Mt - Appalachian Trail Conservancy

MARCH–APRIL 2003
ATN
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS

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MARCH–APRIL 2003

MARCH–APRIL 2003
ATN
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS
ON THE COVER
The late Dave Richie nearing completion of his
A.T. hike in Maine in 1986. Richie’s life and
contribution to the Trail project are remembered
beginning on page 8, below. (Photo: Deborah
Richie) Inside: A red fox along the A.T., near
Spence Field Shelter in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. (Photo: Tommy Kirkland)
VIEWPOINTS
SHELTER REGISTER ♦ LETTERS 4
OVERLOOK ♦ BRIAN T. FITZGERALD
AND DAVE STARTZELL 5
REFLECTIONS ♦ COMING HOME 34
WHITE BLAZES
PAPER TRAIL ♦ NEWS FROM
HARPERS FERRY 29
SIDEHILL ♦ NEWS FROM CLUBS
AND GOV ERN MENT AGENCIES 30
TREELINE ♦ NEWS FROM ALONG
THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL 32
GREENWAY ♦ LAND-PROTECTION
AND FUND-RAISING NEWS 33
BLUE BLAZES
THE LONG JOURNEY OF DAVE RICHIE,
1932–2002 ♦ DAVE STARTZELL 8
A.T. CONFERENCE PROGRAM:
WATERVILLE VALLEY 2003 13
TREADWAY
MEMORIAL GIFTS 12
HONORARY GIFTS 12
NOTABLE GIFTS 29
PUBLIC NOTICES 38
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 3

SHELTER REGISTER
Letters from our readers
Appalachian Trailway
News
VOLUME 64, NUMBER 1 • MARCH–APRIL 2003
Appalachian Trailway News is published by the Ap pa la chian
Trail Conference, a non profit educational organization rep re sent ing
the citizen interest in the Appalachian Trail and ded i cat ed to the
pres er va tion, main te nance, and enjoyment of the Ap pa la chian Trailway.
Since 1925, the Appalachian Trail Con fer ence and its member
clubs have con ceived, built, and maintained the Ap pa la chian Trail
in cooperation with federal and state agencies. The Conference also
pub lish es guidebooks and other educational lit er a ture about the
Trail, the trailway, and its facilities. Annual in di vid u al mem ber ship
in the Ap pa la chian Trail Conference is $30; life membership, $600;
corporate membership, $500 minimum annual con tri bu tion.
Volunteer and freelance con tri bu tions are welcome. Please in clude
a stamped, self-addressed en ve lope with your submission.
Observations, conclusions, opin ions, and product endorsements
expressed in Appalachian Trailway News are those of the authors
and do not nec es sar i ly reflect those of mem bers of the board or staff
of the Appalachian Trail Con fer ence.
DIRECTOR OF PUB LIC AFFAIRS
Brian B. King
EDITOR
Robert A. Rubin
BOARD OF MANAGERS
Chair
Brian T. Fitzgerald
Vice Chairs
Carl C. Demrow Thyra C. Sperry
Marianne J. Skeen
Treasurer
Kennard R. Honick
Secretary
Parthena M. Martin
Assistant Secretary
Arthur P. Foley
New England Region
Pamela Ahlen Stephen L. Crowe
Thomas O. Lewis Andrew L. Petersen
Dennis Regan Ann H. Sherwood
Mid-Atlantic Region
Walter E. Daniels Charles A. Graf
Sandra Marra Eric C. Olson
Glenn Scherer William Steinmetz
Southern Region
Bob Almand Phyllis Henry
Robert P. Kyle
William S. Rogers James M. Whitney, Jr.
Steven A. Wilson
Members at Large
Paul Burkholder Al Sochard
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
David N. Startzell
World Wide Web:
Appalachian Trailway News (ISSN 0003-6641) is published
bimonthly, except for January/Feb ru ary, for $15
a year by the Appalachian Trail Con fer ence, 799 Washing
ton Street, Harp ers Ferry, WV 25425, (304) 535-6331.
Bulk-rate postage paid at Harpers Ferry, WV, and other
offices. Post mas ter: Send change-of-address Form 3597
to Appalachian Trailway News, P.O. Box 807, Harpers
Ferry, WV 25425.
Copyright © 2003, The Ap pa la chian Trail Conference.
All rights re served.
Fuel cells vs. windmills
Andrew Priestley’s letter regarding the
proposed Maine wind farm, in the November–December
ATN, presents some
significant misinformation. He suggests
that fuel cells burning hydrogen and producing
only water vapor represent renewable
energy's future—leapfrogging wind
power (a “dead-end technology”). But, just
where will that hydrogen come from?
Today’s fuel cells use natural gas or
gasoline to produce the hydrogen. Those
fossil fuels are first processed in a “reformer”
to separate out the hydrogen
(releasing carbon dioxide in the process).
Many proponents of renewable energy and
fuel cells, myself included, look to wind
farms as one of the best ways to generate
hydrogen from renewable energy.
Here’s how it would work: During
peak electric-demand periods, when electricity
is needed, wind farms would send
their power directly into the electricity
grid. During nonpeak hours, typically at
night, excess wind-generated electricity
would be used to produce hydrogen from
water through the process of “electrolysis.”
The hydrogen thus produced could
be stored, transported, and then used, as
needed, to power the fuel cells.
I continue to be saddened by the Appalachian
Trail Conference’s position on
the Maine wind farm. If we—as people
who celebrate and cherish the outdoors—
cannot recognize that renewable energy
sources provide our only real means of
ensuring that this beauty will be around
for our grandchildren and greatgrandchildren
to enjoy, then how can we expect the
general public to buy into the idea of protecting
wild areas, such as the A.T. corridor
and its viewscape? Global warming
now threatens the very forests that make
New England such a wonderful place.
Without a shift to renewable energy
sources, my own state of Vermont is projected
to lose its maple forests—perhaps
within the next century. I’d rather retain
those maple forests with a few windmills
on the ridges and be able to see those
windmills through clear blue skies than
have to peer through hazy gray skies at
ridges whose native vegetation has been
replaced by more southern species.
Alex Wilson Dummerston
Vermont Editor, Environmental
Building News
!
Mr. Priestly suffers from a common
misconception: that fuel cells somehow
change our fundamental energy
outlook. Because this particular myth is
being promoted heavily by people in
government and industry with a stake in
the energy status quo, I’m appalled to see
it repeated as fact in the ATN.
Fuel cells, simply put, are only another
way of burning a fuel. Essentially
all the fuel cells in the world today use
fossil fuel (or other fuels produced using
fossil or nuclear energy).
The “hydrogen economy” that a lot of
people are counting on is just another way
of moving energy to its point of consumption.
Burning hydrogen is cleaner at the
point of use, but you still need a fossil,
nuclear, or renewable energy source to
make it. Much of the original is energy
lost to inefficiencies in producing, storing,
and transporting the hydrogen.
Running a fuel cell on alcohol from
biomass comes closer to the mark, but
our current farming methods require so
much energy input (fuel, fertilizer, transportation,
etc.) that you’re lucky if the
Letters
Appalachian Trailway News
welcomes your comments. Letters
will be edited for clarity and length.
Please send them to:
Letters to the Editor
Appalachian Trailway News
P.O. Box 807
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-0807
E-Mail:
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MARCH–APRIL 2003

Overlook
Brian T. Fitzgerald and Dave Startzell
alcohol coming out represents as much
energy as you put into growing the corn.
Elsewhere, forested areas have been clearcut
and replanted with fast-growing species
to be mass-harvested for fuelwood
every few years; I don’t know if this
scheme’s energy economics work better,
but it doesn’t sound like Mr. Priestly
would like that in Maine, either.
America has a choice: If we continue
on our fossil-fueled spree, regardless of the
consequences of global warming, we will
still hit the wall when supplies are exhausted.
I believe we should follow the
example of the Europeans and put our efforts
into renewables and conservation in
order to build something that will last.
James Van Bokkelen
South Hampton, New Hampshire
!
The letter by Tom Thwaites (who has
had an immense impact on central
Pennsylvania’s hiking, and that is an
understatement) in the September 2002
ATN makes a good point—windmills are
beautiful, too, in their own way.
Nature is beautiful, but the creations
of man can, likewise, be beautiful. One
need only read the works of Walt Whitman
to know that this is not a new idea.
There are thousands upon thousands of
miles of trails with nice scenery and
natural settings, but where else can you
catch a breathtaking view of such an awesome
creation as gigantic windmills?
Frankly, the vistas of forested mountains
are all starting to look the same to me,
and I would delight in seeing something
new and wonderful.
I, for one, will continue to appreciate
trails as they are and as they change. If I
want to see unspoiled valleys, there are
plenty of them in my backyard, but, if the
wind farm becomes a reality, I just might
make the trip to see it. It would truly be
a sight to behold.
William Ames
State College, Pennsylvania
Meeting our responsibilities as caretakers
and stewards of the Appalachian
Trail sometimes threatens issue our effort this year to get a
NOTE—We mentioned in the last
to overwhelm us, so we try to stay better handle—at ATC and at the
focused on those issues that directly
affect the footpath. But, sometimes Park Service partner—on setting
office of our principal National
public-policy issues that may not, at first, priorities for the many elements
seem related to the Trail can have serious of our basic work of taking care
implications for our work on the A.T. We of the Trail. If you would like to
thought we’d take the opportunity here to join directly in that discussion
highlight some recent examples.
(after all, it’s your dues at work!),
NEW SOURCE REVIEW—In late November we would definitely like to see
2002, the Environmental Protection Agency your answers to the set of questions
on page 7.
(EPA) relaxed certain regulations for enforcing
the Clean Air Act that Congress passed
in 1977. Those regulations required the power plants that were operating when the
law was passed—plants that produce “dirtier” power than more modern plants—to
meet stricter pollution-control standards if they were rebuilt. Congress assumed
that those plants would either be decommissioned or upgraded to meet modern
air-pollution standards. However, after twenty-five
years, many of those plants remained in operation and
New sources
of concern
continued to emit pollutants that cause acid rain and
smog along the Appalachian Trail.
One reason that they’re still running is an exception
to the regulations that allowed utilities to perform
“routine maintenance” at older power plants without meeting the new standards.
Under that exception, many of the plants were upgraded to extend their service
lives without having to be reviewed as a “new source” of pollution. That practice
led the federal government and eight states to sue the owners of many of the plants
to enforce the “New Source Review” provisions of the law. EPA’s recent decision
leaves those lawsuits in limbo and greatly expands the exemption, which allows
a plant owner to essentially rebuild old plants without installing new pollutioncontrol
equipment. Nine states, almost all of which contain parts of the A.T., have
sued EPA over that decision. A bipartisan group in Congress (mostly senators) so
far has had little success in blocking it legislatively.
OFF-ROAD-VEHICLE EMISSIONS—In another action related to air pollution, EPA
last fall proposed regulations that would regulate emissions from off-road engines,
including those on snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. In areas where riding
snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles is a popular pastime, those vehicles can be
a major source of harmful pollutants. According to EPA, a two-cycle snowmobile
ridden for one hour emits as much pollution as nearly one hundred low-emission
automobiles driven for the same amount of time. Since those engines have been
unregulated until now, the proposed regulations should be good news. But, the
proposals are rather weak. Technology already exists that would greatly reduce
air pollution from those engines at a reasonable cost. But, unfortunately, EPA has
not required more significant reductions. That action will not only affect air quality
generally, but will result in higher local pollutant levels in areas near the A.T.
where snowmobiling is popular.
continued on next page
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 5

Shelter Register
Lexus owners welcome
In Lee Solomon’s letter, “Life Goals”
(November–December 2002), he says,
“Not many Lexus drivers would have
much interest at all in hiking the Appalachian
Trail.” I respect anyone who
chooses to be on the Trail. As long as
they are not causing harm to the environment
or fellow hikers, it should not matter
what type of car they choose to drive.
During my 2002 thru-hike, I met hikers
from all walks of life.
Marc Virtue (Dirty Bird)
Frederick, Maryland
!
Unlike Lee Solomon, when I saw the
Lexus commercial, I was delighted that
TV people were giving us not merely a
mention, but also endorsing the A.T. as
a life goal. The Trail belongs to everyone,
not merely elitists.
As for Lexus drivers, the two I see
regularly would be great to have on the
Trail. One of them has, indeed, hiked a
chunk of it. Maybe Mr. Solomon’s letter
was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, but
some of us found it mean-spirited.
James W. Kerr
Easton, Maryland
OVERLOOK
continued from previous page
Hunting safety
I
’ve been hunting for 35 years, and I
would like to encourage the victim [of
the Georgia hunting accident], Rachel
Ferguson, to press charges against the
hunter. The hunter violated a number of
safety and hunting rules. First, he should
have never pulled the trigger unless he
was sure of his target. Also, no one should
ever take a 220-yard shot at a deer with
a .243-caliber rifle except on open ground.
A hunter must be aware of what lies beyond
the target. Obviously, he didn’t
check. And, lastly, a hunter must always
know the terrain and area in which he or
she is hunting. A simple check of a topographical
map would have enlightened
him that the A.T. was in his line of fire.
Ms. Ferguson and her family should
make sure that the hunter charged in the
case is convicted of a felony, so that he
can never legally own a firearm, and
Georgia should revoke his hunting privileges
for life in order to prevent him from
injuring someone with an arrow or a
muzzle-loading firearm.
The A.T. should be a safe place without
hikers wearing blaze orange [during
hunting season], but wearing it is nevertheless
advisable. I have encountered
people riding horses through the woods
WETLAND PROTECTION—Finally, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently
proposed new regulations that would limit the scope of the Clean Water Act
of 1972 and 1977. Under their proposal, many small streams and wetlands, like
those found all along the A.T., would no longer be protected by federal law. That
would allow such wetlands to be drained and filled, and streams to be “dewatered”
or relocated, without any federal regulatory review. State and local laws would still
apply, but the basic protections provided by the Clean Water Act for the last thirty
years would not.
Although the impact of the new regulations might not be as apparent as a cellphone
tower or powerline crossing, they do affect the Trail. We don’t intend to
forget our basic work and divert all of our energy to fighting adverse government
regulations, but we will take the opportunity to keep you informed. In some cases,
we will actively participate in these public-policy debates.
Brian T. Fitzgerald is chair of ATC; Dave Startzell is executive director.
during hunting season; when I confronted
them about the danger, and not showing
any orange, they became defiant. I even
encountered a woman walking through
the woods during bear season in New
York wearing a black fur coat and hat! A
little help from both hikers and hunters
will maintain the safety record of the A.T.
I hope that Ms. Ferguson fully recovers,
and that she and her family are not distracted
by the hunter’s first-aid and hospital
visits. The shooting should never
have happened.
Michael Modrak
Nashville, Tennessee
!
As a lifetime member and trail maintainer
with the Benton MacKaye Trail
Association, I take hiker and maintainer
safety very seriously. Last year, in preparation
for the Georgia deer-hunting season,
I wrote an article on safety issues for
the association’s newsletter and followed
that up with another article discussing
the tragic shooting of a hiker near the A.T.
here in Georgia.
Hiker-hunter interactions can be divisive
and can create long-standing animosities
between the different groups
that use our public lands and trails. With
this in mind, I was dismayed to read the
conclusion to your article (ATN November–December
2002). The last paragraph
states that, “last year, the Chattahoochee
reported fifty-two cases of hunters shooting
other hunters, ten of them fatally.”
That is incorrect. For the entire state of
Georgia, fifty-one hunters were injured
in hunting-related accidents, nine of
whom died. Of the nine hunters killed
during that deer season, four died in treestand
accidents. The remaining five were
shot by other hunters.
The shooting accident described in
your article is certainly unfortunate, but
it is also very rare for Georgia. With an
issue as potentially explosive as this one,
I think it is in our best interests as a Trail
community to be sure of our facts and
clear in our discussions.
Bill Ross
Calhoun, Georgia
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MARCH–APRIL 2003

In a recent Appalachian Trailway News column,
“Looking to our future,” ATC Chair Brian T. Fitzgerald
and Executive Director Dave Startzell described a planning
process that will help ATC and its partners at the
National Park Service’s Appalachian Trail Park Office
(ATPO) set priorities for the coming decade and make any
organizational changes needed to achieve a common vision
for the future of the Trail. Part of that planning process
involves asking supporters of the Trail project for their
ideas, which is the point of the questionnaire below.
ATC and ATPO have retained The Delphi Group, an
organizational consulting firm, to help develop this planning
process. Beginning last August, they have addressed
planning issues at a series of meetings that will culminate
in a “strategic planning summit” in May 2003. The summit
will involve a range of participants, including club
The future: Your thoughts?
ATC/ATPO planning questionnaire
leaders and agency partners. It will work to develop a
common mission and vision for ATC and ATPO and decide
which will take primary responsibility for each of the many
activities of maintaining and managing the A.T.
ATC is particularly interested in responses to the following
questions for the planning process. Although they
cannot respond to individual comments, the planners will
take all of them into consideration and keep you informed
of the plan’s progress in future editions of ATN.
Please visit the ATC Web site, , for more information on this process and
an electronic form for your comments, or mail this questionnaire
to: Appalachian Trail Conference, P.O. Box 807,
Dept. OA, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. Please feel free to
attach a separate sheet of paper for additional comments.
❶ Of the following, which do you value most
about the Appalachian Trail? Please rank from
1 (most important) to 6 (least important).
❷ How well does ATC/ATPO protect and promote
those values? Please grade them. (A=excellent,
B=good, C=fair, D=poor, F=not at all)
Opportunities for hiking and camping in the backcountry.
Providing a place and subject for teaching and learning.
Role of volunteers in maintaining and supporting the Trail.
A “greenway” of protected lands surrounding the length of the Trail.
Preservation of the Trail’s natural resources, including native plants and animals,
and water and air quality.
Other:
❸ Many new and challenging issues face the Trail today. How would you like to see ATC grow or change to
address these challenges?
❹ ATC undertakes an ever-expanding range of activities. Which do you think should be the highest priority,
and why? Are there any activities you are aware of that ATC should not be involved in?
❺ As an outgrowth of the National Trails System Act and the federal land-acquisition program, the A.T. is
a unit of the national park system. Do you consider the close partnerships of ATC with the National Park
Service and the U.S. Forest Service beneficial to the Trail and the organizations? Why? If not, why not?
❻ Do you have additional ideas that might help this process? Please be specific.
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 7

