Jeff Alt Speaks on Appalachian Trail

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Dale Bowman includes this note in his 30 September 2007 "Outdoor Notes" column of announcements:

"Saturday: Jeff Alt, author of Life Lessons from the Trail, book-signing and multimedia presentation on his Appalachian Trail experiences, New Lenox Public Library, 1 p.m., (815) 485-2605."

Mt. Rogers Hike Described

Brenda Cummings writes under the headline "Ponies, balds and thunderstorms are all part of a Mount Rogers hike" in the 30 September 2007 Huntsville (AL) Times about "a two-day, two-night backpack on Virginia's Mount Rogers" with some friends from northern Alabama. She offers a nice description of the area, its ponies, blueberries, and vistas. As a sad sign of the times, she found a couple ways to refer to the severe drought clutching the South these days.

Maine Caretaker Profiled

Travis Barrett has a really nice article titled "Office space" in the 29 September 2007 Kennebec Morning Sentinel. It's all about this summer's caretaker at Horns Pond in the Bigelow Preserve, Maine: Dave Collinson. Everything you always wanted to know (well, almost) about the Appalachian Trail caretakers. He started on 19 May and will work to the middle of October.

There's also a little bit of information about a thru-hiker (who must have happened by while the reporter was on site) named "Stroker" which

"is the trail name of Seth Dietrich, who, in a former life, managed a Miller Brewing Company warehouse near his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Seeking something more than the smell of stale suds and concrete floors, he sought the solitary existence the Appalachian Trail promises."

Jeff Alt Quick Profile

Andrea Reeves writes in the 27 September 2007 Cincinnati Enquirer's Community Press & Recorder under the headline "Trail brings success to Glendale author" about thru-hiker Jeff Alt, whose book about his hike "A Walk for Sunshine" is coming out in a second edition.

"Sunshine, [is] a home in Toledo where his brother with cerebral palsy lives.... [The hike] was a trek that changed the lives of Sunshine residents by inspiring a 5K walk every year that has raised more than $125,000 so far."

Lowland A.T.

Newark, New Jersey's Star-Ledger newspaper calls the East Coast Greenway "a 2950-mile lowland Appalachian Trail" in an article titled "A two-wheel path down the coast" published on or about 24 September 2007.

Newspaper in Favor of Black Nubble

An editorial in the Maine Sunday Telegram on 23 September 2007 titled "Now is the time, this is the place for wind; State regulators should consider the broader benefits of the Black Nubble proposal" speaks in favor of the Black Nubble wind farm, noting that

"A previous plan, which included turbines on the top of Redington Mountain as well as Black Nubble, was defeated by a 6-1 vote, in large part because of the visual impact that the wind farm would have on a pristine section of the Appalachian Trail.

"This proposed wind farm would also be visible from the trail and has many of the same opponents, including Maine Audubon and the Maine Appalachian Trail Club."

Seems to me that one thing clearly isn't going to happen: that power produced here will reduce any fossil fuel produced power. What will happen is that we will just end up consuming more power. It will be all the fossil fuel produced power PLUS wind produced power.

Underhill Under Fire

Kenneth Barbalace, editor of the EnvironmentalChemistry.com blog, writes under the headline "National Park Service Superintendent states 'Global Warming Irrelevant' in opposing wind farm" on 21 September 2007. He is referring to a statement apparently made by Pam Underhill in testimony before Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission about the wind farm proposal on Black Nubble Mountain.

Underhill, understandably, holds the protection of the Appalachian Trail as her first concern. It's her job to do so, after all. But Barbalace writes that "First I see this as an issue of someone from a distant state forcing her view of the way things should be on another state...."

The comments that follow up on this blog post seem to degenerate pretty quickly into ad hominem remarks. Ah, well.

Trail Protection Money in Virginia

Money has been appropriated for a number of projects in Virginia, according to the article in the Kingsport Times-News titled "Clinch Ranger District lassoes $520,000 for horse riding trail" on 22 September 2007. The projects include the following:

"•Green County, Appalachian Trail, $433,202 for High Top Mountain land acquisition."

With the explanation that

"Federal funds for the projects were provided to Virginia via the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, A Legacy for Users passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2005."

Land Protection in Maine

The Portland Press Herald staff report that the "Grafton Notch Project protects land" in the 21 September 2007 issue. The land under discussion here is 3,688 acres of land that "includes four miles of the 42-mile Grafton Loop Trail and a popular snowmobile trail, and is part of a larger initiative in the Mahoosucs region" and is "a stone’s throw* from the Mahoosuc Mile, one of the wildest stretches of the Appalachian Trail."

(*Probably a smaller stone than the ones actually in the Notch.)

AT in CT

Tim Jones writes in the Concord (NH) Monitor under the headline "The anonymous AT; Connecticut worth a visit" in the 21 September 2007 issue. He describes some dayhiking he did on the Connecticut portion of the Appalachian Trail, remarking on just how different it is from New Hampshire portions, and just how attractive it is. As he concludes,

"What I saw was just enough to get me fired up and planning to get back and really explore this beautiful countryside. Most people seem to forget that Connecticut is more than casinos and Interstate 95, and pass through on their way to somewhere else. They don't know what they are missing."

Windmill Discussions Continue

A story and a letter to the editor (in the Kennebec Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal -- both on 21 September 2007 by Valerie Tucker, and Brian T. Hanson Sr., respectively -- about the windmill farm proposal in the Maine woods. I like this sentence from Hanson's letter:

"Maybe all of you "air huggers" would rather stand along the Appalachian Trail and look out over the tall stacks of coal-fired power plants "belching" a beautiful dark cloud into the sky or, maybe the "ominous glow" of a shiny new nuclear power plant is more to your liking."

There is, of course, the solution of reducing our power consumption altogether, but it doesn't come up too pften in these discussions.

A.T. Hiker Couldn't Get Enough of Pennsylvania

Lori Van Ingen writes in the 18 September 2007 Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal about an Appalachian Trail hiker who just kept on walking.

"Jeffrey C. Brethauer of Lancaster is one of two Pennsylvania residents who have earned the State Forest Trails Award from the Keystone Trails Association and the Bureau of Forestry, a division of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

"To earn the award, a person must hike all 780 trail miles in Pennsylvania's 18 forests."

Take that, all you hikers who thought Pennsylvania was too rocky!

The article also says that Brethauer completed the Appalachian Trail in 1998.

Opposition to Maine Wind Farm Continues

An Associated Press article in the 18 September 2007 Boston Herald notes that "Wind project foes want regulatory official to step down." Among the opponents to this Black Nubble Wind Farm in Maine are "Maine Audubon, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy."

Hiking New England Encouraged

Wayne Hooper writes under the headline "Now's the time to go take a hike" in the Seacoast Online news website from New Hampshire that fall is a good time to hike in New England.

"Utilize the Appalachian Trail as it offers shelter, food, companionship and information. The trail runs from Maine to Georgia, so there is plenty to go around for all of us Maine and New Hampshire folk. The scenery along the trail in the Northeast is some of the best in the world as you can hike through the White Mountains and all the way to majestic Mount Katahdin at Baxter State Park."

He doesn't mention needing to wear orange vests. Don't they have a fall hunting season in New Hampshire?

Chris "Mowgli" Martin Thru-Hikes

The Tufts Daily newspaper has an article in its 17 September 2007 issue by Marissa Carberry titled "In Our Midst | Alone in the woods: A junior's 2,175-mile journey up the Appalachian Trail." As she explains it,

"Taking cues from his father, who hiked the Appalachian Trail while he was in college, Tufts junior Chris Martin braved bears, hunger, heat exhaustion and "foot rot" this summer to hike America's famous, 2,175 mile-long trail."

I wonder how many second generation thru-hikers there are.

Hiking under the trail name "Mowgli" he started 15 May and finished on 19 August. He went through New Hampshire with the guys ("Bandana Ben" and "Warpzilla") carrying their friend's ashes on a thru-hike.

The Business of Hiking

Lauren Ober of the Burlington (VT) Free Press writes on 17 September 2007 under the headline "Hikeu forms: Trail-guide company helps people achieve hiking goals" about the start of a trail guiding company in the Green Mountain State.

The company, named Hikeu (which rhymes with haiku), is the brainchild of two thru-hikers in the class of 2001: Brenda Kerr and Reid Hardin, along with Jonathan Ormsby (who may also be an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, though the article isn't crystal clear on that point). All three did the Pacific Crest Trail together.

"As guides, they will take customers on any hike from a quick day exploration around Stowe to a three-week through-hike on the Long Trail."

One percent of their proceeds will be donated to the Green Mountain Club.

British Newspaper Touts A.T. Holiday

The British are coming! Well, they might be, anyway. Listed as option #6 on a list of "25 great ideas for autumn getaways" in the 16 September 2007 issue of the Guardian Unlimited (right between #5 "an autumnal forest retreat at a Center Parcs village" and #7 "this year's Oktoberfest") is the following:

"Get up close to New England's autumn foliage with an eight-day trekking holiday with Footloose (0870 444 8735; footloose.com). You'll go on guided walks along mountain trails, including the famous Appalachian trail, Green Mountains, White Mountains, Acadia national park and Boston. You can also go biking, swimming and take a sunset cruise. Trips depart 22 September and 6 October and cost from £793pp, excluding flights, but including ground transport, accommodation, a tour guide, and entrance to national parks."

Sounds like a lot of traveling.

Eradicating Invasive Plants

"The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is taking part in the 14th annual National Public Lands Day on Sept. 29, the largest hands-on day for volunteers working to preserve and protect America’s lands." That's how the article headlined "Trail volunteers to join efforts to weed out invasive species" by Dale Neal in the 15 September 2007 Asheville Citizen Times begins. It describes training given to volunteers who will then be able to do something to ameliorate

"the changes wrought by invasive exotic species of plants, such as habitat destruction, global diversity loss and economic devastation."

A lot of the plants we see out along the Trail -- especially where there has been some human disturbance of the natural system -- are exotic invasives. Sometimes they're so familiar to us, we don't realize that they don't belong and have already crowded out the native plants.

The workday described in the article is in Hot Springs.

Doug "Twofer" Gibson Summits Katahdin

From the Newton (IA) Daily News of 14 September 2007 comes notice in an article by Jessica Lowe titled "Gibson returns home after completing a six-month trek across the Appalachian Trail" that, well, Doug Gibson has finished his thru-hike.

"Gibson began on Feb. 25 at Spring Mountain, Ga., and walked 2,174 miles through 14 states over six months to reach Mount Katahdin, Maine, on Aug. 22."

His trail name was "Twofer." He explains the origin of the name this way:

"'My brother asked me who are the most common people who attempt the trail. They are kids who just graduated from college and people over 50 who have retired,' Gibson said. 'My brother pointed out that I was in both groups so that’s how it came about.'"

"The 3,380-kilometre Appalachian Trail"

Paul Smaglik writes in an article titled "Hiking the ups and downs of the science trail" and published online in nature.com on 12 September 2007 (with the doi:10.1038/nj7159-253a) that

"Long-distance hiking is a lot like doing science. After leaving my post as editor of Naturejobs this spring, it took me about 1,200 kilometres, 20 thunderstorms and 12 rattlesnakes to really understand the similarities. While walking a portion of the 3,380-kilometre Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine, it seemed that there was always farther to go, with no promise of an immediate payback. Days could go by without even the reward of a scenic vista. Some days, the walking felt akin to the daily slog of accumulating data without the guarantee of a publication or a grant."

He continues in that vein. I don't think I've ever thought of the Trail in quite that same way.

"The experience gave my wife and I insights that will serve us off the trail — and that scientists may well appreciate. Both on the trail and in the lab, there are so many things that can go wrong every day that there's no point in blaming anyone: just accept the situation and get on with it."

And counting kilometers instead of miles sounds pretty impressive, too.