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

Tuesday Trail Work Bad Baseball Analogy

Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

If trail work was the World Series we'd have swept yesterday!  We were unstoppable, winning games one and two in the morning at home in Wampum, then travelling and taking games three and four in the afternoon. 

Earlier this year someone had pitched the idea of moving a section of the trail up on the bench overlooking the old strip mine at Gateway closer to the edge to get some better views of the valley.  Yesterday morning Jake Erhardt, Doug Turner, Lee Fairbanks, Rick Ostheimer, and I headed up there to take a look at the possibilities.  Turns out that this project was a home run, with the terrain along there being perfect for doing this.  Nice and flat, very little digging to do, and an excellent spot available to stop and take in the view.  We had seventy-five yards of new trail pruned, raked, and grubbed out in a couple of hours.  The last innings (clearing the vista) turned out to be a cliff hanger of sorts, but the team pulled together and got the job done, with nobody sliding down the hillside or falling off a cliff.  We have some paint blazing to do on the new section to finish it off, and on the walk in we discovered some tasks that need to be done down around the Gateway bridge - job security, always something to do.  Some pictures of the morning's work start right here.

The afternoon session had us taking our show on the road, south of Darlington, to Gamelands 285 and Painter Run.  Our manager, Dennis Garrett, had called the bullpen for some relief for this job - putting in a thirty-two-foot-long footbridge over Painter Run below Indian Rock Hill, and we dominated as a result.  Rick Ostheimer, Rick Eiler, David Wright, Herb Adams, Lee Fairbanks, and I joined Dennis in getting the beams across the water and on the sills.  Each of those triple laminated beams weighed around 360 pounds, but many hands made light work and the job went relatively easily.  Once the beams were secured in place we worked on assembling the structure and floorboards and had this game wrapped up in three hours - a GRAND SLAM that topped off the day.  Our existing trail at Gamelands 285 is now connected to our new section on the Kirkwood Farm.  We do have another, shorter bridge to put in over an overflow ditch a few yards away, but this is more of a bridge of convenience than a necessity structure like the 32-footer is.  My understanding is that a grand opening celebration is being planned for the near future at the site of this new bridge - the details to follow.  I've put together a short album of the bridge-building project here, and you can also link to it from the main Wampum Chapter photo album above.

I had no idea, and I don't think Dennis did, of how much thought and work was going to be involved in putting this very long bridge in when we casually agreed earlier this year that he'd manage the project.  I appreciate all the time, thought, and energy he put in on it, and also for Lee's help (The figuring-out, measuring, cutting, hauling, gluing, and nailing) in getting this tough job done.  We also had the assistance of Steve Smith, a North Country Trail volunteer and hiker, and by trade, an engineer.  He had to have spent HOURS doing the calculations and creating drawings, providing for us the the necessary information to build a structurally-sound bridge.  His assistance was INVALUABLE and we really appreciate his help on this. 

Thanks to all for the excellent day on the Wampum section of the North Country Trail, and to everyone for their continual support.

*Sorry about the lame and under-developed baseball analogies - stuck in my head for some reason this morning.

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Sunday Afternoon In the Woods

This Sunday afternoon we'll be heading to the Kirkwood Farm to continue our trail building project there, meeting at the Hodgson Road trailhead above Crawford's at 1:00.  Should be a nice afternoon in the woods above Little Beaver Creek.  Everyone welcome - you don't need to be "the pro" as we need some new-trail-tester-outers and some leaf-color-identifiers, as well as some root-spotters and picture-takers too.  Hope you can make it out.

The second "prong" involves possibly providing some help for our bridge crew that afternoon, as they may need an assist as they work on their project down near Painter Run.  They've (Dennis and Lee) been hard at it all week getting the specs finalized for that span, hauling the material into the site, and getting ready for some preliminary assembly.  They may need some lifting help at some point in their process and we'll be right nearby.  In any event, we can walk down to the run to check out the progress if you'd like.   It's all coming together.

I have some pics from our work at Cemex near the caves last Tuesday morning posted here if you'd like to take a look.  We improved that section of trail tremendously in just a couple of hours  and we're about ready for the 23rd's Pumpkin Pie Hike.

Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator