ATN July-August 2001 - Appalachian Trail Conservancy

32 Pages·2002·1.31 MB·English

JULY–AUGUST 2001
ATN
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS
2 JULY–AUGUST 2001
JULY–AUGUST 2001
ATN
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS
APPALACHIANTRAIL
MAINETOGEORGIA
ON THE COVER
Scenes from near Shippensburg—(top to
bottom) Ed Garvey Shelter in Maryland
(photo: Robert Rubin); fields near Boiling
Springs, Pennsylvania (photo: Thomas
Scully); Susquehanna River near Duncannon,
Pennsylvania (photo: V. Collins Chew).
Inside: Saddleback Mountain Trail, Sandy
River Plantation, Maine (photo: J. Andrew
Walsh).
VIEWPOINTS
SHELTER REGISTER ♦ LETTERS 4
FROM THE CHAIR ♦ DAVID B. FIELD 5
REFLECTIONS: HARD WEATHER 24
MINISTRY OF FUNNY WALKS ♦ FELIX J.
MCGILICUDDY 31
WHITE BLAZES
PAPER TRAIL ♦ NEWS FROM HARPERS FERRY 7
SIDEHILL ♦ NEWS FROM CLUBS AND
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 12
TREELINE ♦ NEWS FROM ALONG THE
APPALACHIAN TRAIL 16
BLUE BLAZES
SHARING THE TRAIL ♦ HUMANS AREN’T THE
ONLY ONES WHO FOLLOW THE APPALACHIAN
TRAIL ♦ CHRISTINE WOODSIDE 18
HIKER BREAD FOR BEGINNERS
♦ FRED FIRMAN 21
TREADWAY
MEMORIAL GIFTS 27
TRAIL GIVING 28
NOTABLE GIFTS 29
PUBLIC NOTICES 30
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 3
S R
HELTER EGISTER
Letters from our readers
Appalachian Trailway
News Blisters layers of your skin. As a further preven-
T
he article of March/April 2001, “Aye, tion, you can use moleskin in blister-
VOLUME 62, NUMBER 3 • JULY–AUGUST 2001
There’s the Rub,” by Dr. Paul Gill, and prone areas before a blister forms. Finally,
Appalachian Trailway News is published by the Appalachian
Trail Conference, a nonprofit educational organization repre- the May/June 2001 Shelter Register using a drying foot powder between the
senting the citizen interest in the Appalachian Trail and dedi-
cated to the preservation, maintenance, and enjoyment of the letter, “Blisters,” by Brian Booth, both two pairs of socks will help them slide
Appalachian trailway. Since 1925, the Appalachian Trail Confer-
ence and its member clubs have conceived, built, and main- have their merits but do need a comment over each other in an easier fashion, elimi-
tained the Appalachian Trail in cooperation with federal and or two. nating the friction on your heel.
state agencies. The Conference also publishes guidebooks and
other educational literature about the Trail, the trailway, and its The only good blister is the one you Heed what I say, and say good-bye to
facilities. Annual individual membership in the Appalachian
Trail Conference is $30; life membership, $600; corporate mem- failed to get or left back home. Once I blisters!
bership, $500 minimum annual contribution.
learned the secret of blister prevention A. Ted Hill, Jr., M. D.
Volunteer and freelance contributions are welcome. Please in-
clude a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your submission. twenty-five years ago, I have never had Asheville, N.C.
Observations, conclusions, opinions, and product endorsements
another.
expressed in Appalachian Trailway News are those of the au-
thors and do not necessarily reflect those of members of the The cause of a blister, usually on the ♦
Board or staff of the Appalachian Trail Conference.
