Wampum November 2012 Trail Work Report

Our chapter volunteers stayed busy over the past month tackling a variety of maintenance and improvement projects along our trail sections in both Beaver and Lawrence counties.  We’ve done some digging, bridge and culvert work, and have also utilized our new chapter chainsaw to keep the trail in good hiking-condition.

At Cemex near Fletcher Hill Road the crew rebenched sidehill in order to enable the DR mower to better navigate the section heading towards Snake Run, and also installed anti-skid strips on the bridge to the east of that trailhead.  Seismic testing activity all over the Cemex property has us in the mode of “what next?”, but so far, no major disruptions to our trail route or the hiking experience that we can see.  The hiker-journal box newly installed along the trail, in the woods, about 120 yards from the Snake Run Road west trailhead was checked an all is in order with that.

At Gamelands 285 we employed the chapter’s new Stihl chainsaw to take out blown down trees east and west of Watt’s Mill Rd.  The new saw is lighter than the one we had been using and is a joy to carry through the woods to the worksites.  Also in that area, we rebenched fifty-five yards of sidehill east of Painter’s Run making a huge improvement to the treadway there.  Volunteer Eric Watson has been working on a solo project to improve our trail just east of Booth Hill, leveling it out and making it a more comfortable walk.  And lastly at GL285, we installed a culvert pipe near the old trailhead along Watt’s Mill Road, resolving a perennial wet and narrow spot that had been a challenge to navigate with the DR mower.

At Watt’s Mill itself, we installed anti-skid strips on the bog bridge along the shelter spur trail, repaired the gunshot wound to the Carsonite post that indicates the shelter area, and visited the shelter a couple of times - once to prep for the Pumpkin Pie hike and once to get the fire pit cleaned up and check on the general condition of the area.

Lastly, we walked our proposed new section of trail between Hodgson Rd. and Route 168 across the Crawford, McGaffick, and First Energy Properties with Mr. McGaffick’s daughter to get her input and approval for the route.

All in all a well-rounded month of trail work!  Wanted to appreciate these volunteers for coming out:  Eric Watson, Lee Fairbanks, Jim Rarick, Dennis Garrett, Eleanor Fairbanks, Sabrina Royea, John Rarick, David Wright, Patty Brunner, Jake Erhardt, and Doug Turner, and everyone else for their support of the effort.

 

2012 Wampum Chapter Pumpkin Pie Hike

 

 

Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

Another beautiful October Sunday afternoon and another herd of pumpkin pies led to slaughter and consumption along the North Country Trail. They were delicious! We had over forty hikers take the 2.5 mile walk from Hodgson Rd. over to the shelter at Watt's Mill (with a side trip to Indian Rock along the way), joined at the mill by another dozen or so people for some NCT comaradarie (and PIE and cider!)

 

I have some photos from yesterday's excursion posted here https://picasaweb.google.com/105725471641034380528/PumpkinPieHike2012#

 

Thanks to everyone for organizing, contributing, participating in, and supporting the effort. And also for everyone's hard work on building and maintaining the trail as we received many nice compliments from our constituency about what we do and how well we do it year-round. 

 

This was, I believe, our fifth community outreach event of the year, Ellwood City's Earth Day, Darlington Days, McConnell's Mill Heritage Festival, and the Gear and Beer Autumn Festival at Brady's Run Park being the other four, and compliments to everyone who put all the time and effort into making these successful. Gettin' the word out about this great community resource. Happy to see another four groups of hikers just out walking our section of NCT yesterday - we invited them all to have some pie with us.

 

 

Dave Brewer

Trail Work Coordinator/Communications Coordinator

We're Busy Here!!

 

Busy, busy, busy. We're so busy that even the beavers stand in awe of how busy we have been and will be. That's busy. Really busy.

Two great trail work sessions over the past few days and I appreciate Doug Turner and Lee Fairbanks for coming out on Thursday morning to get some mowing and pruning done each direction from Fletcher Hill Rd., as well as doing what we do best - digging holes and filling them right back in. Two blaze posts and a Carsonite sign installed to help ease the challenge of navigating a well-run-over and small-explosives-impregnated Cemex property.

This morning Lee and I headed out to the Hodgson Rd. trailhead to install our new sign there. T'was freezing but it is amazing how digging a three-foot-deep hole (next to a gas pipe) and carrying 150 lbs of sign will warm you right up. We also picked up some trash along the road and did some mowing out on the Kirkwood Farm, as well as enlisting Eleanor's help in doing some trail checking between Hodgson and Watt's Mill in preparation for next Sunday's hike.

