Gonna Marry My Chainsaw

* Seemed like a song that comedian Rodney Carrington would write. Other titles considered for this blog entry were: "He Aint Heavy, He's My Chainsaw" by the Hollies, and "It's A Beautiful Chainsaw" by U2. But this isn't a song, just an update.

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

First want to appreciate Doug Turner and Jake Erhardt for coming out on Tuesday morning to Cemex near the lime kiln where we accomplished a bunch of small tasks including cleaning up the trailhead access off of Snake Run Rd., getting the cornfield and lime kiln weedwacked and pruned, and plotting out a reroute thru the woods to shorten our field walk through that area. A strong two hours that has the trail in good shape out there. Some pics starting from Tuesday here.  Again, if the whole album opens, close it and hit the 'here' again to get to the photo.

Secondly, to the matter of the subject of this entry, apparently we had some kind of "wind event" in Beaver County sometime over the past two or three weeks resulting in a large number of trees coming down across the trail at Gamelands 285 and the Kirkwood Farm. Four days later - giving my cheap Poulan chainsaw ALL of the credit - we are clear from the state line to Hodgson Rd. I lost count at around 40 trees cleared - if I had to guess it was probably 55 to 60 trees blocking us over that six miles of trail. Wanted to appreciate Dennis Garrett for the support (and dinner!) on Tuesday afternoon and for his scouting the mile of trail south of Watt's Mill Rd., saving me that walking to check it out. Job security indeed.

Lastly, a reminder that our monthly chapter meeting is being held at the shelter at Watt's Mill on Monday the 20th. It is a hot dog roast, campfire, pot luck event and I have been informed that Mr. Chuck Townsend of the Little Beaver Historical Society will be in attendance to give a presentation. Several items to discuss also including the Geo Trail, the chapter brochure, recent communication from First Energy regarding our trail extension, and I'm sure a report from the national conference. Hope you can make it out on that Monday night.

Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Dave Brewer

Trail Work Coordinator

Darlington Days 2012

Hello Everyone,

We completed our Darlington Days trail awareness mission late this afternoon, just as the first rain storm of the weekend set in.
We had our display in operation all day Saturday and Sunday; we were visited by a lot of folks that were interested to know about the trail, where to find it and how to become involved - some serious, some just curious.  One new member signed up.

Our hikes on Saturday afternoon, originating at Watts, went well.  Charles Townsend, from the historical society, preceded the hikes with a most interesting presentation of the history of the Watts Mill area.  Pictures of the hikes, the talk and the stone house foundation are attached.

A big thanks to Gale Blakely for arranging with the Little Beaver Historical Society for the space we used for our booth and all the prep work that made our display area work so well & being on hand all weekend.  Lee & Eleanor Fairbanks were full time the entire weekend, manning the booth, managing the hikes and setting up & tearing down, the whole nine yards. 

Jim Houk was a force at the marshmallow roast, creating interest in our hiking stick project and as a major fund raiser - Jim purchased a small truck load of flowers at the Roger's Sale on Friday, sold the flowers at the booth on Saturday and Sunday and donated the profits to the chapter - $54. We also sold one cookbook, one hiking stick and received generous donations from visitors for an additional $21.00.

Also, JoEllen Sokolosoki, Dorthy Boquo and Dave Wright were on hand throughout Saturday & Sunday at the booth and setting up.

Dave Brewer, the trail was in beautiful shape, the shelter area looked great and the old house foundation area, where the history talk as given, looked better than it has in 30 years. There were many compliments on the condition of the trail, the many great bridges, serious interest in the Jimmy Hupp memorial, and not one person opted out of the steep hike up the spur trail to Indian Rock, where a short talk was given by our newest Chapter member, Mike Appici, who has lived his entire life within a 1/2 mile of the rock.

(My thanks to John Vlah for doing a bang-up job of clearing that foundation last week and to Jake Erhardt for walking the sweep on the long hike!  - Dave)



The weekend was busy, but fun and I believe fruitful for our Chapter.  Thanks for all the work and fellowship and we will thank God for the two beautiful days that allowed it to happen in such fine fashion.

Dennis Garrett
VP, Wampum Chapter, NCT

Darlington Days - Help Wanted

Your Wampum Chapter Darlington Days planning committee met in a marathon session last Friday evening to nail down the details of our participation in this year's festivities on June 2nd and 3rd, and at one point the President called to make sure that negotiations were moving forward to an orderly resolution.  It is clear that this is going to be a major effort to pull all of this together and that we're going to need some folks to come out and jump into the activities we have planned for the weekend.  It is a tremendous opportunity to build awareness and support for our National Scenic Trail that passes right thru the downtown of this community!  Here's what we have going on and what we're looking for in the way of help:


1.  We'll be setting up a couple of information tables on the grounds of the Greersburg Academy on Saturday morning and plan to have them manned from 8 AM - to 5 PM on Saturday and from 11 AM to 5 PM on Sunday.  We'll have maps, photos, brochures, trail tools, a hiking stick sale, and a raffle going on.  We'll need people to be at these tables (under canopy) for those time periods.  You can come out for an hour or two - or all day (or both days!) if you'd like, to be available to talk to people about the North Country Trail.


2.  There is a parade scheduled for 10 AM on Saturday morning that we plan to march in.  The "paraders" gather at the school (north-west of town on Rt. 168, near the Garrett estate) at 8:30 AM and commence marching at the 10:00 kick-off time.  We'll be carrying our Wampum Chapter banner and encourage our walkers to have a backpack or trail-building tool to carry along.


3.  Saturday afternoon (Saturday is also National Trails Day) Mr. Chuck Townsend of the Little Beaver HIstorical Society has agreed to give a 1:00 PM talk at Watt's Mill about the history of this area.  This talk will be followed by two hikes that we'll be leading:


    A.)  A Short Hike (1/2 mile or so) to the backpacking shelter at Watt's Mill.  Cathy Garrett and Eleanor Fairbanks will be leading this hike and it will involve a marshmallow roast, some activities for kids, and a short talk about Little Beaver Creek and the NCT.  We think we have a "shelter crew" in place to make sure we have a fire going and the area is in good shape but we can always use more support.


    B)  The Long Hike - 2 1/2 miles from Hodgson Road, along the NCT over the Kirkwood Farm and GL285 back to Watt's Mill.  Lee Fairbanks will be leading this hike which will also include the side trip up to Indian Rock and a short presentation about that historical feature.  It looks like, at this point, this hike is where we're going to need more help.  We need someone(s) to commit to being the sweep for this walk, and we also need to know if there are people who can help with car-shuttling hikers from Watt's Mill to the beginning of the walk at Hodgson Road.    ************** As a side note, during the times of these hikes while the majority of our people are at Watt's Mill working with these activities, JoEllen Sokoloski has committed to manning the info tables in town but she could use some backup *********.


The people who organize and promote the Darlington Days activities have been very generous to us in regards to space, publicity, and support so we're looking to capitalize on this opportunity to build awareness of the North Country Trail and its role in the community.


How are you able to help with this weekend of activities?  Let us know by emailing back to me at wam@northcountrytrail.org or by getting word to Dennis Garrett at dcgcag@gmail.com.


As usual, the pay for this work is nothing, but the sense of satisfaction will be IMMENSE!  Thanks for all you do for the trail!


Dave Brewer
Communications Coordinator

GAC Flyer For April 21, 2012

The Wampum Chapter of the North Country Trail Association will be conducting a roadside trash cleanup along River Rd. in Wayne Twp. on Saturday, April 21^st from 8:00 AM until Noon.

Volunteers and community groups are welcome and encouraged to come out and help with this Earth Day Weekend project.

Meet at the Bevington Boat Launch on River Road at 8:00 AM.  Bags, gloves, and safety equipment will be provided.

For questions or more information please contact the chapter at wam@northcountrytrail.org or at 330 531-1623.

Thanks to our local and state sponsors:  Wayne Twp., PennDot, DEP and the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association.

Hot Dog Roast At The Shelter January 21st

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

Sending out an invitation for anyone who wants to head to the backpacking shelter next Saturday afternoon, January 21st, for a Wampum Chapter winter hot dog roast/pot luck/campfire.  The plan is to meet there at around 2:00 PM, build the fire, and enjoy some North Country Trail comaradarie (and food!).  It should be a nice opportunity to enjoy that beautiful spot along the North Fork of Little Beaver Creek during a season when we don't usually get out there.

The weather forecast looks positive, with higher temps than this weekend, and if you want to stay and enjoy the sunset (or even do the overnight thing at the shelter!!) that's certainly an option.

Bring your potluck contribution to share if you'd like - if not, just bring yourself and anyone else who might be interested in an afternoon in the woods with some great trail folks!  This outing is open to anyone who wants to make the trip out.

A couple of other dates and events to be aware of:

The Wampum Chapter monthly meeting is this Monday evening, 6:00 PM at Hito's in West Pittsburgh.  Come a bit earlier if you are planning to order dinner.

The Clarion Chapter is having their monthly hike Sunday, January 22nd.  Details on that are here https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/events/330236067001264/ and all are invited to join them.

There is a planning meeting for the 2013 National Conference scheduled for Tuesday, January 24th at King's Family Restaurant in Grove City, PA - 5:30 or so.  If you'd like to be involved in this please contact Joyce Appel at joyceappel@windstream.net so she can get you up to speed on what's been accomplished on this project already.

Lastly, I've started the 2012 Chapter album on Picasa with some pics from Rick Ostheimer's and my trip to Gamelands 285 last week where we met up with Rick Eiler and his friend Dennis.  You can see those photos here https://picasaweb.google.com/105725471641034380528/WampumPAChapterNCTA2012#

Thanks for all you do for the NCT - hope to meet up with you along the way.

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Trail Work Dates, Meeting, and Some Pictures

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

We have several trail work sessions planned for next few days, working to get some things wrapped up before the holidays and gun season both kick in.  The weather was against us in the spring and most of the summer but we're catching some nice breaks this fall - come on out and enjoy the trail - all help is appreciated!  Here's what we have in mind:

Friday, November 18th we'll meet at the Hodgson Rd. trailhead at 1:00 PM and spend a couple of hours doing grub and finesse work on the new section of trail at Mrs. Kirkwood's farm.  We hiked this section last friday evening in the moonlight and it was a wonderful walk (especially with the new blazes reflecting the moonlight!  And, the flash from the game camera we set off along the route was QUITE a surprise!!)  About 100 yards of serious digging remaining and then some small stump and root removal left to do along the rest.  We'll be out for a couple of hours that afternoon - I'll bring the tools.

Saturday morning, November 19th we'll leave from the front of Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 AM and travel to Snake Run Rd. (east) to repair the handrail on the bridge there.  A large tree limb fell on it earlier this summer and cracked that piece in half, but fortunately Ron Rice builds them so that it can easily be repaired with a new piece of lumber.  Weather permitting, we can also reblaze the road walk section from there down to the west trailhead on Snake Run Rd. that morning.  Again, we'll plan to be out a couple of hours.   Come earlier to Jata's for breakfast if you'd like.

Lee sent out a note on this already, but a reminder that the monthly chapter meeting is on Monday evening, November 21st at Hito's, 6:00 PM.  Come a bit earlier if you plan to order dinner.

Lastly, I am behind on posting pics.  Tammy Veloski and her family took a walk at Gamelands 285 a couple of Sundays ago and she sent me some great photos which I took the liberty of posting starting here.  There are also some from our work sessions last week and the aforementioned friday evening hike.

Hope to see you over the next few days - thanks for all you do for the NCT!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Bridge Work Thursday Morning

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

Let me get this out of the way first by saying, yes, after two years of crossing Painter Run by hopping rocks and tight-rope walking across logs without incident, now that we have not one, but two bridges across that stream, today was the day I finally fell in.  Other than that unfortunate incident, what a great day in the woods!  My phone (and more profoundly, my camera) survived the very chilly dunking.

Thanks to David Wright, Lee Fairbanks, John Vlah, and Dennis Garrett for coming out this morning to put in a sixteen-foot bridge over the overflow channel, and I especially appreciate all of Dennis's work on pulling together this complicated and time-intensive double-bridge project.  We also found the time today to do some "alignment tweaking" on the 32' foot bridge installed last week, and also to have lunch at the worksite. 

We now have a very smooth, all-season transition between the trail segments at Gamelands 285 and at the Kirkwood Farm.  Left to do out there is about 100 yards of grubbing on top of the hill above the creek on the farm, about twenty yards of the same near Hodgson Rd., and getting the blazes painted and orange flags pulled down.  If we push on it, and get a weather break in the next week or two, we'll have it wrapped up by the start of deer season.  We'll also work on some wooden signing over the winter to identify the couple of spur trails we've generated along the way (to Indian Rock and the Sterling Rd. parking area) as well as identifying the new trailhead on Hodgson Rd. - we'll plan to have those ready for installation in the spring.

I also wanted to appreciate Jake Erhardt for coming out on Tuesday morning to Mines and Meadows and Gateway.  We were able to get a couple of rough sections of sidehill on the approaches to the Gateway bridge cleaned up that morning.  Tough digging.  Before we started we reaffirmed our agreement that if, while working, anyone found any gold then we'd split evenly among that trail work session's crew.  Unfortunately, the agreement didn't have to be tested as we only found the usual limestone, sandstone, and roots as we grubbed.

Some pics from Tuesday and today start here.   I've updated the Google map of the trail from the state line to Hodgson Rd so you can see where we are - viewable  here.

One more thing - we're going to need more places to build off-road trail starting in the spring.  If you are interested in spending some time working with us on court house duty checking out plat maps and then talking to landowners about the awesome opportunity they have to have the North Country National Scenic Trail cross their property, please let us know.  Opportunities exist between the Kirkwood Farm south of Rt. 51, through the Darlington and New Galilee areas, to the Edwards Farm west of Wampum, and between Sankey Hill Rd. and Hell's Hollow at McConnell's Mill.

Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator