The Long Distance Hiker
The Newsletter of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association
Vol. 25, No. 1
INSIDE THIS
E-EDITION
A GREAT NEW TRAIL
GOES THE DISTANCE
The first thru-hikers on
the Great Eastern Trail tell
of their Alabama-to-New
York adventure. Page 12
n
SAYING FAREWELL TO
LONGTIME MEMBERS
Fred Waigand came
to the first
Gathering in
1982 and he
kept coming
back every year. Page 16
‘ALDHA News That Fits We Print Since 1983’
See the Premiere of
An Amazing A.T. Film
@ THE ALDHA GATHERING
Williamstown, Mass.
Oct. 10-12, 2014
n
Editor-in-Chief
The first full-length book
about the life and times of
Emma Gatewood is now
out. Read a review and an
excerpt here. Pages 19-21
n
MCAFEE’S KNOB
n
A.T. HALL OF FAME
n Four new members of
the A.T. Hall of Fame will
be inducted June 6 and we
are all invited. (Note: They
have terrific food where it
will take place in Boiling
Springs, Pa.!) Page 19
INDEX
Around & About . . . . . . 3
New Members . . . . . . 24
The Companion . . . . . 25
ALDHA Almanac . . . . 26
Registration form . . . . 28
Featured
speaker
will debut
A.T. movie
By­BILL O’BRIEN
GRANDMA GATEWOOD
BIOGRAPHY IS OUT
It’s long been the most
photographed place on the
A.T., surpassing even Mt.
Katahdin, and we’ll try to
show you why. Pages 6-11
spring 2014
ChrIs GallaWay
Chris­Gallaway­stands­just­below­Baxter­Peak­on­Mount­Katahdin­in­a
promotional­photo­for­his­film.­It’s­also­promoting­this­year’s­Gathering.
The feature presentation at this year’s
Gathering in Williamstown will be a film
like no other you’ve ever seen about thruhiking on the Appalachian Trail.
If you’ve watched the video essays of
Chris Gallaway, aka “Frost,” online, you
can appreciate the quality that awaits
when his full-length feature film makes its
debut at the Gathering, hopefully in the
’62 Arts Center of Williams College
where we enjoyed Andrew Skurka’s presentation in 2011.
Chris thru-hiked the trail last year and
we ran into him at the hiker feed put on
by ALDHA in Connecticut in July. He
was the last one to come through that day
and, while we had already packed up
most of the food, I offered him a ride to
the grocery store in Salisbury so he could
pick up some supplies. In that brief time,
we shared a mutual appreciation for the
poems of Robert Frost (his trail name is
an ode to the poet) and he gave me the
Continued on Page 4
ALDHA organizes search and rescue group
By­MIKE­WINGEART
ALDHA Treasurer
As proposed at the 2013 Gathering,
ALDHA is forming a Search and Rescue
Team to aid, assist and support local agencies looking for missing or lost hikers on
the Appalachian Trail.
The ALDHA team will go to Maine
and search for Geraldine “Gerry” Largay
from May 27 to June 1.
For some background information
please refer to the article in the winter edi-
If you would like to join, contact
Mike Wingeart at 443-791-9196 or
mike­wing­eart@hotmail.com.
tion of ALDHA’s Long Distance Hiker by
Bill O’Brien concerning Largay, trail
name “Inchworm.” She went missing on
July 23, 2013, while hiking the A.T. in
Maine.
Even though hikers volunteered to help
in the search, the Maine Warden Service
was reluctant to use them due to the ter-
rain and lack of training. Their reasoning
is very sound in that untrained and out-ofshape volunteers could possibly themselves need to be rescued.
With that being said, it is very important that those who volunteer to join the
ALDHA Search and Rescue Team understand that they will be required to stay in
shape and take the necessary courses required or needed to be an asset in the
search effort and not a liability.
Continued on Page 5
2
spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
The Long Distance Hiker
april 2014
Vol. 25, No. 1
Editor -in-Chief
Bill O’Brien
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 24, or go online to
www.aldha.org/join.html.
Coordinator’s
report
To contact us via email, write to us at:
info@aldha.org. Our home page is at
http://www.aldha.org. If you need to
contact the folks below, see Page 22.
ALDHA Coordinator
Kip redick
Assistant­Coordinator
randy anderson
Treasurer
Mike Wingeart
Membership­Secretary
robert sylvester
Recording­Secretary
sue spring
At-Large­Board­Members
ron Bungay ’15
ryan hamler ’14
Jim Niedbalski ’15
rhea Patrick ’14
Jim sample ’15
Judy young ’14
Gathering­Coordinators
randy anderson, program coordinator
Jim Niedbalski, facilities coordinator
Eric White, campsite coordinator
Outreach­Coordinator
Judy young
2014­Companion­Editor
robert sylvester
Webmaster
Bill O’Brien
Merchandise­Coordinators
ryan hamler & Judy young
A.T.­Museum­Representatives
Noel DeCavalcante & Bill O’Brien
DEADLINE­FOR­SUMMER­ISSUE­JUNE­1
Email your stuff to newsletter@aldha.org
or via snail mail to Bill O’Brien,
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.
Hope­is­eternal­at­Springer.­Coordinator­Kip­Redick­at­the­A.T.’s­southern­terminus­in­Georgia.
I
2014 has already seen ALDHA active
t was wonderful to get together with so
many ALDHA folks, to chat and catch
up on what trails everyone has been
walking, maintaining, creating, or
dreaming.
Thanks to Shippensburg University for
hosting us this past year; I heard so many
good reports about the facilities.
The trees are finally budding with the
promise of Spring. At the end of my walk
along Jones Creek this morning my shoes
were covered in green pollen, reproduction is
rampant as warmth creeps up from the south.
I know several thru-hikers on the trail this
year and am sure they will be glad for
warmer weather. A couple of them were
wading through knee-deep snow in the Smokies back in March.
ALDHA has been well represented at several events that mark the start of hiking season. The Southern Ruck, held at the NOC,
was a great success and a number of potential
thru-hikers attended.
The Northern Ruck was held at Bears Den
this year and snow covered the slopes. Several of us took time for a day hike to the
south and into the Roller Coaster. Creeks
were frozen, and the cascades produced beautiful sculptures over rocks and logs. Some of
last year’s thru-hiker class attended and gave
advice to those planning their 2014 hike to
Maine.
The skies cleared in time for the AT Kickoff, though many who came south for the
event drove through an ice storm. The conference area of the lodge at Amicalola was
packed with attendees, who came to the
workshops and displays. Gray Jay held court
at the ALDHA table and introduced our organization to many who walked by.
Unlike the two Rucks, the Kickoff was attended by folks who are less serious about
long-distance hiking and drove up from the
Atlanta region to “check out” the Appalachian Trail. We were able to educate
many as to the possibilities of section hiking
and going all the way.
The Spring Board Meeting was held at
Bears Den this year. All the snow was melted
and the daffodils were just starting to peek up
at the sun. We had a good and spirited discussion over the long agenda.
We are excited for the Gathering this fall
in Williamstown. Anyone who wants to volunteer or who has ideas for a workshop, send
us a note.
We are also looking forward to Trail Days
down in Damascus and will have out big tent
set up there as usual. Stop in and tell us what
you are doing on the trail this year.
May we all “keep the fire burning” and get
out on a trail this spring and summer.
Sincerely,
Kip Redick
Coordinator
spring 2014
3
The Long Distance Hiker
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:
PAvILION­DEDICATION­SET­MAY­31
t
The dedication of the new ALDHA Pavilion at
the backpacker tenting area in Waynesboro, Va., is
set for Saturday, May 31, at 2 p.m. It will be part
of the festivities for Xtreme Fest of the Blue Ridge,
an event happening in town that weekend.
All are welcome to attend, and “Gourmet Dave”
Hennel is hoping to do a cookout for anyone there.
TAKING­A­FEW­zERO­DAYS
Best wishes for speedy recoveries to “Billy
Goat” and “Flatlander” who both experienced medical setbacks over the winter. Billy Goat had to undergo heart bypass surgery and is doing much
better, though at first he reported it was not fun at
all. And Tom Evans, aka Flatlander, had his own
heart troubles but luckily he was with Sue “Mama
Lipton” Spring at the time of the attack and managed to get quick medical attention, including a
pacemaker.
Both B.G. and Tom should be good to go for another 20,000 miles. ;-)
CLASS­REUNIONS­AT­THE­MUSEUM
This year it will have been 40 years since hikers
in 1974 set out to hike the Appalachian Trail. For
others it will be 35, 30, or perhaps 25 years. In
honor of these classes, and to help re-establish contacts and gather history, the A.T. Museum will host
a reunion for members of these elite groups. If you
were on the trail in any of these years, then stop by
and get re-acquainted.
If you want to meet these hikers, or members of
the newly inducted A.T. Hall of Fame Class of
2014, you are welcome to attend. (You need not be
a member of the classes of 1974, ’79, ’84 and ’89
to attend.) It all takes place at the A.T. Museum in
Pine Grove Furnace State Park on June 6-8. Details
at www.atmuseum.org.
DIRECTORY­DEDICATION­DISCOvERED
In case you didn’t notice this year’s Directory
dedication, you’re in good company. Neither did
the person to whom the Directory was dedicated! It
wasn’t until the spring board meeting in early April
that H. Dean Clark, aka “Crooked Sticks,” found
out about it, and only after he was asked for his reaction. Shortly after the meeting, he wrote to express his gratitude:
“I am humbled by the exceedingly kind words of
the dedication you wrote! Thanks BUNCHES!”
THERE’S­NO­PLACE­HE’D­RATHER­BE
I thoroughly enjoyed your profile of Peter Bingen
and the song “I Don’t Mind” (see Pages 34-35 of
the e-edition of the winter Long Distance Hiker).
I first heard that song many years ago and loved it,
absolutely loved it. In fact, the song has kept me
going all these years as I slowly become an old man
sittin’ in an office building someplace far away with
worry on my face!
