours each day to
meet growing demand of hikers
seeking to cross during the peak season. The ATC, for its part, says it
hasn’t got the money to expand the
service, saying it’s expensive enough
as it already is.
In 2014, the ATC asked ALDHA
to help contribute several thousand
dollars to the ferry service, and after
a heated discussion, the ALDHA
board approved $3,000. It budgeted
$1,000 this year but raised it to
$2,000 in October, according to Coordinator Jim Sample.
Corrigan said he believes the majority of A.T. hikers are still good
people.
“As bad as those bad apples are,
the majority of A.T. hikers are still
great people who really appreciate
the trail and what it is about,” he
said. “The bad apples are something
that needs to be dealt with.”
12
Winter 2015-16
You’re
INVITED . . .
“CrooKed stiCKs” H. deaN ClarK
Surveying the lay of the land at our campsite in Williamstown, Mass., in October 2014, with the Greylock Reservation off in the distance.
The iconic and
beautiful campus of
Williams College in
Williamstown,
Mass., is once
again host of the
Gathering, sponsored by the
Williams Outing
jIM
Club. The beautiful
NIeDBALSkI
’62 Center, other
“High Octane”
great facilities and
classrooms, the
Facilities
dining hall and
coordinator
parking on campus [email protected]
will all be available. The main commercial thoroughfare of Williamstown is just a
5-minute walk from ALDHA Central.
And our beloved Appalachian Trail is
just a couple of miles away. We look
forward to seeing you Oct. 7.
— Jim
. . . to this year’s 35th
ALDHA Gathering
from Oct. 7 to 9 . . .
Betsy Kane is the
program coordinator for this year’s
Gathering. She had
the same job last
year. You can contact her at the email
address below. If
you can do a workshop, by all means
fill out and mail the
form on the next
page or click the
link for the online
form and send it
digitally.
BeTSy
kANe
“Sunflower”
program
coordinator
[email protected]
You’ll have the
best view in
Williamstown.
I’ve already stockpiled wood for the
bonfire (it should
be perfectly seasoned by the fall)
and look forward
eRIC
to “tent city”
WHITe
weekend in the
“Mini Mart”
Carmelite Fields
where we’ve had
Campsite
ALDHA memcoordinator
bers tent it at past [email protected]
Gatherings (2011
and 2014). And here’s a bit of news:
the A-Frame Bakery will extend its
morning hours earlier during Gathering weekend to accommodate the
hikers driving from the campsite to
campus each morning.
— Eric
Winter 2015-16
13
Get your Gathering workshop on
The lifeblood of the annual Gathering is the scope and quality
of its workshops. This past year we had a tad fewer workshops
than we normally have, so we’re hoping to see more for the
The ATC’s Hawk Metheny, Beth Critton
and Ron Tipton in a trail forum on impacts from ‘A Walk in the Woods.’
35th Gathering, which will be on the lovely campus of Williams
College over the Columbus Day Weekend, Oct. 7-9. Below are
scenes from the last time we were in Williamstown, Mass.
Traipsing through fall foliage to and
from workshops is a lovely thing on
the Williams College campus.
Mike Wingeart makes a point during a
workshop on ALDHA’s Search and
Rescue Team.
2014 p HotograpHs b y H. d eaN C larK aKa ‘C rooKed s tiCKs’
Workshop presenter’s Form for 2016 ALDHA Gathering
deadline for submission: sept. 1, 2016
Name ________________________________ phone ____________________ e-mail __________________________
Street Address ___________________________________ City, State, ZIp __________________________________
Title of presentation ____________________________________________ Approximate Length ________________
Type of presentation (workshop, slide show, panel discussion, etc.) _________________________________________
Briefly describe how your presentation should be explained in the program: ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
What, if any, is desired day and time of presentation? (i.e., saturday afternoon, etc.) _________________________
please mail this no later than Sept. 1, 2016, to: aldHa, 10 benning st., pmb 224, West lebanon, NH 03784
ONLINe VeRSION: http://tinyurl.com/gathering-workshop
14
SO yOU WANT
TO DO THe A.T.
NeXT yeAR?
APPALACHIAN LONG DISTANCE HIKERS ASSOCIATION
ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WORKSHOP PRESENTERS
AND BY VIRTUE OF THE AUTHORITY VESTED IN US BY THE
ALDHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS, WE HEREBY CONFER UPON
Joe “Trail Man” Hiker
if you’ve been thinking about
finally giving it a try and hiking
the appalachian trail in 2017,
the aldHa gathering is the
place you want to be this fall.
A DIPLOMA IN
LONG DISTANCE HIKING
one of aldHa’s missions
since day one has been to
prepare would-be thru-hikers
— the people we affectionately
refer to as “dreamers” — to fulfill their dreams and successfully hike from one end of the
a.t. to the other. every gathering since the first in 1982 has
offered workshops devoted to
making those dreams a reality.
GIVEN IN THE BOROUGH OF SHIPPENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ON THE
ELEVENTH DAY OF OCTOBER IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN
Kip Redick
Coordinator
We’ve offered workshops on
a host of topics, including:
n lightweight backpacking
n backpacker first aid
n Wilderness etiquette
n Food preparation / nutrition
n preventing lyme disease
We have also had members
of the current year’s class of
a.t. thru-hikers sit down to answer the questions you dreamers might have. in some years,
the newly christened thru-hikers answering questions on the
panel were sitting in the audience the year before, asking
the questions. that’s just the
way it works. dreamers one
day, experts the next.
We typically have several
hundred current and former
a.t. thru-hikers at the gathering, each one happily willing to
bend your ear about his or her
hike. all you have to do is stop
one in the hall, in the cafeteria
or on campus, ask your question, and let the info flow.
information about hiking the
a.t. is literally all around you.
so don’t think reading “a Walk
in the Woods” is all you have
to do to prepare for your hike.
Come to the gathering. get
yourself a copy of the a.t. thruHikers’ Companion, and you’ll
be good to go for a successful
hike of the a.t.
Winter 2015-16
Photo courtesy of John Lamanna
W
Getting dreamers off on the right foot
HEN
SANNE
“Ready” Larsen was
assistant coordinator in
2006, she and her husband “Spur” came up with the idea of
the Long Distance Hiking Diploma, an
award that ALDHA would issue to
anyone completing a set number of
hours in required workshops at that
year’s Gathering.
The required workshops were those
that dealt with preparations for a longdistance hike on the Appalachian Trail,
whether it was a section-hike or thruhike. Participants would use a worksheet to gather signatures from the
presenters. They would submit their
worksheets at the end of the Gathering,
then, sometime over the winter, a
diploma would be mailed to the recipient.
We’ve tried to continue that tradition
in the years since Spur and Ready inaugurated it, using the image of
McAfee’s Knob above from John Lemanna.
Our hope is that the recipient will
leave the Gathering fired up about hiking the trail the following year, then
during the winter, an envelope will arrive in the mail that will reinforce that
determination. Framing and hanging
the diploma will hopefully inspire the
recipient to finish the A.T. that year.
At the 2015 Gathering in Shippensburg, Pa., over the Columbus Day
Weekend, we had about 10 folks submit their diploma worksheets showing
they’d attended the required number of
sessions. Their diplomas are in the
mail.
If you are one of the recipients, we
only ask two things of you. First, that
you write back to us after you complete
your thru-hike and include a photo of
you standing on Mount Katahdin or
wherever your final steps take you.
And secondly, that you come back to
the Gathering the next year to receive
an ALDHA certificate and free patch
for finishing the trail (see item at
right).
Oh, and you can sit down for our
panel discussion where members of the
current year’s class of thru-hikers answer any and all questions from dreamers about what to expect on the trail.
That was you sitting in the audience the
year before, trying to come up with a
good question. Now you’re on the
panel, because after finishing the A.T.,
you’re the best expert in the field at
how to hike the trail.
So congratulations to this year’s
“graduates.” Hope to see you at the
Gathering!
jOIN THe FUN
if you finish hiking
the a.t. this year,
come to the fall
gathering to get a
certificate of congratulationss and
the above patch,
compliments of
your aldHa pals.
let Coordinator
jim sample* know
by early october if
you’re coming so
your certificate can
be printed in advance. enjoy your
hike in the meantime. Best of luck
from everyone here
at ALDHA!
* Email Jim Sample at
[email protected]
Winter 2015-16
15
From ALDHA’s archives:
THE JOY OF GIVING
This column appeared in The Long Distance
Hiker exactly 30 years ago. Not too much has
changed in terms of how ALDHA members can
motivate hikers to fulfill their dreams on the A.T.
And Elton is still a loyal member of ALDHA.
W
By eLTON FAUBeR
A.T. Class of 1983
HEN I DEPARTED Amicalola
Falls, Ga., on April 7, 1983, I expected no help to reach Mount
Katahdin but from God and Ada.
Without these two I would have never taken
my first step. Ada fully supported me from Day
One. Without her encouragement I would have
given up on this adventure. She had more problems getting me food drops than I had on the
trail.
God gave me the so-often needed strength and
took away the fear of hiking alone. There were
very few peaks I reached that I did not pause to
thank Him for getting me there. God was my
“hiking partner.”
But it didn’t take me long to realize I was
going to need every person I met. Each and
every one helped me along the way. Most did
not realize it but they made my backpack a little
lighter, each step easier. It still amazes me when
I stop and think about the help I received from
people that had never stepped foot on the Appalachian Trail.
As I was setting up camp near Macedonia
Brook State Park in Kent, Conn., I got acquainted with a family camping in the park.
They invited me for breakfast. Can you believe I
said, “If you can have it ready by 6, I’m in a
hurry.” It was ready by 6. (Thanks friends.)
My fellow hikers seemed to be a “hand to
hand” chain that reached from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin. Their sense of humor,
their concern for each other, and their common
bond kept me moving.
I will never forget the many friends I met on
this ’83 trek, to them I will always owe a personal debt. And thanks to my supporters back
home, their cards, letters, telephone calls, even
from children meant so much.
Now to get to the reason for these few words.
During the last Gathering at Pipestem, there was
some concern about the number of persons starting the A.T. but not finishing.
Why keep this great experience to ourselves;
let’s share it with others. We may not help them
with the first step but we can with the second
and third. I sometimes “think” I would like to
hike the A.T. again. But if not, I believe my
“hunger” would be satisfied by helping others
ALDHA
Shares
accomplish this experience of a lifetime.
Ada and I did not do as much as wanted this
past summer, but hopefully we made some
mountain just a little easier to climb for someone
along the way.
In the early spring we visited the Pearisburg
Hostel. There we got acquainted with a young
man and young lady. A couple of packages to
them, some correspondence, a special gift at
Monson to share on Mount Katahdin. They made
it!
Another young lady did not make it in ’83.
She attempted the entire trail again in ’84. We
did the same for her, and she made it!
We left a couple of Pepsis on the A.T. near
Route 60 in Virginia. You would have thought
we left a Pizza Hut pizza from the remarks of
the hiker we received a few days later.
Late in the season I met four of a group of five
on Route 56 near Tyro, Va. To see the smile on
a hiker’s face when asked, “Care for a ride to the
post office? How about a baloney sandwich or a
cold drink?” It made my day, it made my summer. Three out of this five made it!
So many local people are already helping the
hiker. In many ways maybe these that have
never hiked the A.T. and are doing so much
know the “joy of giving.”
This summer, let’s make a strong effort to
reach out and touch a hiker, it may be the “you
can make it” much needed. The reward may be
greater than you think.
Elton Fauber
AT ’83
GA — Loved It — ME
HOW yOU CAN HeLp
A HIkeR DURING 2016
ADOpT A HIkeR
since the first gathering in 1982,
we’ve been asking folks in aldHa to
go back home and adopt a member of
the following year’s class of a.t. thruhikers. it’s even easier now than it
was 33 years ago, thanks to websites
like trail journals and Facebook. so
this winter, look for someone you can
lend a hand to. as you can see from
the column at left, even a little bit of
help can go a long, long way.
SpONSOR A MeMBeRSHIp
We can list myriad ways in which
aldHa gives back to the trail and, in
turn, helps every a.t. hiker. but here’s
something you can do on an individual
basis. sponsor a new member of our
clan by paying the $10 fee for a year’s
membership. they’ll get a taste of
what it means to be part of our group,
enjoy the benefits of our newsletter,
directory and the Companion, and
who knows, they just might decide to
stay a while. see the gift card you can
print out and other information on the
aldHa shares program on page 36.
