New Year's Eve at the Allentown Shelter: An AHC Tradition

Al and I were married in 1976 and we wanted to do something different on New Year's Eve to end that Bicentennial Year. Since we met on an Allentown Hiking Club Appalachian Trail hike, we decided to backpack to the Allentown Shelter.

It was a bitterly cold night. We slept with our boots and water bottles in our sleeping bags. Al is an amateur radio operator, he carried a 2 meter handheld radio and, using a repeater, was able to make a phone patch to place a phone call to Harold Croxton, AHC's Trails Chair. In the morning, we discovered that it was so cold and windy that the Philadelphia Mummers Parade had been canceled.

We had so much fun that in 1977 we placed the backpack on the club schedule. Two hearty members joined us. As the years went by, more and more people ventured out with us, providing entertainment and conversation far into the night. One year a teenager brought his guitar, serenaded us, and led a sing-along. We had human joke machines to keep us in stitches, and storytellers to regale us. And we could always count on fireworks down in the valley at midnight.

Naturally a highlight of our evenings was food and a fire. Each year, different participants brought new choices. We fried steak sandwiches, roasted potatoes, cooked hot dogs, and even feasted on the traditional Pennsylvania German pork and sauerkraut, we drank cocoa and toasted in the New Year with sparkling juice served in plastic flutes.

In 1994, when she was 12, our daughter Liz joined us. Three years later, with a nice snow on the ground, she was the first person to reach the new club shelter and snapped a photo that was selected for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy calendar. And in 2016, our 5 month old grandson Curtis made it a three generation event when Liz carried him to the shelter.

After 30 years of backpacking, in 2006 we switched to a day hike format. As a result, the group size increased dramatically. Some years, 30 to 40 people have trekked to the shelter. This, of course, has provided for plenty of socializing and even more noshing choices on the picnic table. On occasions when I have not been able to lead the trip, other club members (MaryAnn Wagner, Karen Gradel, and Paula Uhrin) have stepped up as leaders.

Over the last 45 years, through snow, icy snow, rain, freezing rain, wind, and, occasionally, balmy (temperature above freezing) weather, the Allentown Hiking Club has celebrated the New Year at the Allentown Shelter. Plan to join us in 2021 as AHC marks its 90^th anniversary!