— Laurence “Fairhope” McDuff, AT92
vIDEO­TESTIMONIAL­ABOUT­ALDHA
H.­DEAN­CLARK
Here­is­a­link­to­a­new­YouTube­video­that­I­just­finished­which­should­provide­some
significant­incentives­for­new­hikers,­dreamers­and­supporters­to­join­our­group,­and
participate­in­our­activities!­It’s­titled­‘ALDHA­and­the­No-Ruck­Blew­Him­Away!’,­a
video­testimonial­from­aspiring­2015­Thru-Hiker­Justin­Burns,­captured­at­the­conclusion­of­the­2014­Northern­Ruck­in­late­January,­early­February­at­Bears­Den­Trail­Center­…­I­have­posted­the­link­on­the­ALDHA­Facebook­page­as­well­as­the­Facebook
page­for­the­Appalachian­Trail:­Class­of­2014.­Here’s­the­link:
ht t p: //www.y out ube .c om /wa t c h?v =7 3 k f 7 WC Q0 8 I
— H. Dean Clark, aka ‘Crooked Sticks’
IN­A­vAN­DOWN­BY­THE­RIvER
INSPIRED­TO­TAKE­ACTION
“Crooked Sticks” reports that he gathered two
WalMart bags of trash at an otherwise “Virginny
Sweet Spot” seven miles north of Damascus on
Highway 58. He says he had to clean up the area
since he decided to car camp there next to the creek
for a while, and while he was there he even had a
visitor who joined him for one of the evenings —
our membership secretary, Robert “Sly” Sylvester,
who slept in his van. Dean reports they had fun.
Bob Allphin recently joined the ALDHA group
page on Facebook and sent this note:
“Thank you for accepting me into your group.
I’m a backpacker and the other day I went for a
local hike and someone hurt my woods. It has me
not only up in arms but is getting me active. So I’m
spreading the word the best that I can: Be active and
get your community together to make the woods a
cleaner place.”
The Place hostel in Damascus is open and it
needs donations of paper towels, bathroom tissue,
hand sanitizer, Pine-Sol and cleaning ammonia. Or
it will gladly accept cash donations. “Bayou” Roy
Knight reports that it cost over $800 to open this
year because of a few burst pipes, an upgrade to the
electrical service and the need for more smoke detectors. You can send donations marked for The
Place to Damascus United Methodist Church, 200
E. Laurel Ave., Damascus, Va. 24236.
The ALDHA board voted to make a donation to
The Place at its spring meeting this year, and the
check has been delivered. ALDHA is also scheduled to do some painting at The Place on May 15,
the Thursday before Trail Days, so if you want to
help, email worktrip@aldha.org.
Although some of the late Ed Garvey’s hiking
memorabilia has been on loan to the A.T. Museum
there was still a lot of it in his house that needed to
be assessed and collected. A group from ALDHA
pitched in to help out during two separate visits, including Bill O’Brien, Jim Sample, Mike Wingeart,
Joe Harold and Ron Bungay. The items of historical
significance are now in the hands of the museum.
FIND­A­PLACE­IN­YOUR­HEART­.­.­.­
ED­GARvEY­MEMORABILIA
QUOTE­OF­THE­DAY
I once walked a thousand miles and found myself. Then I walked a thousand more and found
great friends. I walked two hundred more and, for
that trail, it was the end. So this time I will do it
again and add six hundred miles on the West Coast.
— Mrz Coachz, on ALDHA’s Facebook page
4
spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
SPEAKER: Filmmaker to give feature presentation
WORKSHOPS­WELCOME
Continued from Page 1
website with his videos and other essays. When I got
home and checked them out, I was amazed at the effort
that went into making them during the course of his
thru-hike.
The idea for a presentation at the Gathering quickly
came to mind, and after sending the website link to
some ALDHA officers including Randy Anderson, the
program coordinator of this year’s Gathering, an effort
was made to get Chris to present his movie. We are
happy to say that their efforts have succeeded and if
you needed any other motivation to be there for the
Gathering’s return to Massachusetts this fall, this is it.
Chris is a gifted storyteller. His writing is powerful,
his cinematography is spectacular, and his video and
sound editing are superb. To top it all off, he has the
kind of voice that makes narration a joy to listen to.
You may actually shed a few tears as the ending of one
of his videos unfolds. He has his camera set up outside,
a bit of a distance from his tent, and the aperture is
sensitive enough to not only show the woods in snow
in the dark but also the stars rotating overhead in a
time-lapse to the morning, when a light clicks on inside
the tent and the background music and his narration
both hit their climax. Have tissues ready.
And then there’s his writing. In just simple words,
Chris will put you on the rock he’s sitting on in Maine
when he gets news from back home in Alabama that
no thru-hiker wants to hear.
Powerful, emotion-packed stuff.
Together these skills will produce one of the most
creative, colorful and captivating movies ever made
about the Appalachian Trail. And that puts it in some
serious company after National Geographic swooped
in to shoot a movie a couple of years ago. Think Robert
Redford’s shooting of Bill Bryson’s book will show the
trail in all its glory? Don’t bet on it. Locations were
being scouted as far away as Hungary and it is being
directed by the man who brought us “Borat.”
And while National Geographic padded its footage
The heart and soul of the Gathering consists of hikers like you sharing your past
hikes and other adventures with your fellow
long-distance hikers. so think about doing
a workshop at this fall’s Gathering. Contact
program coordinator randy anderson at
program@aldha.org or fill out the form on
bottom of this page and mail it back to us.
russ CharEsT
The­last­thru-hiker­to­come­through­ALDHA’s
Hiker­Feed­last­year­was­‘Frost,’­of­Asheville,
N.C.­He­was­memorizing­the­poems­of­Robert
Frost­as­he­hiked­north,­and­creating­beautiful­film­essays­as­well.­This­year­he­will­give
the­feature­presentation­at­the­Gathering.
with loads of expensive, overhead panorama shots
from a plane or helicopter, Chris will keep us firmly
planted on the ground, where the trail — and the people
who hike the trail — make the A.T. what it is.
But don’t take my word for it. Go online and see
for yourself. His website is www.theatmovie.com. See
his short essays there, and read about how his efforts
to get funding through a Kickstarter campaign came up
short of the required threshold earlier this year. (If you
don’t get a certain amount of pledges in a set time
frame, the application doesn’t qualify for funding.)
Some 253 people offered their financial support during that campaign, and Chris is hoping those folks
carry through on their pledges. He will honor the rewards promised for each Kickstarter pledge if they are
sent in, and he has a list of rewards for new people
willing to step forward and help finance his movie.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has already offered its support as a sponsor and is accepting tax-deductible donations online and by phone to help fund
the project. (Visit appalachiantrail.org/thelongstart.)
ALDHA is also looking into becoming an official
sponsor of the movie.
Chris faces a lot of expenses as he tries to craft the
greatest film ever about the trail. He hopes to hire top
animators to create amazing trail maps charting his
progress. He would like to hire some of his favorite
musicians to write original music for the score. And
he has help in his studio in Asheville, N.C., editing
and recording and scoring.
“We’re asking for your help to make this film as
good as it can be,” Chris writes on his website. “In the
way that the Renaissance painters worked thanks to the
generosity of private patrons, we’re reaching out to a
broad community of backers to donate to the film’s
budget and empower us to do the best work we can in
finishing it.”
Workshop­Presenter’s­Form for­2014­ALDHA Gathering
v
v
v Deadline for submission: sEPT. 1, 2014 v
v
v
Name­________________________________ Phone­____________________ E-mail­__________________________
Street­Address ___________________________________ City,­State,­zIP __________________________________
Title­of­Presentation ____________________________________________ Approximate­Length ________________
Type­of­Presentation (workshop, slide show, panel discussion, etc.) _________________________________________
Briefly­describe­how­your­presentation­should­be­explained­in­the­program:­______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
What,­if­any,­is­desired­day­and­time­of­presentation? (i.e., saturday afternoon, etc.) _________________________
Please mail this no­later­than Sept.­1,­2014, to: alDha, 10 Benning st., PMB 224, West lebanon, Nh 03784
spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
5
WIKIPEDIa
The­Appalachian­Trail­on­Crocker­Mountain­in­Maine,­with­Sugarloaf­visible­in­the­distance.­This­is­the­area­ALDHA aims­to­search­in­late­May.
SEARCH: Group heading to Maine
Continued from Page 1
DOTTIE rusT
Geraldine­Largay­is­seen­on­the­A.T.­in­Maine
on­the­day­she­disappeared,­July­22,­2013.
The goal of the group will be to develop onsite training guidelines/procedures for volunteer hikers who
wish to help in the search for missing and lost hikers,
so they can be quickly integrated into three man search
teams to safely enter into the active search.
The Maine wardens searched the area of last point
seen and last ping of cellphone, basically from Poplar
Ridge Lean-to north to Spaulding Mountain Lean-to.
So there is no reason to redo that area. Gerry was on a
three-day hike of 30 miles and she had two days of decent weather but the third day was rainy and foggy, a
bad day to hike.
One theory is that she made it to the Sugarloaf
Mountain Trail on Day 2, then something happened in
that last day in bad weather while she was under stress
to make her connection with her husband at Route 27.
We’ll form up on Wednesday, May 28, at the parking lot off the A.T. and Route 27. We’ll climb Crocker
Mountain and set up camp on that mountain, probably
at Crocker Cirque Campsite. We’ll search that mountain for the next three days, from the top down if possible, utilizing binoculars.
On Sunday, June 1, we will end the search and head
down to the parking lot, where someone will be posted
to watch our cars during the search.
Of note: If Caribou Valley Road is open and passable
to the A.T., we may decide to take that road and have
a shorter walk into the campsite.
We will want the snow to
be melted, and we will want to
be there before trees and brush
leaf out. We will not stay too
long if the black flies are bad.
Participants will need to sign
waiver forms. Each individual
is responsible for his or her
hDC
camping equipment: tent,
Wingeart
sleeping bag, ground cloth,
cooking equipment, food, water, clothing, etc., for five
days.
We’ll be wearing bright colors and work in teams of
three. All will be equipped with whistles and day packs
for searching. Day packs will include GPS, compass,
communication devices such as walkie-talkies and cellphones, a whistle, appropriate clothes and footwear,
two quarts of water, food and snacks for the day, a
lighter, matches and candle, five heavy-duty trash bags,
five 1-gallon Ziplock bags, pen/pencil and paper in Ziplock, personal first aid kit, knife or multi-tool, headlamp/flashlight with spare batteries and bulbs, leather
gloves, personal ID, blaze orange (hat, shirt, bandana,
ribbon marking, flags), binoculars, camera, toilet
paper, medication, rain gear, head net, Deet.
If you would like to join us, call 443-791-9196 or
email mikewingeart@hotmail.com.
6
The Long Distance Hiker
spring 2014
mcafee’s knob
the most photographed place
on the APPALACHIAN TRAIL
By­BILL­O’BRIEN­­­
Editor-in-Chief
CasEy “aqua-MaN”
spring 2014
At­the­turn­of­the­last­century,
before­there­was­any­such­thing
as­an­Appalachian­Trail,­a­handpainted­penny­postcard­featured­two­people,­one­of­them
possibly­a­woman­(in­the­straw
hat,­holding­the­viewing­glass),
dangling­on­the­edge­of
McAfee’s­Knob­in­western­virginia.­In­the­hundred-plus­years
since­this­scene­was­captured
on­film,­the­knob­has­barely
changed,­including­the­pectoral
fin­that­protrudes­on­right­side.­
Iconic outcrop
is the closest
thing we have
to a rock star
on the A.T.
W
HEREVER YOU venture in East
Coast trail circles, be it on the
road, on foot or on the Web,
chances are you will see it.
It is as ubiquitous as the Katahdin
Range is in Maine. As prevalent in the trail world
through which we traverse as backpacks and blazes.
As common a sight in wall pics as selfies and smiles.
You can be sitting in front of a website devoted to
long-distance hiking, standing in a bookstore flipping
through the latest tome about the A.T., or, yes, staring
at the wall in the Bears Den Hostel bathroom . . .
chances are pretty good that you’re going to see it.
McAfee’s Knob.
In all its natural grace and beauty, patiently putting
up with the antics that it never fails to bring out in hikers who are otherwise overwhelmed by its aura,
McAfee’s Knob is always there. Baxter Peak might
have once been considered the most photographed
place on the A.T., at least as far as long-distance hikers
were concerned, but that day has long passed.
McAfee’s Knob owns our A.T. consciousness now.
It is the unofficial (make it official if you like) symbol
of all things A.T. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
uses the knob’s profile at sunset in a promotional
poster. Area trail clubs use it as a grandstand for group
photos. Regional businesses, newspapers, blogs and
tourism outlets use it as the iconic image of their corner
of the Virginia commonwealth.
Not bad for an otherwise drab slab of sandstone that
has withstood the millennia of time, its sandy ancestors
having witnessed an ocean literally come and go and
its forebears having seen the mountains around it once
rival those of the Himalayas. This rock — seemingly
protruding into space — would be just another bootscuffing surface to cross on the Appalachian Trail were
it not for the geological drama that took hundreds of
millions of years to play out around it and shape the
amazing landscape we should never take for granted.
Most visitors standing on the knob’s precipice appreciate the fact that they are in a special place but most
are not savvy enough to read the signs, written like a
textbook, that lay out the history of our planet at their
feet. Titanic forces of nature more powerful than tornadoes yet slower than an inchworm threw together
story by BIll O’BrIEN
7
The Long Distance Hiker
FOllOWING PaGEs: Winter,
spring,­summer­or­fall,­McAfee’s
Knob­offers­a­spectacular­backdrop­for­the­quintessential­hiker
photo.­These­are­just­some­of
the­hundreds­of­photos­of­the
A.T.’s­most­famous­stage­posted
online.­Other­scenes­show­folks
doing­handstands,­waving­flags,
playing­tubas,­and­so­on­.­.­.­.
this tableau of beauty. From the Catawba River Valley
to the Tinker Cliffs, from the undulating curves of
North Mountain to the far off ridges of the Allegheny
Range, hikers have good reason to pause here, to reflect, and to whip out their cameras and take the requisite “Look at me, I’m king of the world!” photo. (No
selfies here, thank you. It wouldn’t do the rock justice.)
The man who is synonymous with the geology of
the A.T. — he wrote the book on it, after all — agrees
that McAfee’s Knob is the rock star of the trail.
“Oh it’s out there, all right,” chuckles Collins Chew
of Tennessee. “It’s really spectacular.”
While similar sandstone rock formations can be
found elsewhere on and off the trail, he says none of
them are tilted the same and none are as high in elevation, poking out above the trees, like the knob. He also
noted that McAfee’s easily beats Katahdin in one crucial respect as far as exposure to camera-wielding hikers: “It’s easier to get to.”
If you’ve already been there and done it, let your
mind revisit the place right now. As you hike to the
knob and then over to Tinker Cliffs, take note of the
ground beneath your boots. That’s Silurian sand you’re
kicking up. No, it’s not from some alien world in Star
Trek. It’s from an alien world here on Earth, 430 million years or so ago, when almost the entire northern
hemisphere was under a shallow sea. The Silurian period was part of the Paleozoic era in geologic time and
it occurred millions of years before the first dinosaurs
— yes, even before the Doyle opened for business.
During the Silurian period, the first bony, jawed fish
evolved, including six-foot-long sea scorpions. Arachnids like scorpions and spiders migrated from the sea
to land. Not to be left behind, the first plants also
moved from sea to land, taking root in marshy areas
and standing up straight on their own power for the
first time. (Look at me, I’m king of the world!)
One hundred million years later, the Earth was on
the move as the fused tectonic plates at the South Pole
broke apart and started drifting north, colliding and
bumping into each other along the way and, in the
process, causing the ground to ripple and buckle upward, jutting mountains high into the air and draining
that great inland sea. It set the stage for plants and animals to explode in numbers and evolution, eventually
covering every corner of Earth. Dinosaurs ruled the
land. And plants not only stood erect on their own
power, they towered hundreds of feet high in the form
of trees. Erosion washed away the softer underlying
limestone, but our Silurian sandstone knob, hardened
by pressure you cannot imagine, emerged as it is today.
Now fast-forward 300 million-plus years, when
thru-hikers roamed the land (and had trouble sometimes standing erect on their own). There is something
about this rock that has lured humans for centuries.
James McAfee bought the land that now bears his name
in the 1740s and built a fort (more like a blockhouse)
somewhere below. For the next 240 years it was in private hands, a priceless chunk of real estate to own.
If views are the currency of the trail, the knob
cashes in as the highest point on Catawba Mountain.
At nearly 3,200 feet above sea level, it is about as high
or higher than any point in four trail states. It commands a 270-degree view of the Catawba River Valley
and Roanoke Valley beyond Tinker Mountain. On a
Continued on Page 10
v Background information from COllINs ChEW v Photos by hIKErs EVEryWhErE
8
The Long Distance Hiker
rOaNOKE OuTsIDE NOW
spring 2014
“Fly PaPEr”
JOhN lEMaNNa
PaTh
BraNDON MOOrE
spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
9
aTC
Mary CaPErTON MOrTON
rOaNOKE OuTsIDE NOW
JOhN O’MahONEy
DEVIN rODGErs
DEVIN rODGErs
10
The Long Distance Hiker
GrEG ErIKsEN
TANGLED ROOTS
T
The Appalachian Trail and American Environmental Politics
By sarah MITTlEFEhlDT
v
GrEEN MOuNTaIN COllEGE
he Appalachian Trail offers endless
In 1978, Bob Proudman, a long-time prophoto opportunities, but perhaps the
fessional trail builder with the Appalachian
most popular place for snapping the
Mountain Club who was hired by the National
quintessential shot of a reflective
Park Service’s Appalachian Trail Project Ofhiker standing high on a mountain, gazing out
fice to help coordinate the land acquisition proacross whispering forests below, is on top of
gram in the late 1970s, met with the president
McAfee’s Knob just west of Roanoke, Virof the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club to inginia. Like many other stretches of the A.T.,
vestigate opportunities for relocating the A.T.
the picture-perfect scenery at
off of North Mountain. As the two
AN
McAfee’s Knob became part of the
trail enthusiasts hiked the ridge toExCERPT
A.T. experience as a result of one of
gether, the profound beauty of
the most complex land acquisition
Catawba Mountain, with its lattice of
programs in U.S. history. In the 1970s, the
creeks and farms in the valleys below — the
trail near Roanoke crossed a perpetual mess of
same sublime landscape that inspired writer
roots and muck on North Mountain that,
Annie Dillard’s environmental treatise Pilgrim
though less inspiring, was safely located within
at Tinker Creek — also moved the two men.
the Jefferson National Forest. Unlike most
Major barriers stood in the way of purchasing
southern sections of the A.T., McAfee’s Knob
this private piece of land, however. According
lay just outside of the national forest boundary
to Proudman, “The question was ‘Do we battle
on privately owned Catawba Mountain. Beour way across Catawba Mountain which was
cause the 1968 National Trails Act required
four or five miles of private landowners, all of
that the A.T. achieve “maximum outdoor
whom are well-heeled, and it’s going to take
recreation potential” by protecting “nationally
years of negotiations and probably millions of
significant scenic, historic, natural, or cultural
dollars? Or, do we keep the trail on North
qualities” along its path — and because an
Mountain?’” After leaving the Roanoke area
amendment to the trail legislation in 1978 auand returning to ATPO headquarters in
thorized the funds and political authority necHarpers Ferry, Proudman clearly recalled his
essary to achieve the goals of the National
conversations with project leaders; he reTrails Act — project partners began to assess
ported, “I have bad news. McAfee’s is beautialternative routes through the area.
ful.”
Tangled­Roots:­The­Appalachian­Trail­and­American­Environmental­Politics­by sarah Mittlefehldt, published by
university of Washington Press, 280 pages, Copyright 2013 all rights reserved. reprinted here with permission.
sarah is an assistant professor of environmental studies at Green Mountain College in Vermont and an a.T. thru-hiker.
she will deliver the a.T. Museum’s symposium at this year’s alDha Gathering in Williamstown, Mass.
spring 2014
clear day, the Peaks of Otter can be seen on the horizon, a distance of 24 miles as the crow flies.
The anvil juts into the air about a tenth of a mile,
and the drop-off over the edge is hundreds of feet
straight down and likely fatal. But with their cohorts
off to the side with camera in hand, hikers have stood
on the very edge, sat on the lip with their feet dangling
in space, posed with another person while pretending
to push that person over the side, and even done handstands as close to the edge as they dare, for as long as
a path has led hikers to this picturesque precipice. Yet
accidents are incredibly — thankfully — rare.
The A.T. hasn’t always enjoyed the luxury of this
view. Archive photos show ATC trail club members
in the 1930s and ’40s relaxing at the overlook, including a multi-group excursion that was possibly photographed by Myron Avery in 1935. The knob was on
a side trail that consisted of a woods road, passable by
vehicle. But because of a lack of guidebooks and other
trail info, not every hiker knew what awaited at the end
of the side trail, so not everyone got to experience it.
If you’ve ever read the trail memoirs in the two-volume
Rodale Press books from 1975, you’ll notice that few
of the early thru-hikers ever mention McAfee’s Knob,
especially anyone who hiked in the 1960s. Ed Garvey
gave it passing mention in his otherwise detailed account of his 1970 thru-hike and may have actually
skipped it entirely on his way to Tinker Cliffs.
Speaking of the Rodale books, take a look at the
image on the next page. It’s a fresh scan of one of the
original photographs in the books, which actually did
not sell that well when they first came out (they are
now collector’s items). That’s a real thru-hiker named
Thomas McKone posing during his 1971 hike on top
of McAfee’s Knob. Shooting the photo was his friend
and hiking partner, Robert Winslow (they were both
originally from Connecticut), who would go on to a
lifetime career in nature photography. This, folks, is
ground zero for all “King of the World” photos. If
widely distributed pics of hikers posing on top of
McAfee’s Knob had to start somewhere, this is it.
The First Time.
Photo One.
But back to our story. It’s hard to believe but some
thru-hikers never got a chance to see McAfee’s Knob
during the course of their trek. In 1978 a dispute with
the landowner forced the trail off Catawba Mountain
and moved it to North Mountain, the mostly boring
ridgeline that is visible from the knob to the west. Hikers like Larry Luxenberg, who had to schlepp this
stretch in 1980, recall it as being relatively flat with
some decent views but nothing like that from the knob.
Efforts to put the trail back where it belonged never
really ended, and in the same year as Larry’s hike a
serious drive led by Ruth Blackburn, Dave Ritchie,
Mike Dawson and others began looking for a way to
resolve the issue once and for all. (Read an excerpt
from a new book about the protection of the presentday trail including McAfee’s Knob in the box at left.)
Today we can thank folks like Charles Rinaldi, chief
of land acquisition for the Appalachian Trail Project
Office of the National Park Service during its most critical time from 1978 to 1989, and the late Charles Parry
of the Roanoke A.T. Club for getting the knob back
into the A.T. fold. (Rinaldi will be one of four new inductees into the A.T. Hall of Fame this year.)
While using eminent domain should always be a last
resort, in this case it proved a worthy means to an end.
McAfee’s Knob was finally acquired in the early 1980s
and has become part of an ever-expanding collage in
the collective scrapbook of the trail ever since.
spring 2014
“One huge slab of rock
extended beyond the face
of the cliff, hanging in
the air with nothing
underneath except the
trees below.”
Thomas McKone
1971 thru-hiker
This­is­arguably­the­very­first­widely­distributed
photo­of­an­A.T.­thru-hiker­posing­on­McAfee’s
Knob.­Taken­by­Robert­Winslow­on­his­1971­thruhike,­it­appears­in­the­Rodale­Press­2-volume­set
on­the­A.T.,­in­the­chapter­written­by­Winslow.­His
hiking­partner,­Thomas­McKone,­is­seen­in­the
picture.­An­A.T.­thru-hike­is­no­longer­complete
without­the­requisite­pose­on­‘the­anvil.’
The Long Distance Hiker
11
12
The Long Distance Hiker
spring 2014
a Great new trail
PhOTOs By ‘hIllBIlly BarT’ hOuCK
Jo­‘Someday’­Swanson­crosses­an­overgrown­field,­above,­and­leaves­Alabama,­below­right,­with­‘Hillbilly­Bart’­Houck,­seen­with­frozen­beard.
I
1st GET thru-hikers take path less traveled
By­JO­“SOMEDAY”­SWANSON
Special to The Long Distance Hiker
would like to report that hiking the Great Eastern Trail
was easy, my hiking buddy “Hillbilly Bart” and I never
got lost, and the weather was always perfect. I would
like to report it that way, but in reality the trail was difficult both mentally and physically, we got lost many
times, and the weather . . . well, we did leave in January.
The Great Eastern Trail travels from Alabama to New
York, creating a network of linked trails west of the Appalachian Trail. The route links existing trails such as Alabama’s Pinhoti Trail, Kentucky’s Pine Mountain Trail and
Pennsylvania’s Mid State Trail to create a 1,600-mile patchwork route. Despite the GET’s young age, more than 70 percent of the trail is already complete.
spring 2014
Hillbilly Bart and I set off in January 2013 from
Flagg Mountain, the southernmost Appalachian
mountain that rises above 1,000 feet. During our first
week, where the Great Eastern Trail follows the Pinhoti Trail, Bart hyperextended his knee and I was hypothermic in a snowstorm near Alabama’s highest
point. We were off to a great start!
The Pinhoti led us across the border to Georgia
and partway through the state until we broke off and
headed north toward Cloudland Canyon. We soon
descended Lookout Mountain into downtown Chattanooga, the Great Eastern Trail’s first official trail
town, and the largest city I’ve ever hiked through.
In Tennessee, the Cumberland Trail hosts the
GET, and we were treated to incredible rock formations, lonely mountaintops and rushing streams. We
arrived just after a storm knocked out a bridge over
Big Soddy Creek. Fording a rushing stream in February is one of the many memorable moments of the
Cumberland Trail. Because I am nice, I let Bart ford
it first.
Kentucky was perhaps my most-anticipated state,
since I had never hiked there before and couldn’t
wait to explore it. The Pine Mountain Trail lived up
to my hopes: it is a well-maintained gem with breathtaking overlooks. Arriving just in time for another
snowstorm, we enjoyed the shelters even more than
we normally would. My pants froze solid one night.
The next day, so did Bart’s beard.
West Virginia remains the most challenging section due to limited completion of the trail. With a little creativity and some help from our local hiking
club, we made it. Enthusiastic trail towns greeted us
with parties and sometimes, embarrassingly, fire engines. The beauty of the rugged West Virginia mountains is thoroughly showcased on the GET, and we
loved sharing the trail with our friends from Bart’s
hometown of Mullens.
On the Allegheny Trail we spent an evening
watching the sun set from Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory. On one side I could see all of West Virginia undulating ahead of me. Turning the other
direction I looked over at several ridges, knowing
that on one of those was the familiar AT. Wildlife
was abundant on the Allegheny Trail with spring
now fully blossoming.
The Headwaters Section, overseen by the Potomac
Appalachian Trail Club, is like a micro-version of
the Great Eastern Trail: a series of shorter beautiful
trails strung together to create a long and cohesive
whole. We accidentally hiked through a prescribed
burn while it was smoking, but (spoiler alert!) we
survived. A meadow welcomed us to the highest
point on the Great Eastern Trail: 4,344 feet. Tibbett
Knob had a breathtaking view, especially since a rattlesnake made it his home.
On the Tuscarora Trail, we hiked through our first
dramatically rocky section. The stunning shelters
eased our way, along with waterfalls and windswept
vistas. On the Tuscarora we left West Virginia and
Virginia, entered and left Maryland, and took our
first steps in Pennsylvania. Having hiked the A.T., it
was almost a shock that the Great Eastern Trail’s
Pennsylvania route is, on average, not terribly rocky.
But don’t worry, rock fans — there are still enough
to go around.
Knowing little about the Standing Stone Trail, we
were pleasantly surprised by its deep forests and the
landmarks it showcases. The Hall of the Mountain
King and the Throne Room are places that inspire the
imagination, and even after months on the trail the
The Long Distance Hiker
THE­TALE­OF­2­TRAILS
A.T.­­­­­­­­vs.­­­­­­­GET
2,200 miles
More often difficult
terrain and higher
elevations.
simple logistics.
Network of hostels
and shelters.
local recognition of
trail (+ easy hitching).
Established network
of trail angels.
1,600 miles
lower elevations,
but still a challenge.
Very challenging logistics.
2 hostels, about 20
shelters.
locals probably not
trail-aware.
Folks were unwittingly trail angels!
Thousand Steps were still challenging.
The Mid State Trail, our second-to-last challenge,
routed us across peaks, on serene lakeshores and by
areas of cultural history where nature is slowly erasing humanity’s footprint. And for thru-hikers, fear
13
not — here in Pennsylvania, in the welcoming town
of Woolrich, there is a shelter with pizza delivery!
Crossing the border into New York was surreal.
The forests of the Crystal Hills Trail were quieter
than New York’s Appalachian Trail route, opening
up frequently to reveal green rolling hills. Our destination was Moss Hill Lean-to, a humble shelter at
the junction of the North Country Trail — our northern terminus. We shared the moment with local volunteers — a perfect end to our long journey.
Any long-distance hiker knows that trails cannot be
fully captured with words. How could I adequately
describe the quiet of Alabama’s long-leaf pine plantation, the swirling fog on Gillespie Point in Pennsylvania, or the four bears frolicking in a valley near Carr
Mountain in Virginia? Nor can I explain how much
we valued the trail magic and acts of kindness that
were bestowed upon us or how hard the volunteers
are working in every state to make the trail even
greater.
This is a new adventure for long-distance hikers
and I encourage you to get out there and enjoy all that
the Great Eastern Trail has to offer!
14
The Long Distance Hiker
Spring 2014
15
The Long Distance Hiker
Now we GET it!
“There are a couple of
iconic places that are really
enticing and may lure
more hikers out there, like
Hanging Rock Raptor
Observatory.”
A barred owl looks over the trail from above.
Box turtle taking it slow on the trail.
PHOTOS BY JO SOMEDAY SWANSON AND HILLBILLY BART HOUCK
Above, Hillbilly Bart in the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in West Virginia. At left, Big Schloss on the Virginia-West Virginia border, a sandstone rock formation on the Great Eastern Trail similar to McAfee’s Knob on
the A.T. (Schloss means castle in German.) Below, Jo Swanson on the Cumberland Trail portion of the GET.
Green rattlesnake coiled and waiting.
Porcupines are on the GET, not just the A.T.
16
in memoriam
Spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
HIS ABSENCE WILL BE FELT
By Bill o’Brien
Editor-in-Chief
COURTESY OF THE WAIGAND FAMILY
Fred Waigand will finally miss a Gathering this
year, and it’ll break our hearts.
You see, he was the only person to have ever attended every Gathering since the first one in 1982, before ALDHA was even officially created. Through all
of our venue changes over the years, bouncing back
and forth from Pipestem to Hanover to Carlisle to Gettysburg to North Adams and, last year, to Shippensburg, Fred was there. No fanfare, no fuss, just Fred.
Fred died March 21 at the age of 93. To say death
is unexpected at that age would be stretching it for
some folks but not for Fred. He just probably figured
he’d take his time as far as that was concerned. His
trail name, after all, was “Slopoke.”