The long journey of Dave Richie, 1932–2002
By Dave Startzell
When we asked one of the Conference’s
newest staff members recently to
search the files for photographs of
Dave Richie, most of them more than fifteen
years old, she immediately knew who we
meant. “Sure,” she said. “He’s the one who
was always smiling.”
Richie, the first manager of what is now the Appalachian
Trail Park Office (ATPO) of the National Park Service, was not
one who sought or easily accepted credit for successes, although
he might have accepted that compliment. Ordinarily, however,
he disappeared from the limelight at ceremonies quicker than
one could say “VIP.” At the time of his death at his home in
Hampstead, North Carolina, five days before Christmas 2002,
few of today’s A.T. hikers could have told you who Dave
Richie was.
The fact remains, however, that he had more to do with
the reality of today’s Appalachian National Scenic Trail and
its management than any other single person. David A.
Richie belongs with Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery in
the “pantheon” of the Appalachian Trail project.
His was a long journey, although it seemed both short and
linear. To date, none of the histories of the Trail project have
acknowledged Richie’s place in the pantheon. It is time that
they did so. His professional legacy during his quartercentury
with the National Park Service defies measurement,
and it has been inherited by a succession of ATPO managers
who have shared and applied many of his convictions.
First steps
Richie was born in 1932 in Moorestown, New Jersey. He
attended Westtown School, where he served as student body
president, and then Haverford College. At both Westtown
and Haverford, in addition to his strong academic and
leadership skills, he demonstrated his natural athletic
abilities as a soccer and baseball player. During several
summer breaks, he and his life-long friend, Earl Harrison,
worked in Alaska, which no doubt contributed to his
appreciation for the natural world.
In the early 1950s, he took a leave of absence from
Haverford and enlisted in the Navy as a jet-pilot cadet,
earning his wings while stationed in Pensacola, Florida. He
then entered the Marine Corps, stationed at Cherry Point,
North Carolina, where he first met his future wife. He retired
from the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of captain.
He returned to Haverford, completing his undergraduate
degree in political science in 1958, then went to work in the
public-affairs section of the Bureau of Land Management.
While there, he entered the night-school program at George
Washington University Law School and earned his law
degree. Then, he transferred from BLM to the National Park
Service, serving for a year as an American Political Science
Association fellow detailed to the office of Senator Charles
McC. Mathias of Maryland (who later would become one of
the prime sponsors for the National Trails System Act).
Richie’s first field assignment for the Park Service was as
assistant superintendent at Mount Rainer National Park,
from 1966 to 1967. He then became superintendent at Lake
Roosevelt National Recreation Area/Grand Coulee Dam
from 1967 to 1969.
In 1969, he left the Park Service to teach history for two
years at his alma mater, Westtown School. In 1971, he
returned to become superintendent of the George Washington
Memorial Parkway, where he contributed to the success
of a number of features in that linear park along the Potomac
River and Washington’s boundaries, including the conversion
to public use of Turkey Run Farm and an abandoned amuse-
8
MARCH–APRIL 2003

ment park at Glen Echo. He also initiated the construction of
a now-popular hiker/biker trail to Mount Vernon, drawing
heavily on volunteers in the project.
A new direction: Maine to Georgia
With passage of the 1968 National Trails System Act,
Congress designated the Appalachian Trail as one of the
nation’s first national scenic trails and assigned primary overall
administrative responsibility to the Department of the
Interior and its National Park Service. But, that federal
agency had little or no experience managing long-distance
trails and, in fact, had done little to implement the act. In
1974, Richie accepted a new assignment as deputy director
for the Northeast Regional Office of the National Park
Service in Boston. When he took his new job, he sought—and
was assigned—responsibility for the Appalachian National
Scenic Trail.
To further complicate matters, the Trail was a patchwork
quilt of administrative jurisdictions, including six national
parks, eight national forests, and dozens of state-administered
parks, forests, and game-management units. In addition,
600 miles of the Trail were situated on privately owned
lands, while another 200 miles were located along roads.
The legislation had authorized state and federal landacquisition
programs to establish a permanent right-ofway
and buffer zone for the Trail, but few funds were
actually appropriated. Knowing little or nothing about
long-distance trails, and with scarcely any funds to draw
upon, the National Park Service assigned the task of defining
an appropriate oversight role for the Trail project to
Richie. Perhaps unknowingly, exactly the right man had
sought the job.
While many in his position might have been daunted by
the sheer magnitude of the Trail project, Richie, a longdistance
runner who twice ran the Boston Marathon while
stationed in Boston and who had a strong affinity for outdoor
recreation as well as a passion for natural-resource conservation,
almost immediately saw the great potential of
the Trail project. He was stimulated by the notion—
well established through five decades of work by the
Appalachian Trail Conference and its Trail-maintaining
clubs—that citizen volunteers could play a
significant role in creating and caring for a natural
and recreational resource spanning more than 2,000
miles.
He soon became so consumed in the project
that he fought for the creation of a separate
National Park Service office dedicated solely
to administration of the Trail. Once that was
accomplished, he volunteered to serve as
its first manager—a position he assumed
in 1977. He successfully argued that, because the Trail
crossed multiple jurisdictions as well as four National Park
Service regions, the office should be centrally located and its
manager should report to the Park Service associate director
for operations in Washington, rather than through a regional
director as a traditional park superintendent would.
In 1978, the Appalachian Trail Project Office moved to
Harpers Ferry, just two blocks from the headquarters of the
Appalachian Trail Conference. In fact, for the first few
months until separate office space could be found, Richie and
his assistant, Steve Golden, set up shop in a corner office on
the second floor of the ATC headquarters building.
As one of his first forays into the Trail project, while still
stationed in Boston, Richie attended the biennial ATC
membership conference in Boone, North Carolina, in 1975. It
was at that conference that then-ATC Board of Managers
member Ed Garvey introduced a resolution forcefully chastising
the National Park Service for failing to do more to stem
the tide of second-home development and other forces that
were eroding the primitive character of the Trail and threatening
to sever it altogether in many places.
That experience deeply affected Richie. A year or so later,
when a Washington outsider, Jimmy
Carter, entered the White House,
Richie, along with leaders of
ATC, several of the Trailmaintaining
clubs, and members
of the Appalachian National
Scenic Trail Advisory Council
(ANSTAC), wasted little time
in cultivating relationships with
9

key members of the new administration, including the new
assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, Robert Herbst.
Herbst adopted as a first-term goal of the administration the
completion of an Appalachian Trail land-acquisition program.
In 1977, legislation was introduced in the form of
amendments to the National Trails System Act that greatly
expanded federal land-acquisition authority for the Trail and
also included a funding authorization of $90 million. In
March 1978, the amendments—known as the “Appalachian
Trail Bill”—were signed into law.
At the time, the National Park Service maintained a
professional land-acquisition staff, but the typical Park
Service approach was to operate such programs from one of
its regional offices. Richie again successfully argued for a
different approach: a dedicated, centralized field office. While
land-acquisition responsibilities for the Trail project initially
were based in the Park Service’s mid-Atlantic regional office
in Philadelphia under the capable leadership of perhaps the
most experienced specialist in the agency, Charles (“Chuck”)
Rinaldi, within a year the Appalachian Trail Land Acquisition
Field Office was established in Martinsburg, West
Virginia, only a short distance from the ATPO and ATC
offices in Harpers Ferry.
That was not the only change Richie introduced to the
standard operating procedures of the National Park Service.
An ardent believer in volunteer leadership, Richie also
wanted volunteers from the Trail-maintaining clubs, as well
as the staff of the Appalachian Trail Conference, to play key
roles in determining the direction of the land-acquisition
project for the Trail. Those roles included scouting new
routes, identifying corridor boundaries, participating in
public hearings, and even engaging in title research and
initial contacts with affected landowners. He, along with
leaders and staff members of ATC, also argued that the
government could reduce the opposition of landowners along
the proposed corridor by not buying all the land outright.
Instead, the government could purchase or acquire easements—deeds
that guaranteed protection of the property and
a right-of-way for the Trail, while still leaving the land in
private ownership. That approach also was atypical for the
Park Service. Eventually, Rinaldi and others on his staff came
to value the contributions of volunteers in many facets of the
land-acquisition process and to apply a full range of landacquisition
“tools,” including both right-of-way and scenic
easements, term estates, and land exchanges, in addition to
the acquisition of fee-simple interests.
The antibureaucrat
I
first met Dave Richie in 1975, at a trails conference held
at the Tennessee Valley Authority facilities at Land between
the Lakes. I had just completed my graduate studies
in urban and regional planning at the University of
Tennessee, and I was struggling to complete my thesis, which
dealt with various aspects of outdoor-recreation planning,
including trail-system planning. Dave only recently had been
assigned responsibilities for the Appalachian National Scenic
Trail, but he already was speaking of the project with great
enthusiasm.
What struck me most about him was his demeanor. He
was a deputy regional director in the National Park Service—a
position that sounded, at least, as if it carried considerable
responsibilities and authority. But, Dave had none
of the trappings one might associate with a person in such
a position. There was no aloofness, no hint of inflated selfimportance,
no protocol-conscious authoritarianism. He was
not the stereotypical bureaucrat. In fact, he struck me more
as an “antibureaucrat.”
He was a regular guy, as they say, and one clearly on a
mission: He wanted to reinvigorate the then fifty-year-old
Appalachian Trail project; he wanted to assure the continuity
and quality of the Trail; and he wanted to instill in his
professional counterparts from the various federal and state
agencies represented at that meeting an appreciation for the
great potential of partnerships and volunteer-based citizen
Dave Richie
action. At that time, he was not preaching to the choir.
I had an opportunity to meet Dave on several more occasions
during the next couple of years, usually at A.T.-related
meetings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or
in one of the nearby national forests in Tennessee or North
Carolina. Then, in mid-January 1978, I reported for work at
the ATC headquarters building in Harpers Ferry as director
of education.
10
MARCH–APRIL 2003

In the initial years of the land-acquisition program, a
number of controversies and organized opposition surfaced—in
the Cumberland Valley area of Pennsylvania, in
Phillipstown, New York, in Falls Village and Salisbury,
Connecticut, in Sheffield and Tyringham, Massachusetts,
at Killington and Pico near Rutland, Vermont, and at
Saddleback Mountain in Maine. In some cases, resolution
of those conflicts was not fully achieved until well after
Richie retired in 1987. But, in most of those situations,
Richie set the tone for the often difficult and protracted
negotiations. His approach to such controversies was
similar to his approach to human relationships in general:
He shunned authoritarianism, greeted adversaries with
respect, and consistently struggled to achieve a negotiated
settlement, but rarely, if ever, compromised important
Trail values. His style and his influence in shaping the
form and substance of the land-acquisition program during
the initial years of that now 25-year-old program is wellevidenced
today: The National Park Service has very
nearly completed its A.T. program—perhaps the most
complex and successful land-acquisition program in the
history of that agency.
Working toward partnership
Success in the A.T. land-acquisition program is only one
aspect of Richie’s contributions to the Appalachian Trail project,
however. Indeed, many who knew and worked with him
might argue that his most significant contribution to the
project was in promoting public/private partnerships and in
forging working relationships across many jurisdictions in
what he called the “cooperative management system.”
For example, recognizing that more than half of the Trail
was situated within the national forests, Richie argued for a
Forest Service liaison position in his office—a Forest Service
employee to work under the Park Service umbrella. That
position, created in 1979, continues to this day. Its first
occupant was Larry Henson, a rising star in the Forest
Service and one of the youngest persons to serve as a USFS
forest supervisor. Hensen later went on to become a regional
forester and associate deputy chief for the agency. Together,
Richie and Henson successfully encouraged the Forest
Service to become more receptive to working cooperatively
with volunteers and to devote greater attention to trails and
other recreational resources in the eastern forests in general.
Richie also promoted volunteerism and working partner-
Not long after that, Dave and his assistant, Steve
Golden, relocated to Harpers Ferry to establish a new Appalachian
Trail Project Office. For several months, Dave
and Steve set up shop in the ATC headquarters building,
just around the corner from my desk. During that time,
we had many opportunities to discuss and debate the future
direction of the project and the many challenges we faced.
And, debate we did.
As I learned more about the project, and especially about
the relationships—or lack of them—that existed among the
Conference, the Trail-maintaining clubs, and the many federal
and state offices involved in the project, I was taken aback
by the lack of “infrastructure” that existed at ATC and by its
tenuous relationships with its ostensible partners in Trail
work. I had been told that ATC was expected to be the lead
organization in fostering the stewardship of the Trail—indeed,
leaders in the Conference had assured Congress in recent
oversight hearings that ATC would do just that. I was full of
the optimism that only youth can explain, and I had served,
at least sporadically, as a Trail-maintenance volunteer with
the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club during my graduateschool
years. So, I had some appreciation for the level of
devotion of which volunteers were capable. But, what faith
I had might well have proved insufficient to bridge the chasm
between the realities of that time and the vision recently set
forth by the Conference’s Board of Managers.
While I understood the “power of positive thinking” on
some level, the sort of leap required in the Trail project
seemed improbable. But, there was Dave Richie—the consummate
optimist who, at every opportunity, would promote
concepts such as partnership and cooperative management,
and who spoke so eloquently about the great potential present,
but unrealized, in the Trail project. He helped me and
many others to look beyond the thick haze of the challenges
of the moment toward the bright light of the possible and to
have the courage and faith to embrace a bold vision. His
enthusiasm was infectious, and, although I encountered any
number of low spots during the next several years, it was not
long before I became a “true believer.”
Dave and I had many occasions to work and travel together
during our overlapping service in the Trail project.
Even after he left the area and relocated to North Carolina,
we maintained contact. Dave and Cate often would join us
for walks and talks along the beach whenever we visited our
favorite barrier island, just north of where they lived. Dave
would use our visits to catch up about goings-on in the Trail
project. But, our conversations often would range farther
afield, into subjects such as land use, the environment, and
world events.
I had known for some time about Dave’s illness. He and
Cate both had spoken openly about it. They understood the
prognosis was not good, but they kept active and upbeat, and,
near the end, squeezed in a last trip to the Yucatan, as well
as visits with their children and grandchildren, and even an
occasional game of golf. And, Dave maintained his involvement
in local conservation issues.
In other words, the last few months of his life probably
were much like all the months before—full of optimism,
humility, and grace.
—Dave Startzell
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 11

ships at the state level, particularly through his interactions
with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail Advisory
Council—a body established by the Congress through the
National Trails System Act that included representation
from each of the fourteen Trail states. Shortly before the end
of its second and final ten-year term in
1988, Richie helped orchestrate the
adoption by the advisory group of a set
of cooperative principles that later
would serve as the basis for many
memoranda of understanding among
various agencies within each state, the
National Park Service, ATC, and the
Trail-maintaining clubs. They continue
to influence those relationships
today.
Richie liked principles—broad,
almost poetic doctrines of conduct and
perspective—as opposed to detailed
prescriptions. Perhaps that was an
outgrowth of his fundamental belief in humanity and his
belief that motivation and creativity thrive best in an
unfettered environment. He was not a micromanager.
In 1981, for example, he once again pursued a “less
traveled path” in terms of typical Park Service procedures.
The trails legislation had mandated that the secretary of the
interior, through the National Park Service, develop a
DOC member David Hooke, Richie, ATC Chair
Ruth Blackburn, and Vermont Gov. Hugh Gallen
open new Trail section in 1986.
Memorial gifts
comprehensive plan for the Trail. Rather than drawing up a
detailed park-management plan, which was the norm within
the agency, Richie argued that, given the multiple jurisdictions
involved in the Trail project and the tradition of
private-sector and volunteer stewardship, it would be
presumptuous for the Park Service
alone to develop such a plan for the
A.T. Instead, his office developed a
comprehensive plan that was only 30
pages in length (not including appendices)
and consisted mostly of vision
statements and broad principles
intended to guide management
decisions affecting the Trail. The
comprehensive plan was predicated on
an even more unusual concept: that
each of the thirty-one Trail-maintaining
clubs would develop its own, more
detailed local-management plan for its
particular sections of the A.T. The
notion that private organizations, consisting mostly of
volunteers, were capable of developing management plans
that would guide not only their own actions, but also those
of federal and state agency partners on public lands, was truly
radical at the time and perhaps even now. But, it was typical
Richie. And, it worked.
continued on page 35
Since our last edition, donations to the Appalachian Trail
Conference were made in memory of:
HAROLD D. ALMOND ⎯ Beth Almond
STEVE BARBER ⎯ Karen Barber, Donald Barber
S. E. BELL, SR. ⎯ Virginia Bell
HARRY BINFORD ⎯ Gregory and Jody Markel
PETER J. BUSHER ⎯ Rand Frahm, B. Terry Johnson, Kimberly and
Kathy Little, William and Tamera McBride, Jason and Susan
Mickel, Trisha D. Neasman, Richard and Christne Owen,
Mikel Renner, Douglas and Marcie Schubert, Jay W. Yingling
CHRIS DEFFLER ⎯ Mr.and Mrs. Edwin and Margaret Deffler,
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Wolff
ROGER DIXON ⎯ Charles and Jill Dixon
CHARLES ERNST FAY ⎯ Jack Fay Robinson
ARTHUR FIORELLI ⎯ Michael and Candace Spigelman
JOE GROSSMAN ⎯ Claudia Bokinsky
LEWIS A. HUNT ⎯ Vernon B. Hunt
JAMES B. (JIM) JOHNSON ⎯ Dorothy Brauer, Richard and Marion
Clark, Joan C. Frank, Peter and Dorothy Hasse, William and
Kathleen Lynch, Mary Rosenberg Interiors, Joyce S. Mc-
Cracken, Kristina A. Schaefer, Peter and Suzanne Thompson,
Toni M. Warbyla
JEROME H. LOWENGARD ⎯ John and Phyllis Graham
BILL MEDLIN ⎯ Parthena M. Martin
DOROTHY STANLEY MOORE ⎯ David L. Brackey, Family Service
& Guidance Center Of Topeka, Inc., Melanie R. Johnston
MRS. FUSAYE NAGASAKI ⎯ Hideko Inouye and W. Ken Graves,
H. Jeannette Pollard
ALVINO OBERLANDER ⎯ Duane and Beverly Mattheis
HARRIET K. PIERCE — As It Is, Inc., Counterpoint Systems, Inc.,
Sharon E. Cowan, Roberta Merchant
MARION AND DAVID C. PINKERTON ⎯ Laura Bliss
D AVE RICHIE ⎯ Goodloe E. Byron, William and Kimiyo
Hutchinson
JOHN W. SCHNEIDER ⎯ Nancy Durrett, Fannie Mullins, John
Rhodes, Don and Barbara Strotman
EARL V. SHAFFER ⎯ Danny W. George, Warren F. Kitzmiller,
William P. McNutt, Jr.
JOHN SHANNON ⎯ David and Peggy Lewis
DAVID SHELTON ⎯ Eldon J. Shelton
ROBERT SILVA ⎯ Janice and Frank Becker
PHILLIP R. SMITH ⎯ Mrs. Shirley Smith
JIMMIE E. SWAIN ⎯ Alan Cox
RICHARD TISDEL ⎯ Eugenia G. Powell
WILLIAM T. TOBELMAN ⎯ John and Karen Polandick
ORESTE UNTI ⎯ Minu Chaudhuri
DANIEL SCOTT WALKER ⎯ Ann Fritschner, Vance Walker
12
MARCH–APRIL 2003

The 34 th Meeting of the
Appalachian Trail Conference
July 26–August 1, 2003
Waterville Valley, New Hampshire
Registration Package
Stewardship through Education and Action
For more than 66 years, the Appalachian Trail has been America’s premier long-distance hiking trail,
a pathway into some of our country’s most extraordinary places. Since 1925, the Appalachian Trail
Conference and its members have been the Trail’s volunteer stewards. Now, with all but 13.5 miles
of the Trail corridor protected by public ownership of land or easements, ATC’s focus turns to securing
the future of the A.T. and the experience it offers. At our programs during the 34 th meeting of
the Conference, in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, we will strive to better educate ourselves—and
others—about responsible use and management of the Trail, the importance of preserving its natural
and cultural treasures, and ways of keeping the spirit of volunteerism strong among its
stewards.
Learn more about the A.T. and celebrate its traditions by going to Waterville Valley, nestled in New
Hampshire’s spectacular White Mountains. Join us in hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail and
other nearby trails, to summits and waterfalls throughout the White Mountains. Learn how to teach
others about the Trail and hone your trail, nature, and outdoor skills at our workshop programs.
Attend the Conference’s official biennial business activities as we usher in a new era of stewardship,
education, and action to protect the A.T. Enjoy music and comedy entertainment with a special New
England flair and excursions to the fun and scenic sights of New Hampshire. Join us at Waterville
Valley to make and renew friendships.
Hosted by the Appalachian Mountain Club
ATC 2003, P.O. Box 1279, Marlboro, MA 01752

REGISTRATION
Unless otherwise noted, your registration fee covers the cost of
all hikes, workshops, and meetings. Excursions and the featured
weekend entertainments require additional fees. Early registration
reduces your registration fee and gives you a better chance
to attend the activities you request. Membership in the Appalachian
Trail Conference or a Trail-maintaining club is not required.
All are welcome. For updated information, go to
.
Conference Site
Waterville Valley is a four-season resort nestled in the White
Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire. It features a full
range of outdoor activities year-round, including winter skiing;
summer golf, tennis, and hiking; and spectacular fall foliage.
Getting There: The resort village is located east of I-93, the
major interstate highway linking Boston with New Hampshire.
From exit 28, follow N.H. 49 east 11 miles.
By Vehicle:
• From Manchester, N.H.—70 miles, 1 1 /4 hours. Take I-293
to I-93 N to Exit 28, then 11 miles via N.H. 49 to resort
village.
• From Boston, Mass.—130 miles, 2 hours. Take I-93 N to
Exit 28, then 11 miles via N.H. 49 to resort village.
• From points south and west: Take 1-95 to I-91 in New
Haven, Conn., to I-84, to Mass. Turnpike (I-90), to I-290, to
I-495, to U.S. 3 N, to I-93 N to Exit 28, then 11 miles via
N.H. 49 to resort village.
By Air: Nearest airports are in Manchester, N.H., and Boston,
Mass.
Conference Activities
• Opening meeting and keynote—Saturday, July 26.
A morning keynote address and reports on the state of the
Trail and federal cooperative programs.
• Morning business meeting—Monday, July 28.
Election of the ATC Board of Managers; possible action on
resolutions and other business.
• Hikes and excursions—Hikes in the White Mountains and
along the A.T. will be led throughout the week. Excursions
led Saturday through Thursday, July 26–31.
• Workshops—Saturday through Monday, July 26–28.
No hikes or workshops scheduled during the morning
meetings Saturday and Monday.
Registration Hours: On-site conference registration:
• Friday, July 25, 2 p.m.–8 p.m.
• Saturday through Thursday, July 26–31, 8 a.m.–8 p.m.
Lodging
Lodging at the Conference Center: Attendees planning to stay
at the Waterville Valley resort must make reservations before
May 25, with Waterville Valley directly, for group rates at the
lodging listed below:
• Silver Fox Inn: standard rooms, sleep 2–4, $98 per day
• Black Bear Lodge: suites, sleep 6, $169 per day
• Golden Eagle Lodge: suites, sleep 6, $149 per day
• Town Square Condominiums: sleep 8, $232 per day
• Snowy Owl Inn: country inn, sleep 2-6, $113–$181 per day
Rooms at the Silver Fox Inn, Black Bear Lodge, Golden Eagle
Lodge, and Town Square Condominiums include the Waterville
Valley (WV) activity pass for each occupant. The WV activity
pass includes nine holes of golf mid-week, tennis-court use, two
hours of mountain-bike use, one-hour paddle-boat or canoe
use, and daily admission to the White Mountain Athletic Club,
with Olympic-sized indoor pool, outdoor pool, sauna, steam
room, weight room, and cardiovascular-exercise room. The
Snowy Owl Inn has its own indoor and outdoor pools, exercise
room, and mountain bikes. Lodging there does not include use
of the athletic club, golf, and tennis courts.
Make reservations on-line at , or call (888) 984-7687 (WV-GROUP). Be sure to specify
“ATC 2003” to receive special group rates. Additional lodging
and amenities descriptions can be found at .
Tent and RV Camping: Camping offered through ATC will be at
the USFS Osceola Vista Group Campground, 3 miles from Waterville
Valley village. All sites are open, grassy areas with pit
toilets and hand-pumped water. Not much luxury, except the
view. Showers, pool, and weight room are available at the White
Mountain Athletic Club for $5 per day for an 8 a.m.–11 a.m.
pass.
Tenting: Rates are $5 per adult per night (no charge for children).
Camping reservations are to be made and confirmed as part of
your conference registration.
Parking for Self-contained RVs: At the Waterville Valley Ski Area,
2 1 /2 miles from Waterville Valley village. RV sites are $5 per RV
per night. There are no RV hookups. For nearby commercial
(private) campground details, go to .
Meals and Activities
Meals will be served buffet-style at the Waterville Valley Conference
Center. Prepaid meal tickets are included in your registration
package. Meals begin with dinner, Friday, July 25; the last
meal will be breakfast, Friday, August 1. Only trail lunches (no
buffet lunches) served after Monday, July 28. Sunday night, July
27, you have the option of a lobster dinner for an additional
charge.
Entertainment: Major entertainment programs are featured
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights, offering fun, variety, and
award-winning artists with something for everyone. Enjoy three
nights of music, humor, and dance for only $11.
• Like Maine humor? Watch Susan Poulin perform her onewoman
show, “Ida: Woman Who Runs with the Moose.”
• Vermont’s Wood’s Tea Company offers a mixture of lively
folk tunes, Celtic music, sea chanties, bluegrass, and dry
New England humor. Wood’s Tea has been featured at the
Lincoln Center and the Chautauqua Institute and on
National Public Radio.

New Hampshire 2003 Registration Form
Registration No.
Complete a separate form for each individual (adult or child). Make copies (both sides) as needed. Please print neatly
or type. Note that all costs are per person. Forms must be postmarked not later than June 30, 2003. All hikes and activities
are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Hikes are limited to 10 people each: The earlier your registration is received,
the better our ability is to accommodate your choice.
Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________
City: ___________________________________________________ State: ___________________ ZIP: ___________________
Phone: ______________________________________ E-mail: ____________________________________________________
Name tag Information: Indicate the exact information you want on your name tag:
Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Affiliation: _______________________________________________________________________________________________
Lodging: Make reservations directly with Waterville Valley.
Camping: Place an X in the appropriate box for the date and type of camping desired.
Camping
Fri
7/25
Sat
7/26
Sun
7/27
Mon
7/28
Tue
7/29
Wed
7/30
Thu
7/31
Cost/Night/
Person
Tent $5.00 $
Total
Cost
RV $5.00 $
Total $
Meals: Each Meal may be ordered separately. Place an “X” in the box for the date and type of meal ordered. Meals for
children 5–12 are 10 percent off adult rate. Meals for four and under are free.
Meals
Fri
7/25
Sat
7/26
Sun
7/27
Mon
7/28
Tue
7/29
Wed
7/30
Thu
7/31
Fri
8/1
Cost/Meal/
Person
Breakfast $7.00 $
Lunch $8.00 $
Trail Lunch $8.00 $
Dinner $14.00 $
Lobster Dinner $25.00 $
Total Cost
Check if vegetarian meals are requested _____
Total $
Date of arrival: ___/___/___
Date of Departure: ___/___/___

New Hampshire 2003 Registration Form
Hikes, Workshops, and Excursions: Enter the activity code in the box. Please indicate with a (D ) next to the hike or
excursion number if you can drive for a requested hike or excursion.
Activities
Sat
7/26
Sun
7/27
Mon
7/28
Tue
7/29
Wed
7/30
Thu
7/31
Fri
8/1
Hikes
1 st choice
2 nd choice
3 rd choice
Workshops
AM 8:15
AM 10:15
PM 1:15
PM 3:15
Excursions
Code
Fee
Activities Total: $
Enter the costs below for Tenting/RV, meals, and activities. Registration forms postmarked before May 25, 2003, qualify for
early registration. Registration fees are waived for children 11 years old and under. One check or money order may cover
more than one registration, but please send the forms and check together.
Please make check or money order
payable to:
AMC/ATC 2003
Mail to:
ATC 2003
P.O. Box 1279
Marlboro, MA 01752
Registration Fee (After 5/25) $60.00 $
Early Registration (Before 5/25) $45.00 $
Single-Day Registration $30.00 $
Major Entertainment $11.00 $
Tenting/RV Total (from front) $
Meals Total (from front) $
Activities Total (from above) $
T-Shirt: S M L XL XXL $12.00 $
TOTAL $
REFUND POLICY: All cancellations and requests for refunds must be in writing. No refunds will be made after
June 30, 2003. Persons or families canceling prior to June 30 will be refunded in full, less one registration fee.

• Tap your toes to Swell Party as they harmonize in a
repertoire that ranges from big band to Broadway to
boogie.
• Contra dance with the Blackwater String Band.
In addition to the major entertainment, every night will feature
free campfires and slide shows about subjects of interest, such
as mountains, trails, and wilderness privies.
Youth Activities: Waterville Valley offers an outstanding variety
of activities for children and teens. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday,
July 26–28, the conference will sponsor three programs of
youth and teen activities: Nature Camp (ages 6–10), Junior Explorer
(9–12), and Teen Adventures (13–16). The Waterville
Valley Recreation Camp runs weekdays for children aged 4 to
12, including arts and crafts, reading programs, nature walks,
and a wide variety of sports. For more information about programs,
fees, and enrollment forms, contact Marty Lawthers at
, or call (518) 891-4644.
Exhibits & Vendors: The Appalachian Trail Conference, AMC,
A.T.-maintaining clubs, trail-related organizations, and equipment
representatives will provide exhibits and merchandise sales
through Monday, July 28.
Event T-Shirts: Heavyweight, short-sleeved, cotton T-shirts will
be available for $12. To order yours, indicate size on the registration
form. A limited number of T-shirts will be available for
sale during the conference.
2,000-Miler Reception: The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers
Association (ALDHA) will host an informal reception for longdistance
hikers Sunday afternoon, July 27. Enjoy refreshments
and the fellowship of other 2,000-milers.
HIKE PROGRAM
Hiking and other activities involve risks. Those signing up
for activities are responsible for their own safety and must
assume the risks and liabilities. Officers and representatives
of ATC or sponsoring clubs and activity leaders shall
not be liable for any injuries, loss, or damage to persons
and/or property, direct or consequential, arising out of
any activity or related transportation.
More than 400 miles of hiking trails cross the White Mountains.
Some lead to rugged summits above treeline, while others lead
to scenic waterfalls and overlooks. We are pleased to offer many
hikes over this scenic and diverse terrain. Most hikes are full-day
trips, but there are also half-day trips and some overnight backpacking
trips. Most hikes are offered more than once, and additional
hikes may be added to the program. Check the Web
site, , for updated information.
Terrain and Trails: Most hikers find the trails in New Hampshire
more difficult than those elsewhere in the country. Most trails
here do not have switchbacks but go “straight up.” Many are
steep and rough, with plenty of roots and rocks to trip hikers
up.
Hike Rating: Each hike has been rated for relative difficulty:
• EASY (EAS): Less than 5 miles and less than 1,500' elevation
gain. Easy to moderate terrain.
• MODERATE (MOD): Less than 8 miles and less than 3,000'
elevation gain. Moderate terrain with some steeper
sections possible.
• STRENUOUS (STR): Greater than 8 miles and/or more than
3,000' elevation gain. Moderate to steep terrain.
• VERY STRENUOUS (VER): Extremely steep and rough terrain;
polished rock slabs that are extremely slippery when wet.
Please make a realistic assessment of your abilities before you
sign up for a particular hike. The trip leader may decline to include
anyone who, in his or her opinion, is not capable of
completing the trip without difficulty and thus is not suitable for
that particular hike. (See “Leader’s Discretion” below.)
Group Size: In accordance with White Mountain National Forest
guidelines and Leave No Trace, group size is limited to 8
participants plus 2 leaders. Hikes will be filled on a first-come,
first-served basis. Early registration is encouraged.
Duration: Unless noted elsewhere, all hikes are full-day hikes.
Bring a trail lunch and snacks. Full-day hikes depart after breakfast
and are expected to return before dinner. However, slower
hikers may not return in time for regular dinner hours. In this
event, we suggest buying dinner elsewhere in Waterville Valley
village.
• “H” designates half-day hikes. Hikers will depart after
lunch and should return before dinner.
• “O” designates overnight hikes. Hikes will begin after
breakfast and should end before dinner the following day.
Carpools: Drivers and vehicles are needed for all hikes. Please
indicate whether you can drive your vehicle when you register.
Do so by writing “D” next to the hike number on the registration
form. If you will be driving, please bring a second car key in
case a “key swap” is required midhike. “Cross-over hikes” can
typically save an hour or more of driving at both the beginning
and end of the hike. Costs of gas and other vehicle operating
expenses should be shared. It is suggested that each passenger
compensate the driver about 6¢ per mile driven.
Fees: The White Mountain National Forest requires parking
passes at many trailheads. The cost is $3 per day or $5 per week.
Parking passes are the responsibility of each driver. Fees for
staying overnight at AMC facilities are stated in the hike descriptions.
First Aid: Hike leaders carry first-aid kits, but each hiker is responsible
for his or her own first aid. Increased tick populations in the
White Mountains make it vital to check yourself carefully after
each hike for ticks, which can carry Lyme and other diseases.
Poison ivy is almost nonexistent in the White Mountains.

Water/ equipment/ clothing/ food: We recommend carrying 2
to 3 quarts of water per person, sunglasses, sunscreen, and insect
repellent on all hikes. Hikes above treeline are very exposed to
the elements. Windchills in the Whites may plunge below freezing,
even in summer, and snow or freezing temperatures can
occur. Accordingly, in addition to lunch, snacks, and the above,
wear appropriate clothing (no cotton!), including a wool or
fleece sweater/jacket/wind/rainsuit, mittens, a warm hat, brokenin
hiking boots, and bring a working headlamp. Overnight hikes
will require additional equipment, clothing, and food as detailed
in the individual listings.
Leader’s Discretion: Hike leaders may refuse to take any person
who, in their opinion, is not properly equipped, adequately
prepared, or physically fit for the hike. A hike leader may reroute
the hike as he or she deems appropriate. In addition, hikes may
be canceled for safety reasons, such as inclement weather and
high water. Hikes may be canceled if insufficient numbers sign
up or if insufficient drivers volunteer.
Do-it-yourself Hikes: The hike information desk will have maps,
guidebooks, and information available to plan your own hike if
you so prefer.
A.T. Hikes: Hikes 1 through 13 are point-to-point along sections
of the Appalachian Trail. Assuming a sufficient number sign up,
all A.T. hikes will be “crossover hikes,” where the group splits
in two and hikes from opposite directions, exchanging car keys
midway. If you have a preference for hiking northbound or
southbound, please indicate it by writing “N” or “S” next to the
hike number on the registration form. Key swaps will decrease
waiting and driving time. Hike numbers 1, 6, 9, and 11 are
overnight and require tents. Hike numbers 12 and 13 are overnight
and require stays at AMC huts.
Maps and Guides: AMC’s White Mountain Guide, 26th edition,
contains detailed descriptions of all routes. All map numbers
refer to the maps contained in that guide, except for the A.T.
hikes. See maps contained in the A.T. Guide to New Hampshire–Vermont
for those hikes.
Hike Descriptions
1
2
3
4
5
A.T., Hanover to Dartmouth Skiway—Over Moose Mtn. and
Holts Ledge. Tent at Moose Mtn. Shelter. A.T. map #4
A.T., Dartmouth Skiway to Quinttown Road—Enjoy views
from Smarts Mtn. fire tower. A.T. map #4
A.T., Quinttown Road to N.H. 25A—Enjoy views from Mt.
Cube, and visit Hexacuba Shelter. A.T. map #4
A.T., N.H. 25A to Glencliff—Gentle walk in the woods. A.T.
map #4
A.T., Glencliff to Kinsman Notch—Over Mt. Moosilauke
(4,802'). Beaver Brook Trail is very steep. Great views and
lots of exposure above treeline. A.T. map #3
6
A.T., Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch—Over North and
South Kinsman mountains (4,358' and 4,293'). Tent at either
Kinsman Pond ($10) or Eliza Brook Shelter. A.T. map #3
7
A.T., Franconia Notch to Gale River Trailhead—Demanding
hike over Mt. Lincoln (5,089'), Mt. Lafayette (5,260'), and
Mt. Garfield (4,500’). Very exposed above treeline on Franconia
Ridge. A.T. map #3
8
A.T., Gale River Trailhead to Zealand Notch—Over South
Twin Mtn. (4,902'), Mt. Guyot (4,580'), and Mt. Zealand
(4,260'). Very exposed above treeline. A.T. map #3
9
A.T., Franconia Notch to Zealand Notch #1—Demanding
hike above treeline over Franconia Ridge, including Mt. Lincoln
(5,089'), Mt. Lafayette (5,260'), Mt. Garfield (4,500'), South
Twin Mtn. (4,902'), Mt. Guyot (4,508'), and Zealand Mtn.
(4,260'). Tent at Garfield Ridge Campsite ($10). A.T. map #3
10
11
A.T., Zealand Notch to Crawford Notch—Watch for moose
at Ethan Pond. A.T. map #3
A.T., Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch #1—Hike to Mt.
Washington and down Tuckerman Ravine Trail. Very exposed
above treeline. Camp at Nauman Tentsite ($10). A.T. map #2
12
A.T., Franconia Notch to Zealand Notch #2—Demanding
hike above treeline over the Franconia Ridge, including Mt.
Lincoln (5,089'), Mt. Lafayette (5,260'), Mt. Garfield (4,500'),
South Twin Mtn. (4,902), Mt. Guyot (4,508’), and Zealand Mt.
(4,260'). Overnight at AMC Galehead Hut ($85). A.T. map #2
13
A.T., Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch #2—Hike to Mt.
Washington and down Tuckerman Ravine Trail. Very exposed
above treeline. Overnight at AMC Lakes of the Clouds Hut
($85). A.T. map #2
14
15
Mt. Webster (3,910')—via Webster Cliff Trail (A.T.). Great
views of Crawford Notch from many precipices.
Mt. Webster (3,910') and Mt. Jackson (4,052') #1—via
Webster–Jackson, Webster Cliff, Mizpah Cutoff, and Crawford
Path trails. Loop with great views of southern Whites,
southern Presidentials, and Crawford Notch. Visit Mizpah Spring
Hut.
16
17
Mt. Pierce (4,312')—via Crawford Path. Great views of
southern Presidentials and southern Whites.
Mt. Eisenhower (4,760')—via Edmands Path and Mt. Eisenhower
Loop. Great views of southern Presidentials and
southern Whites.
18
Mt. Monroe (5,372')—via Ammonoosuc Ravine and Mt.
Monroe Loop trails. Great views of Mt. Washington, southern
Presidentials, and southern Whites. Visit Lakes of the Clouds
Hut.
19
Mt. Eisenhower (4,760') and Mt. Monroe (5,372')—via
Edmands Path, Eisenhower Loop, Crawford Path, Monroe
Loop, and Ammonoosuc Ravine trails. Great views of Mt. Washington,
southern Presidentials, and southern Whites from two
great summits. Very exposed above treeline. Visit Lakes of the
Clouds Hut.
20
Mt. Washington #1 (6,288')—via Ammonoosuc Ravine and
Crawford Path. Hike New England’s highest peak. Very exposed
above treeline. Visit Lakes of the Clouds Hut. Great views.

21
Mt. Washington #2 (6,288')—via Jewel and Gulfside trails.
Hike New England’s highest peak. Very exposed above
treeline. Great views.
22
Mt. Clay (5,533')—via Jewel, Gulfside, and Clay Loop trails.
Great views of northern Presidentials and Great Gulf. Very
exposed above treeline.
23
Mt. Jefferson #1 (5,716')—via Caps Ridge Trail. Great views
from New England’s third-highest peak. Expect some rock
scrambling. Very exposed above treeline.
24
Mt. Jefferson #2 (5,716')—via Castle Trail. Great views from
New England’s third-highest peak. Expect some rock scrambling.
Very exposed above treeline.
25
Mt. Jefferson #3 (5,716')—via Lowe’s Path, Randolph Path
and Jefferson Loop trails. Great views from New England’s
third-highest peak. Expect some rock scrambling. Very exposed
above treeline.
26
Mt. Adams (5,799')—via Air Line Trail. Great views from
New England’s second-highest peak. Very exposed above
treeline.
27
Mt. Madison (5,366')—via Valley Way and Osgood trails.
Great views of northern Presidentials from New England’s
fourth-highest peak. Visit Madison Hut. Very exposed above
treeline.
Appalachian Trail
Hike Number & Title Miles Diff. Dur. Climb Sa 7/26 Su 7/27 M 7/28 Tu 7/29 W 7/30 Th 7/31 F 8/01
1 A.T., Hanover to Dartmouth Skiway 17.6 Str O 4,400' H 2601 H 2701
2 A.T., Dartmouth Skiway to Quinttown Road 9.7 Mod 2,400' H 2702 H 3002
3 A.T., Quinttown Road to N.H. 25A 6.3 Mod H 1,800' H 2603 H 2803
4 A.T., N.H. 25A to Glencliff 9.8 Mod 2,100' H 2704 H 2904
5 A.T., Glencliff to Kinsman Notch 9.5 Ver 4,100' H 2905 H 3105
6 A.T., Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch 16.3 Str O 4,600' H 2906 H 3106
7 A.T., Franconia Notch to Gale River Trailhead 17.2 Ver 6,000' H 2907 H 3107
8 A.T., Gale River Trailhead to Zealand Notch 14.3 Str 3,950' H 2708 H 3008
9 A.T., Franconia Notch to Zealand Notch #1 (tent) 22.8 Str O 3,400' H 3009
10 A.T., Zealand Notch to Crawford Notch 9.7 Mod 450' H 2910 H 3010 H 3110 H 0110
11 A.T., Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch #1 (tent) 16.8 Str O 4,500' H 3011
12 A.T., Franconia Notch to Zealand Notch #2 (hut) 22.8 Str O 3,400' H 3112
13 A.T., Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch #2 (hut) 16.8 Str O 4,500' H 2913 H 3113
Hike Number & Title Miles Diff. Dur. Climb Sa 7/26 Su 7/27 M 7/28 Tu 7/29 W 7/30 Th 7/31 F 8/01
Presidential Range (AMC Map 1)
14 Mt. Webster 6.6 Str 2,700' H 2913
15 Mt. Webtser and Mt. Jackson #1 8.2 Str 2,400' H 2715 H 3015
16 Mt. Pierce 6.2 Mod 2,350' H 2916
17 Mt. Eisenhower 6.6 Mod 2,750' H 2717 H 3017 H 0117
18 Mt. Monroe 7.0 Str 2,850' H 3118
19 Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Monroe 9.0 Str 3,650' H 2919
20 Mt. Washington #1 via Ammonoosuc Ravine 9.0 Str 3,800' H 2920 H 3020
21 Mt. Washington #2 via Jewel Trail 10.2 Str 3,900' H 2921
22 Mt. Clay 9.7 Str 3,400' H 3122
23 Mt. Jefferson #1 via Caps Ridge 5.0 Str 2,700' H 2723 H 3023
24 Mt. Jefferson #2 via Castle Trail 10.0 Str 4,200' H 3024
25 Mt. Jefferson #3 from Lowe’s Path 11.0 Str 4,350' H 2725
26 Mt. Adams 8.6 Str 4,500' H 2926 H 3026
27 Mt. Madison 8.4 Str 4,100' H 2927 H 3027
28 Mt. Jackson 5.2 Mod 2,150' H 2728 H 3128
29 Mt. Washington #3 from Pinkham Notch 8.4 Str 4,250' H 2929 H 3029 H 3129
30 Mt. Webster and Mt. Jackson #2 6.5 Mod 2,500' H 2730 H 3130
31 Tuckerman Ravine 6.2 Mod 2,500' H 2731 H 3031 H 0131

Mt. Jackson (4,502')—via Jackson Branch of Webster–Jackson
Trail. Great views of the southern Presidentials and
28
southern Whites.
29
Mt. Washington #3 (6,288')—via Tuckerman Ravine and
Lions Head trails. Loop hike through N.H.’s famous Tuckerman
Ravine. Great views. Very exposed above treeline.
30
Mt. Webster (3,910') and Mt. Jackson (4,052') #2 Loop—via
Webster–Jackson and Webster Cliff trails (A.T.). Great views
of southern Presidentials, southern Whites, and Crawford
Notch.
31
32
33
34
Tuckerman Ravine (4,525')—via Tuckerman Ravine Trail.
Visit this famous glacial cirque and Hermit Lake Shelter.
Mt. Willard (2,865')—via Mt. Willard Trail. Nice hike to
ledges overlooking Crawford Notch.
Kedron Flume (1,900')—via Kedron Flume Trail. Nice overlook,
interesting flume and waterfall.
Arethusa Falls and Frankenstein Cliffs (2,150')—via Arethusa
Falls, Arethusa-Ripley Falls, and Frankenstein Cliff
trails. Loop hike to N.H.’s highest waterfall. Great views from
cliffs of lower Crawford Notch.
35
Ethan Pond, Thoreau Falls, and Zealand Falls—via Ethan
Pond (A.T.) and Zealand trails. Gentle walk, great waterfalls.
Visit Zealand Falls Hut.
36
37
Mt. Avalon (3,442')—via Avalon Trail and side trail to summit.
Great views of Crawford Notch.
Mt. Flume (4,328') and Mt. Liberty (4,459')—via Whitehouse,
Liberty Spring, Flume Slide, and Franconia Ridge
trails. Loop hike with very steep climb up the slide and great
views from the ridge.
38
Mt. Flume (4,328')—via Whitehouse, Liberty Springs, Flume
Slide, Osseo, and Lincoln Woods trails. Very steep climb up
the slide, then rest of hike is moderate.
39
Mt. Lafayette (5,260') and Mt. Garfield (4,500')—via Old
Bridal Path, Garfield Ridge, and Garfield trails. Hike over
the highest peak in the Franconia Range. Great views. Visit
Greenleaf Hut. Very exposed above treeline.
40
Mt. Garfield (4,500')—via Garfield and Garfield Ridge trails.
This rocky summit commands a spectacular view of the
Pemigewasset Wilderness.
41
Mt. Avalon (3,442'), Mt. Field (4,340'), and Mt. Tom
(4,051')—via Avalon, Willey Range, Tom Spur, and A–Z
trails. Nice hike with excellent views of Crawford Notch.
42
Mt. Lafayette (5,260')—via Greenleaf Trail. Hike to the highest
peak in the Franconia Ridge. Visit Greenleaf Hut. Very
exposed above treeline.
43
Little Haystack Mt. (4,780'), Mt. Lincoln (5,089'), and Mt.
Lafayette (5,260')—via Falling Waters, Franconia Ridge,
Greenleaf, and Old Bridle Path trails. Very exposed above
treeline. Great waterfalls along trail and spectacular views from
the ridge. Visit Greenleaf Hut.
44
45
46
47
Mt. Hale (4,054')—via Hale Brook, Lend-a-Hand, and Zealand
trails. Reported to be magnetic.
Welch (2,605') and Dickey (2,734') Loop—via Welch–Dickey
Loop Trail. Excellent views for modest effort.
Mt. Osceola (4,340')—via Mt. Osceola Trail. Trail with many
switchbacks and great views at summit.
Mt. Osceola (4,340') and East Osceola (4,156')—via Livermore,
Greeley Ponds, and Mt. Osceola trails. Loop hike past
peaceful Greeley Ponds to great views at main summits.
48
Greeley Ponds (2,180')—via Livermore and Greeley Ponds
trails. Watch for wildlife as you hike to beautiful remote
ponds.
49
50
Goodrich Rock (2,350')—via Livermore, Greely Ponds, and
Goodrich Rock trails. One of N.H.’s largest glacial erratics.
Sandwich Dome (3,993') and Jennings Peak (3460')—via
Algonquin and Sandwich Mtn. trails. Gentle climb with great
views.
51
52
Jennings Peak (3,460') Loop —via Drakes Brook and Sandwich
Mtn. trails. Moderate climb offering great views.
Mt. Israel (2,630') and Guinea Pond Loop—via Bearcamp
River, Wentworth, Mead, and Guinea Pond trails and Sandwich
Notch Road. Nice views of the Sandwich Range Wilderness
and Squam Lake along with a pleasant woodland walk.
53
54
Mt. Tremont (3,371')—via Mt. Tremont Trail. Fine views from
an open summit.
Mt. Crawford (3,119')—via Davis Path and Mt. Crawford
Spur Path. Great views of Crawford Notch and the Dry
River Valley.
55
Mt. Crawford (3,119') and Stairs Mtn. (3,463')—via Davis
Path and spur trails to summits. Great views of the Presidential
Range and the Dry River Wilderness Area.
56
Mt. Carrigan (4,700')—via Signal Ridge Trail. Magnificent
views of Pemigewasset Wilderness from observation platform.
57
58
Mt. Parker (3,004')—via Mt. Langon and Mt. Parker trails.
Fine views of Saco River Valley.
East Pond (2,600') and Little East Pond (2,596')—via East
Pond, East Pond Loop, and Little East Pond trails. Visit scenic
ponds.
59
Mt. Chocorua (3,500') Champney Falls—via Champney Falls
and Piper trails. One of the most frequently photographed
mountains in the world and one of the most frequently climbed
in the White Mountains. Great views from the rocky summit.
60
Mt. Morgan (2,220') and Mt. Percival (2,212')—via Mt.
Morgan, Crawford-Ridgepole, and Mt. Percival trails. Loop
hike offering fine views of Squam Lake.
61
Mt. Whiteface (4,020') and Mt. Passaconaway (4,043')—via
Blueberry Ledge, Rollins, and Dicey’s Mill trails. Loop offers
great views from Whiteface.

62
63
64
Mt. Potash (2,700')—via Downes Brook and Potash trails.
Great views for little effort.
Hedgehog Mtn. (2,532')—via UNH Trail. Great loop hike
with fine views for modest effort.
North Moat Mtn. (3,196'). Loop hike over exposed ridge
with great views. Visit Diana’s Baths via Moat Mtn. and Red
Ridge trails.
65
66
Mt. Tecumseh (4,003')—via Mt. Tecumseh Trail. Short hike
to one of N.H.’s 4,000-footers. Views of Waterville Valley.
North Hancock (4,420’) and South Hancock (4,318')—via
Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop trails.
Limited views with good climb.
67
North Kinsman (4,293') and South Kinsman (4,358')—via
Mt. Kinsman and Kinsman Ridge trails. Great views of Franconia
Ridge to the east and Vermont to the west.
Hike Number & Title Miles Diff. Dur. Climb Sa 7/26 Su 7/27 M 7/28 Tu 7/29 W 7/30 Th 7/31 F 8/01
Franconia Range–Pemigewasset Wilderness (AMC
Map 2)
32 Mt. Willard 3.2 Eas H 900' H 3032 H 0132
33 Kedron Flume 2.0 Eas H 600' H 3133
34 Arethusa Falls and Frankenstein Cliffs 4.7 Eas H 1,250' H 2734 H 2934 H 0134
35 Ethan Pond, Thoreau Falls, and Zealand Falls 14.2 Mod 500' H 2735 H 2935
36 Mt. Avalon 3.6 Eas H 1,450' H 3136
37 Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty 9.9 Ver 3,300' H 2737 H 2937
38 Mt. Flume 10.3 Ver 2,550' H 3138 H 0138
39 Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Garfield 12.5 Str 4,800' H 2739 H 3039 H 0139
40 Mt. Garfield 10.0 Mod 3,000' H 2740 H 3140
41 Mt. Avalon, Mt. Field, and Mt. Tom 7.2 Mod 2,750' H 2941
42 Mt. Lafayette 7.6 Mod 3,300' H 2942 H 0142
43 Little Haystack Mt., Mt. Lincoln, and Mt. Lafayette 8.8 Str 3,950' H 2943 H 3043 H 3143
44 Mt. Hale 7.7 Mod 2300' H 2944
Hike Number & Title Miles Diff. Dur. Climb Sa 7/26 Su 7/27 M 7/28 Tu 7/29 W 7/30 Th 7/31 F 8/01
Crawford Notch–Sandwich Range (AMC Map 3)
45 Welch–Dickey Loop 4.4 Eas H 1,800' H 2645 H 2745 H 2845 H 2945 H 3045 H 3145 H 0145
46 Mt. Osceola 6.4 Mod H 2,050' H 2646 H 2846 H 3046 H 3146
47 Mt. Osceola and East Osceola 9.8 Str 2,550' H 0147
48 Greeley Ponds 7.4 Eas H 600' H 2648 H 2748 H 2848 H 3048 H 3148
49 Goodrich Rock 4.0 Eas H 770' H 2649 H 2849
50 Sandwich Dome and Jennings Peak 8.8 Mod 2,850' H 2750 H 3150
51 Jennings Peak 6.4 Mod H 2,060' H 2651 H 2751 H 2851 H 3051
52 Mt. Israel and Guinea Pond 8.5 Mod 1,770' H 2752 H 3152
53 Mt. Tremont 5.6 Mod 2,600' H 3053
54 Mt. Crawford 5.0 Mod 2,100' H 2954 H 3154
55 Mt. Crawford and Stairs Mtn. 9.8 Str 3,050' H 2755 H 2955
56 Mt. Carrigan 10.0 Str 3,250' H 2756 H 3056
57 Mt. Parker 7.8 Mod 2,550' H 3157
58 East Pond and Little East Pond 5.0 Eas H 1,000' H 2658 H 2858 H 3158
59 Mt. Chocorua–Champney Falls 7.6 Mod 2,250' H 2959 H 0159
60 Mt. Morgan and Mt. Percival 4.8 Mod 1,550' H 2760 H 2960 H 3160
61 Mt. Whiteface and Passaconway 11.9 Str 3,800' H 3061
62 Mt. Potash 4.5 Eas H 1,400' H 2762 H 3062
63 Hedgehog Mtn. 4.8 Eas H 1,450' H 2763 H 3063
64 North Moat Mtn. 10.0 Str 2,800' H 3164
65 Mt. Tecumseh 5.0 Mod H 2,200' H 2665 H 2865 H 3065 H 0165
66 North Hancock and South Hancock 9.8 Mod 2,650' H 2766 H 3166

Cannon Mtn. (4,100') and Lonesome Lake Loop—via Hi
68 Cannon, Kinsman Ridge, Dodge Cutoff, and Lonesome Lake
trails. View Franconia Ridge, and swim in Lonesome Lake.
69
70
Carr Mtn. (3,453')—via Three Ponds and Carr Mtn. trails.
Good views from site of a fire tower.
Three Ponds (2,380')–Brown Brook Loop—Watch for wildlife
while hiking past the ponds and enjoy views of Mt. Carr
and Kineo—via Three Ponds, Donkey Hill Cutoff, and Mt. Kineo
trails.
71
72
Hike Number & Title Miles Diff. Dur. Climb Sa 7/26 Su 7/27 M 7/28 Tu 7/29 W 7/30 Th 7/31 F 8/01
Moosilauke–Kinsman Range (AMC Map 4)
67 North Kinsman and South Kinsman 10.4 Str 3,800' H 2967
68 Cannon Mtn. and Lonesome Lake 6.3 Mod 2,350' H 2768 H 2968 H 3168
69 Carr Mtn. 6.8 Mod H 2,134' H 2669 H 2769 H 2869 H 2969 H 0169
70 Three Pond–Brown Brook Loop 5.4 Mod H 500' H 2670 H 2870 H 2970
71 Stinson Mtn. 3.6 Eas H 1,400' H 2671 H 2771 H 2871 H 3071 H 0171
72 Mt. Moosilauke #1 from Ravine Lodge 7.5 Mod 2,450' H 2972 H 3172
73 Mt. Moosilauke #2 from Kinsman Notch 7.6 Ver 3,100' H 2773
74 Mt. Moosilauke #3 from Glencliff 7.8 Mod 3,300' H 3174
75 Mt. Moosilauke #4 via Benton Trail 7.2 Mod 3,100' H 2775
76 Naturalist Hike TBD* Eas H H 2676 H 2776 H 2876 H 2976 H 3076 H 3176 H 0176
* To be determined. Check with hike registration desk upon arrival.
Stinson Mtn. (2,900')—via Stinson Mtn. Trail. Great views
for little effort.
Mt. Moosilauke (4,802') #1—via Gorge Brook, Carriage
Road, and Snapper trails. Loop hike with great views. Very
exposed above treeline. Optional side trip to South Peak (4,523’)
adds 0.4 mile.
73
Mt. Moosilauke (4,802') #2—via Beaver Brook Trail (A.T.).
Great views. Very exposed above treeline. Extremely steep
and rough along the Cascades.
74
Mt. Moosilauke (4,802') #3—via Glencliff Trail and Carriage
Road (A.T.). Great views. Very exposed above treeline. Optional
side trip to South Peak (4,523’) adds 0.4 mile.
75
Mt. Moosilauke (4,802') #4—via Benton Trail. Gradual climb
to open summit with great views. Very exposed above
treeline.
76
Naturalist Hike. Destinations and topics to be determined.
May include birding, flowers, trees, wildlife, forestry, and
photography. Hikes will vary in length and terrain, but all will
be at a relaxed pace so that everyone may enjoy. Sign up for
specific days and check in at the hike information desk for
specifics.
EXCURSIONS
Guided excursions—The White Mountains offer plenty to do in
addition to hiking. Following are some of the popular destinations
in the region. Some excursions are active trips, such as
water parks and canoeing, while others are less active, such as
shopping and boat cruises. Most excursions are offered more
than once, and additional excursions may be added to the
program. Check the Web site, , for updated
information.
Do-it-yourself excursions—Information on other destinations
will be available for those who wish to plan their own excursions.
Carpools: Drivers and their vehicles are needed for all excursions.
Please indicate if you can drive your vehicle when you
register by writing “D” next to the excursion number on the
registration form. Excursions may be canceled if there are insufficient
drivers. The cost of gas and other operating expenses
should be shared. It is suggested that each passenger compensate
the driver about 6¢ per mile driven.
Fees: Admission fees listed are 2002 adult rates. Actual 2003
fee may be slightly higher. Senior and youth rates may be
slightly lower. A group discount may apply if sufficient numbers
sign up. Any adjustment in fees will be handled when you check
in at registration.
1
Lost River: Visit this geological wonder, a magnificent gorge.
The self-guided walk includes walkways, bridges, and caves.
See the geological display and nature garden with more than
300 varieties of native flowers, ferns, and shrubs. There is a
cafeteria and gift shop. Wear sturdy footwear.
2
Clark’s Trading Post: Featured attractions include a train ride,
bear shows, circus acts, guided tours, museums, specialty
shops, bumper boats, food service, and antique cars.
3
Loon Mountain Park: Take a gondola sky-ride to the summit
for spectacular views and a choice of activities, including a
skate park and guided horseback tours. Or, take Loon’s shuttle
to a self-guided bike tour of beautiful Franconia Notch. Climb
the four-story observation tower and explore glacial caves. All
abilities can mountain bike or hike on 35 kilometers of wooded
trails along the Pemigewasset River. Ride the “J. E. Henry,” Loon’s
wood-burning train.

Whale’s Tale Water Park: Admission includes tubes, unlimited
use of wave pool and 6 water slides. Bring sunscreen and
4
towel. Free for ages 65 and over.
5
Pemigewasset River Canoe Trip: Experience the beauty of
N.H. on this scenic river, traversing forested and rural lands.
The paddling is easy on the quick-water river, allowing for rubbernecking,
bird watching, and socializing. The NH-MC Paddlers
will provide tandem canoes, paddles, and life jackets at no
charge for the first 16 people to register. Rentals available for
$25 to $35 per canoe for others.
6
Flume Gorge and Cannon Tramway: Visit one of Franconia
Notch’s geological wonders. Walk through a natural chasm,
over covered bridges, past waterfalls and mountain views. The
Flume Visitors Center has a free 15-minute movie, information
center, and cafeteria. At Cannon Mountain, the 80-passenger
aerial tramway takes you above treeline to the 4,200’ summit
for outstanding views of the White Mountains and into Maine.
7
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and Golden Pond Tour:
This trip to the Natural Science Center in Holderness includes
a walk to see wildlife in natural enclosures, hiking trails with
views of Squam Lake, self-guided nature trails, and a raptor
exhibit. The aviary is host to a variety of songbirds. Kirkwood
Gardens attracts birds and butterflies. A Golden Pond boat tour
on Squam Lake tells the history of this beautiful lake and offers
the opportunity to see loons.
8
Conway Scenic Railway (North Conway to Crawford Depot):
On this five-hour round-trip train ride, enjoy some of the finest
natural scenery in the East—the sheer bluffs, ravines, cascading
brooks and streams, and panoramic vistas of Crawford Notch.
Commentary focuses on history and folklore of the railroad and
the area.
9
North Conway Shopping: More than 200 shops and stores
are located in Mt. Washington Valley, including brand-name
factory outlets and nationally known stores.
10
Lake Winnipasaukee Boat Cruise: Relax and enjoy the
beautiful scenery of N.H.’s largest lake aboard the MS/ Mt.
Washington. Visit Annalee Doll Museum and gift shop. Optional
side trip to Keepsake Quilting in the Center Harbor, the
largest quilt shop in New England.
11
Mt. Washington Cog Railway and Mt. Washington Hotel:
Three-hour round trip to the top of Mt. Washington on the
world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway. Base station has
outdoor display and railroad museum. One-hour tour of the
famed 1902 hotel, the grand setting for the 1944 World Monetary
Fund Conference.
12
Mt. Washington Auto Road and Wildcat Gondola: Drive
yourself eight miles to the top of the Northeast’s highest peak
and explore at your leisure the summit and buildings that have
been a tourist destination since 1861. Ride N.H.’s highest fourpassenger
gondola to the 4,602’ summit of Wildcat Mtn. for
spectacular views of Mt. Washington.
13
Mt. Washington Summit Stage and Pinkham Notch: Van
ride to the summit of Mt. Washington (1 1 /2 hours round-trip).
Enjoy the spectacular notch views, and visit the AMC’s Pinkham
Notch Visitors Center. Stop to see Glen Ellis Falls before heading
back to Waterville Valley on the Kancamagus Highway, one of
the region’s best known and most scenic drives.
14
Lakes Region Factory Stores: Tax-free shopping for fashions,
gifts, and home accessories at more than 50 designer and
brand-name outlets. Groups of 20 or more receive free coupon
booklets valued at more than $300.
15
Castle in the Clouds: Explore the natural splendor of a 5,200-
acre mountaintop estate overlooking beautiful Lake Winnepesaukee.
Tour the castle and the Castle Spring Water bottling
plant, and enjoy horseback riding and hiking trails.
16 Moose Tour: Take a 21 /2- to 3-hour evening tour through the
White Mountains by bus/van in search of the gentle giant of
the North Country. Historically, a 96 percent success rate.
Destination Fee RT miles Dur. Sa 7/26 Su 7/27 M 7/28 Tu 7/29 W 7/30 Th 7/31
EXCURSIONS
1 Lost River $14.00 36 1 to 5 E 2601 E 2801
2 Clark’s Trading Post $14.00 27 1 to 5 E 2602 E 2802
3 Loon Mountain Park $16.00 30 1 to 5 E 2603 E 2803 E 2903 E 3003
4 Whale’s Tale Water Park $25.00 29 1 to 5 E 2604 E 2704 E 2804 E 3104
5 Pemigewasset Canoe Trip see notes 40 8 to 4 E 2905 E 3105
6 Flume Gorge & Cannon Tramway $25.00 12 10 to 4 E 2706 E 2906
7 Squam Lakes Natural Science Center $32.00 52 9 to 5 E 2707 E 3107
8 Conway Scenic Railway $54.00 110 9 to 5 E 3108
9 North Conway Shopping N/C 110 10 to 5 E 2909 E 3009
10 Lake Winnipesaukee Cruise $25.00 72 9 to 5 E 2910 E 3010
11 Cog Railway $54.00 145 8 to 5 E 2911 E 3011
12 Mt. Washington Auto Road $23.00 135 8 to 5 E 3012 E 3112
13 Mt Washington Summit Stage $30.00 135 8 to 5 E 2713 E 3113
14 Lakes Region Factory Stores N/C 60 1 to 5 E 2614 E 2814
15 Castle in the Clouds $16.00 100 9 to 5 E 2715 E 3015
16 Moose Tour $20.00 26 7 to 10 E 2916 E 3116

WORKSHOPS
Saturday afternoon 1:15 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
W100
Pacific Crest Trail
Hawk Metheny, AMC Staff
The PCT is a 2,650-mile national scenic trail between the
Mexican border in southern California and the Canadian border
in British Columbia. It winds along the mountain crests of
California, Oregon, and Washington—an amazing journey from
desert to rainforest, snow-capped peaks to lava fields and thick
coniferous forests.
W101
Landscape-scale Conservation along the
A.T. in the Northern Forest
David Publicover, AMC Staff
In the northern forest of New England, the Appalachian Trail
traverses the largest expanse of relatively undeveloped forest in
the eastern United States. Large-scale conservation projects are
creating the opportunity to integrate the A.T. corridor into a
network of large protected areas across the region.
W102
Utilizing GPS in A.T. Management
Matt Robinson, ATC Staff
An introduction to global positioning systems (GPS) and how
they can be used as tools. The focus will be on Trail-manager
and -maintainer applications but will also cover Orienteering
and other basic GPS skills. This is a “hands-on” workshop: Bring
your own GPS if you have one.
W103
U.S. Forest Service Planning and the Appalachian
National Scenic Trail
Morgan Sommerville, ATC Staff
The Forest Service is in the process of updating land and resource
management plans that will affect A.T. management for a decade
or longer. This workshop recaps USFS issues as they relate to
the A.T. and surrounding USFS lands and what you can do to
help ensure protection of the A.T.
W104
Progress on the International A.T.
Richard Anderson, IAT
Learn about the current status of the IAT, which can be reached
from the A.T. and extends through northern Maine into Quebec
and New Brunswick.
W105
Lightweight Backpacking
Rick Wilcox, IME, Everest Explorer
This workshop will discuss ways to minimize your load without
leaving anything you will really need behind.
W106
The Catamount Trail: Vermont’s 300-mile
Backcountry Ski Experience
Ted Milks, Catamount Trail Association
An introduction to the Catamount Trail, Vermont’s 300-mile
backcountry ski trail. The trail offers an unparalleled doorway
to Vermont’s winter landscape.
W107
Primitive Trail Management
Jody Bickel and Deno Contos, ATC Staff
Learn about ATC’s efforts to manage the Trail for a primitive
experience. Examples along the Trail will be analyzed, and attendees
will evaluate construction materials that offer a “natural”
look. ATC’s primitive-ethics policy will be highlighted.
W108
The Shakers
Darryl Thompson
Learn about the Shaker principle of stewardship and the sect’s
special way of life. Thompson was one of the consultants used
by Ken Burns in his documentary film, The Shakers: Hands to
Work, Hearts to God.
W109
Intro to Map and Compass
Joe Comuzzi
An introduction to the basic skills of map-reading and compass
use in backcountry navigation. Build confidence in navigating
the outdoors.
W110
Cable Rigging
Lester Kenway and Peter Jensen
Doing the almost impossible with those little mechanical devices,
lengths of cable, a little math, and lots of experience.
Saturday (all-afternoon sessions), 1:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
W115
Corridor Monitoring and Boundary Maintenance
Karen Lutz, ATC Staff
Trail clubs monitoring the A.T. corridor become the “eyes and
ears” of Trail managers. Learn proven techniques of dealing with
encroachments and other neighboring problems, and ways
ofrepainting boundaries. See resources available from ATC.
Saturday Afternoon, 3:15 p.m–5:00 p.m.
W120
Our Fine Feathered Friends of New England
Nancy Ritger, AMC Staff
Come discover how the birds of New England have adapted
and thrived in this unique area. We’ll take a closer look at some
of the more common flyers in our region.
W121 Footwear
Gary Schwartz
Comfortable hiking requires appropriate footwear (boots, socks,
gaiters) that must fit well. This workshop will cover the selection
of footwear, with special emphasis on proper fit.
W122
Leave No Trace and the Conservation Aesthetic
AMC Staff; and Jody Bickel, Deno Contos, ATC Staff
Join us in a discussion of outdoor ethics and an overview of
Leave No Trace principles.
W123
The Monadnock–Sunapee Greenway
Patricia Bachman Turner and Don Vickery, AMC
A visual journey of 50 miles of New Hampshire’s hidden gem.
Discuss history, connecting trails, access, campsites, supplies,
and guidebook.
W124
Accessibility in Outdoor Environments:
A Panel Discussion
USFS, ATC, and NPS Personnel
A panel discussion on where and how trails and backcountry
facilities should be made accessible for the disabled. Panelists
will focus on legal obligations, practical design considerations,
sample projects, and implementation costs.

W125
Swamped by Groups? How to Manage their Impact
Hawk Metheny, AMC Staff, and ATC Staff
Learn about the growing phenomenon of commercial outfitters
and other group users, and how to manage their impacts. Hear
preliminary results from pilot projects to regulate commercialusers,
how they responded, and what was learned.
W126
Tools for Trail Work
Tim Tierney, Adirondack Mountain Club
A demonstration of the different tools used for basic and intensive
trail maintenance and rehabilitation. Focus on the appropriate
utilization and care of this equipment.
W127
Stretching & Massage for Hikers and Backpackers
TBD
Learn about psychological benefits of stretching and massage,
and practice stretches as well as self-massage and partner-massage
techniques. Wear comfortable clothing.
W128
Planning for a Backpacking Trip
AMC Staff
All the basics for a weekend backpacking trip: What to pack,
how to pack it, and caring for your gear and clothing. And, of
course, food! Everything to make your next trip the most enjoyable,
comfortable, and easiest to prepare yet.
W129 Orienteering
Bob Crowley, NYS Licensed Guide
Orienteering is a challenging sport and fun family activity for
all ages, using a specially made map and compass. Learn the
skills needed to participate in any Orienteering event.
W130
River Days
Michael Tougias, Author
Recently designated an American heritage river, the Connecticut
River provides the perfect setting for a wonderful blend of adventure,
fishing tales, and natural history.
Sunday Morning, 8:15 a.m.–10:00 a.m.
W200
Legacy Planning
Christina Auch, ATC Staff
Learn more about planning your legacy, from life-income gifts
to bequests.
W201
Long-Distance Hiking: The ALDHA Experience
Stacy Mikkalsen, Appalachian Long Distance
Hikers Association
An introduction to the various aspects of long-distance hiking.
See members of ALDHA share slides, stories, song, and poetry
about their experiences hiking the A.T.
W202
Windpower: Understanding How Wind Energy
Might Change the Hiking Experience
J.T. Horn, ATC Staff
A look at three case studies of wind farms that have been proposed
in the viewshed of the Appalachian Trail and how each
might impact the A.T. experience. Also, a discussion of how to
weigh the benefits of “clean power” against the environmental
and scenic costs.
W203
Grafton Loop Trail: A New 30-mile Side Trail
Landon Fake, Outward Bound; and Mike Cooper
Discussion of the six-year process of creating a significant,
modern backpacking trail. How a coalition of individuals, corporations,
and public and private agencies are designing, funding,
and building a loop and side trail in western Maine intended
to reduce impact on the A.T.
W204
Fire Towers in the White Mountain National Forest
Larry Paul
See vintage telephone equipment, field glasses, alidade, maps,
and slides, hear tall tales, and explore the graphic history of fire
detection and visitor education offered by still-valuable forest
lookouts.
W205
Monitoring and Management of Endangered
Species on the Appalachian Trail
Kent Schwarzkopf, NPS; and Michelle Miller,
ATC Staff
Discuss the volunteer program for monitoring threatened and
endangered species in the A.T. corridor. Also, discuss the prioritization
and implementation of management actions to
protect the A.T.’s rarest endangered species.
W206
Winter Hiking and Backpacking Intro
Mohammed Ellozy, AMC
An introduction to safe travel and camping in the backcountry
of the “winter wonderland,” with emphasis on the conditions
found in the Northeast.
W207
Trail Inventories and Condition Assessments I
Rita Hennessy, NPS; and Peter Jensen
Learn the updated ins-and-outs of inventorying and assessing
the condition of trails and trail features and how to document
those needs for both planning the necessary work and securing
funding for that work.
W208
Telecommunications Towers: What You Can Do
Cosmo Catalano, AMC-Berkshire; and ATC Staff
How to work with, and sometimes against, telecommunications
companies planning towers near the Trail. Learn how laws and
regulations help keep towers from impacting the A.T.
W209
Northeastern Wilds: Journeys of Discovery
in the Northern Forest
Steven Gorman, Author
Travel down raging rapids and snow-swept peaks, along solitary
trails of the Northern Forest. Go on an unforgettable visual
journey through this threatened natural resource. Through personal
stories and slides, learn the culture, history, and future of
this important region.
W210
Geologic History of the A.T.
TBD
Focus on features of the White Mountains that relate to tectonic
processes in the Earth, including rocks, minerals, glacial
and erosional features, and large-scale structures. Slides and
rock samples will be used to show the character of the Trail in
New England.

Sunday (All Morning), 8:15 a.m.–noon
W215
Nature Photography
Jerry and Marcy Monkman
How to capture distinctive nature images on film. Get more (and
carry less) from your SLR or digital camera. See a multimedia
show that celebrates New England’s wildest places.
W216
Highland Center
Max Shu, AMC Staff
Take a guided tour of the Highland Center, the AMC’s new
education center and lodge, now under construction in Crawford
Notch. Transportation provided.
Sunday (All Day), 8:15 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
W218
Human Waste/Backcountry Campsite Design
Hawk Metheny, AMC; and Pete Ketchum, GMC
Hike 3 1 /2 miles to a popular AMC-maintained campsite. The
maintenance of a batch-bin composting system will be demonstrated,
along with campsite design and management. Prepare
for a full day on the Trail over difficult terrain.
Sunday Morning, 10:15 a.m.–noon
W220
The Cohos Trail and Its Future
Kim Robert Nilsen, Cohos Trail Association
A multimedia show and talk about the origins, development,
current state, and future plans for the Cohos Trail, the longest
trail system developed in New England in the last 60 years.
W221
Managing Risk in Volunteer Organizations
Alex Kosseff, AMC Staff
Safety, liability, and difficulty obtaining insurance are increasing
concerns for volunteer-based organizations. Learn about proactive
approaches to addressing those issues that also strengthen
your over-all organization.
W222
Building Constituencies for Public Lands
Stewardship
Amy McNamara, AMC Staff
Citizens, trail groups, and nonprofit organizations are being
called to play a greater role in ensuring the proper stewardship
of public lands. Hear lessons learned from several model park
campaigns, and discuss how park constituencies can do more
to support state forest and park systems.
W223
Long-Distance Hiking in Scotland
on the West Highland Way
Jane and Oliver Mutch
Learn about the history and geography along Scotland’s West
Highland Way from this couple who have hiked all over the
world. They will also discuss issues of older people and longdistance
hiking.
W224
Mountain Rescue of an Endangered Alpine Plant
Dr. Kenneth Kimball and Doug Weihrauch,
AMC Staff
Review AMC’s alpine vegetation-mapping project, see how the
results can be accessed and learn their management implications.
Hear about the recovery of an endangered alpine plant
directly impacted by the A.T.
W225
Getting and Staying in Shape
Mohammed Ellozy, AMC
To enjoy the outdoors, you must be fit! We will discuss how to
stay fit year-round. The best way is to hike regularly, but we will
discuss alternatives for those whose lives do not allow it.
W226 Bridging
AMC and GMC
Learn when a bridge is needed, about different types of bridges,
and the basics of bridge design and construction.
W227
Backpacking Techniques for Women
Luann “Sketch” Mack-Drinkard, A.T. Thru-hiker,
Trail Maintainer
An open-forum discussion of the joys and trials of being a
woman on the Trail. We’ll discuss safety, hygiene, nutrition, what
works, and what doesn’t.
W228
Medical Problems on the A.T.
Vernon “Del Doc” Vernier
Common problems of the hiker: foot, knee, gastrointestinal,
mental, and other ailments. How to diagnose and treat them on
the Trail. Can they be avoided? Suggested medical kits.
W229
Trail Inventories and Condition Assessments II
Rita Hennessy, NPS; and Peter Jensen
Hands-on field demonstration of how GPS is used to inventory
and assess Trail conditions. Learn about collecting information
for the Trail-assessment process.
Sunday Afternoon, 1:15 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
W240
Get Out There and Volunteer! How to Develop,
Recruit, and Train Volunteers
Kim Marion and Teresa Martinez, ATC Staff
Basic principles of working with volunteers. Discuss successes
and failures, programs, recruitment tips, marketing strategies,
recognition methods, and how to deal with volunteer burn-out.
W241
Interpretive Education for the Appalachian Trail
ATC Staff; Rita Hennessy, NPS;
and Marty Lawthers, GMC
Learn about “special story” projects and more active outreach
to “nontraditional users,” as well as what ATC is doing with
school systems and teachers and with our traditional partners.
W242
Recreational Liability and the A.T.
Chuck Sloan, Attorney; Bob Proudman, ATC Staff
What is your “duty of care” as a trip leader? Can you or your
club be sued for a real or alleged failure in maintaining the Trail?
Review the principles of negligence, existing protections for
volunteer trail maintainers, and several real lawsuits.
W243
Wildlife Myths and Legends
Nancy Ritger, AMC Staff
Do bats really drink blood? Why do coyotes howl at the moon?
Will dragonflies sew your lips together if you tell a lie? Discover
the truth behind such myths and legends.
W244
Managed Open Areas of the Appalachian Trail
Deno Contos and Michelle Miller, ATC Staff
How and why ATC works with clubs and other Trail partners in
protecting habitats and keeping the southern balds open.

W245
National Scenic Trail Status for the Metacomet-
Monadnock Trail and Others
Patrick Fletcher, AMC Staff
Should we seek national scenic trail status for a trail system to
stretch from Long Island Sound to Canada? Can we do this
without hurting landowners who have allowed recreational use
of their land for years?
W246
Going South: A Voyage to Antarctica
Hilary Hopkins, AMC Staff
Come travel (by slide show) to this gorgeous and dangerous
place! See appealing penguins, seals, birds, and beautiful water,
ice, and rock—as far south as you can get.
W247
Food and Cooking
REI
Explore the huge range of food and cooking equipment available
for the backpacker. Choose what best suits you.
W248
Organizing Leadership Training
Katherine Byers, AMC Staff
AMC has made training for volunteers an organizational priority.
This overview session details the planning, organization, and
content of effective outdoor-leadership training.
W249
Alpine Stewardship Volunteer Program
Scott Monroe, AMC and USFS
Learn about this innovative program to protect the environment
through on-site education about fragile alpine vegetation, Leave
No Trace principles, and low-impact trails on Franconia Ridge
(A.T.) in the White Mountain National Forest.
Sunday (All Afternoon), 1:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
W255
Drawing and Painting on the Trail
TBD
Enhance your observation skills and keep a naturalist’s sketchbook.
Learn about art-making and painting “on location.”
Discover how to assemble a compact, carry-along field painting-and-drawing
kit. All materials provided. $5 materials fee
payable at workshop.
W256
Native New England Plants
Chris Mattick, New England Wildflower Society
Few of us can identify more than a handful of our region's plants.
Join this hands-on learning experience covering plant parts, taxonomy,
and identification. We will use Newcomb’s Wildflower
Guide, the best guide to wildflowers of New England.
W257
Advanced Cable Rigging
Lester Kenway and Peter Jensen
Learn tricks of the trade from two gurus of trail and rock work.
An outdoors, hands-on demonstration and work session.
Sunday Afternoon, 3:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
W260
Crosscut Workshop
Carl Demrow, ATC Vice Chair, New England
How to sharpen that crosscut saw? Take the1905 approach to
jointing, sharpening, and setting it. Bring gloves, C-clamps, a
saw, and two pieces of plywood to sandwich your saw—or,
don’t bring anything but gloves, and team up with a partner.
W261
Knowing the Outdoors at Night
Nancy Ritger, AMC Staff
Nature at night is the same world you encounter during the day
but with different characters involved. Those bumps, thuds, and
creaks tell a fascinating story that you can only see if you venture
out after the sun goes down.
W262
Archaeology and History Along the A.T.
Don Owen, Ron Dupont, Lloyd Chapman, Joe Baker
Who won the battle of South Mountain? Where’s the Overmountain
Victory Trail? What is the Ring Quarry prehistoric mining
district? Learn about archaeology and history along the A.T.
W263
Horse Use Along the A.T. in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park
Morgan Sommerville, ATC Staff
About 35 miles of the A.T. in the GSMNP are open to horse use.
Find out why and how the A.T. community manages this use in
cooperation with the equestrian community, and join a discussion
of the results and merits of this partnership.
W264
“Not Without Peril”: Readings and
What Happened Next
Nicholas Howe, Author
Readings from Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on
the Presidential Range of New Hampshire, and lessons from
compelling and tragic encounters with the White Mountains.
W265
Kitchen Table Activism: Communicating
with Your Elected Officials
Bryan Wentzell, AMC Staff
Learn how easy it is to communicate the conservation and trails
issues that you care about to your elected officials. We’ll cover
the pros and cons of letters, phone calls, and e-mail—and learn
how to use local media outlets to make your point.
W266
Volunteer Vacation: A.T. Volunteer Trail-Crew
Programs
Jody Bickel, ATC Staff; Kim Marion and Ted Weber,
AMC Staff
Learn more about A.T. volunteer Trail-crew programs; how to
become a Trail-crew volunteer, special crew projects, and how
the crews support A.T.-maintaining clubs.
W267
Environmental Monitoring on the Appalachian
Trail
J.T. Horn, ATC Staff
Review a proposal that uses citizen scientists to monitor air and
water quality, endangered species, and wildlife of the A.T.
W268
A.T. Pioneer Thru-Hikers
Larry Luxenberg, A.T. Museum Committee
Several early A.T. thru-hikers discuss their more solitary Trail
experiences in the 1960s and early 1970s, before the upsurge
in long-distance hiking.
W269
Exploring the Universe
TBD
Investigate the solar system and the universe, and learn about
observation techniques. The program will center on astronomy
and astrophotography and will include an open observing session
after dark.

W270
Environmental Education at the Highland Center
Max Shu, AMC Staff
Learn about AMC’s new education center and lodge at scenic
Crawford Notch (opening this September) and what it can offer
you and your organization.
Monday Afternoon, 1:15 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
W300
Mountain Watch/Hikers for Clean Air
Georgia Murray and Nancy Ritger, AMC
Learn how the Mountain Watch program raises awareness of
fragile ecosystems by combining educational and interpretive
programs with ongoing research into the impact of climate
change on the ecology of the WMNF.
W301
The Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway:
Fifteen-Year Accomplishment
Natalie Davis and Ruth White, AMC
Learn how people formed a coalition to construct the SRKG, a
75-mile trail system over Mt. Sunapee, Ragged Mountain, and
Mt. Kearsarge, circling Lake Sunapee.
W302
Write the (Guide) Book!
Robert Rubin, ATC Staff
Have you considered contributing to ATC’s guidebooks? Discuss
researching and preparing manuscripts, getting accurate mileage
information, and following new guidebook formats.
W303
Trail Design and Aesthetics
Steve Spencer, MBPL
Focus on designing hiking trails that provide a well-composed
array of sensory experiences—views, sounds, and textures.
W304
Don’t Die on the Mountain
Dan Allen, AMC
A discussion of decision-making and safety. We will explore the
process and tackle a few hypothetical situations.
W305 Backpacks
EMS Staff
This workshop will describe the range of available backpacks
and help you choose one that suits your needs.
W306
Invasive Plant Species of the White Mountains
New England Wild Flower Society,
Invasive Species Project
Exotic invasive plants pose a serious threat to natural habitats
and plant communities in New England. Discuss a study being
conducted around the White Mountain National Forrest, and
review the plant species that pose the greatest threat to this area.
Go outside to identify local invasive species.
Monday (All Afternoon), 1:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
W316
Wilderness Medicine
TBD
Learn how to apply the basics of first aid in a backcountry situation.
Emphasis will be on preventing backcountry emergencies
through proper trip planning and equipment selection.
Monday Afternoon, 3:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
W320
The A.T. of the Future: Will it be Virtual or Real?
Teresa Martinez, ATC Staff
What is the “desired future condition” of the A.T.? Should we
reduce signage and change the level of information in guidebooks?
Should we eliminate shelters or strive for enclosed
shelters and lodges with European-style amenities? We’ll use an
interactive exercise designed to spark or “clarify” your values!
W321
A Winter Odyssey on the A.T.
Dan Allen, AMC
A slide show describing what it is like to hike the A.T. in winter,
including conditions, equipment, meals, and strategy.
W322 Shelter
Ragged Mountain
Discuss what you need to sleep comfortably in the woods.
W323
W324
Medical Problems on the A.T.
Vernon “Del Doc” Vernier, MD.
See W228
Mountain Weather
AMC and Mt. Washington Observatory Staff
Using the example of Mt. Washington—“home of the world’s
worst weather”—learn the basics of weather, including the role
of local weather patterns, microclimates, and geology.
W325
Jewels of the Field, Forest, Bog, and Tundra
Gray Wexelblat, AMC
Learn about a variety of plant habitats typical of the White
Mountains. Plants growing in alpine areas face different weather-related
challenges than those growing in fields. Learn why
plants grow where they do.
W326
Designing Trails and Outdoor Recreation Facilities
for Universal Access
Peter Jensen, Open Space Management
Learn about new guidelines developed for outdoor spaces and
how to design trails, shelters, campgrounds, and parking areas
with features that allow access by the disabled.
Tuesday (All Day) 8:15 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
W400
Rock Work
Bill Darcy, AMC–N.H. Chapter Trail Committee
Learn to build steps and waterbars with rocks. Learn the fundamentals
of rock work. Prepare to go outdoors for a hands-on
demonstration and work session on a nearby trail.
Wednesday (All Day), 8:15 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
W500
Rock Work
Bill Darcy, AMC– N.H. Chapter Trail Committee
Same as W400.
Thursday (All Day), 8:15–4:00 p.m.
W600
Rock Work
Bill Darcy, AMC–N.H. Chapter Trail Committee
Same as W400.

Pennsylvania car-resort
hearing delayed
ATC and local opponents of
a proposed high-performance
“car resort” within
earshot of the Trail in Eldred
township, Pennsylvania were
given an additional 45 days to
take depositions and analyze
the resort’s data relating to
sound impacts, rejecting the
developer’s arguments against
it. An early February hearing
was rescheduled for late
March.
PAPER TRAIL
News from Harpers Ferry
On Dec. 5, the groups had
asked the court of common
pleas to set aside the township
supervisors’ conditional approval
of the 360-acre resort.
The groups argued that the
developer’s plans were inadequate,
incomplete, and failed
to comply with the local ordinances—and
the local ordinances
themselves were deficient
in that they provided no
protection for the Trail.
Ed Garvey memorial
installed—Workers install
a memorial to A.T. pioneer
Edward P. Garvey at ATC
headquarters in Harpers
Ferry, W.Va., on November
20, 2002. ATC Executive
Director Dave Startzell,
Garvey’s daughter Sharon,
longtime friend Ken
Ostermann, and others
paid tribute to the club and
Conference leader, who
helped promote, protect,
build and popularize the
modern A.T. (Photo: Trish
Ostermann)
Notable gifts
September 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002
$10,000 +
CHINGOS FOUNDATION ⎯ Land trust
MCCABE FUND OF NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARITABLE
FOUNDATION ⎯ Appalachian Trail Environmental
Monitoring Initiative (ATEMI)
DEER PARK SPRING WATER — General support
WILLIAM E. LARSEN CHARITABLE TRUST FOR WILDERNESS
PRESERVATION ⎯ General support
$1,000 – $4,999
CAMPMOR — General support
DOVER FOUNDATION ⎯ Education program
GOLITE — Volunteer recognition
INDEPENDENT CHARITIES OF AMERICA ⎯ General support
KEYSTONE TRAILS ASSOCIATION ⎯ Land trust coordinator
and Mid-Atlantic Trail Crew
LYME COMPUTER SYSTEMS — Computer services, New
England ofÞce
NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ⎯ Round Bald Trail
relocation
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NAT-
URAL RESOURCEs ⎯ Rocky Top/Rockin’ Horse Trail Crews
POTOMAC APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB ⎯ Land acquisition
in northern Virginia
THE VAUGHAN W. BROWN CHARITABLE TRUST ⎯ General
support
TRILLIUM FUND OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
OF NORTH CAROLINA ⎯ General support
UPPER VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ⎯ ATEMI
VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ⎯ ATEMI
$500 – $999
COLE HAAN — Grants for Outreach
GEORGIA APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB ⎯ General support
TENNESSEE EASTMAN HIKING AND CANOEING
CLUB ⎯ Konnarock Trail Crew
WAL-MART OF CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. — General support
Honorary gifts
Since our last edition, donations to the Appalachian Trail
Conference were made in honor of:
DAVID B. FIELD ⎯ Drs. O.W. and Lucy Lacy
TERESA A. MARTINEZ ⎯ Edward and Randye Gralla
RANDY E. NEWCOMER ⎯ Patricia J. Hampton
MORTIMER AND JEAN WEISER ⎯ David and Phyllis
Reynolds
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 29

SIDEHILL
News of clubs and government agencies
New Pochuck Crossing spans time and space
By Glenn Scherer
October 20, 2002, turned
sunny and hot. Bees
buzzed the 4,000-foot
boardwalk crossing a wide
New Jersey wetland. Migrating
geese honked, punctuating
the early-afternoon speeches
given by dignitaries from atop
a 110-foot-long suspension
bridge. Although electronically
amplified, the speakers’
oratory was swallowed up in
the expanse of toasted brown
fields of goldenrod, against a
background of faraway mountains
gone scarlet.
The speeches celebrated
probably the biggest construction
project ever on the Appalachian
Trail, but it was a
day in which the natural
world, rather than human efforts
to enter it, kept unsettling
things in breathtaking
ways: a marsh hawk dropping
from the sky and gripping a
vole in its talons; a marauding
bear raiding the final moments
of the festivities, only to be
chased off by rangers firing
guns in the air.
In the twenty-four years
that it took for the A.T. to finally
span Pochuck Crossing—the
official name for what
volunteers long ago christened
the Pochuck Quagmire—nature
similarly showed an extraordinary
way of upstaging
all human effort.
The Pochuck Quagmire
resembles little of the ridgerunning
Appalachian Trail. It
is a low-lying, 3,000-foot-wide
floodplain cradled between
Pochuck and Wawayanda
mountains. Surrounded by
New Jersey exurbia, it is a
complex of interlocking habitats,
of wet meadows and
floodplain forest and calcareous
seeps: dull gray limestone
outcrops that rise forty feet
above a cattail-and-thistle sea
like battered ship hulls.
At the heart of this unique
wetland is “a nondelineated
river with a sixty-foot wide
stream channel.” That’s Pochuck
Creek, a narrow wiggle
in dry times that, in wet
weather, jumps its banks and
spreads out to engulf cardinal
flowers and plumed grasses. In
flood times, the Quagmire
tries to relive its primal past,
becoming the glacial lake it
once was.
For maybe the last 8,000
years, humans have tried to
coexist with the temperamental
Quagmire. Ancient
Indians, their tribal names lost
to us, built villages at its edge.
They mined lenses of dark
gray chert from the limestone
bedrock, chipping the material
into spearheads and arrow
points.
The floodplain—rich organic
muck built up over
thousands of years—tempted
European settlers to tame it.
By 1798, they started to ditch
and drain the Quagmire. For
more than a hundred years,
their draft animals dragged
plows across the wet meadows.
But, the advent of twentieth-century
tractors—too
heavy for the soft silt—ended
farming there.
Like so much land no longer
useful to people, the Quagmire
returned to the wild; the Appalachian
Trail community fell
heir to it by default. In 1978,
when the state of New Jersey
sought an off-road A.T. corridor
through Vernon, subdivisions
blocked their way. The only
clear path was through the
Quagmire. “We had no real
choice,” said Capital Improvements
Supervisor John Garcia,
who spearheaded New Jersey’s
A.T. land purchases. “If we had
put the corridor anywhere
other than in that swamp, we
would have been declaring war
on the town and its property
owners.”
In the 1980s, volunteers
eliminated fifteen miles of
New Jersey road walk, but
the Quagmire resisted trail-
Bridging the quagmire—Volunteers from the
New York–New Jersey Trail Conference and
Appalachian Trail Conference build boardwalk
sections across the Pochuck in 2000 and
2001. ATC’s mid-Atlantic Trail Crew added
3,200 hours to local efforts. Public agencies,
such as Wawayanda State Park's maintenance
staff, were also closely involved. ATC Mid-
Atlantic Regional Representative Karen Lutz
said that Don Owen of the National Park
Service and Wes Powers of the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection were
key partners on the project. Photos: Larry
Wheelock
30
MARCH–APRIL 2003

Sidehill
making. Instead, hikers
trudged the treacherous shoulder
of Sussex County Route
517. “Anybody who ever
crossed Vernon Valley in summer,
walking on that hot road,
knows that the sun beating off
the pavement was a killer, not
to mention the traffic,” recalled
Pochuck volunteer
Chris Mazza.
Trail managers saw the
need to plunge into the Quagmire
relocation. But, a state
study, proposing an elevated
walkway and suspension
bridge and sporting a half million
dollar price tag, stalled
progress.
In 1990, Anne Lutkenhouse,
assistant director of the
New York–New Jersey Trail
Conference (NY–NJ TC), took
up the challenge. “The [state]
study presented such a bleak
picture…, it seemed like it
would require an act of God to
get the project built,” Lutkenhouse
recalled, but she still felt
obligated to try. She sought out
a volunteer project engineer.
Tibor Latincsics took the
bait. A civil engineer for Conklin
Associates, he waded into
the quagmire of the wetlands
permitting process, while Lutkenhouse
sought allies at the
ATC Virginia field office moves to Blacksburg
ATC moved its Virginia field office to new quarters in
Blacksburg, Virginia, in early 2003, according to Teresa
Martinez, ATC’s regional representative for central and
southwest Virginia.
For more than ten years, the Virginia office coordinated
work with Trail volunteers from Damascus to the Shenandoah
National Park at Rockfish Gap, Virginia, from an office
in the remote mountain town of Newport, between Blacksburg
and Pearisburg. The new Blackburg office, though farther
from the Trail, is more accessible to Virginia maintainers,
in a large town, and closer to offices of ATC’s U.S. Forest
Service management partners, officials said.
The new office, which opened January 2, is located at
1280 North Main Street, Blacksburg, Va., 24060. Its new
phone number is (540) 961-5551.
New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection
(NJDEP), National Park Service
(NPS), and Appalachian
Trail Conference (ATC).
Latinsics visited wilderness
suspension bridges, looking
for a model to fit the
Quagmire. “There are other
suspension bridges on the
A.T., but all are built on bedrock
or good soils,” he said.
“What we had was a layer of
silt, underlain by a layer of
clay, underlain by a layer of
organic muck. Coupled with
flooding and an eroding stream
bank, you couldn’t have worse
building conditions.” He designed
a model for a lightweight
bridge costing just
$10,000. But, the more he and
others witnessed Pochuck’s
violent mood swings, the
more they realized that the
crossing required a bigger vision
to withstand them.
In 1994, volunteer Paul Bell
brought that bold vision to the
project. Bell was looking for a
way to memorialize the death
of his son Dwayne, an avid
A.T. hiker who had died in a
car accident. Bell forged a
partnership with Jersey Central
Power and Light (JCP&L),
which volunteered its big machines
and expertise to erect a
bridge able to withstand Pochuck’s
floods. A host of other
corporations donated and discounted
materials.
“What we now pictured
was a bridge and walkway that
would be very accessible to a
wider community, beyond the
average A.T. hiker,” said Bell.
“Something for the birders,
the kindergarten classes, for
your grandparents, and handicapped
people. We wanted all
of them to be able to come out
and take a walk on the Appalachian
Trail.”
It took an exceptional cooperative
effort to erect the
bridge and first 1,000 feet of
boardwalk. At the center of
the cyclone were Paul De-
Coste, rallying Vernon and
NY–NJ TC volunteers, Don
Owen of NPS, Karen Lutz of
ATC, and NJDEP State Maintenance
Coordinator Wes
Powers. “Wes was the catalyst
who made it happen and got
us all working in synch together,”
said DeCoste.
In 1995, the bridge went
up, its 40-foot white-pine towers,
graceful cables, and pacontinued
on page 37
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 31