16
Winter 2015-16
Molly LaRue and Geoffrey Hood in Duncannon, Pa., Sept. 12, 1990, with Cove Mountain, scene of their fate before the next dawn, in background.
Winter 2015-16
THE TRAIL GOES ON
the Unexpected Legacy
of Geoff & Molly
How a chance encounter trailside, the kind that
lasts no more than 15 minutes but lives on for the
rest of your life, helped lead to an unspoken bond
with the trail, an undying devotion to ALDHA,
and the capture of a murderer.
By BiLL O’BRien
Editor-in-Chief
17
18
“Bill, I think
it was Geoff!”
T
he caller was out of breath and
excited, his voice had a slight
Southern accent.
It was Biff Bowen, who with
his wife Cindi formed “The Lone
Moccasins” on the A.T., and he
was calling me late on the night of Thursday,
Sept. 13, 1990, from a truck stop motel room on
the outskirts of the trail town of Duncannon, Pa.
As I listened in shock and disbelief, Biff quickly
gave me the news that earlier that evening, he and
Cindi had walked down the side trail toward
Thelma Marks Memorial Shelter, hoping to finally
catch up with fellow southbounders Geoffrey
Hood and Molly LaRue, aka “Clevis & Nalgene.”
Biff got to the shelter way ahead of Cindi as
usual, and there he saw the naked, bloodied remains of what he assumed was Molly lying near
the front of the shelter. He saw equipment strewn
all over the place, and for all he knew the killer
was still there somewhere. In the split seconds it
took for him to survey the scene, he saw no sign
of Geoff, who was in fact lying dead inside his
sleeping bag at the back of that dark, decrepit shelter. Biff’s wife was coming down the side trail,
unable to see what lay ahead because the back of
the lean-to faced incoming hikers. Biff spun
around and ran back up the trail, telling his wife
to turn around and run. He could not tell her why.
She was immediately scared out of her wits but
obeyed. It was already dusk. Biff was afraid the
killer would jump out of the woods and catch
them, and Biff didn’t want Cindi to share that fear,
or to know there was a dead person behind them.
A dead woman. A bound and mutilated dead
woman. And that woman was someone they knew
about from their mutual southbound hikes on the
Appalachian Trail.
With no sign of Geoff, Biff at first thought it
was Geoff who had killed her. Of course he was
wrong, but he didn’t know. All he knew was that
he and his wife had to get down Cove Mountain
and back into Duncannon as fast as possible, and
it was getting dark fast with sunset arriving earlier
each day of that waning summer.
“I THINK IT WAS GEOFF!”
With those frantic words, I was drawn into a
saga unlike any other in the history of the Appalachian Trail. My part was pretty small in the
Geoff and Molly’s register entry at RPH Cabin
in new York, Aug. 21, 1990. (Courtesy of Tim Messerich)
Molly LaRue of Shaker Heights, Ohio, fords a
stream during her 1990 A.T. thru-hike with
Geoffrey Hood of Signal Mountain, Tenn.
scheme of things but my contribution to the trail
of clues in the mystery helped to eventually catch
suspect Paul David Crews on the A.T. in Harpers
Ferry a week or so later.
That night in mid-September 1990 and the days
that followed have haunted me in the 25 years
since. It was the basis for my first public speaking
experience at an ALDHA Gathering, and it helped
solidify how I have greeted hikers on the trail from
my very first steps as an A.T. dreamer. I imprint
their memory in my mind like a photograph, and
years later I can still recall where I was and what
we talked about if I met you on the trail somewhere, even if it was just for a few minutes.
It was also the first case of ALDHA members
rallying to help in an important search of the A.T.
I’ve never before written down my small role
in this sad saga, so on the 25th anniversary of
Geoff and Molly’s murders in September, I started
gathering my thoughts and compiling my story.
Like GeOff AnD MOLLY and Biff and
Cindi, I myself set off as a southbounder on the
A.T., but in June of the previous year, 1989. I had
just finished grad school and decided to follow up
a year in the Big Apple with a year in the woods.
I knew nothing about thru-hiking — what newbie
does? — and was quickly divorced of the notion
of calling myself a thru-hiker as I struggled to
climb Katahdin alongside an old man who’d taken
16 years to reach that point in his A.T. hike. He
was just a couple of miles away from finishing an
Winter 2015-16
end-to-end hike, and I had the audacity to call myself a thru-hiker. Right. I wouldn’t even be officially started on my hike until I’d reached the
summit and turned around to come back down,
heading south toward some distant, impossible-toimagine spot called Springer Mountain in Georgia.
It took me a day to recover from the climb, but
as I set off from Katahdin Stream Campground the
next day, I was euphoric. There I was, fulfilling
the dream, soaking in the sights, the sounds, the
smells and — Whoa! — did I just fall in a hole?
Ouch, it was bad. Really bad. How little I knew
about thru-hiking hit me square in the face. No
hiking poles, not looking where I was going, I
stepped right into a hole and fell, twisting my foot
as the weight of my too-heavy pack came crashing
down on me. I limped into Abol Bridge Campground, realized the swelling would take weeks to
heal, and reluctantly — in full tears — caught a
bus headed for home with my tail between my legs
to see if I could get better and eventually return.
While I was recuperating in Connecticut, I read
Ed Garvey’s book. In the era before the Internet,
I studied different gear through catalogs. I
trimmed my pack weight. I nursed my foot back
to health. And my father carved me a beautiful
wooden walking stick made out of the hardest limb
he could find at the cottage — an overgrown wild
blueberry bush. (I still have that stick, and it has
now taken me on two end-to-end A.T. hikes.)
i GOT BACk On THe TRAiL but skipped
over most of Maine and New Hampshire to make
up for lost time. I hiked as far south as Pearisburg,
where I got news on Thanksgiving Eve that my
mom had had a stroke in Florida, so I headed farther south to help my dad help my mom recover.
I went on hikes each week to stay in shape, and
methodically prepared to return to the trail as my
mom’s health improved. It was my dad, though,
who really appreciated having me there. The way
I saw it, I was now his walking stick, to help him
navigate new paths our family had never faced.
As my mom got better, it was my grandmother
who suddenly died while I was in Florida. She literally died in my arms as I was trying to revive
her after an unexpected bout of congestive heart
failure. One funeral and a few weeks later, I was
finally free to go back to the A.T. I picked it up
in early March at Amicalola Falls, and I swear I
ran all the way up to Springer and then on to
Pearisburg, making a whole host of new friends
including a trail brother in the shadow of Springer.
I then headed back north to make up my lost
miles in New England, and as I was going north
through Maine, I started encountering all the
southbounders of the new season. What a glorious
Winter 2015-16
19
encouraging words of wisdom for the days and
months ahead, like how Virginia would be absolutely glorious for them in October. And that
was that. As trailside encounters go, it was pretty
routine but more memorable than most. I continued my hike feeling like I had helped fellow southbounders become more confident in their journey.
Biff and Cindi Bowen, ‘The Lone Moccasins’ of Roanoke, Va., and later Amherst, Va., in 1990.
occasion each time was. Since I would be finishing
the trail in a few weeks and not going back to work
until God knows when, I told almost each one I
met to give me a call when they got to Connecticut
and I’d pick them up and bring them back to the
family cottage for some lakeside R&R.
LATe One AfTeRnOOn as I was approaching the Horns Pond Lean-to, I could see it was
threatening to rain hard. I got in to the shelter just
before the downpour that included some pretty bad
thunder and lightning. I considered myself so
lucky, as always, to have gotten under cover on
time. I had the shelter to myself, too, although I
would have preferred having the company of some
fellow hikers — southbounders to boot — to chat
with during a good old nighttime thunderstorm.
I got up early as usual the next day, and it was
a gorgeous day in Maine — blue sky, cool dry air,
the aroma of the North Woods that only rain can
release — and the trail beckoned. I set off north,
and in about 10 minutes I stepped into a small
clearing and quickly put on the brakes so as not to
run over a tent right on the trail. There were two
hikers, a guy and his girlfriend, busy getting themselves dried out and packed up to continue their
southbound hikes. It was Geoff and Molly.
I’ll never ever forget them. Molly was an exuberant, bouncing ball of energy and good spirits
wearing a blue bandana like a skull cap. Geoff
was so serious that morning. You could see that
look of anxiety that fills the face of a greenhorn
thru-hiker, worried about what lies over the next
ridge. He was focused on getting their tent rolled
up dry so it wouldn’t weigh too much. From the
way Molly behaved, you could tell she was very
much in love, and I know now it was very much
reciprocated. They had met, I later learned, while
working at an outdoor adventure camp for troubled
youths in Kansas, and quickly became a couple.
She did most of the talking that morning, apologizing for their tent blocking the trail but explaining that they didn’t know how much farther
the shelter was so they pitched camp right there
as soon as they heard the first roll of thunder. In
hindsight, I wish they had a few more miles of
experience under their belts because they surely
would’ve been able to get to the shelter in time
and then I would’ve had the pleasure of their company. And I’m sure I would’ve sealed the deal for
them to visit me when they got to Connecticut.
But I only had 15 or 20 minutes with them, and
I extended my usual invitation. I can’t recall but I
think Molly wrote down my info somewhere. And
while she was doing that, Geoff — still in his serious mode — was staring at my boots. He finally
pointed to them and asked, “Are those Hi-Tecs?”
I laughed. They were slightly beat up at that
point, even though they were the third pair I had
gotten since switching to them early in my discombobulated end-to-end hike. It turned out, Geoff
had on the exact same brand of boots. So right
away he started peppering me with questions about
how long they lasted, how to go about replacing
them, and so on. I assured him it was quite easy,
and it seemed to ease his mind of at least one thing
regarding their hike. I had the phone number of
the manufacturer and shared that with him.
I chatted a little longer about what it meant to
me to be a southbounder at heart, gave them some
i MeT A few MORe SOuTHBOunDeRS
as I got closer to the Kennebec. And then one day,
I ran into another couple. Biff and Cindi Bowen.
We came upon each other during the day, but we
took a break to chat, and once again, I passed
along my contact info for when they reached my
home state. After we parted ways, I got back to
where I had first left the trail less than a year earlier, and I reclimbed Mount Katahdin to make it
feel more official. One thing I’ll never forget
about that ending was that my mom and dad were
there to meet me before I got to Katahdin, and we
camped out together in Katahdin Stream Campground. Yes, my mom had made quite a recovery.
I think my father would’ve loved to have climbed
Katahdin with me, although I’m not so sure how
he would’ve fared at the Gateway, but in any event
he said he needed to stay behind with my mom
since she still wasn’t 100 percent. I cried when I
got to the summit, being the only one there for
about an hour, but came back down feeling one
with the Appalachian Trail and all the people I had
met along the way, especially the next generation
of the southbound brotherhood and sisterhood.
A MOnTH AnD A HALf LATeR, I was at the
cottage still hanging out and taking it easy before
going back to work when I got a call from Biff and
Cindi. They wanted to take me up on my offer,
and I was thrilled. I had heard through the grapevine that Geoff and Molly were hoping to hook up
with family somewhere down the trail, so I figured
they didn’t want to take a day off. But at least I
was going to host “The Lone Moccasins,” and we
ended up having a heck of a great time. We picked
up a ton of pizza that first night and we sat around
the kitchen in the old family cottage (it has since
been replaced) telling trail stories. It was getting
late but they showed no sign of tiring, especially
Biff. And as often is the case with hikers talking
trail late into the evening, somehow or other we
got to talking about murders on the A.T.
Now, no hiker can go from one end to the other
on the A.T. without learning some of the lore that
is attached to the trail, including the locations and
at least some of the circumstances of every murder. Biff was absolutely fascinated by all of this.
And in fact, he pulled out his Data Book and
started making notes of places like Deep Gap, and
Vandeventer, and Wapiti. A professional gemologist by training, thanks to the family business in
Roanoke, Biff could spot garnets lying on the
ground on the trail. And he had an affinity for
sniffing out old settlements in the woods and could
spend an hour poring over the remains of a partially buried stone foundation almost totally hidden
in bushes. He planned to do similar snooping when
20
he got to places like the original Wapiti shelter in
Virginia and Vandeventer in Tennessee, both
scenes of past slayings. At Wapiti, a young hiking
couple were killed there, and while the original
shelter was torn down after the murders, it was
not that far from the new shelter.
Biff and Cindi took a day off the next day. I
drove them around to do some chores, then it was
an early night that night so we could get up and
head back to the A.T. the next day. We had a great
time and I was sorry to see them go. I was also
wickedly jealous of their journey, since the highlight of my southbound trip was the solitude I enjoyed from Pennsylvania to Virginia in the fall.
On THe niGHT Of SePT. 13, I climbed into
bed at the cottage, reading a book with the window
facing the lake wide open and the soothing sounds
of the water filtering in. Suddenly I was jolted by
the shrill ring of the seldom-used phone attached
to the wall over my head. It was Biff, and he
breathlessly told me everything that had happened
earlier that night. My heart was racing, my eyes
bugging out as he told me Molly was dead. And
as the authorities learned later that evening when
they finally hiked up Cove Mountain to Thelma
Marks Shelter, they found Geoff dead in his sleeping bag along the back wall of the lean-to, the victim of three gunshot wounds. It was evident that
he lingered for a bit and that Molly had to frantically tend to him while she herself was about to
be brutally ravaged by a killer whose attorney later
said was strung out on drugs and alcohol.
Because of a late-night chat in the kitchen of my
family’s cottage a few weeks earlier, the moment
Biff entered that motel room he made a bee-line
for the phone, and the first person he called with
news about a murder on the A.T. was me.
Now, this was 1990, and there were no cell
phones, no Internet, no Twitter, no Facebook. No
way to blast the news to the world. I couldn’t sleep
the rest of the night, and as soon as I knew that
the ATC office in Harpers Ferry was open, I got
Jean Cashin on the phone. She had already heard
a vague report that someone had been killed on the
A.T. but had no details. I gave her all the information I had from Biff, including the name of at
least one of the victims and the name of her companion. I remember telling her how I had met
Molly and Geoff and I mentioned to her the fact
that he and I wore the same boots. To Jean’s
credit, she wrote down everything I said and later
passed it on to one of the investigators.
She called me back the next day to tell me that
some of Geoff’s belongings were missing, including his boots, and that if I didn’t mind, she was
going to give my name and number to a detective
in Pennsylvania. I didn’t mind at all, and later that
same day, I got a call from the police. I was able
to give them a complete description since I had my
boots with me. Again, all they have to do nowadays is Google the boot’s brand name and they’d
have about 50 photos to choose from. But 25 years
ago, you were lucky to get as specific a description
as I was able to provide. I told them it was likely
that Geoff had already swapped out his first pair
due to wear and tear, so the boots were probably
in good shape and that may be why the suspect
chose to take them with him.
wiTHin A DAY OR TwO, three members of
ALDHA dropped whatever they were doing and
mobilized into action to help with the search for
the suspect. Because Geoff and Molly were southbound, and their guidebook and maps were oriented in some way to the direction of their hike, it
was heavily assumed that the man police wanted
was continuing to hike south on the trail.
As a teenager, Molly won a national contest
to design a u.S. postage stamp celebrating
family unity. The stamp was unveiled in 1984
in the high school auditorium in Shaker
Heights, Ohio, where she graduated the year
before. The stamp symbolized two of her
three passions, summed up in the inscription on her simple gravestone next to her
grandfather’s burial plot in Pennsylvania:
‘A life shared with children, art and nature.’
ALDHA members Scott “Maineak” Grierson
came down from Maine, Lanny “Half/Fast” Hartman drove up from Virginia and Frank “Serendipity” McCarthy arrived from New Hampshire, and
together they offered their assistance in the case.
But they ran into opposition from the ATC, and
the experience left them with a sour taste in their
mouths. They voiced their strong opinions on the
matter at that fall’s Gathering in Hanover, N.H.
But as the ATC’s Brian King explained at the time,
investigative authority in such matters is not in
ATC’s bailiwick. It is the responsibility of local
police, so the ATC discouraged the hikers from
Winter 2015-16
searching for a man who was armed and violent.
But these intrepid members of ALDHA persisted, and it paid off. Lanny’s story in particular
is one of the more heroic pieces to the entire saga
and one that is hardly ever mentioned in all that’s
been written about the case over the past 25 years.
I visited him at his home in Culpepper, Va.,
shortly after that fall’s Gathering and he shared
with me the whole story. The three ALDHA
members had been checking out campsites and
abandoned buildings where a hiker would have
been likely to stay if he were trying to avoid shelters. They believed they had found one such spot
that showed evidence of someone spending the
night there, possibly even the night before. So they
felt they were on the right track, heading south. It
had been about a week since the murders, but no
one knew for sure how fast the suspect hiked.
Lanny split off and headed for Harpers Ferry,
less than 120 trail miles from Thelma Marks Shelter. Staying out of ATC headquarters, he hung out
at the rangers’ station in the heart of the national
historical park that makes up most of Low Town.
On the afternoon of Sept. 21, nine days after the
murders, Lanny was reviewing all the information
they had gathered up to that point, including estimates of the miles per day that the suspect might
be making on foot, when he felt like he needed
some fresh air to clear his head.
He walked toward the river and found himself
back on the A.T., crossing over the bridge to the
Maryland side and the C&O Canal towpath. As he
followed the trail, Lanny saw a bearded hiker
heading toward him but taking his time about it,
as though he wasn’t quite sure where he was
going. Lanny wandered in the man’s direction and
started talking to him, asking him about his hike,
where he had hiked from, and so forth. Something
about the man’s appearance and answers didn’t
quite click, especially for someone who said he
had started hiking the trail in Maine.
Lanny glanced at the man’s pack, which hung
askew from his shoulders, and then Lanny looked
down. His heart jumped into his throat. This hiker
was wearing Hi-Tec hiking shoes.
He was wearing Geoff’s boots!
Summoning his best poker face, Lanny brought
the conversation to a logical end and made an excuse about having to get back to the other side of
the river. He turned around and started walking
normally toward the bridge. He noticed the hiker
was still poking along. Once Lanny passed the
halfway point of the bridge, he was out of sight
and ran like hell for the rangers’ office. He alerted
them that a man wearing boots just like Geoff’s
was on his way there, on the A.T.
The rangers mobilized, knowing that once the
hiker stepped off the bridge, he’d be in their jurisdiction without a doubt. I believe they sent a
plain-clothes ranger across the bridge to get behind
the man. The suspect got on the bridge and crossed
over into Harpers Ferry. As soon as he was on the
ground, rangers swooped in and took him into custody without incident. He had a gun and knife in
his backpack, a pack that also belonged to Geoff.
Winter 2015-16
21
The Thelma Marks Memorial Shelter, 4.2 miles south of Duncannon, Pa., seen the day after the murders occurred on Sept. 13, 1990. The shelter
was built by a group that included earl Shaffer himself in 1960. it has since been torn down. inset: Convicted killer Paul David Crews, in 1990.
Lanny was still back at the rangers’ station
when they brought in the man later identified as
Paul David Crews. Lanny could hear them asking
Crews questions in the next room. Suddenly, the
full weight of what had just happened hit Lanny
square in the gut, and he broke down like a baby.
It was over. This violator of all the innocence
and purity symbolized by Geoff and Molly, and
by the entire Appalachian Trail for that matter,
was finally in the hands of the authorities.
THe newS SPReAD RAPiDLY. And it soon
came out that Paul David Crews was a suspect in
the rape and near decapitation of a 56-year-old
woman in Bartow, Fla. His trial in Pennsylvania
was almost a formality, with one exception. In the
loving spirit of Geoff and Molly, with Molly’s father a minister in Ohio, some family members did
not want the death penalty. Prosecutors, bound by
the law, asked for it anyway. When it went to the
jury, the evidence presented at trial about the
heinous cruelty in the case, including the agony that
poor Molly had to suffer, likely convinced jurors
to deliver a sentence of death by lethal injection.
Crews, a former Marine, sat on death row for
several years. As in many other states, no one on
death row in Pennsylvania is ever really in danger
of being executed. But Florida is another matter
altogether, and if he were ever extradited there to
face trial for the murder and rape of that 56-yearold woman, Crews would likely get the death
penalty and, if so, it would likely be administered
long before he died of natural causes.
So in exchange for a promise to drop all of his
costly appeals, Crews got life in prison without the
possibility of parole and will not be extradited to
face trial and execution in Florida. So there he sits,
in a Pennsylvania prison, to this day.
wHen i GOT TO THe 1990 Hanover Gathering, the first one ever held outside of Pipestem, I
still didn’t know very many people. It was only
my second Gathering, the first coming in the midst
of my southbound hike in 1989 when I hitched for
the first time in my life all the way from Bears
Den Hostel to Pearisburg in one ride, and then
hooked up with a hiker at the Pearisburg hostel
who himself was on his way to the Gathering. As
luck would have it, that hiker was a good friend
of Warren Doyle’s, who I had heard a lot about
as I hiked south in ’89. And as I watched and listened and took part in that 1989 meeting, I was
pretty amazed at all the people I met including
Warren but also folks like Bill and Laurie Foot and
Noel DeCavalcante (whom I’d met on the A.T. in
Vermont) and Frank Logue and Cindy Ross. To
me these were all legends, right up there with Ed
Garvey. And they all made me feel welcome.
So when I returned in 1990, flush with the experiences I’d had with the Geoff and Molly saga,
the entire Gathering was abuzz with talk about the
murders. Frank Krajcovic was coordinator, and
on Friday night, I was more than a little shocked
when he opened the session by mentioning the case
and asking if anyone in the audience could say a
few words about the murdered couple.
I was shocked because it was apparent no one
had been lined up in advance, and there was a
long, uncomfortable pause where it was obvious
no one was going to give them the words they so
sorely deserved. I couldn’t let that happen, and
even though I rarely ever stood up to speak in
front of such a large audience, and had never done
so at the Gathering before, I rose to signal Frank
that I would be willing to come down from my seat
in the auditorium to share a few words, much to
the relief of some of the people who felt as uncomfortable as I did about letting the moment pass.
So there I was, in front of ALDHA. I launched
into a very abbreviated re-telling of my trailside
encounter, all while trying not to choke up talking
about two people who I actually met and yes, got
to know in that Einsteinian passage of time that
seems like an eternity on the side of the trail. And
then I saw a face that I should’ve tried to avoid
and I temporarily lost my voice. It was Jean
Cashin, weeping silently in the front row. But I
buckled down, I looked away, I regained control
and forcefully pronounced what we all knew and
welcomed and wanted to hear again. That a suspect was in custody, and he was in custody thanks
to the efforts of members of an organization I was
mighty proud to call myself a member of.
That was it. That was my first stage utterance at
ALDHA. Frank Krajcovic, you still owe me big
time. LOL. But I was happy and honored to do it,
to become part of the fabric that is ALDHA’s everexpanding Trail Family, and to provide a human
face to two beautiful hikers who should still be out
there, walking south, together, on the trail of life.
Postscript: Yes, in regards to the photo on Page
17, those are the same Hi-Tec boots I was wearing
when I met Geoff and Molly 25 years ago. My
thanks to Christopher Massa for the fine portrait.
22
Tentsites for
current season
built on A.T. at
GEORGIA’S
Hawk Mountain
PHOTOS COURTESY OF
H. Dean Clark
‘Crooked Sticks’
Winter 2015-16
Winter 2015-16
ALDHA members joined
the Georgia A.T. Club on
Hawk Mountain in January to help create new
tentsites in anticipation
of more hikers this year.
See the story on Page 4.
23
24
A final
bid for
stamps
in 2018
Time almost up:
Write your letter
of support now
W
By BiLL O’BRien
Editor-in-Chief
e first floated the idea of
a set of commemorative
stamps honoring the Appalachian Trail and the National
Trails System Act in this newsletter
in 2006. That was two years before
the 40th anniversary of the act.
Obviously it didn’t happen, but we
quickly launched a followup effort to
have the U.S. Postal Service recognize the landmark Trails System
Act on its 50th anniversary, which
at the time was a decade away.
Well, here it is 2016, and the
act’s golden anniversary is a scant
two years from now. Many of you
have already written in support of
these stamps to the Citizens’ Stamp
Advisory Committee, which rules on
the thousands of proposals received
each year for a U.S. stamp.
But now is the final shot to grab
their attention, and if you haven’t already written or would like to send
another letter, you have to do it right
now because it’s already within the
time frame when the committee likes
to put the process into motion. So
once again, the clock is ticking.
You might ask, “Why bother with
a postage stamp for snail mail that has
barely survived the era of email?”
Winter 2015-16
USA FOREVER
we tinkered with what we thought one of these commemorative stamps could look like, using the stunning photography of the first person to thru-hike all 11 national scenic trails, Bart Smith. in fact, his photos could very well form the basis for the entire sheet of stamps. A 12th stamp would commemorate the
national Trails System Act itself, to make for an even dozen stamps.
Well, stamps are a vivid archive
of what makes a nation great. Pioneers in the fabric of our country, in
politics, business, sports, the arts —
all have been prominently displayed
on stamps. Famous figures, watershed moments, cultural highlights,
historic buildings, the natural world
— these, too, have been featured.
Even things such as national causes,
like literacy, and yes, even obscure
federal legislation like the 50th an-
wHeRe TO wRiTe
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300
Washington, DC 20260-3501
niversary of the Rural Electrification
Administration (1985) have been
commemorated on stamps.
So how about the golden jubilee of
our national scenic trails?
Just as a national park service was
a uniquely American idea a century
ago this year, so too was the creation
of national scenic trails in 1968,
when the legendary George B. Hartzog Jr. was director of the National
Park Service. (He needs to be on a
stamp, too, but that’s another story.)
The first trail to be designated a
national scenic trail under this law
was the A.T. No. 2 was the Pacific
Crest Trail. In his first year in office
in 2009, President Obama signed an
act that added several more trails to
the list, bringing the total to 11. Just
think how many states are touched
by all of these trails. The relevance
of these stamps would appeal to a
wide swath of the country indeed.
And what better way to illustrate
them than to use the stunning photography of Bart Smith, the first person
in the world to have thru-hiked
every single one of these national
treasures. He shot photos of each
trail, and literally within days of
finishing his odyssey, he shared
some of his photos at the 2009
ALDHA Gathering in Gettysburg.
Above is an image that will give
you an idea of just how lovely such
stamps could be. To make it an even
dozen, the 12th stamp on the sheet
could honor the public act itself. And
why not? It deserves to be lauded.
Think about it. The federal government decreed, as a matter of public policy, that recreation should be
given the status of a national priority.
No other country in the world had
ever done that before, but it’s what
helped to make the National Trails
System Act such a landmark bill.
If it comes to pass that the Postal
Service has, indeed, OK’d these
THe 11 nATiOnAL
SCeniC TRAiLS
Appalachian Trail
Arizona Trail
Continental Divide Trail
Florida Trail
Ice Age Trail
Natchez Trace Trail
New England Trail
North Country Trail
Pacific Crest Trail
Pacific Northwest Trail
Potomac Heritage Trail
stamps, I would take it a step further
and ask that you include in your letters the suggestion that the first day
of issue ceremony where the stamps
are officially unveiled be held at the
nation’s only museum dedicated to
hiking: The Appalachian Trail Museum. It’s right smack dab on the
first national scenic trail, making it
quite an appropriate backdrop.
Then, just days after the actual anniversary of the act (Oct. 2, 2018),
ALDHA can celebrate the stamps at
the Gathering by arranging with the
local post office to have a special
postmark for mail that’s adorned with
these stamps. That would be cool.
Winter 2015-16
25
THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL HALL OF FAME
1st Class ~ 2011 2nd Class ~ 2012 3rd Class ~ 2013 4th Class ~ 2014
Myron H. Avery
Gene Espy
Edward B. Garvey
Benton MacKaye
Arthur Perkins
Earl Shaffer
Emma R. Gatewood
David A. Richie
J. Frank Schairer
Jean Stephenson
Maj. William A. Welch
Ruth Blackburn
David Field
David Sherman
David Startzell
Eddie Stone
Ruth Blackburn
Charles R. Rinaldi
Clarence S. Stein
Pamela Underhill
5th Class ~ 2015
Ned Anderson
Margaret Drummond
Stanley A. Murray
Raymond H. Torrey
Nominate someone to the Hall of Fame
Hall of fame Committee; election
By JiM fOSTeR
A.T. Hall of Fame Committee Chairman
Nominees for the Appalachian Trail Hall of
Fame Class of 2016 will be accepted through Feb.
29. The Hall of Fame recognizes those who have
made a significant contribution toward establishing and maintaining the approximately 2,190-mile
footpath that passes through 14 states from Maine
to Georgia.
“The sixth class to the Appalachian Trail Hall
of Fame will be inducted in 2016, and nominations are open for Hall of Fame nominees,” said
Larry Luxenberg, president of the Appalachian
Trail Museum Society — the organization that
oversees the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.
“Nominees should be people who have made a
significant positive contribution to the Appalachian Trail and who have unselfishly devoted
their time, energy and resources toward making
the Appalachian Trail a national treasure.”
Criteria
Those eligible for inclusion include anyone
who has made an exceptional and positive contribution to the Appalachian Trail or Appalachian
Trail community. This could be by leadership, inspiration, service, achievement or innovation.
This includes, without limitation, pioneers who
conceived of and developed the trail; those who
organized or directed major trail organizations
like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and Appalachian Trail clubs; maintaining clubs; longtime
trail maintainers; leaders who promoted and protected the A.T.; hikers who have made significant
accomplishments, and other persons who have enriched the culture or community of the Appalachian Trail by their association with it.
Eligible persons can be living or deceased. The
emphasis will be on persons who have made their
contribution to the A.T. over a long period,
whether or not they are still active. Six individuals
were elected in the first year. The sizes of the succeeding classes will be gradually reduced to create
DeADLine fOR nOMinATiOnS
Monday, Feb. 29
SuBMiT A nOMinATiOn OnLine
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6BHDQwn
SuBMiT A nOMinATiOn On PAPeR
Print out a copy of the nomination form online at
http://tinyurl.com/j2ymjt9
COnTACT
Jim Foster, Appalachian Trail Museum Society,
717-649-5505, [email protected],
[email protected] or www.atmuseum.org
the maximum degree of honor and exclusivity.
The first few classes will be composed primarily of important historical figures (living or deceased) rather than contemporary figures.
Eligibility and selection will be determined without regard to race, creed, color, gender, sexual
orientation or national origin.
nominations
Nominations will be solicited from throughout
the hiking and trails community. The easiest way
to submit a nomination is by using the online site
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6BHDQWN
Nominations also may be submitted using the
paper nomination form. Copies can be obtained
at http://tinyurl.com/j2ymjt9.
You need not be a member of any hiking organization to submit a nomination. A nominator
may only make one nomination per election
cycle. Nominators will be asked to justify their
nomination in a brief statement not exceeding 200
words that describes the nominee and why he or
she fits the criteria.
An Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Committee
has been selected by the Appalachian Trail Museum Society Board of Directors to supervise the
election process and to submit the finalists to the
board.
That committee is chaired by Jim Foster, and
other members of the committee are Noel DeCavalcante, Tom Johnson, Brian King, Gwen Loose,
Larry Luxenberg, Bill O’Brien and David Sherman (a 2013 Hall of Fame inductee).
The Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Committee will deliver the slate of finalists to the museum
board in March, for subsequent review and elections.
The Appalachian Trail Museum Society board
elected six people to the 2011 charter class, five
to the 2012 class, five to the 2013 class, and four
each to the 2014 and 2015 classes.
Announcement and recognition
of inductees
Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame inductees will
be announced in early May and the induction ceremony will be on Friday, June 3, at the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet at
Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs, Pa.
The inductees will be enshrined on an Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Wall of Honor at
the Appalachian Trail Museum, located on the
A.T. in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Pa.
About the Appalachian Trail
Museum Society
The Appalachian Trail Museum Society, a
501(c)3 nonprofit formed in 2002, organizes programs, exhibits, volunteers and fundraising nationwide for the Appalachian Trail Museum.
The museum opened on June 5, 2010, as a tribute to the thousands of men, women and families
who have hiked and maintained the approximately
2,190-mile hiking trail that passes through 14
states from Georgia to Maine. More information
is at www.atmuseum.org.
26
Winter 2015-16
HIKERS’ MUSE
The late Walkin’ Jim Stoltz coined this term when he did a
workshop at the 2009 Gathering where hikers could share
stories, poems, songs or other musings. Send your creative output, commentary, etc., to [email protected].
Mountain Boy
By Don West
You are more than a dirty child
In patched overalls.
You mountain boy . . . !
The hills are yours,
The fragrant forests,
The silver rivers
Are your heritage.
Dreamers. Thinkers.
Don West and his wife Connie founded the Appalachian South Folklife
Center in Pipestem, W.Va., where a young Warren Doyle worked in the
1970s after his first thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. When Warren envisioned the idea of bringing together long-distance hikers, friends of the
trail and those who wanted to someday hike the A.T., he arranged to
have the folklife center serve as a campsite while nearby Concord College hosted workshops and meetings. Thus the Gathering, and a little
later ALDHA, were born. West was in the twilight of his long and fascinating life when he last addressed ALDHA in 1991. Rabble-rouser, poet,
man of the earth — he formed an immediate bond with his newfound
kindred spirits, us thru-hikers. When he died a year later, all of his written works were left to the public domain. Here are two of his poems.
Mountain
Reverie
By Don West
I shall foot it,
Down Troublesome *
And up Trace,
Where lean
Hungry figures,
Ghosts of mountain
dwellers
Are known to wander . . .
I think when chilly winter
comes
And dusky night
Brings trembling stillness
To lonesome dwellings,
My spirit shall stalk by
Peering behind closed doors
Of mountain homes,
Where once I was
A welcomed friend . . .
And it may be
They can hear me sing,
Joining with the
Sad music of
Troublesome’s waters,
Or playfully, with
The rippling laughter
Of the corn blades
In the new-ground hill side
Above the barn . . .
Anyhow, I shall be there,
Down Troublesome
And up Trace
In Autumn
When leaves are browned
And fodder is pulled . . .
— From “Crab-grass”
(1931)
* Trace Fork is a branch of
Troublesome Creek in Kentucky.
Rise up, young hillmen
Sing your ballads,
Dream your future.
Up and down the valleys,
Over the ridge-roads.
Climb your jagged mountains.
Gaze into blue space . . .
Turn your thoughts free.
Nourish your imagination.
What will you do for your hills,
You mountain boy?
Love the soil.
Your father’s blood
Made it rich.
His sweat has caused fruit to grow.
Sift the course soil
Between your fingers.
Exult when it runs between your
toes
Through brogan shoes
As you follow the plow.
Yours is the poet’s life.
You rhyme the soil,
Dig and plant
And watch the corn grow.
You are the heart of a nation —
Even America.
O farmer boy,
Rise up!
Sing your songs,
Live your life
Even as you know how!
— Knott County, Ky.
A Study (1932)
Winter 2015-16
27
HIKERS’ MUSE
The visual poetry
~ of
~
Walkin’ Jim Stoltz
As long as mountains rise and fall,
there are those who heed a call,
To seek the hidden places,
beyond these valleys jaded walls,
Some will walk the wide va spaces,
others wander where they and,
Some ju dream of the thought,
the rong heart of this wild land.
— The late Walkin’
Jim Stoltz, at right
in Stone Donkey
Canyon, from his
song, “The Heart of
this Wild Land.”
Art courtesy
of Leslie Stoltz
www.walkinjim.com
28
uPDATeS
Winter 2015-16
VACAnT BOARD SeAT
AfTeR ReSiGnATiOn
The assistant coordinator’s position
has opened up with the late-year resignation of Russell Ledbetter. An interim replacement can be appointed
by a vote of the board, with that person serving until the Gathering in the
fall, when an election will be held to fill
the remainder of the two-year term.
A.T. MuSeuM GARneRS
$11,500 GRAnT TO GeT
TOP 2 fLOORS OPeneD
The A.T. Museum has been awarded
an $11,500 grant from the South
Mountain Partnership to complete the
upstairs restoration of the Old Mill,
which has been the museum’s home
since it opened in 2010 in Pine Grove
Furnace State Park, Pa. The grant is
for demolition, build-out and utilities for
the 2nd and 3rd floors, with construction starting in late February. The museum has raised thousands of dollars
in its capital campaign, part of which
will be used as a dollar-for-dollar
match with the South Mountain grant.
Contributions to the capital fund are
always welcome, since the current
fundraising campaign will run through
the end of 2016. Send tax-deductible
donations to the A.T. Museum via
www.atmuseum.org/support.html
nOw OuT On DVD: ‘A
wALk in THe wOODS’
After all the ballyhoo over the late
summer release of the movie version
of Bill Bryson’s book, the film is now
available on VOD, DVD and Blu-Ray.
It has garnered only about a 46 percent positive rating among critics on
the Rotten Tomatoes website. It
ranked 80th out of 100 films in terms
of box office receipts for 2015, earning
$29.5 million in 2,158 theaters nationwide. (The new “Star Wars” movie has
been shown in 4,134 theaters.) The
impact of the movie on the A.T. should
be known soon now that the 2016 hiking season is underway, but preparations have been made just in case,
including the creation of new tentsites
at Hawk Mountain Shelter in Georgia.
(Story, Page 4; photos, Pages 22-23.)
Coordinator Jim Sample and ‘Sherpa’ at the Southern Ruck.
CAROL BuNGAy
TRAILER: Instead of a trail name,
how about a trailer name of Sherpa?
Secondly, our store merchandise variety and
volume needs to be readily accessible to our
merchandise coordinator so online ordered items
can be shipped in a timely manner.
The latter has posed a problem in recruiting a
person for the position. One of the first replies
we heard when talking to someone about running
the store dealt with the lack of space at their residence to store the merchandise during the year.
At the board meeting held at the end of our
October Gathering at Shippensburg University,
approval was given to acquire a 6-by-10-foot
utility trailer. In addition to the purchase, the
board agreed to have it covered in a vinyl graphics wrap identifying our organization.
The graphics wrap, initially intended to illustrate scenes from the trail, highlights ALDHA
and brings attention to the many programs and
projects that our members are involved in for the
benefit of the Appalachian Trail and its hikers.
The board appropriated up to $7,500 to buy
the trailer, have it wrapped and get it insured.
The insurance — against theft or damage — will
be about $200-$300 a year.
As it turned out, the final cost to acquire the
trailer as specified was $6,676. It was decided
to purchase the much needed unit with available
ALDHA funds rather than through a crowd
sourcing fund solicitation as originally envisioned. The latter, it was thought, would be
more useful for a future, larger project if the
need should ever arise. With the cancellation of
the Waynesboro, Va., shelter project, the money
ALDHA ADVeRTiSinG
Wherever Sherpa goes, the message of
ALDHA will go with it on the road. Here
are the programs — all ALDHA oriented
— that are advertised on Sherpa’s sides:
The A.T. Thru-Hikers’ Companion, the
ALDHA Care hostel program, ALDHA
work trips, the Hike in Harmony campaign, the 2,000-miler recognition effort,
and the Search and Rescue Team. Plus
ALDHA in general, with our logo. There
is also an A.T. symbol.
previously allocated for that was also taken into
consideration.
Whether at an event or not, the trailer will be
situated with our merchandise coordinator, providing storage and access to the many merchandise bins containing our store inventory as well
as our other gear.
The newly manufactured trailer, specified to
ALDHA’s needs, has been received and is now
serving its intended purpose. When needed it
will be towed to an event.
Both at an event and while on the road, the
trailer is expected to draw attention to ALDHA
and its activities.
Look for it when you attend various trail
events in the future. Its availability and use will
go a long way toward improving ALDHA’s
service to its members and promoting its mission
and programs along the trail corridor.
Winter 2015-16
29
MEETING: SoRuck get-together provides updates
The monthly conversations now occur via
monthly conference calls with a representative
number of members from the various groups. To
promote this mission, the FOB has requested that
ALDHA make available venue(s) at Damascus
Trail Days where the Baxter State Park concerns
can be discussed with hikers.
ALDHA is eager to welcome the Friends of
Baxter State Park to Trail Days and has identified
several ALDHA options that will be available to
them during the event.
Jim Chambers (“Just Jim”), our ALDHA Care
program coordinator, reported on the expansion
of the number of “low-cost and donation-only”
hostels that will be receiving ALDHA Care packages this year. The packages include a variety of
cleaning products useful to those hostels as they
prepare to open for a new season. Jim also spoke
of his progress in identifying a hostel this year that
will receive the benefit of extra ALDHA assistance, making small repairs and upgrades. Jim’s
efforts are really making a positive impact among
hostel owners as evidenced by the feedback he and
ALDHA are receiving. (See story on Page 8.)
Betsy Kane, program coordinator for the 2015
Gathering at Shippensburg University, is continuing with that responsibility for this year’s Gathering at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.
Betsy is busy refining our weekend program and
identifying a keynote speaker for the event. We
are looking forward to making several changes to
the Gathering offerings, responding to suggestions
from previous attendees. We anticipate these
changes will bring with them an increase in our
members’ Gathering attendance, especially with
the class of 2016 hikers.
Betsy’s ability to formulate a Gathering program
structure that highlights her enthusiasm and understanding for this annual event has generated many
6
Spring 2014
mcafee’s knob
the most photographed place
on the APPALACHIAN TRAIL
By BILL O’BRIEN
Editor-in-Chief
CASEY “AQUA-MAN”
Mini-ReTReAT iS HeLD
After the Southern Ruck, several members
of the board stayed on for an informal retreat. Coordinator Jim Sample said members shared their histories to get better
acquainted. Participating were Jim Sample,
Justin Burns, Ron Burger, Ken Bunning,
Peter Passalacqua and Sly Sylvester.
accolades from the 2015 Gathering participants.
More information about the 2016 event will follow in our spring and summer newsletters.
Peter Passalacqua (“Chenango”), who coordinates our Hostel Notebook program, presented his
2016 hostel notebook. This compendium, prepared
for distribution to all hostels, presents information
to hostel owners and hikers about current ALDHA
services and programs available to the hiker community. (See story and photo on Page 8.)
The notebook, updated annually, contains information about the Thru-Hikers’ Companion, our
2016 work trips, the ALDHA Care program, the
Search & Rescue Team, our Southern and Northern Rucks, the 35th Gathering at Williams College, our 2016 Thru-Hiker and 2,000-Miler
Award Ceremony, the 2015 Gathering program
from Shippensburg University, the Fall 2015
newsletter, the A.T. Services and Hike in Harmony posters and a copy of the previous year’s
Membership Directory.
Also this year, Peter will be providing each hostel with a supply of new membership brochures
along with a brochure rack in which to display
them. The dedication and enthusiasm associated
with Peter’s efforts are evident and noteworthy.
Mike Wingeart (“Wing-Heart”), merchandise
coordinator, informed the meeting attendees about
the new additions to our organization’s online
store product line. Again, responding to input
from members, the inventory, which is available
at www.aldha.org as well as at hiker and community events throughout the year, is being expanded
to include new, more colorful products and style
options that identify the wearers as proud ALDHA
members. In addition to coordinating the merchandise program, Mike is the person primarily responsible for towing the merchandise trailer to
events. He has a great marketing personality that
represents us well.
Ron Bungay (“Yellow Shoes”) coordinates our
boundary marker and work trip efforts. His presentation to the board identified the projects that
will receive the benefit of Ron and his volunteer
work crews as they tackle the needs of the trail.
They undertake both ALDHA stand-alone projects
and other projects in cooperation with some of the
31 A.T. trail clubs.
Ron will this year be sharing coordinator efforts
with Jim Chambers and Justin Burns to increase
the identification of projects up and down the trail.
All three members are focused on proper trail
maintenance and its benefit to hikers and to engage
in trail work trips such as our recent Hawk Mountain work trip in Georgia (story on Page 4, photos
on Pages 22-23).
Robert Sylvester (“Sly”), membership secretary
and Thru-Hikers’ Companion editor, reported on
the Companion edited by himself, a TripleCrowner, using data collected by ALDHA field
editors. It is printed by the ATC and has recently
been designated the official guidebook of the Appalachian Trail. Sales of the Companion continue
to increase as the 2016 book’s features are reviewed by the hiking community and our marketing efforts expand.
ALDHA membership at this point in time is
above 1,600, according to Sly. A ramped up membership recruitment program will be maintained
throughout this year.
THE LONG DISTANCE HIKER
We need you to submit items for ALDHA’s newsletter
News blurbs
Journal entries
Stories
Photos
Updates
Poetry
Letters
Reports
Simple emails with text are all we need. Please, no posters,
no documents in PDF or Word or any other software. Just
plain text in the body of an email. High-resolution images
in Jpeg format are preferred. Put “newsletter” in the email’s
subject field and send to [email protected].
30
Winter 2015-16
MEMORIAL WALL 2015
Ray “Otto” Douglas v Curtis Owen v Jason Parish v “Damascus Dave” Patrick v Ed Sidote v Chuck Sloan
“Damascus Dave”
Patrick, founder, Mount
Rogers Outfitters,
Damascus, Va.
The 34th annual Gathering was dedicated to Ed
Sidote, who died in April
at age 97 and a half. He
was the point man for the
Finger Lakes Trail for
many years.
On Dec. 23, Ray
"Otto" Douglas
passed away with
family at his side at
the VA Hospital in
Johnson City, Tenn.
Otto was an AT 2000
Miler and a longtime
active member of
ALDHA who was dedicated to the preservation of the
Appalachian Trail.
upon being honorably
discharged from the
Army, Otto enrolled at
Appalachian State
university where he
helped found their
trail maintenance club
while working on his
degree in outdoor studies. As a skilled trail builder,
Otto played a significant role in the annual Hard
Core trail maintenance event, as well as working
countless hours with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club. Otto's dedication to the Appalachian
Trail and friendship will be missed by all who
knew him and worked with him on the A.T.
— By Jim Chambers
Curtis Owen, owner of
Standing Bear Hostel in
Tennessee
Chuck Sloan, at left,
helped get ALDHA incorporated in the ’80s
and helped us again with
trademarking our logo a
few years ago.
Jason Parish died in a tragic accident when a tree
fell during a severe wind storm at the Garvey
Shelter in Maryland in early 2015.
Winter 2015-16
31
Minutes of meetings
2015 ALDHA Annual Business Meeting
at Shippensburg university in Shippensburg, Pa., Oct. 11, 2015
– DRAfT Minutes
CuRRenT BOARD MeMBeRS in ATTenDAnCe: Kip Redick, Randy Anderson, Robert
Sylvester, Sue Spring, LuAnne Anderson, Jim
Sample, Jim Niedbalski, Ron Bungay, Peter
Passalacqua, and Russell Ledbetter.
CuRRenT BOARD MeMBeRS ABSenT: None.
1. CALL TO ORDeR: Kip Redick. The meeting
was called to order at 9:06am by Kip Redick.
2. APPROVAL Of AGenDA: Kip Redick. MOTION: To approve the draft agenda. Motion
made by Kip Redick and seconded by Rush
Williamson. unanimously approved by voice
vote.
3. ALDHA Statement of Purpose & Minutes:
The “ALDHA Statement of Purpose” was read
by Recording Secretary Sue Spring. The minutes from the previous annual meeting were
published in the winter edition of “The Long Distance Hiker.” MOTION: To approve the draft
minutes of the 2014 Annual Business Meeting.
Motion made by Mark Hudson and seconded by
Bob Peoples. unanimously approved by voice
vote.
4. eLeCTiOn Of OffiCeRS: MOTION: To approve and elect the proposed slate (listed
below). Motion made by Ron Burger and seconded by Art Hehn III. The slate listed below
was unanimously approved by voice vote:
a. Coordinator: Jim Sample. Nominated by Bill
O’Brien; seconded by Tom Evans.
b. Ass’t. Coordinator: Russell Ledbetter. Nominated by Peter Passalacqua; seconded by Art
Hehn III.
c. Recording Secretary: Peter Passalacqua.
Nominated by Tom Evans; seconded by Ron
Burger.
d. At-large Board Member (2-yr. term): Betsy
Kane. Nominated by Peter Passalacqua; seconded by Robert Sylvester.
e. At-large Board Member (2-yr. term): Ken Bunning. Nominated by Randy Anderson; seconded
by Robert Sylvester.
f. At-large Board Member (2-yr. term): Justin
Burns. Nominated by Jim Sample; seconded by
Bill O’Brien.
g. At-large Board Member (1 year, to complete
Peter Passalacqua’s term): Ron Bungay. Nominated by Ron Burger; seconded by Jim Niedbalski.
h. At-large Board Member (1-yr. term): Jim Niedbalski. Nominated by Russell Ledbetter; seconded by Robert Sylvester.
