Five Things

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

It has been a busy week already with more on the radar screen for the next six days to let you know about. Yesterday, Dr. Ron Strickland, author of the forthcoming North Country Trail Guidebook came to Wampum and hiked, took notes, photos, and GPS coordinates on our sections of trail at Cemex, into Wampum, and then out through Gateway, Mines and Meadows, GL148, finishing up at the Edwards Farm trailhead. My sense of the timing of the day's events was way off and I apologize for any inconvenience it caused. Wanted to appreciate everyone who came out to meet Ron and/or take the walk with him - an awesome Wampum turnout and welcome for a Monday. Thanks to Jim Nocera, Bob Cody, Rob Prowel, Richard Lutz, Cody Magill, Dwight Fox, Gail Blakely, and Terry for taking the time. There are some photos from yesterday here and here. Cody also has a few posted here. It was a great (WARM then THUNDERSTORMY WET) ten-mile hike (one I had never done before at one time) and I think he was impressed with all of the work that we've put in building quality trail.

Speaking of "building quality trail", Jake Erhardt made the trip out to the haunted house at Cemex with me this morning and we finished grubbing out the top part of the reroute there, connecting with our existing treadway. Appreciate his help on a warm, muggy, buggy morning. All we have left to do there is to put in a short bridge for the mower and get the new pathway paint blazed. Moving forward! There are a couple of pics at the first link above, following the shots of yesterday's hike.

Thursday evening, July 14th, we'll be heading to Watt's Mill at Gamelands 285 to hang our "NO DUMPING" deterrent signs at the parking area, and to spend some time getting the backpacking shelter area mowed and ready for business. We'll meet at 6:00 PM at the trailhead on Watt's Mill Road and plan to stay out for a couple of hours. I'll bring the ladder, tools, signs, and hardware - bring some drinking water and your favorite bug repellent.

Saturday morning, July 16, David Wright and Jim Houk will be leading our first Wampum Chapter Monthly Hike, taking place at McConnell's Mill State Park. The plan is to meet at the parking lot on top of the hill at 9:00 AM and hike approximately five miles total - down one side of Slippery Rock Creek, cross over, and hike back up the other side. Here's a map of the park. Come on out to walk with these guys - bring a friend along! Should be a beautiful day.

Lastly, a reminder that the Wampum Chapter monthly meeting will be held at Hitos in West Pittsburg this upcoming Monday evening, July 18th, at 6:00 PM. Come on out for some North Country Trail discussion and comaradarie. If you plan to order dinner please come a bit earlier.

Hope you can make it out for some or all of these upcoming events. Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Trailwide Event Calendar
Dave Brewer
Communications Coordinator.

Two Great Hikes - One Low Price FREE!

On Monday, July 11th Dr. Ron Strickland, author of the forthcoming North Country Trail Guidebook, will be hiking our ten miles of trail around and through Wampum. We wanted to invite everyone walk with us for all or part of the day, or at least come out and meet him and welcome him to the area. This section of trail has been tagged as one of the trail's "premier segments" to be highlighted in the trail guide along with three others in PA, and it will be a great opportunity to show off all of the hard work we've done as a group to link North Dakota with New York on our National Scenic Trail. We have a lot to offer within the Wampum Chapter range in the way of the "hiking experience".

The plan is to meet at The Store in Wampum at 9:30 AM on Monday the 11th, shuttle a vehicle(s) out to the Edwards Road trailhead, then drive to Sankey Hill Road and begin walking westward through Cemex. We'll plan to have lunch at Jata's in Wampum (I'm thinking around 1:00 PM) and then resume hiking west out of town, up through Gateway, Mines and Meadows, GL148, to finish up at the Edwards Family Farm around 5:00 or so. Other than the meeting time in the morning the timing is somewhat up in the air, depending upon our hiking speed and what we stop to take a look at and investigate along the way.

Wampum Area Trail Map

Our second great hike - David Wright and Jim Houk have organized our first Wampum Chapter Monthly Hike, to be held at McConnell's Mill, on Saturday morning, July 16th. They plan to take off from the parking area at 9:00 AM and using the Slippery Rock Gorge Trail (NCT), Eckert Bridge, and the Kildoo Trail do a five mile loop down one side of Slippery Rock Creek and back up the other. That's always a beautiful, scenic hike and we're hoping to get a great turnout for it! Please plan to attend and spread the word.

