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.