“CROOKED STICKS” H. DEAN CLARK
Participants register at the 2015 Gathering in Shippensburg, Pa. from left, Gathering program
coordinator Betsy kane, incoming Recording Secretary Peter Passalacqua and Peter Cook.
i. At-large Board Member (1-yr. term): Ron
Burger. Nominated by LuAnne Anderson; seconded by Ron Bungay.
5. MOTiOnS: None.
6. COORDinATOR’S RePORT: Kip Redick reported the proposed Waynesboro VA did not receive the required FEMA approval.
7. TReASuReR’S RePORT: LuAnne Anderson
reported that 70 percent of the organization’s
money went in service to hikers, while only 6
percent went to administrative costs.
8. MeMBeRSHiP RePORT: Robert Sylvester
reported the organization’s members now total
1,570 persons.
9. newSLeTTeR/weBSiTe RePORTS: Bill
O’Brien
10. MuSeuM RePORT: Larry Luxenberg
11. ATC RePORT: Hawk Metheny, New England Regional Director, spoke in the absence of
ATC Chair Ron Tipton
12. GATHeRinG COORDinATORS’ RePORT:
Kip Redick coordinated facility arrangements.
Betsy Kane, program coordinator, reported
about 300 people attended this year’s Gathering, where 40 workshops took place. Chuck
Wood coordinated the campsite.
13. GATHeRinG 2016 uPDATe: Kip Redick.
The 2016 Gathering is scheduled to take place
on Columbus Day weekend, October 2016. A
more southerly location for the 2017 Gathering
is still being worked on.
14. feSTiVALS 2016 uPDATe: Kip Redick announced plans are underway at this time for the
following festivals: SoRuck, NoRuck, ATKO, and
Trail Days.
15. wORk TRiPS 2016 uPDATe: Ron Bungay
announced there will be a Blackburn VA Trail
Center boundary work trip from Nov. 3 to 6th,
2015.
16. CALL fOR CRiTiQueS: Betsy Kane said
attendees can go online to “survey monkey” to
complete a critique of the 2015 Gathering. Bill
O’Brien has “diploma sheets.“
17. OLD BuSineSS:
a. Proposed Waynesboro VA shelter: Dave Hennel said the townspeople supported the project,
but FEMA would only approve a “shelter with no
walls.” “Baltimore Jack” suggested this money
be used to fund something related to the hikerrelated needs at Baxter State Park. The item will
be studied by the ALDHA board.
b. Bob Peoples reported that “Hardcore” is not
over, just moving along. Further projects of this
need and nature will be overseen by SW Regional Director Andrew Downs.
18. new BuSineSS: None reported.
19. ReSOLuTiOnS: “The Appalachian Long
Distance Hikers Association thanks Shippensburg university and Randy Hammond for a fine
32
ViSiTOR COMMenTS:
hosting of the organization’s 34th Annual Gathering.” Motion made by Pete Lane and seconded by Art Hehn III.
A. Mike Cunningham. Requested folks to sign
his register.
20. wALkin’ JiM AwARD: Bill O’Brien. The
award was given to Sue Spring, “Mama Lipton,”
AT-03,” former ALDHA Membership Secretary
and longtime ALDHA Recording Secretary,
whose term ended with today’s meeting.
B. Jack Tarlin.
a. Thanks for the $200 support for the NoRuck.
Consider money to support the SoRuck.
b. Baxter State Park. BSP spends lots of resources on the 5% of visitors that are thruhikers.
Consider showing support by providing some
funding to the Friends of Baxter. Good for the
park and good for the hikers. Would help reduce
some negative feelings towards hikers.
21. HOnORARY Life MeMBeRSHiP: Bill
O’Brien. These were awarded to Sue Spring,
Mark Hudson, and Tim Messerich.
22. AnnOunCeMenTS: Outgoing Coordinator
Kip Redick gave certificates to the following
ALDHA members:
a. Russell Ledbetter: for his unique promotion of
the Saturday evening dance event;
b. Vera Hurst: for taking on the Photo Contest;
c. LuAnne Anderson: for doing so many of the
jobs that make the Gathering a successful
event;
d. Ron Bungay: for running the hiker fair and the
work trips;
e. Tom Evans: for his super-supportive role in
the Apple Contest and for keeping “Mama Lipton” (Sue Spring) extremely happy;
f. Robert “Sly” Sylvester: for his Membership
Secretary role at the Gathering;
g. Randy Anderson: for his active support in
ALDHA and at the Gathering;
h. Sue Spring: for her super-supportive role in
the Apple Contest and for keeping “Flatlander”
(Tom Evans) extremely happy;
i. H. Dean “Crooked Sticks” Clark: for his magnificent photographic work.
j. Plaques:
(1) Betsy Kane: for her role as the 2015 Gathering Program Coordinator;
(2) Chuck Wood: for his role as 2015 Gathering
Campsite Coordinator;
(3) Jim Sample: for his role in advanced planning for the 2015 Gathering.
23. ReMARkS BY THe new COORDinATOR:
Jim Sample told the group he is hoping to recruit
volunteers for ALDHA, to put a face on ALDHA,
for example, by way of “ALDHA Care,” with Jim
Chambers, and “ALDHA Notebooks,” with Peter
Passalacqua. Jim said he would like to see
ALDHA set up a “crowdfunding” project. Jim
also said he will seek board approval to add the
following positions:
a. Webmaster;
b. App designer;
c. Social media coordinator.
Jim acknowledged Kip Redick’s contribution to
the organization at this the 34th Annual Gathering
24. MOTiOn TO ADJOuRn: Jim Sample. The
meeting was adjourned at 10:52am. Motion
made by Smith T. Edwards (“Old Ridge Runner”)
and seconded by Vera Hurst (“The Missing
Kink”).
Respectfully submitted, Sue Spring, ALDHA
Recording Secretary
Winter 2015-16
“CROOKED STICKS” H. DEAN CLARK
Jim Sample, left, and Robert ‘Sly’ Sylvester
burn the midnight oil in the days leading up
to the 2015 Gathering at Shippensburg, Pa.
2015 ALDHA Gathering Board Meeting
at Shippensburg university, Oct. 11
– DRAfT Minutes
BOARD ATTenDeeS: ALDHA Officers: Jim
Sample, Coordinator; Russell Ledbetter, Assistant Coordinator; Robert Sylvester, Membership
Secretary; LuAnne Anderson, Treasurer; and
Peter Passalacqua, Recording Secretary.
At-large Board members: Two-year Terms – Ken
Bunning, Betsy Kane, and Jim Niedbalski. Oneyear Terms – Ron Burger, Ron Bungay, Justin
Burns.
MeeTinG OPeninG: The meeting was opened
at 3pm by Coordinator Jim Sample.
APPROVAL Of MeeTinG MinuTeS (Oct 11,
2014): MOTION: To approve the minutes as
read by Peter Passalacqua. Motion made by
Ken Bunning and seconded by Ron Burger.
unanimously approved.
APPROVAL Of PROPOSeD AGenDA: MOTiOn: To approve the proposed agenda as written. Motion made by Justin Burns and seconded
by LuAnne Anderson. unanimously approved.
new MeMBeR weLCOMe AnD inTRODuCTiOn: (Jim Sample)
Coordinator White Sidewalls Jim Sample
Assistant Coordinator - Artful Dodger Russell
Ledbetter
Recording Secretary Chenango Peter Passalacqua
Membership Secretary Sly Robert Sylvester
Treasurer Tigger LuAnne Anderson
Member-at-Large (Exp 2016) yellow Shoes Ron
Bungay
Member-at-Large (Exp 2016) Gray Beard Ron
Burger
Member-at-Large (Exp 2016) Good Hiker Justin
Burns
Member-at-Large (Exp 2017) Nimbus Ken Bunning
Member-at-Large (Exp 2017) Sunflower Betsy
Kane
Member-at-Large (Exp 2017) High Octane Jim
Niedbalski
C. Janet Hensley. ALDHA built a pavilion in
Waynesboro, but it does not provide “on-site
rules, regulations, and maintenance.” Jim Sample response: ALDHA assumes the community
is taking care. The community should ask us if
there are problems. They should document their
comments and send to the ALDHA board for a
response. If additional community members
have problems they too need to contact us in
writing regarding their concerns.
MeRCHAnDiSe RePORT: (LuAnne) Income is
about the same as last year. In 2014 we were at
$4,387 as of October 1st. This year, 2015, we
are at about $5,000.
COMPAniOn RePORT: (Sly) Sales are up this
year. There have been 7,400 books sold. PDF
memberships are down. Most field editors have
reported in for the 2016 edition. ATC (Brian)
should get the update by the end of next week.
ALDHA CARe RePORT: (Jim Sample for Jim
Chambers)
• There are 29 low-cost hostels
• An ALDHA Care web page is available through
the ALDHA web-site
• Requested via e-mail $1,600 for 2016.
• Always looking for volunteers
OuTReACH: (Jim Sample)
A. Trail Events. Jim was able to represent
ALDHA at most events except for Millinocket.
These have been good exposure for ALDHA. Always looking for volunteers.
B. Hostels. Need to expand visits to hostels via
ALDHA Care and ALDHA Binder deliveries. Jack
Tarlin suggested contacting the Companion
Field Editors for help doing this.
C. Hiker Behavior and Etiquette. Janet Hensley
suggested we combine these programs and
posters to be more cohesive. She will send a list
of ideas to the board.
D. Biennial ATC Meeting. The ALDHA reception
was a success. There were many conference attendees there as well as many board members.
E. Trail Days (Jim Sample for Trail Angel Mary).
a. The hiker reception went well, but Mary definitely needs more help.
b. It was proposed that we could really use a
Trail Days ALDHA coordinator. Russell Ledbetter volunteered to do this for 2016.
c. A request was made to the Trail Days Committee for a second ALDHA site near tent city.
This site would be used to help hikers with
things like water, bug spray, bandages, minor
Winter 2015-16
finAnCiAL BALAnCe SHeeT fOR 2015
33
Below is the balance sheet for ALDHA’s finances for the year ending Dec. 31, 2015, as reported by Treasurer LuAnne Anderson for the
winter edition of The Long Distance Hiker. Her final report on the year will be presented at the spring board meeting on April 2, 2016.
ASSeTS
LiABiLiTieS & eQuiTY
Petty Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Mutual Fund Investment Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,058.22
Checking Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,639.02
Savings Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,473.35
CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,453.55
Equity
Opening Balance Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,684.27
Net Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,150.62
Net Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,355.25
Current Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,634.14
TOTAL LiABiLiTieS & eQuiTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,190.14
Cash and Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,634.14
Fixed Asset - utility Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,556.00
Fixed Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,556.00
Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,190.14
TOTAL ASSeTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,190.14
1st aid, sun block, etc. Ken Bunning to assist
Russell, especially regarding medical issues.
wORk TRiP RePORTS: (Ron Bungay)
A. 2014 Gathering. Boundary Trip and Trail
Maintenance. Did more than expected.
B. Boundary Trips. Blackburn Center (using
PATC cabins was great); 100 Mile Wilderness
trip was three days.
C. Supported RPH Cabin work trip in July
D. Supported Hard Core work trip
2015 BuDGeT/finAnCe RePORT: (LuAnne)
A. 2015 yTD financials were handed out to the
board for review. Also, these were posted in
ALDHA Central throughout The Gathering for all
members to review.
B. We have a $2,000 donation designated for
the Waynesboro Shelter project. LuAnne will go
back to donor and ask if we can use those
monies for other projects. (Note: FEMA approval
for the shelter site has not been granted. Therefore the intended project will not be built at this
time and the budgeted funds will be available for
reallocation.)
C. 2014 exceeded $50,000 in income. If a three
year average exceeds $50,000 we will need to
file a long form for taxes. It is suggested we hire
a CPA to do our taxes and review our books.
This expenditure is in the proposed budget for
next year.
SiDe DiSCuSSiOnS/QueSTiOnS (not part of
formal agenda):
A. Sly reminded the board he gave 10-20 Companions to each board member for them to
sell/place in local bookstores and outfitters. All
proceeds were sent to LuAnne.