TREELINE
News from along the Appalachian Trail
Hiker dies in Gulf
Hagas fall
A 47-year-old Hampden,
Maine, ski-shop owner was
injured fatally in a fall January
2 from a trail off the A.T. in the
Gulf Hagas preserve, according
to the state Department of Inland
Fisheries and Wildlife. A
department sergeant reported
that the icy conditions there
were “extremely, extremely”
dangerous.
Jeffrey Peet, owner of the
Bangor Ski Rack, and his
daughter, 24, were hiking
above the scenic West Branch
of the Pleasant River when he
slipped and fell about 100 feet
down a ravine to the river’s
edge. The hiker’s daughter
injured herself going to his aid,
authorities said, but was able
to walk out along the river to
seek help. However, her father
died of his injuries before a
search-and-rescue team could
reach him.
Nominations sought for honorary members
Nominations are now open for honorary membership in the
Appalachian Trail Conference—intended to recognize, while
the person is still living, long-term, extraordinary service to
the Trail and the Conference.
Forty-five men and women have been accorded that status
in the three-and-a-half decades since the Board of Managers
established it as the organization’s highest honor.
Since this award can be conferred only at a general membership
meeting, members wishing to nominate someone
for it should do so now—in time for the July 26 opening
session of the 2003 meeting in Waterville Valley, New
Hampshire.
The nomination should state the type of contribution
made, the years of service in behalf of the Trail project, and
any other information that might be of interest to the selection
committee, which will pass its recommendations on to
the Board’s executive committee.
Among other criteria for the honor is a Board policy that
“the service performed shall have had an inspirational or
exemplary effect because of its special quality/character or
innovative aspects, rather than be service of conventional
nature but performed in a superior manner…. If the nominee’s
service has been mainly within a particular club, that
must have had either regional implications or must bear
upon the Trail as a whole, or upon the club’s relationship to
the Conference.”
Nominations should be sent by April 30 to Margaret C.
Drummond, 1351 Springdale Road, Atlanta, GA 30306.
Other members of the committee are Raymond F. Hunt and
David B. Field, also past chairs of ATC.
Virginia hiker shot in
2nd hunting mishap
On New Year’s Day, a second
A.T. hiker was shot and
seriously wounded by a hunter
near the Appalachian Trail.
In November, another shooting
had wounded a 16-year-old
in Georgia’s Chattahoochee
National Forest. The January
shooting wounded a hiker in
the Jefferson National Forest
near Bastian, Virginia.
Authorities said George
Ziegenfuss, a 1989 thru-hiker
and retired Lutheran minister,
was on his almost-daily hike
about a mile north of Laurel
Creek (Va. 615) when he was
hit by a large-caliber bullet in
the back. Two hunters at the
scene assisted him while a
third went for help.
A spokesperson for the
Virginia Department of Game
and Inland Fisheries alleged
that Jackie Leon Keen, Sr.,
43, of Raven, Va., mistook
Ziegenfuss for a deer. At the
time, the 71-year-old Ziegenfuss
was hiking a loop on the
Trail Boss Trail and A.T. He
was badly wounded after
being hit from about 80
yards away, apparently by a
large-caliber muzzle-loaded
gun. He was out of the hospital
by mid-January and slowly
recovering, authorities said.
The hunter was charged
with reckless handling of a
firearm.
More than half of the Appalachian
Trail is open to
hunters seasonally—including
all national forest lands,
all state forest and gamelands,
and the Delaware
Water Gap National Recreation
Area.
Neither hiker wounded in
recent accidents was wearing
blaze-orange clothing or
equipment.
Fire destroys Mt. Washington
buildings
Fire burned for more than 24
hours February 9 and destroyed
a generator building
and a small powerhouse next
door atop Mt. Washington in
New Hampshire, the Trail’s
highest point in the Northeast.
No one was injured, but
four Mt. Washington Observatory
staff members had to be
evacuated—for part of a day in
zero temperature and 75-milean-hour
winds— until back-up
generators could be taken up
the mountain.
GMC’s hiker center
gutted by fire
January 25 fire destroyed
A the Green Mountain Club’s
south barn, which includes
the Marvin B. Gameroff
Hiker Center, various displays,
and storage areas for
GMC’s store inventory and
archival records. No one was
injured in the blaze, and some
historical materials appear
salvageable, club officials
said. GMC’s office building
and north barn were not damaged,
although the fire temporarily
cut off water service.
A fire relief fund has been
established to help the rebuilding
effort.
32
MARCH–APRIL 2003

Three New England foundations
are underwriting
the first year of an experimental
Appalachian Trail
Conference program in which
“citizen scientists” more
closely monitor the health of
the A.T. environment.
The gifts, which will be
matched by the National Park
Service (NPS), could send researchers
out to check on the
health and growth of rare and
threatened plant species in the
Trail corridor, monitor changes
in water quality of ponds
and streams, track movements
of large mammals within the
Trail corridor, test air quality
on major A.T. summits, or
keep an eye on certain species
of neotropical migratory birds.
The program could last for
three years in New England
and then be evaluated for
possible expansion to other
regions.
A new associate regional
representative in ATC’s New
England office will work with
GREENWAY
Land-protection and fund-raising news
Foundations, NPS fund pilot ATC environmental program
various local organizations,
beginning in late 2003, to develop
pilot projects. Possible
partners include Vermont’s
Keeping Track, Inc., the Vermont
Institute of Natural
Science, or the Green Mountain
Club. The projects must
meet NPS environmentalmonitoring
protocols.
ATC hopes to serve as a
link between the citizen datacollectors
and scientific programs
already in place to analyze
changes in the environment
along the A.T.
For the first year, the Mc-
Cabe Environmental Fund,
part of the New Hampshire
Charitable Foundation, provided
$15,000, supplemented
with $2,500 each from the
Upper Valley Community
Foundation and the Vermont
Community Foundation. The
Upper Valley Community
Foundation provided financial
support from its Wellborn
continued on page 38
New A.T. land trust in Maine
new local land trust has started working with ATC, focusing
on land-protection issues along the Appalachian Trail
A
in Maine.
The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust was formed
with a sixteen-person board of directors, a advisory council,
and a mission to “acquire, protect, and preserve, for public
benefit, the natural and ecological resources and the primitive
recreation experience of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.)
and its surrounding lands in the State of Maine,” according
to Bob Williams, ATC’s director of land trust programs.
Formation of the new organization began in late 2001
when Williams and Maine Appalachian Trail Club board
member Tom Lewis discussed decentralizing land-trust
work along the Trail, so that groups distant from the Conference’s
Harpers Ferry headquarters could tap into local
resources, encourage initiative, raise money, and spur participation
by local people with a desire to protect nearby
Trail lands.
At Lewis’s urging, the Maine club explored how feasible
it would be for Maine and identified a core group of interested
people in early 2002.
“Its timing is perfect,” Williams said. “Timber lands that
for so long have been in the hands of stable corporations who
freely permitted recreational uses without threat of development
are changing hands at an alarming rate. The values of
new owners are unknown. The conservation community
feels this is both an opportunity and a threat.”
Outdoor-recreation firms back A.T. and Conference
Commercial outdoor retailers
and the wholesalers
who supply them account
for at least a quarter-million
dollars, or thirty percent, of
the Appalachian Trail Conference’s
annual publications
sales, and industry leaders help
underwrite the Conference’s
programs in other ways.
For example, L.L. Bean, Inc.,
alone has contributed more
than $225,670 to ATC since
1982—most notably through
its sole sponsorship, now in its
twenty-first year, of the Grants
to Clubs program, which provides
tools, building supplies,
gates, and all manner of other
materials to Trail-maintaining
clubs. Bean employees in both
Maine and Virginia also maintain
sections of the Trail under
the aegis of the respective
clubs, and the stores frequently
provide display space for
ATC and the clubs to attract
new members and otherwise
inform the public.
And, this spring, Recreational
Equipment, Inc.—the
top retail purchaser of A.T.
guides and maps and other
ATC publications—will be
selling in its more than sixty
stores a special A.T. T-shirt as
a fund-raiser for the Conference.
It expects to sell eight
thousand of the shirts, with
two dollars from each sale
donated to ATC.
REI has ten stores on the
East Coast and plans to open
three more there this year.
Other shirts will be sold to
benefit the Continental Divide
Trail, Rocky Mountains
National Park, Yosemite National
Park, or Mt. Rainier
National Park. The recipients
were nominated by individual
REI stores. The shirts are being
produced by American
Backcountry of Asheville,
North Carolina, which itself
last year generated almost
$3,000 in royalties on shirts
bearing the ATC trademark.
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 33

REFLECTIONS
At first glance, the woods and wilds along the Appalachian
Trail, with their bugs, rain, shelter mice, mud, and leaky tents,
would seem to be about as far from home as it’s possible to
get. But, be careful: The famous philosopher, Balloo the Bear
(in Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book), might have said it best
when he sang, “Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, I couldn’t
be fonder of my big home.” Stay out on the Trail long enough,
and you might find yourself humming along with Balloo, and
the two long-distance hikers whose reflections follow.
Been there, done that
Larisa Parker
It was a rainy fall weekday, and my husband and I had traipsed
all over New York City in our hiking boots and rain gear.
We had finished our thru-hike only days before, taken a bus
from Millinocket to Boston, visited a Trail friend there, then
taken a train to New York to stay with other Trail friends. We
were southerners, and this was our best opportunity to see that
bustlin’ town. It sure was bustlin’. We had ridden the ferry to
see the Statue of Liberty, walked through Central Park, and
stood on Fifth Avenue at 4:55 p.m. to watch rush hour begin
and marvel at the suited and professional types passing us by
the hundreds.
Ours was the low-budget tour. We had just finished six
months on the Trail, and we were broke. In a borrowed daypack,
we carried a water bottle, some apples, and a bag of bagels—not
the fresh delicatessen kind, either. This was before hiking gear
became fashionable in the general public, and our weathered
boots drew amused glances and even sneers.
Penn Station was our last New York sight to see. Our packs
were full, we wore thrift-store jeans, and we waited for the train
south to Georgia, where our folks would meet us. I know we
looked like outsiders, easy target for the panhandlers. And,
indeed, while my husband got a cup of coffee, a somewhat
bedraggled fellow sidled up to me, mumbling, not looking me
in the eye: “Hey, will you give me some money? I want to catch
a train, go see my daughter.”
I studied him for a second. I’m not a hayseed; I know a panhandler
when I see one. I hesistated. In my pocket was a load
of bulky quarters, poking me in the thigh and heavy besides.
And, I remembered, all of a sudden, all the Trail Magic of the
past six months: the waitress in Virginia who bought our pizza,
the salesman in Pennsylvania who took us to his house for a
night, the day-hiker who gave me an orange after I fell in the
river in Maine, and the countless rides we hitched.
Coming Home
“Sure,” I said. “I’ve been there.” I handed him my quarters.
He met my eyes for just an instant and tried to cover his
surprise. “Oh,” he said. “So you know how it is.”
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
Larisa Parker (Pluck) and her husband, Ken (Georgia Breeze),
completed the A.T. in 1993. They live in Athens, Georgia, and
have two children (ages 5 and 1). They don’t get to hike now.
The Trail not taken
Tom Jones
“Sweathog is leaving,” says my wife, Diana, as she comes
up onto the deck at the Laurel Creek Lodge.
“He’s not waiting for lunch?” I ask.
“No. He’s leaving the Trail. He’s going home,” she replies.
“Why? What happened?”
Send us your reflections
Reflections is where we ask you to consider the Trail and
tell sto ries about subjects close to it and you. The list below
notes up com ing top ics and the deadlines for sub mis sions.
We look for sincerity, thought ful ness, humor, sensitivity
to the privacy of oth ers, and fac tu al ac cu ra cy. Because of
space limitations, we cannot print everything we receive.
We may edit your article—perhaps heavi ly—to fit our
for mat. Sub mis sions must be typed and dou ble-spaced or
sub mit ted via electronic mail (editor@atconf.org) to be
con sid ered. If you would like your sub mis sion back, please
en close a stamped, self-ad dressed en ve lope. We must wait
until the last minute to make our final se lec tions, so we
cannot an swer ques tions regarding the status of submissions
or pro vide criticism.
We invite you to write on the following topics. Submission
dead lines are:
Issue Topic Deadline
June 2003 Scouts April 15, 2003
September 2003 Fall colors July 1, 2003
November 2003 Rocks and boulders Sept. 1, 2003
March 2004 Winter hiking Dec. 15, 2003
May 2004 “Gone fishin’” March 1, 2004
June 2004 Nature's classroom April 1, 2004
34
MARCH–APRIL 2003

Reflections
“All I know is that he’s leaving. He’s getting a ride to Johnson
City, and his wife is driving down from Ohio to pick him
up. Spinner told me.”
We had met Sweathog at Slaughter Gap on our third night
on the Trail, just 27 miles from Springer Mountain. He had
recently retired from his heating and air conditioning business
in Columbus, Ohio. We had already encountered his wife, Peg,
descending Springer after seeing him off. She was heading back
to Ohio to continue her graduate work. Now, five weeks and
more than 400 miles farther north, he’s going home.
Yesterday, a long, wet, draining day for all of us, we had
shared a shelter with Sweathog and another hiker, Spinner. It
was a cold, damp night, with a penetrating chill, and there was
no lingering over dinner: We were ready for our sleeping bags.
All night, hemlocks combed water out of the ridgeline fog,
making their own rain onto the roof of the shelter. Pack covers,
merely damp when hung on nails under the eaves to dry, by
dawn were saturated by the wind-blown fog.
In the morning, Diana and I set off ten minutes behind
Sweathog and Spinner. A quick six miles to the forest-road
crossing and then the half-mile to the lodge. As we arrived,
the unfamiliar sun came out. Soon, the railings of the lodge’s
deck were draped with tents, sleeping bags, raincoats, shirts,
boots, and socks, all drying in the sun. The prospect of dry
gear, dry hiking, and a good meal suddenly made life wonderful
and made it easy to forget about the rain and cold of the
past month.
But, now I learn that Sweathog is going home.
“I decided last night that I really don’t want to spend the
next five months away from my wife,” he tells me. Then, he
adds, “Actually, it was seeing you and your wife together in the
shelter last night that clinched it.”
I think back: Were Diana and I being particularly affectionate
last night? Were we the model couple? No, all I can recall was
the normal routine of filtering water, making dinner, cleaning
up, hanging the bear bag, stowing the gear, spreading out the
sleeping bags, turning in for the night, waking up before dawn,
pulling on the boots, grabbing breakfast, and packing up.
“It wasn’t anything you were doing,” he says. “It was just
that you were together.”
“Now I really feel bad,” I say.
He smiles. “No, you shouldn’t feel bad. You should feel great.
This is absolutely the right thing for me. You helped me realize
that.”
We talk for a while longer. He tells me that he and his wife
have been together since the age of 16 and married since they
were 20. We compare notes about our grown kids, including
the foster children we had both taken in. Then, his ride to
Johnson City is ready, and he leaves, with 1,700 miles of the
Trail unwalked. He does not even wait for lunch.
Three days later, Diana and I meet Spinner’s wife and daughter
and three granddaughters in Damascus when they come to
see him on Easter weekend. After watching him with his grand-
daughters, we are not surprised when we learn that Spinner,
too, left the Trail to go home a few days later.
I called Sweathog yesterday, more than two-and-a-half years
after my last contact with him that day at Laurel Creek Lodge.
It is winter, and the trees surrounding our house have shed their
leaves. From our window, Diana and I can look upstream on
the Rivanna River and see the Blue Ridge, where the A.T.
stretches 850 miles to the south and 1,300 miles to the north.
We carried our packs every step of that path and did not have
to leave the A.T. to go home. We were together, and, for our six
months on A.T., we were home—on the Trail for the same
reason Sweathog left it.
In December 2000, three months after Diana and I reached
Katahdin, Sweathog and Peg moved to Idaho and a new home
in the forest. He told me he does a lot of hiking these days,
including a recent trek above 10,000 feet in the Sawtooths.
Spinner visited him there, and they hiked together. Peg completed
her graduate degree in May 2002. Moving west was
something that the two of them had dreamed about for years,
inspired by many camping trips with their kids. They celebrate
their thirty-second wedding anniversary this week.
Tom Jones (Unwired) and his wife, Diana Foster (Rivanna),
celebrated their thirty-first wedding anniversary in December by
backpacking to a Potomac A.T. Club cabin near the A.T., during
an ice storm. They live near Charlottesville, Virginia.
Dave Richie . . .
continued from page 12
He understood, better than most, that the best way to nurture
a commitment to the protection and upkeep of the Trail was
to delegate authority and to engage even the “worker bees” in
the decision-making process. In the case of the A.T., the
“worker bees” were thousands of individual volunteers, loosely
organized as a network by ATC and its affiliated Trail-maintaining-clubs.
During his service in the project, Richie helped
transform that network from a loose band of Trail-builders and
maintainers into “Trail managers.”
Coming to an understanding
A few years later, in 1984, that same belief found ultimate
expression in the form of a new cooperative agreement between
the National Park Service and the Appalachian Trail
Conference. The document, signed by the director of the National
Park Service and the chair of the Appalachian Trail
Conference Board of Managers and witnessed by the secretary
of the interior, delegated many traditional agency responsibilities
for the “operation, development, maintenance, and
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 35

management” of the Trail on all Park Service-acquired Trail
lands to the Appalachian Trail Conference and, through it, to
the Trail-maintaining clubs. The agreement, now affecting
more than 100,000 acres of federally owned lands, was unprecedented
and even today remains perhaps the most farreaching
example of a private, nonprofit, volunteer-based
entity accepting responsibility for such a significant public
estate.
Richie’s fundamental belief in partnerships, in volunteerism,
and in cooperative management also was evidenced in
his support and influence in the evolution of the Appalachian
Trail Conference. When he first began working with the
Conference, the organization had an operating budget of
perhaps $300,000 and a staff of only six persons, none of
whom were responsible for Trail-protection or -management
issues. Its relationships with agency partners, and even with
the Trail-maintaining clubs, were, at best, intermittent and
diffuse.
But, in 1977 and 1978, as the trails-act amendments were
working their way through Congress, Richie stood side-by-side
with volunteer leaders from the Conference, offering assurances
to the Congress that, if it authorized the significant
funds necessary for land acquisition, ATC and the clubs would
“step up to the plate” and care for the lands that would be
acquired. Shortly before the legislation was adopted in February
1978, he participated in a special “brain-storming” meeting
of the ATC Board of Managers in which the group crafted
a vision of the steps that would be necessary to strengthen
the private side of the cooperative management system—the
first of a series of strategic plans. It was an ambitious scheme,
one that required a “leap of faith.”
Richie enthusiastically joined the ATC leadership in embracing
that 1978 plan, and he “put his money where his
mouth was.” Using an earlier cooperative agreement between
the Park Service and ATC as the instrument, and authorities
granted in the trails act, he transferred a significant portion
of the National Park Service operating funds allocated to his
office to ATC to help jump start its implementation scheme.
He understood, long before it could be demonstrated, that if
the Conference were successful, the modest investment of
federal funds would be reimbursed ten-fold through the contributions
of a more vibrant, organized cadre of Appalachian
Trail volunteers.
During the next several years, the Conference hired additional
Trail-management staff and introduced a succession of
new programs intended to support volunteer-based stewardship,
strengthen relationships among ATC, the clubs, and their
agency partners, and improve the level of care for the Trail
and adjacent resources. Richie and members of his staff often
participated in shaping those programs. In the early 1980s,
when then-Secretary of the Interior James Watt threatened to
impose a moratorium on federal land acquisition, Richie encouraged
the Conference leadership to form its own privately
funded land-trust program, then actively supported its first
major purchase at the Wintergreen resort in central Virginia
(see November/December 2002 ATN).
A personal journey
In 1986, Richie completed a long-term personal goal of hiking
the entire Appalachian Trail. He pursued that goal through a
series of section-hikes over a number of years, finishing the last
segment in Maine accompanied by his daughter, Deborah. His
sons, David and Robert, had joined him on some earlier hikes.
The following year, he retired from the National Park Service,
transferring the reins of leadership for the Appalachian Trail
Park Office to his long-time colleague, Chuck Rinaldi. Before
his departure, however, at the ATC general membership meeting
in Lynchburg, Virginia, he was awarded an honorary life
membership in ATC, the organization’s highest form of recognition.
Even after his retirement, Richie remained active for several
more years, serving for a time as an interim administrator
for the ATC land trust, then as a volunteer member of its advisory
committee. True to form, Richie looked toward the future,
intrigued by the prospect of conserving additional lands
and resources beyond the confines of the federally acquired
Trail corridor, to create an expansive “greenway” extending out
from the footpath.
Once he moved to North Carolina, Richie and his wife, Cate,
enthusiastically took to the game of golf, sometimes playing
three or four eighteen-hole days each week. They traveled—in
the western United States, in the Virgin Islands, on the Yucatan
peninsula, and in Great Britain—and also visited Portugal,
France, Greece, and Germany. And, he enjoyed sunset walks
along the beaches of nearby Topsail Island, as well as outings
in his runabout boat where, in contrast to his mild-mannered
exterior, he would delight in speeding at full throttle along the
channels of the Intracoastal Waterway—a throwback, perhaps,
to his days as a Marine jet pilot. Richie also soon became engaged
in local conservation initiatives. He served as a board
member and president of Pender Watch and Conservancy—a
group committed to balanced land use and the conservation of
coastal wetlands in the rapidly growing area surrounding Wilmington.
Up to a few weeks before his death, he was actively
supporting the work of a local land trust in a project to conserve
a coastal savannah property and serving on the Pender County
Planning Commission. He frequently appeared at local public
meetings and also wrote a number of fervent letters to the
editor of the local newspaper, urging controlled growth and
sensitive land use.
He died on December 20, at the age of 70, from complications
of colon cancer. With him, at the time of his death, were
his wife of 47 years, his three children, and his five grandchildren.
On January 4, 2003, at the Episcopal Church of the Servant
in Wilmington, a memorial “celebration” of Dave Richie’s life
was conducted. The main chapel was filled to capacity by his
family and many friends. In one section of pews, an assortment
of people who had worked with Richie in the Trail project in
the 1970s and ’80s had gathered. Most of them are still actively
involved in the Park Service, Forest Service, or ATC, and
many have advanced to high-ranking positions. Nearly all of
36
MARCH–APRIL 2003

them had traveled hundreds, and even thousands, of miles to
pay tribute to the life and influence of their former colleague
and mentor.
Karen Wade, who had served as a “lieutenant” under Richie
in the Appalachian Trail Park Office and who now serves as
the director of the Park Service’s Intermountain Region (after
a tour as superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park), represented the group in offering some brief remarks.
Referring to Richie’s service in the Appalachian Trail
project, she said, in part: “Today, for all intents and purposes,
the project is complete. Most of us have moved on to other
things. Our great leader has passed on and away from us…. As
we comfort each other here in retrospection, we are grateful to
return to a time lived together and to realize nothing like it
will ever come for us again. For a time, Dave Richie, a man of
great character, molded character in a generation of us.”
Like the proverbial pebble cast into a still pond, Richie’s
influence not only permeates the Trail project, it extends well
beyond it. Those who worked with him, or who simply knew
him even as an acquaintance, could not avoid being imbued
by—and applying in their own work—his nearly boundless
optimism, his creativity, his devotion to outdoor recreation and
conservation, and his fundamental belief in the power of collective
action. Richie could be characterized as a “rainmaker,”
and indeed he was. His influence can be traced in the effective
cooperative management system that continues to thrive and
evolve in the Trail project today, in the nearly continuous
publicly owned greenway that now shields the footpath from
incompatible development, and in the growth and maturation
of the Appalachian Trail Conference and many of the Trailmaintaining
clubs.
He was a visionary, a tireless ambassador of the Trail project,
and a prophet of partnerships long before the concept of partnerships
became fashionable. Perhaps most of all, he was a gentle
man, a honorable man, a man possessing both passion and
compassion.
Dave Startzell is executive director of the Appalachian Trail
Conference.
Pochuck Crossing . . .
continued from page 31
goda-like superstructure looming over the meadows. But, like
an iceberg, much of the bridge is invisible to the eye. Latinsics
solved the problem of its unstable muck foundation by floating
the entire lightweight wooden structure atop two massive
underground snowshoes made from a metal grid, poured concrete,
and crushed stone.
Still, it was a bridge to nowhere. It took until 1999 before
permits were in place for the eastern elevated walkway. Like
the bridge, it posed challenges. Over a hot, dry summer, each
of its hundreds of supporting helical piers were drilled 15 to 20
feet into the muck before coming to rest on solid soils. As
construction was finished, nature, as if to test the project’s
mettle, flung Tropical Storm Floyd against it. But, bridge and
boardwalk stood.
The labor—having stretched over so many years and with
its complex, sometimes fractious, partnerships—then suffered
from burnout. By 2000, Latinsics, Lutkenhouse, and DeCoste
all were off the project. NY–NJ TC Trails Director Larry Wheelock
took up the role of coordinating the partners to finish the
3,000-foot western walkway.
“If it wasn’t for the drought of 2001, I’m not sure how we
would have ever done it,” said Wheelock, speaking of the walkway
construction down the center of the state’s largest cattail
swamp. Mobilizing the ATC mid-Atlantic Crew, the NY–NJ
TC North Jersey crew led by Sandy Parr, and West Jersey crew
led by Monica Resor and David Day, an amazing 2,000 feet of
boardwalk was laid in 2001, and the last 500 feet in 2002.
Besides standing up to Tropical Storm Floyd, the project also
weathered a storm of local dissension. As Trail neighbors
watched the walkway edge across the floodplain toward their
backyards, some became alarmed and for a time vocally opposed
the project. One declared that, “I would rather have a K-Mart
in my backyard than the Appalachian Trail.”
Today, most Vernon residents prize the boardwalk, finding
solitude along its length. “I live about two miles away. I enjoyed
working on the project and watching it grow,” said volunteer
and Vernon resident Bob Boyle. “Now, I go there a couple times
a month, bring the dogs and family over. It’s a great place to get
out and see the wild.”
Pochuck Crossing is built to last. The bridge, said Latinsics,
“is designed to hold 180 backpackers during a snowstorm with
18 inches of snow in a 70-mile-per-hour wind.” The boardwalk
includes 874 piers and 8,502 treadboards. Costs ran to $800,000,
which folds in a volunteer contribution of more than 9,000
hours valued at $150,000.
“I’m absolutely tickled to see it complete,” said Lutkenhouse
at the dedication. “I knew that the Trail Conference had
the resources, had the volunteers, had a great working relationship
with the partners. Why couldn’t this be done?”
Now, the noise of electric generators and the rhythm of
hammers and drills are absent from the Quagmire, and the
rigors of construction fade into memory. “Finished, the Pochuck
becomes a symbol of perseverance, of cooperation, and volunteerism,”
said DeCoste. “It brought together disparate groups
with different interests, agendas. and restraints. We had some
pretty rough spots, but everyone is still speaking, and the result
is miraculous. Thank God it’s done!”
“The moments I treasure most?” mused Wheelock, “Of
course, I’ll remember putting in the last helical pier or when
we drove the last screw into the last plank. Those were milestones
for us to celebrate. But, what sticks with me is a night
camping out on the boardwalk. We watched the twilight
deepen and then the fireflies. There were so many, it seemed
like there were millions filling the darkening sky above the
meadow.” Despite all the human travail and transformation,
the Quagmire, as it always has, belongs first to nature.
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 37

Hiking partners wanted
Nova Scotia. Seeking companions,
male or female, age unimportant,
to go to Nova Scotia/Prince Edward
Island, etc., after the Waterville
Valley, N.H., conference, July
26–Aug. 1. Am retired, in good
health. Contact Barbara C. Rhodes,
4221 Cobblestone Court, Pinson,
AL 35126-3364; phone, (205) 681-
7272.
Weekend hiker. Experienced backpacker,
female, seeks a lady hiking
friend for weekend trips in upstate
New York and adjoining states,
including the A.T. Ricki, (585)
727-3398.
Section-hiker. Looking for partners,
Georgia–Cental Va, April–
June, 15 miles/day. Age 53. Bill
Welch, (301) 334-5903, 746-5389.
Wanted
ATN issues. Would like to buy
(including postage) copies of all
ATN issues from Mar–Apr 2000 to
Sep–Oct 2002, inclusively. Noel
McJunkin, P.O. Box 2793, Highlands,
NC 28741; phone, (828)
526-8075; e-mail,
Cougar information. Freelance
writer working on story about the
mystery of the Eastern cougar
(mountain lion) seeking accounts
or perspectives from hikers who
have encountered, or believe they
have encountered, wild or "escaped
captive" cougars along the
Appalachian Trail. Jay Kirk, (215)
753-0415.
For Sale
Boots. Heavyweight Danner boots,
woman’s size 9. Good condition.
PUBLIC NOTICES
Pub lic no tic es
are published free for members of the Appalachian Trail Conference.
We cannot vouch for any of the advertised items. Ads must pertain
to the A.T. or related hiking/conservation matters. Send ads to PUB-
LIC NOTICES, Appalachian Trail Conference, P.O. Box 807, Harpers
Ferry, WV 25425. Deadline for the July 2003 issue is May 1. Public
notices may also be e-mailed to ; please
include complete contact information.
$40 plus shipping. Contact Sandy
and identify e-mail: . Or, call (610) 678-
5564.
Book. Lie in My Grave: Memories
from an Appalachian Trail Hike,
self-published story of Fullmoon
and SunDog’s 1999 section-hike
on the A.T.; $12 includes shipping.
Contact Paul Gadola (Fullmoon),
by phone, (724) 962-0471,
or e-mail, .
Book. A Guide to Car-hiking the
Appalachian Trail, by Jim and
Dancy Duffus, 228 pages, $14.95
paperback. The authors identify
74 auto access points with maps
and text, including 19 major river
and 17 interstate highway crossings,
high and low sections, midpoint
and terminals of the A.T.,
the International A.T., and the
first and last passable road-crossings
in each of the 14 states. Includes
history, scenic information.
Available for order through
most booksellers (ISBN 0-595-
24348-7); as well as the publisher,
Iuniverse, (877) 823-9235; and the
authors, , (585) 383-0651, 82 Tobey
Court, Pittsford, NY 14534.
Gear. LaSportiva Storm GTX,
woman’s size 8, good condition,
$100; Gregory Whitney internalframe
pack, size 8, excellent
condition, $200. Contact Mary
“Possum” Sturtevant, (603) 434-
0655; e-mail, .
Magazines. You name the price for
333 issues of National Geographic,
if you pay shipping. Includes
complete 1965–75, 1979–83,
1990–91, and parts of 14 other
years from 1953 to 1992. John R.
Crane, 277 Robin Hood Road NE,
Atlanta, GA 30309-2635; phone,
(404) 872-1415.
Maine camp. 1.2 wooded acres and
12' x 24' one-room camp building,
near Madrid, Maine, with numerous
accesses to western half of
Maine A.T. within 20-minute to
2-hour drives. No mice. $12,500.
Paved road, electricity, phone,
well, privy, wood- and gas-stoves,
fully furnished. R. Innes, 122
Jeanne Street, Portland, ME
07102; phone, (207) 773-8315.
Maps. Complete set of 2002 A.T.
maps, used, $75 or best offer; e-
mail, ; phone, (800) 699-2466, (540)
894-5126.
Tarp. Bat-Ray 2, with floor, lightweight,
used 3 nights, $100; e-
mail, .
Boots. Midweight Limmers, 8 1/2
wide. Used 100 miles, but in excellent
condition. $125 or best
offer. Dave, (410) 371-6264, e-
mail, .
Help wanted
Information Services Assistant.
Full-time position, after March, in
ATC’s Harpers Ferry visitors center:
greeting and assisting visitors,
responding to telephone and e-
mail information requests, maintenance
of information resources
and shop merchandise. General
first-hand knowledge of A.T. and
office-level computer (Mac) skills
required; some college preferred;
good verbal and written communications
skills and ability to
work well with volunteers and
public essential. Excellent benefits;
$9.40–$9.60/hour to start.
Send résumé and cover letter to
Information Services Coordinator,
ATC, P.O. Box 807, Harpers Ferry,
WV 25425.
Systems administrator. Immediate
opening at ATC, hands-on
systems administrator for Mac
and Windows networks in main
office and 4 satellites, including
tech support for staff of 43. Required:
4-yr. deg. in technical field
such as computer science, engineering,
math; min. 2 yrs. exp. w/
Mac and Windows systems, network
infrastructure, communications
hardware/software, MS Office,
database development, remote-access
software. GIS, Linux
exp. & knowledge of Appalachian
Trail a plus. Excellent benefits;
low-/mid-$30s, dep. on exp. Send
résumé, cvr. ltr. to: Executive
Director, Appalachian Trail Conference,
P.O. Box 807, Harpers
Ferry, WV 25425.
Pilot ATC environmental program. . .
continued from page 33
Ecology Fund, a special endowment supporting environmentaland
ecology-education programs in schools and communities
along the Vermont–New Hampshire border.
The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, established in
1962, supports nonprofit organizations serving the state and
awards scholarships to residents from its endowment.
Much of the impetus for this experimental program came
from Charles “Hank” Foster, the last chairman of the federal
Appalachian National Scenic Trail Advisory Council, which
was disbanded in 1988. He is now professor emeritus at Harvard
University’s Kennedy School of Government and maintains a
strong interest in the protection of the Trail’s natural resources.
Assisting him in developing the concept was Karen Filipovich,
then at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International
Affairs and now at Montana State University.
38
MARCH–APRIL 2003

BOOKS
Publications of Interest to A.T. Hikers
New biography traces MacKaye’s life of the mind
By Brian B. King
Benton MacKaye: Conservationist, Planner, and Creator
of the Appalachian Trail, by Larry Anderson. November
2002, Johns Hopkins University Press; illustrated,
464 pages, cloth, $45.
So you think you know what “Benton MacKaye’s
vision” for the Appalachian Trail was? Read
Larry Anderson’s Benton MacKaye: Conservationist,
Planner, and Creator of the Appalachian
Trail, and think again.
Anderson’s book offers the first full-length look
at the founder of the Appalachian Trail Conference
(and—more effectively—one of eight cofounders of
the Wilderness Society). In the works for about
twenty years, it is as much a biography of MacKaye’s intellectual
journey as it is a life story.
Anderson and MacKaye never met, although the two Harvard
graduates lived only a few miles apart in classic small New
England towns for many years. Anderson’s interest in MacKaye’s
better-known friends and peers (such as Lewis Mumford and
Aldo Leopold) led him to pursue the life of MacKaye, an important
influence on their thinking.
He became in the 1980s one of the few to fully “devour”
ATC’s archives and MacKaye’s personal possessions, and it is
unimaginable—after reading 400 pages of text and 50 pages of
footnotes, scholarly in appearance and journalistic in approach—that
an extant piece of writing by or about MacKaye
has since escaped Anderson’s attention, including the FBI file
that labeled MacKaye an early Soviet-planning admirer with
lifelong socialist friends.
More impressively, Anderson tackles the final “opus” of this
“ideas man,” who churned ideas out constantly over the course
of three-fourths of the twentieth century. Others have found
that opus unreadable, but the dogged and patient Anderson has
unraveled and translated it for less patient students.
Any close reader of MacKaye’s 1921 article proposing “an
Appalachian trail” can readily see the utopian socialism behind
it. What Anderson documents—in a thoroughly gentle and
uncritical, but never sentimental, way—is the consistency of
this ideology throughout MacKaye’s adult life. He also documents
some of the tag-along inconsistencies. For example,
Shirley Center, Massachusetts, MacKaye’s home base most of
his mostly unemployed years, was, at age 14, “a pretty place
but overrun with gossip”; later, he viewed it as the epitome of
communal living to which all human beings should aspire.
For MacKaye, living was a “problem” to be solved largely
through government ownership and management
of natural and industrial resources. Private property,
cities per se, automobiles, profits and capitalism
generally, the radio (until the last, nearly blind
years of his life), development along highways,
highways in towns, blazes and signs on a graded
Appalachian Trail—all were among the bad. The
A.T., for its part, should be a footpath of the wilderness,
not one through it, whether or not it was
continuous from Maine to Georgia (the goal of
Myron Avery, his hiking-oriented, compromising
nemesis).
Anderson makes the case for MacKaye the ideas
inseminator—the unsung bridge between the early Gifford
Pinchot/Teddy Roosevelt conservationists and the post-World
War II wilderness preservationists (including Leopold, Bob
Marshall, Howard Zahniser) and between them and the modern
environmentalists, from the Sierra Club’s David Brower onward.
In doing so, he does not, however, give the reader two things:
MacKaye as a flesh-and-blood person, and a broader context for
his work.
The effect of the omissions is not entirely detrimental—this
is, after all, an intellectual biography. MacKaye hid his personal
feelings nearly absolutely, and Anderson gives us only a
handful of allusions to his friends’ observations of “eccentricities,”
such as his fifty years of denial over the suicide of his
suffragist wife. No hint is here of a life outside his carefully
compartmentalized circles of work/theorizing friends. Also
missing is sense of the urban context that prompted MacKaye’s
lifelong antipathy—almost to the point of phobia—to cities.
One does come away in the end with a strong sense of
MacKaye thinking from an isolated perch, on which he could
never comfortably reconcile his ideal visions, however inspiring,
with a natural world in which humans were, well, natural.
MacKaye’s many comments over fifty-five years—including
some newly published ones—have a different cast when presented
in the full context of his writings, the internal politics
of more than one organization, and his personal/political relationships
at a given time.
Available through ATC (1-888-AT STORE or ; item #526, $38.35 to members.) Larry Anderson
will be speaking about the book at the biennial conference
in July.
Brian B. King is director of public affairs for ATC.
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 39

Guidebooks for
Southwest Virginia,
N.Y.–N.J. feature
new format, maps
Two new volunteer-edited ATC Trail guides feature a
completely overhauled format that includes maps to
Trailheads, photos, and expanded information on natural,
scenic, and historical features along the Trail.
January 2003 publication of the third edition of the Appalachian
Trail Guide to Southwest Virginia, edited by
Vaughn Thomas, and the November 2002 publication of the
Appalachian Trail Guide to New York–New Jersey, edited
by Daniel Chazin, mark the first major overhaul of ATC’s
guidebook format and content in more than a decade.
Those guidebooks were the second and third in the series
of official guidebooks to be completely revamped in the
last two years into a format that combines north-to-south
and south-to-north Trail descriptions into a single “omnidirectional”
listing, and adds extensive notes on natural
and cultural-history features of the sections, in addition to
the traditional information on road crossings, parking areas,
shelters and other overnight sites, water sources, and other
basic concerns. The locator maps, produced using computerized
Geographic Information System (GIS) data—are
useful aids to hikers in locating Trailheads in relation to
major highways. Small elevation profiles open each Trailsection
chapter of the two books.
A third ATC guidebook, The Appalachian Trail Guide
to Mas sachusetts–Connecticut, edited by Norm Sills, Bob
Hatton, and Sue Spring, pub lished in 2001, also includes the
new omnidirectional format, but does not include the expanded
front- and back-matter, or GIS-based maps.
®
Appalachian Trail
Conference
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Harpers Ferry WV 25425-0807
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