Some pics are here https://picasaweb.google.com/105725471641034380528/WampumPAChapterNCTA2012#5798188562830570034

Also, Dennis Garrett and his travelling promotional team have been getting everything ready for our trip to the Tri-State Gear and Beer Conservation Fest at Brady's Run Park tomorrow to talk to people about the North Country Trail. I can't name the names because I'm not sure who all is doing what and I know if I try I'll leave someone out, so I'll leave that for Dennis's recap of the day.

Monday evening, the 15th, is our monthly chapter meeting at Hito's in West Pittsburg - 6:00 PM (come a bit earlier if ordering dinner) and next Saturday morning, the 20th, is an American Heart Association First Aid class set up by Dennis as the final step for chainsaw certification and for anyone else who was interested.

Of course, next Sunday afternoon we'll have hikers gathering at 1:00 at Watt's Mill for our 2.5 mile Pumpkin Pie Hike. Come out for this walk on a very, very nice section of trail - especially at this time of the year. Beautiful out there. Bring a friend along and introduce them to the trail. Or, just come on out to the shelter to enjoy some NCT comaradarie.

We'll need to sneak in one last trail work session before the hike, primarily to get the Rickstrips put down on the shelter access trail bog bridge. We'll go Friday sometime - giving it a couple of days for the weather forecast to firm up before deciding on what time would be best.

So, we've been busy and there's more to do. The beavers shake their heads in disbelief. Then they lower their heads in shame in the knowledge that they've been defeated.

Thanks for all you do for the trail!!

Dave Brewer

Trail Work Coordinator

McConnell's Mill Heritage Festival Follow Up

Hello All,

 

I am reporting on the Chapters two days at McConnells Mill State Park Heritage Festival this past weekend. We were blessed with two beautiful fall days which brought out great crowds of people to this 20 year old event. This being our first time attending, we were not sure what to expect, but whatever we might have been thinking, I doubt it could have matched what actually happened.

 

We talked to hundreds of people about the trail, mostly just casually interested people, but many sincerely interested in where to find the trail, where it went, etc. We had printed 100 of our new chapter brochures and only have about 10 left. We sold 75 raffle tickets for the picture of the Mill in the park, donated by Jim Nocera. I am going to guess we made 50 to 75 hiking sticks; mostly for kids, but also a couple adults. We distributed 140 NCTA orange bandannas supplied to us by the National Park Service.

 

Dave Wright's shaving bench was the star attraction of our display area; often families waited 45 to 60 minutes to peel the park off their hiking stick. Dave was the hardest working man at the event. Between he and Jim Houk, they make a huge pile of shavings. (On Saturday late in the day, kids standing in line noticed we had run out of sticks to carve, so four of them went to the woods and came back with their own sticks - and Dave just kept on working.)

 

The park personnel were very pleased with our display area, especially the hiking stick venue. They invited / encouraged us to be at National Get Out Doors Day at Moraine State Park next June.

 

Along with being a successful "trail awareness" event for the Chapter, this was a very good fund raiser - Photograph Raffle - $130

Hiking Stick / Bandanna Donations - $240

Total - $379

 

We all had a good time. Thanks to Jim Nocera for all the work on the brochure and the donation of the beautiful photograph that was raffled; for Dave Wright and Jim Houk working for many hours with all the kids, making all the sticks. For all those who helped talk to all the visitors - Gail Blakley, Dorothy Buquo, Kaye Turner, Herb & Kathy Adams, Susan Fudurich, Lee & Eleanor Fairbanks, Cathy Garrett.

 

Buckle up and get ready for the Gear & Beer Tri-State Fallfest on Oct. 14th - 12 PM to 5 PM.

We'll do it again one more time this year.

 

Thank you all for making this such a beautiful weekend.

 

Dennis Garrett

Large Brochure Map

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

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

2011 NCT and NPS Award Recipients

Volunteerism can be considered the lifeblood of the North Country National Scenic Trail - the hours put in by our volunteers on building and maintaining the trail, organizing chapter events and hikes, doing promotional work, managing the finances, and participating in all of the activities required to keep us moving forward - are the critical element of keeping our organization (and the dream and reality of a 4600 mile hiking trail) moving forward.   The North Country Trail Association and National Park Service, through the Volunteers-In-Parks program, recognized several Wampum Chapter members for their contributions of time and effort at this year's National Conference in Dayton, OH and the awards were presented at our September chapter meeting.

Lee

Our Wampum Chapter President, Lee Fairbanks, received this year's National Leadership Award from the NCTA.  The winner of this award is defined as someone who is . . . "A volunteer who has demonstrated exceptional leadership leading to significant local achievements or highly succesful events."  A well-deserved award!

Eleanor

This year's Chapter Honor Award, as nominated and chosen by the Wampum Chapter membership is Eleanor Fairbanks.  As proscribed by the NCTA, this award should be given to an individual " . . . who demonstrates loyalty, commitment, and hard work annually to the local organization's chosen activities."  And a thank you to all chapter members who contributed to this year's selection process. 