B. Can we use “extra” 2015 Companion copies
to send to hostels?
C. How can we use ATC Trail Communities program to make sure the Companion gets into
local bookstores and outfitters?
D. Could we get “Hike in Harmony” and “Trail
Etiquette” ALDHA posters in AWOL’s book and
the Guthook App?
OTHeR BuSineSS:
A. Proposed budget was handed out for board
review.
B. GATC. The Georgia club needs help for building 30 tent platforms for camping in the Hawk
Mountain vicinity. Will ask for a written request.
PROPOSeD 2016 BuDGeT:
B. Jim Sample had received proposals for
ALDHA programs that were submitted pre-meeting. If none were supplied, the proposed budget
was left the same as last year.
C. Need to add $500 for Logo trademark renewal.
D. Need to add $250 to bond the treasurer.
E. Jim Sample proposed purchasing a trailer for
merchandise, tent, etc. 6x10 utility trailer,
$5,500. Wrapper for trailer, $1,500. Ongoing expenses would be about $200-$300/year. He
suggested funding by using crowd funding.
MOTION: Jim Sample to purchase a utility trailer
and wrapper for up to $7,500 using existing
ALDHA funds. Motion made by Jim Niedbalski
and seconded by Justin Burns. unanimously approved.
F. Need to increase Companion Editor and
Membership Secretary line items in budget to
$500 each.
MOTION: Amend proposed 2016 budget to include $2,000 to the ATC for the Kennebec River
Ferry. Motion made by LuAnne Anderson and
seconded by Ron Burger. unanimously approved.
MOTION: Amend proposed 2016 budget to include $500 for Logo trademark renewal, $250 to
bond the treasurer, $500 for Companion Editor,
and $500 for Membership Secretary. Motion
made by Peter Passalacqua and seconded by
Ron Burger. unanimously approved.
G. Leave Warrior Hike item in budget for now.
Will discuss this at another time.
SPRinG MeeTinG LOCATiOn: Bear’s Den,
April 2, 2016
A. Hiker Feed in Connecticut. Will need a new
coordinator. Thanks to Mike Cunningham (Hiker
Miker) for your past efforts.
C. MATC. The Maine club wants to borrow the
ALDHA tent for the ATC Biennial in 2017 meeting at Colby College. Will ask for a written request.
D. Friends of Baxter. A discussion regarding giving FoB a financial gift will be postponed until
the ALDHA members report back to the board at
the spring meeting. We need to understand
what makes sense, including specific plans such
as supporting a visitor center.
CLOSinG ReMARkS: None.
ADJOuRnMenT: The meeting was adjourned
at 5:30 in a motion made by Ron Bungay and
seconded by Ron Burger. unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
PeTeR PASSALACQuA
ALDHA Board e-Mail Motion
– Recorded Oct. 28, 2015
MOTiOn: The Board authorizes the designation
of Jim Sample's address for the registration of
ALDHA's new utility trailer. Motion made by LuAnne Anderson (Ken Bunning) and seconded by
Ron Bungay. unanimously approved. [Note: two
motions because of e-mails coming in at the
same time.]
(10/27/15). All voted Yes
Respectfully submitted,
PeTeR PASSALACQuA
34
Winter 2015-16
ALDHA ALMANAC ~ Part I
Nominations for future AldhA awards sought
each year, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association considers candidates for recognition at the fall Gathering.
A committee composed of Noel DeCavalcante, Bill O’Brien and Chuck Wood
nominate people for an Honorary Life
Membership, which goes to one or two in-
dividuals who have shown outstanding
service to ALDHA and/or the A.T.
Those who have won the HLM Award
are now also eligible for the Walkin’ Jim
Stoltz Award, reserved for those who continue a high level of service to ALDHA. For
info, contact [email protected].
2016 Work trip schedule
April 20-21
Spring boundary maintenance work trip at Blackburn Trail Center in Northern Virginia. Contact
Ron Bungay at [email protected].
oct. 10
Post-Gathering work trip. The Monday following
the Gathering will see two separate work trips at
two venues, one for trail maintenance and the
other for boundary monitoring work. Contact Ron
Bungay at [email protected].
Visit www.aldha.org/join.html
and click on the link for the
brochure in the upper left corner to open up and/or download
a PDF copy of the 2016 pamphlet that contains all the vital
information about ALDHA. (Or
click on the image of it above.)
Fold it in thirds and hand out
to hikers, friends of the trail and
anyone else you think might be
interested in joining ALDHA.
(But don’t leave in shelters!)
test your
memory of
the previous
issue of the
newsletter:
1
An ALDHA
member unveiled a new
trail sign on
the border of these
two states.
Check the ALDHA website at www.aldha.org for
updates and late additions.
When you sign a register . . .
Remember, when you’re out on the trail and
stop at a shelter to sign the register, be sure to
mention that you’re a member of ALDHA.
Don’t leave business cards, pamphlets,
posters or other paraphernalia in a shelter. But
by all means plug your trail club as part of your
handwritten sign-in. Let other hikers know you
belong to a great organization.
2
The body of
Geraldine Largay was found
how close to
the nearest point on
the Appalachian Trail?
3
What was the
cure for muscle cramps on
a boundary
work trip out of Blackburn Trail Center?
The cover of the 2016 A.T. Thru-Hikers’
Companion says it all: It’s the official guide
for long-distance hikes of the trail.
Information is gleaned fresh every single
year by a host of volunteer field editors —
most of them former thru-hikers themselves
— and their information is buttressed and
supplemented by updates from paid full-time
staff of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s
four regional districts, Georgia to Maine. It
also includes the latest, most up-to-date trail
mileage from the current year’s Databook.
And let’s not forget the profiles of the trail.
These are the only trail profiles in a guidebook that are not purposely distorted to fit the
convenience of a page’s layout. They are factual, true profiles that adhere to a scale grid.
The book is invaluable for hikes of any distance, as observed by Mike “Hikerboy” Smith,
a section-hiker, who posted this comment on
Facebook in response to a comparison with
other guides, including smartphone apps:
“The Companion has been substantially
improved over the past few years. I find it a
more useful guide for section-hikers than
awol and doesn’t run on batteries.”
It truly is one heck of an A.T. guidebook.
4
The annual
Apple Contest
at the Gathering featured
these two new (and
odd) entries.
5
With whom did
Chuck Wood
“skype” during
the Friday
night opening at the
Gathering?
2. ABOuT 3,000 FeeT. 3. eATING MuSTARD. 4. A CLuTCH OF SeeDS, AND AN APPLe CORe. 5. POPe FRANCIS.
2016 brochure set
for anyone to print
oct. 11-12
New Hampshire fall boundary maintenance work
trip, using one of the Dartmouth Outing Club cabins for overnight accommodations. This work trip
will occur immediately after the post-Gathering
work trips in the Williamstown, Mass., area. Contact Ron Bungay at [email protected].
companion is the official
Appalachian trail guide
1. PeNNSYLVANIA AND NeW JeRSeY.
July 8-10
Ralph’s Peak Hikers Cabin work
trip in New York. Contact Crew
Leader Tim Messerich at
[email protected].
Winter 2015-16
ALDHA ALMANAC ~ Part II
see what’s new on
AldhA’s website
Go back in time and read about past
ALDHA Gatherings with this archive of
Gathering programs, from 2003 to
2015 inclusive. All in PDF format.
A few were converted to color for
online purposes, and one was actually
printed in color for the Gathering
thanks to a great deal we had that
year — Gettysburg 2009 — with the
printer. (unfortunately, that printer is
no longer in business, lol.)
Relive who did what and when for
workshops over the past 12 years.
use it as a handy reference tool if
you’re involved in planning or organizing a future Gathering. Or take a look
at all the great feature presentations
we’ve had at some of our annual gettogethers.
All but one PDF are manageable in
size. The 2010 program had to be
scanned and is therefore a huge file.
With many thanks to new life members and donors
ALDHA wishes to thank
the following people
who’ve given our group
a boost since July 1.
NeW life MeMbers
Ron Burger
James Gulley
Michael Pleiss
Ronald & Louise Scholtes
Gary u. Richard
Michael Ryan
NeW doNors
Gail Baldwin
Marilyn Beckley
John N. Calhoun & Mary
Sale
Steve Combs
While we don’t actively seek contributions,
all donations to ALDHA are greatly appreciated.
Donations are tax-deductible. ALDHA is a 501(c)3
nonprofit. Our mailing address is ALDHA, 10 Benning St. PMB 224, West Lebanon, NH 03784.
Visit this link for an online form via paypal.
Beth & Bryan Critton
Jim eagleton
Grace Forbes
Rick Guhse
Lisa Hampton
John Hollingshead
Mark Hudson
Kathy Kelly-Borowski
Larry Luxenberg
Barbara Nash
poster on back page is ready to print
Give us a hand with publicity for this year’s Gathering
at Williams College by printing out the poster on the
back of this newsletter. Then
post it in a location where
35
hikers can see it, BuT NOT
in any shelter or other spot
on the actual A.T. Thanks!
use brightly colored paper
to help make the poster really stand out.
Peter Passalacqua
Michael Pleiss
Carl Reiners
Wes Riley
Daniel Smith & Dara Jane
Axman
Jeff Taussig
Soren P. West
Michael & Martha
Wingeart
respect for others,
iN persoN ANd oNliNe
The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers
Association welcomes diversity in all its
forms, including views expressed by
other members of the trail community,
provided those views treat other people
with respect. Whether it's in the form of
spoken comments at a Gathering or
other ALDHA functions, or written comments on our website, in our newsletter
or on other ALDHA platforms, disrespect
for others shall not be tolerated. The coordinator, in consultation with the board,
may ask a person to leave the ALDHA
Gathering (or other ALDHA functions) for
violating this policy; and the editors of the
ALDHA newsletter, website, Companion,
online social networks and other ALDHA
media, in consultation with the coordinator, may decline or delete comments that
violate this policy.
2016
Membership
Directory
$SSDODFKLDQ
/RQJ'LVWDQFH+LNHUV
$VVRFLDWLRQ
coming soon: the 2016
Membership directory
Robert “Sly” Sylvester is putting together
the Directory this year. If you’ve never gotten
one before, you’re in for a treat. It lists every
member alphabetically with their address,
phone, email and trail name, plus all the trails
they’ve hiked and when. The info is cross-referenced by trail name and by location. But
you can’t get one unless you’re a member.
So make sure you’re all paid up.
36
ALDHA ALMANAC ~ Part III
Winter 2015-16
key dates for 2016
March 8-9
Appalachian Trail KickOff
at Amicalola Falls, Ga.
boots McfArlANd
April 1-3
Spring meeting of the ALDHA board of
directors at Bears Den Hostel
in Bluemont, Va. (Meeting on April 2)
April 20-21
Spring boundary monitoring work trip out of
Blackburn Trail Center in Round Hill, Va.
May 13-15
Appalachian Trail Days, Damascus, Va.
June 3
A.T. Hall of Fame Banquet
in Boiling Springs, Pa.
July 8-10
RPH-ALDHA work trip at RPH Cabin
in east Fishkill, N.Y.
oct. 7-9
ALDHA’s 35th Gathering at Williams
College in Williamstown, Mass.
oct. 10
Post-Gathering work trips in the
Williamstown, Mass., area.
for boots Mcfarland-related items, visit www.bootsmcfarland.com
oct. 11-12
Boundary monitoring work trip in New
Hampshire with Dartmouth Outing Club.
Give someone the gift of a membership in AldhA and help our organization grow. it’s only $10, and the recipient may become a member for life.
This is to certify that
a Gift Membership in ALDHA
for
Has Been Entered for One Year
Presented by
#
AldhA shAres
Print out and trim this
certificate, fill in the
names and put it in a
No. 6 3⁄4 envelope as a
gift to a friend or family member who would
love to learn more
about hiking.
(Be sure to send us
the recipient’s information and pay for the
gift. See Page 38 for
the form as well as an
online option.)
Winter 2015-16
37
ALDHA ALMANAC ~ Part IV
Where to email officers, other key people
AldhA coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Sample . . . . . . . . . “White Sidewalls” . . . . [email protected]
Assistant coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . vacant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LuAnne Anderson . . . . . “Tigger” . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Membership secretary . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Sylvester . . . . . . “Sly”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
recording secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Passalacqua . . . . “Chenango” . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Gathering program coordinator . . . Betsy Kane . . . . . . . . . . “Sunflower” . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Gathering facility coordinator . . . . . Jim Niedbalski . . . . . . . “High Octane” . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Gathering campsite coordinators . . eric White . . . . . . . . . . . “Mini Mart” . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
companion editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Sylvester . . . . . . “Sly”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Newsletter editor & Webmaster . . . . Bill O'Brien . . . . . . . . . . “Sprained Rice” . . . . . . . [email protected]
Work trip coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . Ron Bungay . . . . . . . . . “Yellow Shoes” . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Merchandise coordinator . . . . . . . . . Mike Wingeart . . . . . . . . “Wing-Heart” . . . . . . . [email protected]
outreach coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Sample . . . . . . . . . “White Sidewalls” . . . . . . [email protected]
AldhA care coordinator . . . . . . . . . Jim Chambers . . . . . . . “Just Jim” . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
A.t. Museum representative . . . . . . Noel DeCavalcante . . . “Singing Horseman” . . . . [email protected]
AldhA’s
four-fold
statement
of purpose
iPhone
I
To represent
and promote
the welfare of
the Appalachian
long distance
hiking
community.
II
To provide
service in a
cooperative
spirit with other
Appalachian
hiking
organizations.
III
To provide education on the
use and
preservation of
Appalachian
long distance
trails.
IV
To provide
opportunities for interaction and
camaraderie within
the Appalachian
long distance
hiking community.
search & rescue
team invites all
ALDHA continues to develop
its Search and Rescue Team
and welcomes any member to
sign up. The only mission so
far was a weeklong search for
missing hiker Geraldine Largay
in May 2014. Her body was not
found until this past fall (see
Page 9 for an update).
Since then the coordinator of
the group, Mike Wingeart, has
taken training courses toward
certification, created a patch
(above) and a blaze orange
wicking T-shirt for use in the
field. If you’d like to know more,
contact Mike at 410-472-4951.
Android
Hike In Harmony
Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association
endangered services campaign enters 22nd year
the At hiker App
Guthook’s Guides and AldhA have
teamed up to bring you a new way to
plan and carry out your hike along the
Appalachian trail using an
app for either the iphone or
Android platform. it taps into
the latest info from AldhA’s
A.T. Thru-Hikers’ Companion
and all the technical info you
will need from actual Gps measurements of the trail by the app’s creator,
ryan linn, aka “Guthook.” A portion of
the proceeds support AldhA’s trail programs. scan the Qr code above or visit
www.sierraattitude.com/athikerapp/
Twenty-one years ago, at the 1994 Gathering in Hanover, N.H., then-Coordinator Ron
Keal convened a panel discussion on hiker
behavior after a spate of incidents over the
previous year and a half had threatened or
forced the closure of community gazebos and
pavilions in Dalton and Sheffield, Mass., and
Ceres, Va.
Afraid other useful hiker services would
soon face a similar fate, the roundtable discussion came up with a few ideas, including
the appointment of an ad hoc committee that
would look into the matter further to see what
ALDHA could do.
Thus was born the endangered Services
Campaign, an effort that continues to this day
in the form of the “Hike in Harmony” bumper
sticker (see image above; it’s still available in
the ALDHA Store) and other offshoots (see
box at right).
yAhoo support Group
The Yahoo AT Services Group was created by ALDHA a decade ago to enhance contact among Appalachian Trail
service providers such as hostels,
stores and other groups or businesses.
The list is private, invitation only, and
free. It has been used to communicate
about problem hikers, extreme weather,
trail closures and other issues, lost or
overdue hikers, and sometimes just
good news!
If you’re a service provider and would
like information on how to join the list,
contact its creator, former ALDHA Coordinator Mark Hudson, at
[email protected].
38
Winter 2015-16
ALDHA ALMANAC ~ Part V
Benefits of membership
As you can see from the display created by Coordinator Jim Sample at
right, your annual $10 dues goes a long way in ALDHA.
You get the following perks if you join:
Quarterly issues of the long distance
hiker, the newsletter of our organization,
which you’re reading now.
Annual Membership directory listing
trail names, locations, email addresses,
trails hiked and other info about our members.
free digital copy of the Appalachian Trail
Thru-Hikers’ Companion, the official guidebook
for hikes of any length on the A.T.
invitation to attend any and all ALDHA events, like the 2,000-miler reception at the ATC Biennial Conferences.
the chance to buy stuff with the ALDHA logo from our newly expanded
ALDHA Store.
free patches for ALDHA trail crews.
BILL O’BRIeN
your dues — but more importantly, your volunteer help — go toward a
growing list of trail-related activities that benefit the users of the Appalachian Trail — your fellow hikers.
Membership and Gathering registration
Name(s) ______________________________________________ Current Member Yes q No q
Date ________ / _______ / ________
Address ______________________________________________ City, State, Zip _____________________________________________________
Telephone (with area code) _______________________________ email address ____________________________________________________
Trail name(s) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Trails completed and years they were hiked _____________________________________________________________________________________
I would like to help ALDHA with: The Gathering q Companion Field editor q Trail Work q Publications q Publicity q ALDHA Care q
Memberships are $10 per family per calendar year or $200 for lifetime membership. Memberships filed after Sept. 30 will also include the following year.
Number of years _______________ x $10 per year = $_______________
Lifetime membership $200 (Does not include yearly Gathering registration fees.)
Gathering preregistration is $20 per person, only $50 for families of 3 or more
children under 13 free!
= $_______________
Donations to ALDHA, a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, are tax deductible.
Amount of donation: $ ______________ total enclosed: $_______________
how would you like your AldhA publications delivered?
Newsletter q PDF in email (with color) q Paper (B&W)
Membership
Directory q PDF in email (with color) q Paper (B&W)
Go Green: PDFs reduce clutter and save money and trees.
If attending the October Gathering, please mail your payment no later than sept. 15 to AldhA, 10 Benning St., PMB 224, West Lebanon, NH 03784
Or, register online at https://secure.jotform.com/form/10562609918
Questions? . . . email [email protected]
01/16
APPALACHIAN LONG DISTANCE HIKERS ASSOCIATION
VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE
Take stock during winter
Companion, bandanas,
wicking shirts, caps, etc.
Click this link & pay online: www.aldha.org/store
New Merchandise!
B.
A.
A. Hike in Harmony Wicking T-shirt
Thanks to Ron Burger, the ALDHA Endangered
Services Campaign has its “Hike In Harmony”
message on 3 colorful T-shirts, all made of wicking
material. Available in gold, lime green (above), and
bright blue. The name “ALDHA” is on the back.
Available in S, M, L, XL. $20. 2XL. $22.
C.
B. ALDHA Tote Bag
The forest green tote bags that were part of the
Gathering in 2015 are available for sale. The bag is
12½'' wide by 13'' deep (not counting handles). $3.
C. ALDHA Care T-shirt
The coordinator of the ALDHA Care program, Jim
Chambers, has created a new T-shirt to show your
support for ALDHA’s efforts to help low-cost hiker
hostels on the A.T. White lettering on black shirt.
D.
D. ALDHA Work Crew T-Shirt (see Page 3)
Work trip coordinator Ron Bungay has come out
with a new blaze orange work crew T-shirt.
E. ALDHA Stocking Hat
Just in time for winter, a warm pullover hat, one size
fits all. Gray and black knit, with white logo. $12.
Shop and pay online at
www.aldha.org/store
NOTE: New
items may
not be ready
for sale yet
in the online
store. check
back soon.
Page 40
E.
Benchmarks, Patches & Pins
A. Springer Mountain Benchmark Paperweight
A 3¼'' diameter replica of the U.S. Geological Survey benchmark atop Springer Mountain in Georgia, southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.
Cast in fine pewter. Felt backing with soft fleece
pouch. Comes in a clear viny-covered box. $39.
A.
C.
B. Mount Katahdin Benchmark Paperweight
A 3¼'' diameter replica of the U.S. Geological Survey benchmark atop Mount Katahdin,
northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.
Cast in fine pewter. Felt backing with soft fleece
pouch. Comes in a clear vinyl-covered box. $39.
C. Springer Mountain Benchmark Pin
A 1'' diameter replica of the USGS benchmark
on Springer Mountain. Cast in fine pewter
with a military clutch back. $10.
B.
D.
D. Mount Katahdin Benchmark Pin
A 1-inch-diameter replica of the USGS benchmark on Mount Katahdin. Cast in fine pewter
with a military clutch back. $10.
E. F. G. ALDHA Patches
The classic ALDHA patch is the perfect way to
show everyone you meet on the trail you are a
member of ALDHA. At 3 inches in diameter,
it is the ideal size for putting on your pack. $4.
E.
F.
G.
Pads & Coasters
H.
H. ALDHA Mouse Pad
Mouse pad with the ALDHA logo imprinted
on it. Now available in black on white (shown); black on
orange; black on lime green; and white on black. $11.
I.
I. ALDHA Coaster
Absorbent Sandstone coaster, 4¼'' diameter with the
ALDHA logo imprinted in black on white. $11.
Visit our online store at www.aldha.org/store
Page 41
Polo Shirts, Bandanas & Vest
A. Hunter Green Polo Shirt
This polo-style shirt in hunter green
features the ALDHA logo embroidered
in khaki-colored thread. Great for casual
work settings. 100% cotton.
Available in Men’s and Women’s sizes.
S, M, L, XL. $30. 2XL. $32.
B. Royal Blue Polo Shirt
This polo-style shirt in royal blue features
the ALDHA logo embroidered in white
thread. Perfect for wearing to work in
informal settings. 100% cotton.
Available in Men’s and Women’s sizes.
S, M, L, XL. $30. 2XL. $32.
A.
B.
C. White Polo Shirt
Same as others, but white
with green embroidered logo.
100% cotton. Available in
Men’s and Women’s sizes.
S, M, L, XL. $30. 2XL. $32.
C.
D.
E.
D. ALDHA Bandana
100% Cotton ALDHA Bandana in 10 different
colors. Choose red, royal, yellow, gold, gray,
green, orange, light blue, light pink or purple. $5.
E. Cozy Fleece Vest
Gray fleece vest with black piping and
embroidered black ALDHA logo.
Hats & Accessories
F.
F. ALDHA Ball Cap
This ball cap is perfect for the trail or around
town to show off your support for ALDHA.
It is Pigment-dyed color, 100% cotton twill,
lightweight, low profile, unstructured with
an adjustable slide closure so one size fits all.
$15.
G. Hat/Lapel Pins
Available in gold, black or silver. $4.
Page 42
www.aldha.org/store
G.
Our Favorite Tees
A. & B. These great-looking Tees are soft and comfortable
and come in either short-sleeve or long-sleeve. Made from
100% cotton, with the familiar ALDHA logo printed on the
front left and back.
Short sleeve (Sage Green) in S, M, L, XL $16. 2XL $18.
Long-sleeve (Heather Gray) in S, M, L, XL $20. 2XL $22.
www.aldha.org/store
A.
C. Moisture Wicking T-Shirt
Fast drying and odor resistant, this Navy blue
T-shirt is made of moisture-wicking material
and has the ALDHA logo embroidered in white.
B.
C.
D. 30th Anniversary Reissue of the
First Official ALDHA T-Shirt
A reproduction of the original ALDHA
T-shirt that came out in 1991. Same
cream-colored shirt with design in dark
green, only the circular image is on the
back this time, and a plain, smaller logo
is on the front left-breast area.
Available in S, M, L. $16. XL. $18.
D.
Stickers & Decals
Hike In
Harmony
E.
F.
Hike In Harmony
Leave no trace in trail towns, not just in camp.
Follow the rules as you would the white blazes.
G.
Help keep the Appalachian Trail a good neighbor.
The Endangered Services Campaign
E. “Hike in Harmony”
bumper sticker. $2.
F. Window decal with
the ALDHA logo on an
orange background. $2.
G. “I Brake for Trail Crossings” bumper sticker. $2.
Page 43
www.aldha.org
Williamstown, Mass.
Oct. 7-9, 2016
Columbus Day Weekend
for Hikers, Dreamers
& Friends of the Trail
GATHERING
Be part of
the magic . . .
Head for the

Winter - The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association

Transcription

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