Again, hikers should meet at the large parking area on top of the hill at 9:00 AM, wear appropriate footwear and dress for the weather for this "moderate difficulty" hike, and bring their own water and snacks. A vehicle will be spotted in the bridge area for those who might need a 'lift'.

Map of McConnell's Mill

Thanks to David and Jim for organizing this outing - should be a great hike!!

Buggy Day at GL285 - Plans For Trailwork 6/28

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

An excellent afternoon on the North Country Trail today as Dennis and Cathy Garrett and I had a chance to meet John Bibbee and his son Matt, who had come out to see what the trail was about out at Gamelands 285. John is a local Scout leader who is looking for ways to involve his Webelos Den in the outdoors. Coming to observe, they pitched right in on the digging that we were doing on the reroute below Indian Rock Hill and we appreciated their help on a warm and (very) buggy day. Some pictures from today start here. We also met up with one of our "regulars" - a hiker that spends a lot of time out there walking that trail with his killer dog (its actually a very nice dog). Good to know that the trail is being used and he always thanks us for the effort we put into it.

Tuesday morning's - June 28th - trailwork plan is to take off from the front of Jata's Diner in Wampum at 9:00 AM and head for the Fletcher Hill Road trialhead at Cemex to continue our work on the reroute just below the haunted house. Doug Turner and I made some good progress in starting it last Tuesday on a (very) humid morning. This one is a bit longer and more complex than the seventy-yarder we just finished near there so will take a bit more time. The end result will be great, getting the trail up out of the watercourse that has developed along the road we had originally routed on. We'll plan on spending a couple of hours out that morning - as usual I'll bring the tools. All help is appreciated! Oh, and come to Jata's earlier for breakfast if you'd like.

Thanks for all you do for the trail!
Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

June 18 - 21 Wampum Plans

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

Thought I should get the word out about trailwork and meeting plans for the next five days, but first, some good news about the trail section that runs between Tony Dytko Road and River Road out at Cemex. Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks, along with Jake Erhardt began working on clearing and temporarily flagging that logged section on Tuesday morning, and Lee and Eleanor went back out and finished it up yesterday afternoon. Hikers trying to make their way through can now find the route. Thanks to those guys for doing that! No sign of any further logging activity at this point, so maybe we're in the clear. What's left to do, for the time being at least, is chainsawing out some of the larger trail-blockers and some weedwacking and we'll plan to take a shot at that this weekend.

Here's what I have on the schedule as of right now - hope you can make it out for some or all of these sessions:

Saturday, June 18 At Tony Dytko Road, 9:00 - 11:00 AM Working with the chainsaw to remove the trailblockers on the logged section from Tony Dytko to River Road. If time (and hands) permit we'll also work on weedwacking the seasonal overgrowth along the route. Tools provided - all help appreciated.

Sunday, June 19 At Gamelands 285, Sterling Road Trailhead 4:00 - 6:00 PM Working out at Indian Rock Hill (Painter's Knob) on grubbing out the short reroute below the hill. Calling it "Best Father's Day EVER!" trailwork session. Again, tools provided - should be a great evening.

Monday, June 20 At Hitos in West Pittsburgh 6:00 PM is our monthly chapter meeting. Come a bit earlier if you plan to order dinner.

Tuesday, June 21 At Fletcher Hill Road, Cemex section 9:00 - 11:00 AM We'll start working on the next reroute below the haunted house, designed to get us up out of the water and mud along our current route. Taking of from the front of Jata's at 9:00 actually, and driving to Fletcher Hill Road. Come earlier to Jata's for breakfast if you'd like.

That's the plan - moving forward a couple of hours at a time. Again, hope to see you on the trail - thanks for all you do!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Trail Work Saturday 6/11/11

Good Morning Fellow NCTr's:

Sorry about the late notice on tomorrow's trail work - busy, busy. Planning to head to Sterling Road at Gamelands 285 tomorrow morning, Saturday the 11th at 9:00 AM to spend a couple of hours working on the trail around the Indian Rock area. We developed a nice route through there last week and we'll be working on continuing to get it pruned and grubbed out. I'll bring the tools, you should bring some drinking water. Come on out and check out this interesting area of the Gamelands.

Like last week, my plan is to stay out afterwards and do some basic trail maintenance (weedwacking and pruning) along the trail back towards Watt's Mill Road - time to finish undetermined. It shouldn't be too big of a project as that "mile and some" section usually goes pretty quickly as it is mainly through the woods. You are welcome to join me for all or part of that project as many hands make light work. Slowly but surely getting all of our off-road trail brushed back this season - that mile at GL285, about 1/2 a mile at Gateway, and a mile at Mines and Meadows and Gamelands 148 still need to be taken care of yet. Getting there, getting there.

On another note, I noticed that Moraine State Park will be one of four state parks conducting a program for kids tomorrow afternoon in conjunction with National Get Outdoors Day. Our friends at Venture Outdoors will be participating in this - more information on that program here.

Hope to see you at Sterling Road tomorrow morning. Thanks for all you do for the trail!

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator

Trailwork Tuesday 6/7/11 Fletcher Hill Rd At Cemex

Good Evening Fellow NCTr's:

Tuesday morning it is! 9:00 AM at the Fletcher Hill Road trailhead (don't park too close to the edge - yes, it was me who almost put my truck over the hill) and we'll spend some time grubbing out the short reroute below the haunted house. We did about twenty of the seventy yards last week, besides cutting our way through the underbrush, so this should be a breeze. I'll bring the digging tools - bring water to drink. When we finish up my plan is to go to River Road and walk up the trail to gauge the extent of the damage on that section, explore the possibilities, and hopefully meet up with the logging crew to find out their intentions and timetable.

Actually, I'll be leaving from the front of Jata's in Wampum at 9:00 to drive to the trailhead. Come earlier and have breakfast if you'd like.

Wanted to thank Dennis Garrett, Peter Zelinka, and Lee and Eleanor Fairbanks for coming out Saturday morning to GL285 and working to find a viable route through the Indian Rock area. I think we came up with something that will work. A couple of pics from Saturday start here.

Also, the Clarion Chapter did a National Trails Day Hike on Saturday, the writeup about it by Devin Callihan can be found here.

And lastly, the ANF Chapter hosted a NTD work weekend up near the Amsler Springs shelter area - photos can be found here.

Hope to see you Tuesday morning! Thanks for all you do for the trail.

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator
330 531-1623

Trail Work Thur 6/2 and Sat 6/4

Good Afternoon Fellow NCTr's:

The work week at the paying job is almost over and a vacation is in sight! My plan for kicking off my time away is to head out to Cemex near the haunted house on Thursday morning, June 2nd to spend a couple of hours* working on one of the reroutes we have planned there. We'll do the short, western-most one first to get up out of a swampy area. Taking off from in front of Jata's at 9:00 AM and driving to Fletcher Hill Road, walking in from that end. Come earlier to Jata's for breakfast if you'd like.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=200253697770480530268.000474202f07a35e196ca&ll=40.927619,-80.320401&spn=0.014688,0.0421&t=h&z=15

On Saturday morning, June the 4th I am heading to the Sterling Road trailhead at Gamelands 285 at 9:00 AM, planning to spend a couple of hours* working around the Indian Rock Hill area. We've determined that the sidehill off the east end of that hill is never going to meet our expectations of what the trail needs to be (it keeps on sliding down the hill) so we'll be working on an alternate idea for that area. Again, planning to be out for a couple of hours.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=200253697770480530268.0004498a6086c175b4998&ll=40.784506,-80.487556&spn=0.02944,0.0842&t=h&z=14

I'll bring the tools for both days - bring drinking water as it looks like it will be warm. Hope to see you on the trail Thursday or Saturday.

*On both of these days I plan to spend some time mowing with the DR after we are finished - Thursday at GL148 and the Edwards Farm, and on Saturday at Gamelands 285 up to Booth Hill and back. These are going to be a couple of those infamous "?" end times as I'll stay out until finished. If you'd like to stay and work with me, or come out and meet up with me somewhere along the way on these projects you're more than welcome as lopping and weedwacking help is always appreciated.

Dave Brewer
Trail Work Coordinator