He thru-hiked the A.T. in 1981 after serving in the
United States Marine Corps and working for the U.S.
Department of Transportation. A veteran of some of
the fiercest Pacific battles during World War II, he saw
things and did things that he never wanted to talk about
later with his loving family, who respected his wishes.
He never again ate fish or fruit because they brought
bad memories of his time on the islands. But thanks to
his experiences, he treated everyone he ever met the
way he treated his war buddies: always faithful.
A year after his thru-hike, he heeded the call to take
part in a novel experiment that was way ahead of its
time in terms of social networking with trail folks. That
first Gathering, held at the Appalachian South Folklife
Center and Concord College, drew several hundred
long-distance hikers and friends of the trail up and
down the East Coast and even a few from out West.
He came back the next year, and the next. He kept
coming back, year after year after year. Quiet and reserved, it took a while for some folks to realize he was
as punctual and perennial at fall Gatherings as the turning of the leaves. The significance of his unbroken attendance streak sort of caught up to some of us by
surprise when then-Coordinator Mike Wingeart asked
at the 2011 Gathering if anyone had attended every
Gathering since the first in 1982.
Fred proudly stood up from his seat at the far back
of the hall and took a well-deserved round of applause.
That inspired Mike to have a plaque made for Fred
if he came to last year’s 32nd Gathering, so we were
ready. I saw Fred that Friday, sitting by himself in the
midst of the hustle and bustle of the registration area
in Shippensburg’s Student Union, so I went up and sat
next to him for our annual revisit and chatted for a little
bit to thank him for once again coming to a Gathering.
I didn’t want to spoil that night’s surprise but in hindsight I should have said something because he decided
to go to bed early and was not there when Mike
Wingeart called out his name to accept his award.
There is one special image of Fred, however, captured at his final Gathering that we will always cherish.
If you look at the group photo taken by Dean Clark on
Sunday morning, you’ll have no trouble finding Fred.
There he is, plain as day, standing all by himself in the
top row, the farthest back that you could be and still
get in the picture. That was the essence of Fred. That
photo is a comfort now, knowing that he was with us,
part of us — backing us up, as it were — one last time.
When we call the class years in Williamstown this
fall, we’ll take a moment to remember Fred. His presence will be missed like no other’s.
Other ALDHA folks and friends we’ve lost over the winter
Ernst ‘Raven’ Banfield
A member of the legendary A.T. class of 1985
with his wife Phyllis, aka “Sunshine,” Raven never
got the trail out of his system. He came to as many
Gatherings as he could, always wearing his trail
bandana. And he never missed a chance to sing “On
the A.T.,” the state-by-state ballad he composed
during his thru-hike. His signature song was an ode
to both his love of the trail and to the love of his
life, who died from cancer shortly after their hike.
ALDHA honored Raven in 1998 with its highest
tribute, an honorary life membership. He said at the
time he was especially humbled by the award since
Walkin’ Jim Stoltz also received one that year.
A proud Marine Corps veteran of the Korean
War, he was active in veterans affairs in Michigan,
and he organized the first Gathering workshop devoted to veterans issues. He died Jan. 3 at age 84.
Bill Irwin
In 1990 a blind man from Burlington, N.C., defied all odds and hiked north from Springer on the
A.T., finishing the trail in Maine later that year. His
guide dog Orient became as big or bigger a star than
Bill, with his own book to boot. Bill’s successful
hike launched a career as an author and inspirational
speaker, eventually moving to Maine.
He gave a presentation on the last night of the
2003 Gathering in Hanover, N.H., and was sometimes seen at other trail events. He died on March 1
at age 73 after a two-year battle with cancer.
Mike Warren
Mike Warren, a longtime hiker and photographer
of the Appalachian Trail and New York trails, died
on Jan. 31. Mike served as Trails chair of the New
York-New Jersey Trail Conference in the early
1970s and contributed photographs to many trail
conference publications.
In 1994 he received the William Hoeferlin
Award for his service to the New York-New Jersey
Trail Conference. Mike published a photo book on
the A.T. and collaborated on Larry Luxenberg’s
book, “Walking the Appalachian Trail.” His photos
also appeared in the National Geographic book,
“Mountain Adventure,” in many Appalachian Trail
Conservancy calendars and the covers of dozens of
Hagstrom regional maps.
Mike started hiking in the New York area in the
1950s and remained an avid hiker throughout his
life. He was a hike leader for the Sierra Club and
New York Ramblers. He is survived by his partner,
Sharon Moir, an A.T. thru-hiker.
John Shaffer
John Shaffer, aka W3SST, passed away April 12
at home with family at his side. He was 86.
The youngest brother of Earl Shaffer, the first
A.T. thru-hiker, John helped promote Earl’s legacy
by creating the Earl Shaffer Foundation and overseeing the release of Earl’s final book and some of
his music. John was most cooperative with allowing
use of Earl’s photos in ALDHA publications as well
as in the Appalachian Trail Museum.
In fact, it was John Shaffer who first told Larry
Luxenberg that a building at Pine Grove Furnace
might be available for an A.T. Museum. That tip
proved to be a godsend. The museum is now housed
there; its signature exhibit, the Earl Shaffer Shelter.
If you would like to send condolences, write to
6706 Gilette Drive,Reynoldsburg, OH 43068.
Spring 2014
in memoriam
The Long Distance Hiker
17
“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives.
When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
— Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life”
MIKE WARREN
in photo at top, Mike Warren captured this colorful scene
of an A.T. hiker overlooking Silvermine Lake in Harriman
State Park, N.Y., during autumn in the 1980s.
Below, Ernst “Raven” Banfield delights in the company of
two of his favorite ALDHA folks at the 1998 Gathering at
Concord College, Chuck Wood and Walkin’ Jim Stoltz.
and at left, Bill Irwin displays blind courage as he and his
guide dog Orient near the end of his A.T. thru-hike in Maine.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS
ALDHA ARCHIVE
18
Class of 2014 Hall of Fame
honorees to be feted June 6
GARDNERS, Pa. — Four new members will be
inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame on
Friday, June 6, at the fourth annual Appalachian Trail
Hall of Fame Banquet at Allenberry Resort in Boiling
Springs, Pa.
The four new inductees are:
a. rufus morgan
charles r. “chuck” rinaldi
clarence Stein
Pamela underhill
Spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
Emcee for the evening will be Cindy Dunn, president and CEO of PennFuture, one of Pennsylvania’s
leading environmental advocacy groups. Ron Tipton,
executive director and CEO of the Appalachian Trail
Conservancy, also will speak. Appalachian Trail thruhiker and author Richard Judy will be present to sign
“Thru” — the book that he wrote and was published
by the Appalachian Trail Museum. Music will be provided by Randy “Windtalker” Motz.
Jim Foster, chairman of the Appalachian Trail Hall
of Fame selection committee, said a 6 p.m. reception
will precede the dinner, which begins at 7 p.m. The
cost of the reception and dinner is $30 for museum
members and $40 for others.
Complete information on the Hall of Fame Banquet
is at http://atmbanquet2013.eventbrite.com. Tickets
may be purchased either at that website, or directly
from the Appalachian Trail Museum by sending a
check to:
Appalachian Trail Museum
1120 Pine Grove Road
Gardners, PA 17324
Terrific food aT The
inducTion ceremonY!
The Hall of Fame honorees will be formally inducted at a banquet held at Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs, Pa.
The food is fit for a feast, and all hikers
and maintainers and friends of the A.T.
are welcome. Sign up online here . . .
A.T.
HALL
OF
FAME
atmbanquet2014.eventbrite.com
Questions about the A.T. Hall of Fame banquet
may be sent to atmbanquet@gmail.com.
Allenberry has reserved a block of rooms for banquet attendees. For information on Allenberry and to
reserve a room, call 1-800-430-5468 or (717) 2583211, or go to http://www.allenberry.com.
Trail activities will continue the next day, Saturday, June 7, with a gathering at the Museum in nearby
Pine Grove Furnace State Park, where you can check
out the exhibits as well as the current status of the Museum’s new construction, attend a program or go on a
hike. You should be able to meet some of this year’s
thru-hikers who are bound to be passing through the
park at that time. The camp store, home of the HalfGallon Club, may have another barbecue chicken special available for lunch.
The evening will bring out the brats along with
potluck and stories told around the campfire. Sunday
would be a good day to go on a hike.
SaTurdaY’S TenTaTiVe Schedule
9 a.m. — Hikes to Sunset Rocks and the Pole
Steeple.
10 a.m. — Program on Blazing, with a film showing maintainers on the A.T. in the 1930s.
lunch
1-4 p.m. — Presentation of the 2014 A.T. Hall of
Fame Inductees with question & answer and
meet & greet time.
— Presentation by Richard Judy, author of
“Thru: An Appalachian Trail Love Story,” with
an opportunity for book-signings.
A love story to benefit the Museum
Richard Judy’s recently released novel
about hiking the Appalachian Trail was inspired by his own thru-hike of the trail in
1973 when he was 21 years old. All proceeds of the 304-page paperback and to-bereleased e-book will benefit its publisher,
the Appalachian Trail Museum, the only
museum in the United States dedicated to
hiking and the Appalachian Trail.
“We are delighted that Richard’s novel
is now available,” said Larry Luxenberg, president of the
Appalachian Trail Museum Society and founder of the
museum. “Richard’s story was inspired by his own experience four decades ago, and its characters capture the
modern-day essence of one of America’s last great adventures. It’s a great read, particularly for those who have
wondered what it would be like to hike the entire trail.”
THRU: An Appalachian Trail Love Story tells the story
of a diverse group of northbound thru-hikers meet on
Georgia’s Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of
the Appalachian Trail. They begin developing a bond that will unite them as they embark on the 2,000-plus-mile odyssey toward
Maine’s venerable Mount Katahdin, the
northern terminus of the trail.
Ultimately, the novel explores the sheer
existential conundrum of why anyone would
spend months walking along ridge crests and
examines the human side of the wilderness
trek that millions ponder but few actually experience. THRU contemplates the question asked by all
thru-hikers: “What have I gotten myself into?”
Judy, a retired corporate communications executive
with Amoco and BP, lives in Roswell, Ga. A graduate of
the University of Georgia, he bicycled from California to
coastal Georgia in 1975. His son and daughter also are
Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. Judy serves as board president of a not-for-profit group overseeing the Len Foote
Hike Inn in the North Georgia Mountains. He will soon
complete a section hike of the A.T. that began in 2000.
Spring 2014
Book reVieW
The Long Distance Hiker
19
Bringing ‘Grandma Gatewood’ to life
I
By Bill o’Brien
Editor-in-Chief
F BEN MONTGOMERY were decades younger
and had tagged along beside Emma Rowena Gatewood in 1955 when she hiked the Appalachian
Trail, he could not have written a more thorough,
first-person account of her historic adventure.
That’s how good his new book is. Grandma Gatewood’s Walk is everything it promised to be when we
first found out that this staff writer for the Tampa Bay
Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) was going
to attempt to tell her story, the first time that story
would ever be told in a book. Looking through his
clips, it was obvious this former college football jock
(ask him about the “Wonder Boys” of Arkansas Tech)
knew how to tackle mountains of archival information,
run down elusive players and make words perform in
harmony like perfectly executed plays.
And just like the game he still loves, this book is a
thing of beauty. As he did with his investigative pieces
in Florida that catapulted him to national attention as a
finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, Montgomery puts the
reader right there, on the trail, on the same day every
day that Emma is there, complete with the sight of
ferns and flowers growing near the pathway, the smell
of buds from nearby rhodos, the feeling of cold rain
on her cheek and warm sunlight on her neck. You feel
the pangs of hunger she felt. You feel the aches in her
feet and joints. You even experience her thought
processes as she found herself tramping miles off the
trail to ask for help at the first house she found.
It’s a technique Montgomery has crafted to perfection for his newspaper. With this story — Montgomery’s first book by the way — he also lets us hear
Grandma Gatewood speak. He imagines what must
have been said between her and the many folks she encountered, tapping her diaries for as near a first-person
account as you can ever get without actually having
been there. It makes for a lively, fast-paced and fun
read, one that has you wanting to keep walking with
her as she wends her way through the rest of her remarkable life.
But as with any long contemplative walk, there are
pauses for reflection along the way, and Montgomery
uses these to full effect to help fill us in on the personal
history of Emma Rowena Caldwell Gatewood — her
life and her very hard times on a farm in Ohio, her
shockingly violent abuse at the hands of a sadistic husband, her motivations for just picking up and lighting
out without even telling her grown children where she
was going or what she was aiming to do.
The truth about her domestic abuse has slowly filtered out in recent years, with one online video project
trying to raise funds to complete a documentary
about her. Montgomery lays it all out here, from
the first smack that drew blood to the final straw
that forced Emma to seek protection from the
law and a divorce. Her husband killed a man,
and largely got away with it. His beatings
were brutal, and it’s sometimes hard to
imagine how anyone could survive it.
But survive she did, and she would tap
that natural instinct to overcome obstacles
and other hardships time and again on the
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN PENDYGRAFT
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by
Ben Montgomery,
288 pages hardcover, Chicago
Review Press,
$26.95. Amazon
price about $17
plus shipping. The
Kindle version is
about $11.
trail. It was in the woods, in fact, that Emma often
found escape while still living with her husband, the
loathsome P.C. Gatewood.
We see just how plucky a woman she was when
Montgomery tells the story of her first attempt at thruhiking the A.T., and it wasn’t as a northbounder starting from Oglethorpe in 1955. He rolls the clock back
to her first attempt, in 1954 in Maine, where she managed to climb Mount Katahdin and then start hiking
south, through the Wilderness, with very little in the
way of supplies or food or even her trademark denim
sack. The first A.T. thru-hike attempt by the first
woman thru-hiker ended in utter failure and could have
easily cost her her life. Wardens had to form a search
party to try and find her after she got hopelessly lost
in the North Woods. But she never really lost hope,
and by sheer determination she found her way
back to a camp and eventually got back
home to Ohio with her tail between
her legs, somewhat embarrassed
yet more determined than ever
to get back out there the next
year, starting in May in Georgia and this time with a handmade denim sack to carry
her things.
Perhaps my favorite
section of Montgomery’s book is one that I
had a small hand in tipping him off to. When
Grandma was finally inducted into the A.T. Hall
of Fame two years ago, her
daughter, Lucy Seeds, read
excerpts from her mama’s
diary at the A.T.
Museum.
I was enlisted to sit next to her and hold the microphone while she read. One entry, written while Grandma was in my home state of Connecticut, talked about
hooking up with a reporter from a newspaper she referred to as the “Water Republic.” My eyes popped
and my jaw dropped, recognizing immediately that
what Grandma meant was The Waterbury Republican.
After Lucy read the passage, I took the microphone
to interject that little tidbit and to also note the amazing
coincidence that I just so happened to be an editor for
that very paper. And then came the other revelation.
Grandma’s hike was in 1955! Lightning struck me on
the spot: I had never before put two and two together
in regards to the significance of the month and year
during which she passed through New England. August 1955 saw the worst weather of the century in the
region, with the remnants of two back-to-back hurricanes and a week of rain in between sending waves of
floodwaters through the valleys, wiping out entire sections of cities and towns (including my mom’s hometown) and claiming several lives along the way.
And here was this little old lady from Gallipolis,
Ohio, traipsing through this mad torrent, slugging it
out on muddy trails and standing on a mountaintop in
the middle of it all singing, “Glory, glory hallelujah.”
I could see Montgomery in the audience scribbling
feverishly in his pad, and when I got home I hit the
morgue (library) of my paper and found the front-page
story our reporter did in 1955. I sent a copy to Montgomery, and he dug deeper to greatly expand on the
overall weather story to thrilling effect in his book.
If there is one nitpick I have, it’s the subtitle: “The Inspiring Story of the Woman
Who Saved the Appalachian Trail.” I
can think of a half-dozen other folks
I would credit with saving the
A.T. (if you want to call it that)
before I’d pick Grandma, but
that’s just me. Overall, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk is a refreshingly new story of an
older time and well worth
packing along for a few days
of enjoyable reading.
Read an excerpt
from Ben Montgomery’s book on the
following pages . . .
20
Spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk
An excerpt
S
By Ben monTGomerY
he crossed the Connecticut
River into New Hampshire
at Hanover and walked
quickly through town, hoping that no one had alerted
another newspaper reporter
to her presence. She was beginning to tire of the consistent delays.
To make matters worse, the reporter in
Rutland a few days before had somehow
gotten the idea that she intended to
square-dance in front of the television
cameras when she finished the trail. And
CBS News had broadcast the error on television. She had no intention of squaredancing in private, much less in front of
the American television-viewing public.
At least it wasn’t raining in Hanover.
She didn’t know it then, but the storm
chasing Emma up the coast was causing
massive devastation to the south as it
slung a final black band of rain on New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The storm
had been nearly counted out by weathermen on Thursday; it looked like nothing
more than a low-pressure system moving
over New England. But it was still moving, rotating in a vast counterclockwise
direction, sucking up warm and moistureladen air from the Atlantic and pushing
humidity in the Northeast to sultry, almost tropical levels. Then came a lowpressure trough. Wet air rose, cooled,
expanded, and began falling across the
region. Diane was not dead. Not yet.
Spring 2014
In the early morning hours in Waterbury, Connecticut, where Emma had stopped to visit with Mrs.
Clarence Blake two weeks before, floodwaters from
the Naugatuck River had surged thirty-five feet in
places, topping riverbanks and washing away bridges
and homes, destroying businesses and sucking families
into the raging water. Parents tied their children to
treetops as they prayed for rescue. In Winsted, the
serene Mad River smashed through town and isolated
residents from rescuers. In Farmington, a rescue boat
capsized, sending little Patricia Ann Bechard to her
death, and a fireman lashed little Linda Barolomeo to
a tree before he was washed into floodwaters himself.
channels. The flooding failed to spread much farther
north than Northampton, Massachusetts.
In Hanover, New Hampshire, where tourists had
holed up in motels because routes to the south were
flooded or impassable, Emma walked on through
town, unaware of the death and chaos spread out behind her.
She saw a couple of girls playing tennis in a park
in town and she asked them if they wanted to go on a
hike. The girls didn’t answer and Emma continued
down the road. Two blocks later, she heard someone
running up behind her. The girls had followed her.
They wanted to know if she was the woman hiking
from Georgia to Maine who they had
heard about.
Emma told them who she was. She
asked if they knew of a place to eat outside town, but they didn’t. One of the
girls insisted Emma come home with
her to have lunch. Emma thought the
girl’s mother might be upset by a surprise guest, but she followed them back
to the courts anyway. The mother was
somewhat taken aback, but she made the
best of it and drove them all home for
sandwiches.
When her husband walked in the
front door, he shook Emma’s hand like
he knew her. She didn’t know why until
he fetched his copy of Sports Illustrated.
She had not yet seen the story, so she read it there.
The man, Dr. Lord, phoned a friend who belonged to
the Dartmouth Outing Club and asked if Emma could
stay in one of their cabins along the trail. His friend
was receptive. He said the trail was clean most of the
way to the cabins and that she’d find them easily.
After lunch, Dr. Lord drove Emma back to where
she had left the trail. When she got to the outskirts of
town, a woman and some teenagers were there, waiting to meet her. They visited for a while and when
Emma decided it was time to press on, the teenagers,
two girls and three boys, rode their bikes beside her
down the road for two miles. One of the girls insisted
on carrying Emma’s sack in her bike basket.
Emma never found the “clean” trail that Dr.
Lord’s friend had mentioned. Instead, she hiked
through weeds that stretched well above her head.
When she came to a clearing, she noticed that an envelope had been pinned to a post beside the trail. Upon
closer inspection, her name was written on the envelope. Inside was a note from a woman who lived in a
red house just off the trail. The woman wanted to invite Emma in for tea.
The invitation made her happy. She felt like a dignitary. She joined the woman for dinner, then the
woman’s husband, George Bock, told Emma how to
get inside the Dartmouth Outing Club cabins. She arrived before dark and got a good night’s rest on a real
mattress.
At noon the next day, as she came to a highway,
she spotted a man waiting with camera gear.
You boys always seem to find me, she said.
He introduced himself as a photographer, Hanson
Carroll, from the nearby Valley News. He had been
trying to track her down for a few hours. He first
heard she had come through Hanover that morning,
When she got to the outskirts of town, a
woman and some teenagers were there,
waiting to meet her. They visited for a while
and when Emma decided it was time to press
on, the teenagers, two girls and three boys,
rode their bikes beside her down the road for
two miles. One of the girls insisted on
carrying Emma’s sack in her bike basket.
In Seymour, the water unearthed caskets from a graveyard and sent them bobbing downstream. In Putnam,
a magnesium plant caught fire and shot flames 250
feet in the air. Everywhere, police and firefighters
were rushing from house to house, ordering residents
to get out. The entire town of Ellenville, New York,
population four thousand, was evacuated. But for
many, the warnings came too late.
The rainfall totals in Connecticut were unbelievable. Fourteen inches in Torrington. Thirteen in Winsted. Twelve in Hartford. Nearly twenty inches fell in
Westfield, Massachusetts.
The worst episode was playing out in Stroudsburg,
Pennsylvania, near the Delaware Water Gap. The usually gentle Brodhead Creek rose thirty feet in fifteen
minutes, plunging into a religious retreat called Camp
Davis, where the campers fled to a house on higher
ground. As water rose, they climbed into the second
story, then the attic, until the house gave a shudder
and collapsed. One woman would recall hearing children screaming hysterically as she clung to debris. She
would later learn that thirty-one campers were dead.
Stroudsburg was isolated for ten hours. Across the
region, flooding rivers washed away seven bridges. A
fleet of helicopters rescued 235 passengers from a
stranded Lackawanna Railroad train in the Pocono
Mountains. In nearby Milford, two men, tied together
by ropes, found an elderly woman stranded in her
apartment and carried her to safety.
President Eisenhower would declare six eastern
states disaster areas in need of federal relief. The combined death toll for both storms would climb above
two hundred and the damage would be estimated at
well over $1.5 billion, the highest on record. But
around noon on August 20, the rain began to subside
and the rivers grudgingly receded toward normal
21
The Long Distance Hiker
so he talked to Burdette Weymouth at the Hanover Information Booth, who showed him where the trail
went up and over Moose Mountain. Not being endowed with the same energies as Emma, Carroll drove
around Moose Mountain and waited along LymeDorchester Road for her to come out of the woods.
Within an hour, she came down the hill and into the
road, tan and smiling.
He asked Emma whether she would mind if he
took a few photographs and filmed her hiking. She
said she didn’t. He took what must’ve been a hundred
feet of film, shots of Emma eating lunch by the trail
sign, walking along the road with two little girls and
a boy, walking alone. She told him she had already
worn out five pairs of sneakers. She was wearing her
sixth. They talked about all the attention she was receiving and he asked her if it bothered her. She explained that she was not adverse to publicity, so long
as the reporters didn’t take up too much of her time.
He got the hint, but he asked her one more question.
Why are you doing this?
Just for the heck of it, she said.
*
*
*
Hanson Carroll’s story ran in the Valley News on
Monday, August 22, 1955. Its place on the front page
was a curious, haunting reminder of how close Emma
Gatewood had been to danger.
The bold headline at the top of the front page read:
PESTILENCE THREATENED AS FLOOD’S TOLL
IS COUNTED. The smaller headline read: DAMAGE
THOUGHT TO BE MORE THAN $1 BILLION;
EIGHTY-SIX KNOWN DEAD.
Below the headline was a photograph of Emma,
smiling, sitting in the grass and touching a sign that
said APPALACHIAN TRAIL. Below the photograph
was another headline: GRANDMA WALKS APPALACHIAN TRAIL FOR “THE HECK OF IT”
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the appalachian Trail, by Ben Montgomery, published
by Chicago Review Press, Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved.. Reprinted with permission.
22
The Long Distance Hiker
aT ThiS Year’S ruckS
Spring 2014
H. DEAN CLARK
KIP REDICK
at the Southern ruck at the nantahala outdoor center in north carolina in January, ‘razr’
rhea Patrick talks about the trail with other hikers including ‘red hat’ kathy markward at left.
Thanks Sly for the wonderful SoRuck. There was a
great group of hikers both new and old-timers. It was
nice to be there on the trail in January. There were 7
board members present and we had a good meeting;
talking about what to talk about at the spring meeting
for the most part. I would call our discussion a brainstorming session, bringing some clarity for what will
— Kip Redick
come at Bears Den.
ALDHA set to take on organizing NoRuck
By mike WinGearT
ALDHA Treasurer
This year the Northern Ruck was held at Bears Den
Hostel, Bluemont, Va., on Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and 2. I
thought it was the 15th NoRuck, but it could be the
16th, 17th and hopefully by next year we’ll find out
when the first one was held. It was a great time for all.
We gathered on Friday and had a communal spaghetti
and meatball dinner. That night Kathy “Red Hat”
Markward gave a presentation on the Camino de Santiago and Jester showed “Flip Flop Flippin 2,” a film
on the Appalachian Trail by Scott “Squatch” Herriott.
Saturday morning we started off with breakfast of
blueberry pancakes, fresh eggs (from Kip Redick’s
farm) cooked to order, fresh fruit and bacon. Many
went on hikes of the A.T., Dick and Laurie Potteiger
led a Boundary Work Trip and some of us just hung
around and talked. We had a pay-as-you-go lunch of
our favorite soups, chili and sandwiches. Then Kristen
“Siren” McLane, a 2013 thru-hiker, tuckerized Justin
Burns (AT 2015) and Lynnette “Cake” Ansell’s (AT
2014) packs. Then Kristen and Joe “Great Legs”
Bogos held a “Thru-hiking Bull Session.” It was a fun
discussion with many points of view discussed.
Saturday night was the Ruck Potluck where everyone brought a dish. Then we had a gear raffle, Randy
“Windtalker” Motz showed a video clip on the 2015
ATC Biennial and talked about the need for volunteers
to help put it on. Kip “Hippy Kippy” Redick and I
talked about the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers
Association. They mentioned the new programs for
2014 including the newly forming ALDHA Search and
Rescue team, the new Thru-Hiker’s Companion complete with profiles, ALDHA Sharing, the new AT App
by “Guthook,” and the updating of the ALDHA Hostel
Notebooks. Then “Pop Tart” of the ATC talked about
“Leave No Trace” and Laurie “Mountain Laurel” Potteiger of ATC talked about the norovirus and related
H. DEAN CLARK
Bill o’Brien chats with Jim Sample during the northern ruck at Bears den hostel in Virginia.
despite having been around the trail scene for 25 years, it was o’Brien’s first-ever ruck.
diseases. The feature presentation was “Embrace the
Brutality,” a film on the Continental Divide Trail by
Shane “Jester” O’Donnell. Sunday morning we
cleaned up and said our goodbyes.
I would like to thank John and Dana Baxter, our
Bears Den hosts; PATC, the Potomac Appalachian
Trail Club; ATC, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy;
ALDHA, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association, H. Dean “Crooked Sticks” Clark, our photographer, and all of our presenters and helpers for
their time and efforts in making this all possible.
Next year the 2015 Northern Ruck will be again at
Bears Den Hostel, Bluemont, Va., on Jan. 23-25,
2015. If you would like to come, please reserve your
bunk by calling the hostel at (540) 554-8708. If you
would like to put on a workshop or show a film, please
call me, Mike “Wing-Heart” Wingeart, at 443-7919196, or email me at mikewingeart@hotmail.com.
The Northern Ruck will be organized by ALDHA
in the future so volunteers are needed.
Spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
23
SceneS from The SouTh:
kent and nancy Wilson, fresh from florida!
lynnette ansell, aka ‘cake,’ looks on as her pack is ‘tuckerized’ by Joe ‘Great legs’ Bogos
and kristen ‘Siren’ mclane, far left, at the northern ruck (story, Page 22). When Siren threw
out a shawl, cake cried, ‘This is terrible! my blankie!’ it’s all based on a 17-year-old ritual.
TUCKERIzATION
Jan leitschuh and others go out for a hike.
angela ‘roots’ Salley goes a little crazy.
Vera hurst and Sue kanoy share a laugh.
Ever wonder where the term came from? According
to Jim’s Trail Glossary (online via Google), tuckerizing is “when a group of hikers pull your pack apart
and take out all the items they deem you don’t need,
in a way to lighten your load.” Digging a little deeper,
we found it was actually named after someone.
When “Gypsy” started hiking the A.T. in March 1997,
her shuttle to Springer — a guy named Wes —
talked her into letting him go through her pack and
removing all the items she wouldn’t need, including
spare undies. “He set about trying to help me get rid
of items I didn’t need, and it turned into a very funny
experience,” Gypsy writes. This guy’s trail name?
Friar Tuck. Now, whenever someone “tuckerizes” another person’s pack, they’re keeping the memory of
Wes’s amusing little exercise alive.
PHOTOS BY H. DEAN CLARK
Spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
Window decals show
you’re a member of
aldha and are
available online at
aldha.org/store for
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They’re printed in
green on white.
New members & returnees
Check your mailing label to see if you owe dues. Mail the form on Page 11 with your dues or
do it online (and pay online) at http://form.jotform.com/form/10562609918 ... Better yet,
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Bryan Brown
Cosmo Brown
Eddie Bryant
Justin & Kim Burns
Henry Bykerk
Mike Calabrese
Fred Camarillo
Alan Carpenter
Craig Cassella
Joyce & Dennis
Cattanach
zachary Cavacas
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Kathi Dubuque
Joshua Dunn
David Edgren
David Eveland
2
At which shelter on the A.T.
was the last
known photo
of missing hiker Geraldine Largay taken?
3
How many
days did it take
Matt Kirk to do
the fastest unsupported thru-hike of
the A.T. last year?
5. NEVA “CHIPMUNK” WARREN, IN 2013
1
What is the title
of the “backcountry hymn”
written by 1994
A.T. thru-hiker Peter
Bingen at Philmont?
Ginger & Gary
Kleinfeldt
Doug Knox
Ed Knox
Herman Krankel
Jackie Kuhn
Anna Lackey
Kent Lansing
Bruce Lawson
Jan Lee
jon Lehman
Jeff & Deborah
Levering
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David Lewis
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Daniel Manning
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Kristin McLain
Sharon McManus
Phillip Meany
Erika Megivern
Bob Meisinger
Brian Miller
Douglas Miller
Jessie Miller
John Minturn
Robert Mitavalsky
Richard Moran
Richard Morrogh
Ferrell Moultrie
Shawn Murphy
Chris Nadeau
Suzanne Neimann
Dennis & Kathleen
Newton
Joe Norman
Randy Palmer
Jill Pellerin
Verlicia Perez
John Petty
zebulon Philpott
Jamey Pierson
Christopher Pirrello
Angela Powell
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Ben Prater
Michelle Ramsdell
Steve Rebelo
Sandy Reid
Betty Richardson
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Michael Riffle
Todd Rogers
Mary Sue Ross-Roach
Marie S. Ruf
James Ryan
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Candice Sefchik
Steve Sharpe
Kathryn Sheneman
Bradford Shields
Joshua Shields
Allan Skrocki
Gordon Smith
Sam Smith
Scott Smith
Paul Soderberg
Steven Soeira
Josh Steadman
Nancy Stetson
Tom Stevenson
Michael Stewart
Jesse Swensgard
Earl Swetland
Robert Tesoriero
Cecil Thayer
Michael Thompson
Donald Thomson
Peter Toohey
Robert Townsend
Robert Trawick
Kevin Triplett
Mark Tsigounis
Carl Turner
Mike Unger & Naomi
Hudetz
Charlotte Vetter
Robert Voorhis
Scott Vyner
4
Turning 71 before she started hiking, who
is the oldest
woman to have done
an A.T. thru-hike?