Gail and Cathy

Dennis

Doug

Through the Volunteers-In-Parks program, long-time volunteer and major contributor to all of our successes, Gail Blakely was recognized by the National Park Service for 4,000 (!) hours of volunteer service to the North Country Trail.  Gail received a certificate, pin, and letter of thanks and congratulations from President Obama. 

400 Hour awards were presented by the NPS to Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks who received their embroidered NCT shirts.

Being recognized for 200 hours of service was Wampum Chapter Vice President Dennis Garrett. 

And lastly (but certainly not "leastly" as it is highly possible that these hours are understated!) our 100 Hour Award recipients are Jim Houk, Doug Turner, and Cathy Garrett.

Jim

Congratulations to our award winners and thanks to everyone who contributes to our success!

Davis Hollow Cabin Fundraising Event 2011

Diane Winston, Chairman, Davis Hollow Cabin Committee (Contact)

724-654-4918

For Immediate Release:

A dinner and program on the History of the Davis Hollow Cabin will be held on

Friday, October 21, 2011, at the Moraine Outdoor Center, Moraine State Park.

The dinner begins at 6:00 PM followed by the program featuring Mr. Chuck Book’s

presentation of the history of the cabin through the eyes of one of the branches of the family tree.

The fund raising event will highlight the many people who preceded us making it

one of the jewels along the North Country Trail in Moraine State Park and what is

necessary for restoration and maintenance in order to continue to enjoy the experience

of an 18th century cabin home.

Space is limited. Call for reservations by October 19^th. 724-654-4918

Trail Work 10/8 and 10/9 Plus

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

We have a couple of trailwork sessions planned for this weekend - hope you can make it out.

Saturday, October 8th the plan is to leave from Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 AM and go to Sankey Hill Rd to work on blazing the roadwalk from there to the Hell's Hollow trailhead at McConnell's Mill State Park.  This segment of roadwalk is about 4.5 miles and with "many hands" we knock out a major segment of this in a couple of hours.  Here's a map of that project.  We'll work until 11:00 - I'll bring the supplies.  Please wear flourescent or Dayglo as we'll be working along the roads.  Come earlier to Jata's for breakfast if you'd like.

Side note on the roadwalk blazing - the Eilers, Sher and Rick, have knocked out the segment between Darlington and the Edwards Farm, so that is wrapped up!  A BIG thanks to them for taking that on!!

Sunday, October 9th at 4:00 PM we'll head to the Kirkwood Farm for a couple of hours to continue the grubbing work on our new segment of trail there.  The SCA crew gave us a GREAT start on this and we'll continue on from where they left off.  We'll meet at the new Hodgson Rd. trailhead (right above Crawford's) and walk in from there.  The weather forecast looks great and it should be an excellent autumn afternoon to spend in the woods.  Tools provided, all help is appreciated, no experience necessary (OTJ training provided) so come on out.

Couple of other things:  Jim Nocera's photography hike is on the schedule for Saturday, Oct. 15 and the Annual Pumpkin Pie Hike is planned for Sunday, October 23rd at Cemex.  Details to follow on both of these.  Event Calendar

Lastly, Lee, Eleanor, and I hiked with a father/daughter team visiting from eastern PA last Saturday (in the rain, lol).   This hike was one of the events associated with the KTA Fall Weekend event held at Camp Lutherlyn.  A couple of pics from our five-miler are here.  I think we made a good impression with our segment of NCT at Cemex.

Thanks for all you do for the trail,

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Blaze Painting and Trail Building This Week

It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to have to paint it.

Steven Wright

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

Steven makes a good point, but we are absolutely WHIPPING through the roadwalk blazing/reblazing project we started on Sunday. Have some pictures from those projects posted starting here https://picasaweb.google.com/105725471641034380528/WampumChapter2011#5656417370823564434

I figure we knocked out about four miles on Sunday afternoon in and around Darlington, and another 1.6 miles in Wampum this morning. My thanks to Doug Turner, Jake Erhardt, The Eilers - Rick, Sher, and Candice, Dennis Garrett, and Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks for coming out to work on this project. Many hands DID make light work. We'll continue on as scheduling and the weather permits. About seven miles left to do, I think, give or take.

Speaking of "Many hands," we've confirmed that the SCA crew will be coming to the Kirkwood Farm this Thursday, the 29th, to spend the day helping us grub out and define our new section of trail there. If you can come out and lend a hand that'd be great! If you can stop by and say, "Howdy and Thanks" that'd be great too! They should be arriving at around 9:30 that morning at the trailhead on Hodgson Rd., right above Crawford's Camping Park.

Thanks for all you do for the North Country Trail! Hope to see you Thursday!!

Dave Brewer

Trail Work Coordinator

A Busy Week Ahead

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

We have a heavily-scheduled week ahead of us - hoping you can make it out for some or all of these:

Sunday, September 25th we'll be meeting in Darlington at 1:00 PM and plan to spend two or three hours paint blazing as much of the roadwalk between Rt. 51 and the Edwards Farm at I376 as we can. We'll gather at the Greersburg Academy that afternoon and plan out our attack on this ambitious project. Paint, brushes, stencils, etc. will be provided. You don't have to be the "Expert Painter" to contribute to this project so come on out on Sunday. Those telephone poles with blue blazes on them will definitely improve the hiking experience for those trying to work their way from Darlington Twp to the Wampum area. The forecast looks favorable and the Steelers don't play until that night - perfect!

On Tuesday, September 27 we're planning to leave from Jata's Diner in Wampum at 9:00 AM and going to the boat launch parking area on River Road to work on reblazing the road walk from the trailhead near there, under the Wampum bridge, and into town. We have several hikes on this stretch of trail planned over the next month or so and it'll be good to get it whipped into shape. We'll be out for two hours that morning. Again, painting and clearing supplies provided. Come earlier to Jata's for breakfast if you'd like.

THE BIG NEWS

It is on Thursday, the 29th that we are receiving our second trailwork gift of the year. Josh Nard, Program Director for the Student Conservation Association in Pittsburgh, is bringing a crew out to Beaver County for the day to help us with the Kirkwood Farm trail extension project. They'll be arriving at approximately 9:30 AM and we'll meet at the Hodgson Road trailhead (above Crawford's) to walk in and begin work. The project will involve grubbing, grading, and refining the pathway that we've flagged and then cleared with the mower. They'll be working from the point where the spring SCA crew (our first gift of the year) left off and working their way back towards Hodgson Road. I'd encourage you to come out and work with these young people, or at least make the trip out to thank them for their help. All of our past experiences with the SCA crews and their advisors have been extremely positive - the work they do is superb and their work ethic is excellent. We have put a lot of new, quality trail on the ground over the past three years thanks to SCA's help. Tools (AND LUNCH!) provided - bring drinking water and dress for the weather. Here's a map of the project http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200253697770480530268.00048dac38585c56e767d&msa=0&ll=40.795391,-80.467343&spn=0.016017,0.0421

On Sunday morning, October 2nd, the Wampum Chapter will be leading a hike for Keystone Trails Association members at Cemex, from Sankey Hill Road down to the boat launch on River Rd. The KTA is having their Fall Weekend Event at Camp Lutherlyn, near Butler, and our hike is one of the activities on their program. If you'd like to help out with leading or walking sweep on this hike shoot me an email and I can let you know the "wheres" and "whens." Should be an excellent opportunity to show off one of our segments of the NCT to some out-of-town hikers.

Lastly, ("At last," you say) my thanks to Jake Erhardt and Lee Fairbanks for making the trip out to Mines and Meadows and Gamelands 148 (taunting the rain clouds) this morning. The trail through the ATV park is in good shape and showing no signs of abuse, and we were able to clean up the treadway and drainage channel near a culvert pipe out at 148. We also had the opportunity to bounce around a couple of trail name suggestions - like Dave "Camera Killer" Brewer, Jake "The Pack Mule" Erhardt, and I was thinking for Lee - "Rock Ferret". We'll work on these though. Couple of pics from today are here.

Thanks for all you do for the trail - hope to see you this week!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Mines and Meadows Trailwork Friday 9/23

Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

The trailwork plan for this Friday morning, Sept 23, is to go to Mines and Meadows to walk our trail segment there to check our ATV "deterrers" and general trail conditions, and then to make some repairs to a culvert pipe just over the border in Gamelands 148. We'll be leaving from the front of Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 AM and travelling to the upper parking/camping area at Mines and Meadows - go past the first camping area, as you first enter the park, and continue on up the roadway, over the narrow concrete bridge to the second. We'll plan to be out for a couple of hours. Come to Jata's earlier for breakfast if you'd like.

In other news, Tammy Veloski and her son Kyle spent some time this past week at Watt's Mill re planting a signpost that had fallen into disrepair, as well as doing a maintenance walk through Gamelands 285 near Indian Rock Hill. Appreciate their efforts out there to keep the trail in good hiking condition.

And, last Friday afternoon, I ran into a couple from Calcutta, OH who were hiking the trail at Gamelands 285 from the OH/PA line to a point a couple of miles in and back out. Jim and Judy said that they were frequent visitors to the trail and they wanted me to convey their appreciation to everyone from the chapter involved in building and maintaining the NCT there. Satisfied customers!

I have some pictures posted here - a couple that I took and some that Tammy shared with me from her and Kyle's trip out

https://picasaweb.google.com/105725471641034380528/WampumChapter2011#5653240587090578642

Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator