October 7, 2024
Fall Hiking, Corridor Monitoring, End of Year Activities
by Paula Urhin

Hunting season is already upon us in Pennsylvania and this is a good time to prepare before venturing outdoors.

Specific dates for hunting seasons from vary year to year. Before you go, learn the regulations and hunting seasons for the areas where you will be hiking. Note that the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced three Sunday hunting dates for 2024: November 17, 24, and December 1. For more details on the hunting seasons in Pennsylvania you can reference the Pennsylvania Game Commission website.

Be sure to wear a brightly colored clothing. Colors such as blaze orange or neon green or yellow are recommended. Basically, the brighter the better. (Orange safety vests and hats from Walmart work fine and are inexpensive.) On State Game Lands in Pennsylvania, all hunters and non-hunters are required to wear a minimum 250 square inches of daylight fluorescent orange material on the head, chest and back combined and it must be visible from 360 degrees. An orange hat and vest satisfies this requirement. Many hiking paths including parts of the Appalachian Trail use state game lands, and even if you are not hiking on State Game Lands it is a good practice to adopt during hunting season. If you hike with a pet, it should also wear a blaze orange vest, collar, leash or bandana so it is visible from all sides. The AT recommends that pets be leashed at all times while hiking.

Avoid wearing colors that could be mistaken for game animals. Avoid any brown, tan, earth tones and especially white - you do not want to look like the flash of deer's tail. During turkey season avoid red, blue, purple, black and white. These are the head colors of a male wild turkey. Use extra caution particularly at dawn and dusk. Hunting activity typically increases during those times as that is when animals are feeding and visibility is poor. Hike during broad daylight when hunters can more easily identify you. Be especially cautious close to road crossings, trailheads, and in valley areas. Utilizing a flashlight or headlamp will help with visibility and identify you as a human and not a critter. Avoid the most popular hunting days, like opening weekend. In Pennsylvania that would be the Sunday after Thanksgiving and extending into the first two weekends of December. When you do go, choose trails that are off-limits to or unpopular with hunters. In this area there are several preserves that do not participate in hunting activities. Stick to established, marked trails. Skip the bushwhacking during hunting season as hunters are more likely to expect hikers on trails.

This is also the time of year that the Club performs our annual Corridor Monitoring. Basically we don't hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) itself but the boundaries that parallel it to ensure that there is no encroachment or other activities occurring that would endanger the AT. If you are interested in helping with the monitoring or just want to go along and find out what is involved, keep your eye on the forum (the AHC’s emails) or contact Lucy Cantwell. Additional information regarding Corridor Monitoring can be found on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s (ATC’s) website.

Lastly, there are lots of events on our third quarter calendar and that includes some of my favorites. December starts out with our Annual Holiday Feast, a pot luck where club members bring in their favorite dishes to share, both sweet and savory ... and I always say that hikers know how to eat and also how to cook, so there are always lots of great treats to try. If you have never attended an Allentown Hiking Club meeting, this is a good one to attend. There are also Holiday-related events such as a walk through the Allentown Lights in the Parkway and a Bethlehem Holiday Hike ... both festive ways to get outdoors. Finally, close out the year with our Annual New Year’s Eve Hike to the Allentown Shelter, with two distance options. This event has been taking place since 1976 and is a great way to close out a year of hiking while sharing good fellowship with other hikers. I hope to see you on one of these fun events!

Happy Fall and Happy Trails!

Paula Uhrin
President, Allentown Hiking Club

February 13, 2023
Corridor Monitoring - A Photo Gallery

The Appalachian Trail is a 2200 mile footpath from Georgia to Maine. But what makes it a path worth walking is the protection of land along the Trail where it does not already pass thru national parks or lands protected by the states. Based on legislation passed in the 60's and 70's, the National Park Service acquired land rights to over 100,000 acres of land along the Trail. This "corridor" is maintained by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and member Trail clubs, including AllentownHikingClub.org.

Recently, on the second day of black bear season, with wind chills in the teens, and accompanied by Paula Uhrin, I did my first stint as Corridor Monitor for NPS segment 338 along the AT. Nonetheless, ours was a very successful outing! We located all the monuments marking the boundary with private land and saw no signs of encroachment.

September 29, 2019
Fall Is Here
by Karen Gradel

Fall priorities include reporting your AT volunteer hours, learning about charcoal hearths on Blue Mountain, and attending our end of year events.