4. BARBARA J. ALLEN, AKA “MAMAW B,” IN 2012
Test your
memory of
the previous
issue of the
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Flugge
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3. 59 DAYS
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Brenckle
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Crawford
neW life
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Wingeart
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Wingeart
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Tax-deductible donations since last time:
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5
— Many thanks!
At age 15, who
is the youngest
person to have
ever done an
unsupported thru-hike
of the A.T.?
2. POPLAR RIDGE LEAN-TO IN MAINE
new members and
renewals (that had
previously expired)
as of feb. 28:
1. “I DON’T MIND”
24
Spring 2014
25
The Long Distance Hiker
WhaT iS ThiS?*
AT98, PCT00, CDT02, LT03, JMT05, AT80-81,82,84,95-98,07,
ALT83,85, PNT83, OHT85, LT85, CDT87, GDT89, PHR90, TT01-04,
MT11, ATT11, IMT87, AT82-99,06,12, ALT00, TT01, LT01, ART03,
BMT04, JMT11, AT95-00, CO00, BRT01, JMT99,08, FHT03, CS13,
AT87, IR94, RTR97, WS97, ADT97-98, IT05, CCW07, LHT76, WR79,
LCT93,97, IATSIA03, WHW04, ECST, LT80, AT80-84, CDT85, PCT9708, AT89,90-95, HT89, LT93, OHT94, FLT95, OTM96, MSS96, JMT96,
ONRT97, STS97, BFT 97, LP98, IR99, RTR00, KTY01, BT01, GRT02,
FHT02, TT02, TSTS02, SHT03, ALT03, NBT04, NPT05, LHT05, LOT06,
YRT07, GAP08, CO09, ECST09, LMS10, MSPA12, AT83,87, BFT, STS,
LOT, AT98, LT98, JMT00,08 WT02, PCT08, AT02, AT96-99,03, LT01,02,
CAT, TT00, ALT00, JMT06, AT01-06, AT77-79,02-04,06, LT97,01,08,
ALT00, TT01, MSG02, TAC03. ART12, MST12, FT12, AT95, AT96,07,
CAT99, TT00, JMT08, CO12, AT10, AT99,02,08, AT08
*The collective trail experience of field editors
for this year’s A.T. Thru-Hikers’ Companion
By SlY SYlVeSTer
A.T. Companion Editor
To help promote sales of the Companion this
year we have found a few ways to encourage
thru-hikers to choose the book over the competition and help spread the word about the new features for 2014 that make the Companion a good
guide to have.
Elevation profiles of the entire
trail have been
included for the
first time, and
other new information has been
added based on
the input from a
team of volunteer
field
editors
who’ve covered
every inch of the
trail from Georgia to Maine.
(See the above list of their cumulative hiking resumes to appreciate the trail expertise that went
into the making of the book.)
Also helping to promote the guide is a video
you can watch on YouTube by ALDHA Coordinator Kip Redick, who went out on the trail to
document all the ways the Companion can help
any hiker with a successful traverse of the A.T.,
whether it’s for a day, a week or the long haul.
Catch the video at this link:
tinyurl.com/2014compVideo
I made it a point to personally visit some of
the outfitters down South to see if they stock the
Companion and sell some copies wholesale as well
as provide on-point sales materials.
So far these and other efforts appear to be paying
off, as sales of the book have been brisk and have
iPhone
Android
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/
outpaced the sale of last year’s edition. All proceeds
go to either ATC or ALDHA for trail-related programs.
Another way to plug into the Companion is via
the new AT Hiker App by Ryan Linn. (See details
in box above. Follow QR code to purchase online.)
Fun, good food
await you at the
RPH work trip
By Tim meSSerich
RPHCVC President
The RPH work trip will be the second weekend of
July, or July 11-13, and ALDHA is once again cosponsoring this worthy effort organized by the RPH
Cabin Volunteer Club. The A.T. shelter is right on
the A.T. as well as right off of a local road, making
access fairly quick and easy for anyone to come.
There is usually enough room for everyone to tent
it, and we’ll have the famous RPH barbecue going full
blast — morning, noon and night — all weekend long.
It’s a hoot to not only give back to the A.T. but also
to meet (and help feed) the thru-hikers passing through
at that time. Some long-lasting friendships can be
made from just one day, let alone a whole weekend
of trail work, good food and fellowship.
This year, all trail restoration work is near the cabin
or within 10 miles of it (we will carpool to remote site).
For directions and details, visit www.rphcabin.org.
Last year the club built the monster bridge on top
of Stormville Mountain. In conjunction with that project we also built two retaining walls, one 14 feet long,
4 feet high and 4 feet deep, the other a 20-foot-long
sidehill wall to combat excessive water erosion from
snow plowing and road drainage issues. This year’s
project will involve building 40 feet of new stone steps
plus a new retaining wall to go with it.
So here’s a rundown of what to expect:
1. Replace several rotted out sections of wooden
boardwalk near RPH Cabin.
2. Paint the new monster bridge on top of Stormville Mountain.
3. Repair and paint the eve siding (T 1-11 plywood)
on the cabin’s south side.
4. Remove seasonal mold growth on the external
walls of the shelter.
5. Paint the shelter ceiling after retaping the sheet
rock joints.
6. Stormville Mountain stone step construction.
ALDHA hiker feed OK’d
for final weekend in June
After the success of last year’s hiker feed in Salisbury, Conn., the ALDHA board voted at its spring
meeting this year to pay for another hiker feed, in the
same location in the hiker parking area off of Route
41 in Salisbury, and around the same time, in late
June, when lots of northbound thru-hikers will be
passing through. The 2-day event will be June 28-29.
Watch the ALDHA website at www.aldha.org
and the Facebook group page for details on how you
can take part in this club event. See the story about
last year’s hiker feed in last summer’s e-edition of
The Long Distance Hiker.
26
The Long Distance Hiker
ALDHA ALMANAC
Where to email officers, other key people
aldha coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kip Redick . . . . . . . . . . . . “Hippy Kippy” . . . . . . coordinator@aldha.org
assistant coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . Randy Anderson . . . . . . . “Chuck Norris” . . . . . . . assistant@aldha.org
Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike Wingeart . . . . . . . . . “Wing-Heart” . . . . . . . . treasurer@aldha.org
membership Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Sylvester . . . . . . . “Sly” . . . . . . . . . . . . membership@aldha.org
recording Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sue Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . “Mama Lipton” . . . . . . recording@aldha.org
Gathering Program coordinator . . . Randy Anderson . . . . . . . “Chuck Norris” . . . . . . . program@aldha.org
Gathering facility coordinator . . . . . Jim Niedbalski . . . . . . . . . “High Octane” . . . . . . . . . facility@aldha.org
Gathering campsite coordinator . . . Eric White . . . . . . . . . . . . “Mini Mart” . . . . . . . . . . campsite@aldha.org
companion editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Sylvester . . . . . . . “Sly” . . . . . . . . . . . . . companion@aldha.org
newsletter editor & Webmaster . . . . Bill O'Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . “Sprained Rice” . . . . . newsletter@aldha.org
Work Trip coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . Ron Bungay . . . . . . . . . . . “Yellow Shoes”. . . . . . . worktrip@aldha.org
merchandise coordinators . . . . . . . . Judy Young & Ryan Hamler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . merchandise@aldha.org
outreach coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . Judy Young . . . . . . . . . . . “Gray Jay” . . . . . . . . . . outreach@aldha.org
a.T. museum representative . . . . . . Noel DeCavalcante . . . . . “Singing Horseman” . . . museum@aldha.org
aldha’s
four-fold
statement
of purpose
I
To represent
and promote
the welfare of
the Appalachian long
distance hiking
community.
‘aldha ShareS’
ProGram SeT
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.
Spring 2014
reSerVe The daTeS
for aTc’S Biennial
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Biennial Conference will be at Shenandoah
University in Winchester, Va.,
from July 17-24 in 2015.
Yes, it’s more than a year
away, but plans are well underway and they do include
ALDHA, which will put on
three workshops as well as
the traditional 2,000-miler reception, which is open to all.
If you would like to put on a
workshop, contact the organizers right away. ALDHA
members Randy Motz and
Georgia Harris are in charge
of events. Email them at
events2015@PaTc.net.
You can also watch a video
promoting the conference on
YouTube at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=bem41endBqg
For information, go online to
http://bit.ly/1dcfhPu
Details will be updated so
keep checking back.
Boots mcfarland
A new program has been put in place that
has already produced more than 100 new
ALDHA memberships since its inception
last fall.
ALDHA Shares is a year-round gift membership program where new memberships are sponsored by club members at
$10 per year.
You can sponsor a new member by clicking on http://www.aldha.org/join.html
and entering the new member’s name,
address and other information.
This is yet another way to “give back” to
the trail by encouraging others to join our
organization and attend the Gathering.
Wouldn’t it be exciting if our current membership could sponsor the entire class of
2014 thru-hikers? We would also like to
increase the number of current-year A.T.
end-to-enders receiving their completion
certificates and being recognized at the
Gathering.
For details, contact Randy Anderson at
randyandluanne@hotmail.com
Visit bootsmcfarland.com to see more of Geolyn carvin’s cartoons.
APPALACHIAN LONG DISTANCE HIKERS ASSOCIATION
THE ALDHA STORE
Wear us on your next hike!
Ball caps, bandanas and
other useful stuff for sale
Visit the ALDHA Store at www.aldha.org/store
28
Spring 2014
The Long Distance Hiker
THE ALDHA GATHERING
Williamstown, Mass., Oct. 10-12, 2014
2014 membership renewal 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 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 membership@aldha.org
4/14