Summer is over and our trail maintainers have spent many hours clearing blowdowns, blazing, getting rid of invasive plants to keep the path clear. For all those who have helped with the maintenance thank you and don’t forget to get your volunteer hours into Ed Ritter by Oct 9th. Also anyone else who has helped with corridor monitoring , leadership, administration, websites, newsletters, finance, etc. should submit hours too. Things not to report are participating in (as opposed to leading) recreational A.T. hikes, planning or attending social events, such as dinners and picnics, feeding hikers, a.k.a. ‘Trail magic’ or trail maintenance on trails other than the AT. Why is it important to report all of our hours? ATC uses the hours of all the volunteers to obtain NPS funding.

It is also the time of year we do Corridor Monitoring. If you are interested in helping with the monitoring or just want to go along and find out what is involved, keep your eye on the forum or contact Lucy Cantwell.

A ‘don’t miss’ is the October presentation by Muhlenberg college Professor Benjamin Carter who will give a talk on his research of the charcoal hearths located on the Blue Mountain. There will also be a hike on October 5th to accompany his presentation and give us a ‘first hand’ look at the charcoal pits. Coming up we also have our holiday pot luck on December 4th, our holiday hikes and our annual New Year’s Eve hike to the Allentown Shelter that has been a tradition since 1976.

July 17, 2019
Help Wanted: AT Corridor Monitors
By Lucy Cantwell, Corridor Monitor Coordinator

We are seeking a few new persons to help with this very important task!

Each fall, the Allentown Hiking Club monitors the boundaries of our section of the AT, called the "corridor," which is land owned by the National Park Service that extends a few hundred feet on either side of the trail. Some of our long-time monitors, who have been performing this function for upwards of 20 years or more, are no longer able to commit to this duty.

According to the ATC Volunteer Leadership Handbook, Corridor Monitors "are responsible for visiting and reporting on the condition of an assigned area of corridor land within a Trail club’s section.... Volunteers interested in monitoring may be quite different from those who like trail work—good monitors often enjoy orienteering, bushwhacking, and traveling in rugged terrain."

The monitoring process is not unlike a scavenger hunt, with a compass and a map to assist you. If ever you are in need of an adventurous hike, this is it. If you think you might be interested in participating in the corridor monitoring, please contact the AT Monitor Coordinators listed on page 2 of the newsletter. We'll teach you how to collect the required information by pairing you with an experienced monitor assessing his/her section of the trail. The commitment on your part, after this simple training, is basically one day a year, scheduled by you at your convenience. Be adventurous! Volunteer and see what it's all about!

For an excellent description of the duties of a corridor monitor, please see this article on corridor monitoring published in the Spring 2019.

February 19, 2019
Corridor Monitoring - What It Is and Why We Do It
by Lucy Cantwell

Walking the boundaries of Appalachian Trail lands to prevent encroachments is an essential part of our responsibilities as a maintaining club.

It's the time of year for the Allentown Hiking Club to do our annual corridor monitoring. We talk about it a each meeting, but some of you may wonder, "What is this all about?" Here is a brief explanation of this annual activity.

A critical component of our duties as a maintaining club of the AT is corridor monitoring and boundary maintenance: keeping a close eye on the federal estate purchased to protect the Appalachian Trail. The AT "corridor" is the land owned by the National Park Service that extends a few hundred feet on either side of the trail. Corridor monitoring means walking along and examining the border of this NPS land and the adjacent lands ( for example, privately owned lands, state game lands, municipalities) to assure that all boundary markers are in place and no encroachments have occurred. This involves leaving the AT treadway and bushwhacking over rocks and through dense vegetation to locate "monuments," i.e., the markers installed by surveyors years ago to establish a line between NPS lands and that of neighboring landowners.

Encroachments, such as illegal dumping of waste, timber theft, rock piles, discarded machinery, hunting blinds, or evidence of incompatible uses such as ATVs are also documented. These discoveries are subsequently reported to the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) and corrective action is taken, if needed. During the monitoring we also post signage along the boundary lines, indicating which areas belong to the NPS. Volunteer monitors thus become the “eyes and ears” of state and federal landowning agencies. Monitoring helps assure the American public that its investment is being cared for and protected.

The Allentown Hiking Club monitors 35 tracts containing over 600 acres, which has 106 surveyor's monuments and 15 1/3 miles of exterior boundary. This is divided into 7 sections and is monitored by club members who commit to individual segments of about 4-7 miles each. Some of our monitors have been doing their sections for upwards of 20 years!

New volunteers are always welcome and encouraged to step up and join the action! If you think you might be interested in participating in the corridor monitoring, please contact the Monitor Coordinators listed on page 2 of the newsletter. We'd be happy to have you join one of the established monitors when they hike their section to collect the monitoring information. Also, keep an eye out for announcements on the AHC Forum, as monitors may post their hikes on the spur-of-the-moment, since good weather conditions are generally better for this activity. Be adventurous and come and see what it's all about!