B
heel, is no mystery—it comes from fric- lister articles over many decades have
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
tion. No friction, no blister. It is friction omitted something important. Every-
Brian B. King
that causes a blister on your noncallused one agrees blisters are uncomfortable and
EDITOR
hands in the spring when you first use a can lead to really serious conditions if not
Robert A. Rubin
shovel or hoe. Friction will rub a blister appropriately cared for. Properly fitting
BOARD OF MANAGERS
on your palm or the surface of a finger in and broken-in boots are always the first
Chair
no time. A good work glove will spare and essential requirement. Hot spots that
David B. Field
Vice Chairs your palm or finger by having the friction preview blisters receive their share of
Brian T. Fitzgerald Thyra C. Sperry occur between your glove and the tool commentary. And, articles such as the
James Hutchings
handle and not between your skin and the one in the March–April issue discuss
Treasurer
tool handle. The mechanism is the same what to do with blisters after they have
Kennard R. Honick
for the heel blister; only the location and reached maturity—the discussion of
Secretary
Marianne J. Skeen the tool are different. which elicited a letter in the May–June
Assistant Secretary As you walk, friction is generated by issue. The latter actually touches on boot
Arthur P. Foley
the back of the boot, the tool, making comfort, both “tightness” and “loose-
New England Region
your sock slide up and down on your heel. ness” (two pairs of socks are usually rec-
Stephen L. Crowe Carl Demrow
John M. Morgan Andrew L. Peterson The friction on the heel causes the more ommended). But, nowhere does anyone
Ann H. Sherwood Steven Smith superficial layers of the skin to separate write about sock thickness and how
Mid-Atlantic Region from the deeper layers; now there is a po- thickness relates to how the foot can (and
Walter E. Daniels Charles A. Graf
Sandra Marra Eric C. Olson tential space between the two separated almost always does—read “must”) change
Glenn Scherer William Steinmetz layers. The sterile inflammation caused as the day passes and the weeks roll by.
Southern Region by the friction results in the formation of Feet get hot and frequently swell with
Bob Almand Theresa A. Duffey
blister fluid or serum between the two the passing hours, so hikers are advised
Michael C. McCormack
William S. Rogers Vaughn H. Thomas separated layers. This creates what we all
James M. Whitney, Jr. recognize as a depressing blister that may
Members at Large
ruin our trip. Remove the friction, and Letters
Al Sochard Dawson Winch
there is no blister.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The start of any heel-blister prevention Appalachian Trailway News
David N. Startzell
program is the acquisition of a pair of
welcomes your comments. Letters
World Wide Web: www.appalachiantrail.org
modern, well-fitting, well-broken-in
may be edited for clarity and length.
boots—those with a softer, more cush-
Appalachian Trailway News (ISSN 0003-6641) is published bimonthly,
except for January/February, for $15 a year by the Appalachian Trail ioned lining, rather than a pair of stiff Please send them to:
Conference, 799 Washington Street, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425, (304)
Letters to the Editor
535-6331. Bulk-rate postage paid at Harpers Ferry, WV, and other of- leather boots with no lining. The next
fices. Postmaster: Send change-of-address Form 3597 to Appalachian Appalachian Trailway News
Trailway News, P.O. Box 807, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. thing is to wear a pair of tight-fitting hose
Copyright © 2001, The Appalachian Trail Conference. All rights P.O. Box 807
reserved. made of a synthetic material. Over these
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-0807
socks wear your thicker, cushier socks.
E-mail: <[email protected]>
Now, any friction that occurs is between
the two pairs of socks, not between the
4 JULY–AUGUST 2001
From the Chair
David B. Field
T
to change their socks in the afternoon. his is my last opportunity to speak to the full membership of the Appala-
But, what about putting on a different chian Trail Conference as its chair. Allow me to say, at the outset, what
combination—say, going from thick to a privilege it has been to have had the opportunity to serve such a singu-
medium-weight, or medium to light? lar mission as caring for the Appalachian Trail. In this final essay, I want
And, as the weeks go by and miles pass to focus on what has long been called the “soul” of the Trail, “the living
underfoot, what happens to feet? Don’t stewardship of the volunteers and workers of the Appalachian Trail community.”
they change? Don’t soles thicken, and At Conference ’95, after the Board election, individuals approached me with a
muscles strengthen and enlarge? It seems concern over relationships between the Trail-maintaining clubs and the Confer-
obvious that they must, just as waistlines ence—both the staff and the Board. A memorandum of understanding between ATC
shrink and belts need tightening. and the clubs was my first formal attempt to improve communications, but much
Hikers should listen to their feet. If remains to be done. My twenty-two-year tenure on the Board has seen an expansion
they hear complaints, the easiest thing to of the ATC’s professional staff from nearly zero to more than forty-five. I’ve been
do is to change, not just to dry socks, both excited and occasionally dismayed by this evolution, but am also able to place
but to a thinner or thicker combination it in the context of events that have overtaken
that will alleviate either looseness or The soul the Trail since 1979. Although the National Trails
tightness. In this way, blisters may be System Act was passed in 1968, it was not until
avoided. Certainly, greater comfort will 1978 that the National Park Service became seri-
be achieved. of the Trail ous about protecting the Trail. The 1984 delegation
Richard Grunebaum agreement—returning most Trail responsibilities
New York, N.Y. to ATC—was an extraordinary expression of
agency confidence in volunteer abilities that has
Hiker museum yet to be completely justified. Expansion of the ATC staff has been a natural reac-
T
he museum of the A.T. is, indeed, long tion to the complex partnerships that have grown far beyond the traditional
overdue. Not only have many of the relationships between ATC and Trail-maintaining clubs and the challenges of pub-
older generation passed on, but those still lic land stewardship and management standards that go far beyond the requirements
with us have, in some cases, been forced of simpler times. Change is seldom welcome. The change in the Trail community
to discard their old equipment, for one has been profound. We all face the challenge of nurturing the soul of the Trail in the
reason or another. I know of several such face of that change.
cases. I’m one myself. In 1995, the Board of Managers adopted a policy on managing the Appalachian
While I’ve never hiked the entire A.T., Trail for a primitive experience. The policy offers five questions that Trail managers
I did own gear of the type used in former can use to test a management action against the goal of retaining the Trail’s primi-
years by those who did. I know several tive character:
persons who died in the last few decades 1. Will this action or program protect the A.T.?
who owned, at the time of their deaths, a 2. Can this be done in a less obtrusive manner?
good amount of hiking gear of the type 3. Does this action unnecessarily sacrifice aspects of the Trail that provide soli-
used circa 1920–1940. One item was a tude or that challenge hikers’ skills or stamina?
David T. Abercrombie mountain tent, a 4. Could this action, either by itself or in concert with other actions, result in an
popular trail tent of the day. It weighed inappropriate diminution of the primitive quality of the Trail?
less than four pounds. I’m sure some 5. Will this action help to ensure that future generations of hikers will be able to
items of interest to the museum are out enjoy a primitive recreational experience on the A.T.?
there somewhere. Those five questions challenge Trail managers to carefully consider actions that
As for the museum’s location, Harpers might threaten the Trail experience. But, what of threats to the managers them-
Ferry? Perhaps, but I’d strongly urge that selves? I have asked the staff to apply this test to their planning and daily work:
serious consideration be given to the area “Would this action, policy, or staff posture work to support and enhance volunteerism
around New York City. People from all or to discourage, even replace it?” I have asked them, especially, to consider how
over the world land at the airports in the ATC’s efforts can create an environment within which volunteers can achieve their
vicinity. Some of them are hikers. Also, highest potentials and to avoid reducing volunteer motivation by doing things that
much of the pioneer Trail-building work can perfectly well be done by volunteers, even if it takes a little longer. Similarly, I
was done in the area, and many of the el- challenge volunteers to carefully distinguish between tasks that are best left to
ders of the tribe made the city or its professionals and those that are suited to volunteer accomplishment. Collectively,
Continued on next page
Continued on next page
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 5
Shelter Register
Continued from previous page
more than we need to
environs their home. And, lastly, the first for pleasure or so we
section of the A.T. was laid out and blazed don’t have to live near
north of the city in Harriman State Park. our work. We live in
Some years ago, around 1965, while I was houses bigger than
doing Trail work on that original section, we need to, in order
I scraped down a white A.T. blaze with to show off or limit
my hunting knife to smooth the surface. interaction with our
In doing so, I uncovered yellow paint— families. We overheat
the first official color used to mark the and overcool those
Trail. Even then, it had been long discon- houses. We destroy
tinued. I never after uncovered another habitat to create farms
such marking. and drain aquifers to ir-
Robert Schulz rigate them and dam
Richmond Hill, N.Y. rivers for the power to
run them, so we can
Trekking poles
have a wide variety of
T
he argument against trekking poles produce without regard
reminds me of the argument against to where we live or the
lug-soled hiking boots of a few years back. growing season of those
Does anyone now not wear lug soles? fruits and vegetables.
We need a little perspective. An ATN And, I don’t object
reader complains about the scars trekking to any of it. In fact, I
poles leave on rocks. What about the scar participate in all of it.
of 2,100-plus miles the Appalachian Trail What I object to is the
leaves on the Earth? self-righteous hypoc-
We all advocate the Leave No Trace risy.
ethic, but we buy high-tech gear made By the way, I hike
in countries with environmental policies with a walking staff I
that make clear-cutting look low-impact. made myself, tipped with a bit of tire. Gene Espy?
We drive cars bigger than they need to Sky Cole As you can see, it has taken me a long
be, because they’re convenient. We drive Ridgefield, Conn. time to respond to Eugene Espy’s let-
ter in the September 1998 ATN. It took
me a long time to find the picture above.
From the Chair . . .
Is the man in the middle Mr. Espy during
his 1951 thru-hike?
Continued from previous page
In September of 1951, Dave Wallace
the Appalachian Trail Conference staff represents the greatest repository of knowl- and I decided to climb Mt. Washington
edge in the United States, if not the world, on how professionals can work effectively before the start of our senior year at the
with volunteer trail stewards. I’m confident that the staff will continue to use that University of Rochester. We started at
knowledge for the good of the Trail. The task for volunteers will be to leverage that Crawford Notch and climbed part way up
knowledge, through volunteerism, to greatest advantage. to the first shelter and stayed the night.
The goals will not always be clear or easy to reach, but the target will still be We then climbed to the top and started
important. In forestry, we work toward a “target forest” (now popularly known as a down the Great Gorge Trail. We lost track
“desired future condition”), knowing that we will never achieve that goal. Forests of the cairns, so we stopped and rolled out
are simply too dynamic, and the future remains as uncertain as ever. The Appala- our sleeping bags. Next morning, we went
chian Trail, its users, and its stewards are also dynamic, as are the natural and straight up, found the auto road, and
human-caused events that surround the Trail and its people. Your goal, and that of walked to the top. That was when we saw
the staff, should be to continue to work towards a cooperative, mutually supportive this bearded gentleman, and people were
management system that is robust enough to weather the unknown and to bridge saying he was a thru-hiker.
the occasional frictions to which human relationships are inevitably prone. All of C. Diehl Ott
us will learn as we go along and adjust accordingly. Bedford, N.H.
For all of you, as for me, the Appalachian Trail has been a long journey—and Editor’s Note: Gene Espy reported hiking
none of us wants it to end. ♦ through the Presidential Range on Sep-
tember 8 and 9 of 1951. ♦
6 JULY–AUGUST 2001
P T
APER RAIL
News from Harpers Ferry
Rejected SUV marketing
project spurs debate
A
decision in late March to bottled water, books, and other
pull out of a deal to link merchandise in exchange for
the Appalachian Trail corporate donations. Execu-
Conference’s name with a tive Director Dave Startzell
two-month sport-utility- explained that Conference
vehicle (SUV) marketing cam- staff members had taken the
paign prompted the ATC proposal to the Board’s execu-
Board of Managers to debate tive and internal review
Area of the Appalachian Trail near Bland, Virginia, where
proposed line will cross. (Map: National Park Service) whether there should be a “lit- committees, which is beyond
mus test” when organizations the established procedure. The
and corporations offer to do- committees gave it a green
AEP power line approved
nate money in exchange for light.
recognition. As Trail-maintaining clubs
The Board left the current were asked by ATC to join it
for southwest Virginia
process in place, but members at the in-town events and be
debated the issue—and the associated with a sport-utility
question of how involved the vehicle, several of them ob-
A
controversial high-volt- area near McAfee Knob and Board should be in deciding jected and refused to par-
age electrical transmis- Sinking Creek Valley, in the specific cases—for nearly an ticipate. A flurry of impas-
sion line across south- Jefferson National Forest. hour at its spring meeting in sioned e-mails and phone calls
west Virginia was given the go- ATC, the Roanoke A.T. Club, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, among Board members led
ahead May 31 by an important and other Trail groups had op- April 29-30. ATC Chair Dave Field to ask
state regulatory board. The posed that route. The debate came only Startzell to withdraw from the
line will cross the Appalachian The approved “I-77 Route,” weeks after the Conference project before it caused further
Trail but will follow a route as Trail supporters call it, backed out of a $50,000 offer dissension on the Board.
that Trail supporters contend will begin in Wyoming County, by a marketing firm promot- “I would much rather not
will cause minimal disruption West Virginia, crossing into ing a new Chevrolet SUV have been in the position of
to scenic areas along the cor- Virginia near Tazewell. It model, the Trail Blazer. The having to make a decision on
ridor. will extend across fifty-seven firm would have publicized this,” Field told the Board in
The Virginia State Corpo- miles in Virginia through the Conference and its Trail- April. “I asked him to with-
ration Commission (SCC) Tazewell, Bland, and Wythe maintaining clubs in con- draw from it not as a judgment
approved construction of counties, ending at Jacksons nection with media events on the merits or lack of mer-
American Electric Power’s Ferry, south of Pulaski, Vir- promoting the vehicle near its of the deal. My concern was
765,000-volt transmission line ginia. the Appalachian Trail in the the health of the Board of Man-
along the so-called “Wyo- The line still faces oppo- mid-Atlantic sates and New agers and what the effect of
ming–Jacksons Ferry Route,” sition from citizens groups England. After ATC withdrew, intense dissent might be.”
which would cross the A.T. that have vowed to appeal the Chevrolet events took “We need some kind of two-
near Bland, Virginia, where the the SCC decision. Eleven place as scheduled, but with- way communication, so the
Trail bridges Interstate 77. miles that pass through the out any mention of the Con- Board’s committees can get
The approved route will be Jefferson National Forest ference and clubs or a dona- input from the clubs,” argued
substituted for a route origi- must be approved by the tion. Glenn Scherer, one of the
nally favored by the power USDA Forest Service and In the past, ATC has selec- Board members who had op-
company that would have tively licensed its name and/
crossed the Trail in a scenic Continued on page 27 or logo to companies selling Continued on next page
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 7
Paper Trail
SUV project spurs debate…
ference said that his club’s to clubs that, given our
decision to oppose the deal, substantial federal funding
Continued from previous page
after it was announced, and the requirements that
posed ATC’s association with sources, including the Play- might have turned out differ- entails, it’s important to
a class of vehicles that has boy Foundation. “I don’t ently if there had been more maintain a diversity of fund-
been linked to air-pollution mean to imply that the end information and more time ing sources.”
problems. always justifies the means, to consider it. “We were Startzell said that oppor-
“There’s a lot to be said for but there’s something to be shocked getting this news tunities such as the Chev-
working with clubs and com- said for taking pleasure in without any background in- rolet project often require
munities and getting the taking that money and doing formation,” Chazin said. fast action, which is why
clubs to ‘buy in’ on projects something positive with it. “The other thing said was they go to committees rather
like this,” Board member We’re sometimes going to that, if ATC’s getting than the full Board of Man-
Carl Demrow said. “But, I have strange bedfellows $50,000, what do we get out agers, which meets twice a
don’t think we need any when it comes to raising of it? If you expect active year. One of the lessons ATC
more litmus tests. I’m disap- money for the Conference.” participation from clubs, you learned from the aborted
pointed that we pulled out of “I’m happy with the deci- need full disclosure about project, he said, is that many
the deal. I put my trust in the sion that was made to back what the quid pro quo is.” members of Trail-maintain-
professional staff, the execu- away,” Board member “ATC’s budget has liter- ing clubs don’t clearly
tive committee, and the Steven Smith said. “I didn’t ally hundreds of thousands understand how the Confer-
internal review committee.” like the association with the of dollars going into club ence works, how it is funded,
“I would also be reticent SUV. I’m okay with having programs and into Trail and why fund-raising devices
to add further litmus tests,” Chevrolet as a contributor, clubs, not to mention the such as the Chevrolet ar-
Board member Sandy Marra but I’m not okay with put- work of ATC’s regional rep- rangement are important to
said. She described how ting our logo on their mar- resentatives,” responded Bob ATC’s ability to support club
women’s advocacy organiza- keting projects.” Proudman, the Conference’s maintenance activities and
tions she’d worked with Daniel Chazin of the New director of Trail manage- other Trail programs. ♦
had raised funds from many York–New Jersey Trail Con- ment programs. “I’ve argued
ATC signs letter from hiker coalition lobbying against air pollution
T
he Appalachian Trail Conference has added its name to a ever they undertake a major overhaul of a generating unit,”
coalition of hiking and conservation organizations peti- the letter said. Plants have been evading this requirement,
tioning federal officials to toughen the federal Clean Air Act, the letter argued, leading to increases in asthma and emphy-
Executive Director Dave Startzell announced in June. sema incidence rates, increased haze, acidified lakes and
Startzell said that ATC had signed a letter sponsored by streams, damaged mountain forests, and soils that have been
the coalition, Hikers for Clean Air, to EPA Administrator chemically altered.
Christine Todd Whitman, urging tough enforcement of ex- “Many utilities have made major modifications to
isting standards affecting power-generating plants and ‘grandfathered’ generating facilities that resulted in increased
requesting her help in arranging a meeting with White House generating capacity and higher levels of nitrogen oxides and
officials. sulfur dioxide emissions,” the letter said. “It is inaccurate
The letter noted that the organizations represent 200,000 and disingenuous for power-plant operators to characterize
hikers who use the mountains of the eastern United States these upgrades as ‘routine maintenance’ measures.”
for recreation and enjoyment and asks Whitman to “correct Assertions by the coal lobby that the regulations harm
violations of the federal Clean Air Act’s New Source Review the nation’s energy supply are false, the letter said. “Indeed,
(NSR) requirements applicable to electric power generating three utilities have signed tentative or final settlement agree-
plants.” Those requirements, it said, could force reductions ments that will result in deep pollution reductions without
in air pollution that harm human communities, aquatic life, creating a shortage of electric power supply.”
and forest ecosystems in the Appalachians, Hudson High- Abandoning the rules and existing enforcement actions
lands, Catskills, Adirondacks, and White Mountains. would send a message “that environmental laws may be sub-
The “New Source Review” requirements, which coal and verted and that vitally necessary measures to improve public
energy lobbyists want revoked, “simply require power plant health, air and water quality will be sacrificed to political
owners to upgrade their air pollution-control measures when- expediency,” the letter said. ♦
8 JULY–AUGUST 2001
Paper Trail
“I just loved the woods”
An interview with outgoing ATC Chair Dave Field
EDITOR’S NOTE: Even before he
was elected ATC chair in
1995, David B. Field has been
one of the Trail’s most active
and articulate advocates.
Brian Fitzgerald of Vermont
has been nominated to suc-
ceed him as chair at this
summer’s biennial confer-
ence. As Field’s third term
comes to an end, Appalachian
Trailway News asked him to
look back on his many years
of volunteer work with the
Trail project and to talk a little
bit about the changes he’d
seen—both in the project and
in his own thinking about it.
ATN: Do you remember the
Dave Field (center) in November 2000 with ATC Treasurer Ken Honick (left) and Brian Fitzgerald
day that you first discovered (right), nominated to succeed Field as chair of the Appalachian Trail Conference.
the Appalachian Trail?
Field: Distinctly! It was spring how we joked about you could barely find any Field: We’d never heard of the
of 1955, and my older whether we could hike six blazes. At one point, we Appalachian Trail Confer-
brother had been talking miles in a day. It took us two came to the edge of a cliff ence or of the Maine Appa-
with a group of us who days! We’d never done any with no idea of where the lachian Trail Club. At the
palled around together in serious backpacking, and Trail was and started down campsite, there was a brass
those days. We were inter- we’d packed outrageously, in the fog, unable to see any- canister in which registers
ested in topographic maps, carrying stuff that was un- thing. We decided to come were kept, so we wrote in
and he had seen a topo map believable—one guy packed back up, which was a good the register and said what
near our town that showed a bugle, I think, and some- thing, because it was a sixty- we were doing. We kept
the Appalachian Trail and one brought a dozen fresh foot drop. The reaction of coming back—one day we
suggested that we go there eggs, which someone else the group to all this was that took down 250 blowdowns.
for a hike. promptly sat on. But, what somebody really ought to With every trip we made out
ATN: What did you find when we had not counted on at all clear that trail. So, we went there, as we did more work,
you got there? was that this range was dev- home for axes, crosscut we wrote it down and put it
Field: Ah, that’s where it all astated by Hurricane Carol saws, and whatever tools we in the canister. By and by,
started. You see, we chose to in 1954—the eye had gone could get, then hauled them my brother got a letter from
hike a side trail of the A.T., right through the center of up the mountain and tried the Trail overseer for the
the Bigelow Range Trail, in Maine and blown the top of to clear trail. section, saying, “Would you
the Bigelow Range in Maine. the mountain flat. We found like to join the Maine A.T
It was six miles long and led ourselves crawling under- ATN: You did this without Club?”
over the range to Horns neath big piles of blow- asking permission? ATN: So, which came first,
Pond. I distinctly remember downs along a Trail where your love of trails and hik-
APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY NEWS 9
Paper Trail
ing or your interest in for- still heavily involved on the tween Trail maintainers and a dramatically different situ-
estry, which became your Board and in the Conference officers of the club. I held ation than, say, the Georgia
profession? today. But, now they’ve been that position for about ten A.T. Club, or the Nantahala
Field: It’s a chicken-egg prob- joined by more people from years, and that’s when I be- club, which work so closely
lem—I just loved the woods, an urban or suburban back- came part of the organiza- with the Forest Service that,
and I think they go hand in ground. Where you see the tion. After that, I was presi- in times past, it sometimes
hand. I was thinking of a biggest difference in their dent of the club for ten years seemed as if they needed
woods-related career any- backgrounds is in their atti- and was elected to the ATC permission just to paint
way, and my dad was in sev- tudes toward certain poli- board in 1979; I then served blazes.
eral businesses involving cies. Those whose back- as secretary for ten years and ATN: Has that attitude
the forest. My first forestry ground had less of a connec- vice chair for New England changed?
job was in the White Moun- tion with the land tend to for two years before being Field: I hope so. One of the real
tain National Forest, where favor stricter preservation. elected chair in 1995. catalysts was the 1984
I ran a ridgerunner program: Those, like myself, whose ATN: What were some of the delegation agreement. In
One day I’d be marking tim- background is closer to the projects you worked on? Maine, we were suddenly
ber, the next dealing with land are more likely to think Field: I think the real contri- dealing with National Park
ridgerunners, and on an- about it in terms of multiple bution I made to the Trail Service and state land, and
other day I’d be pulling bod- compatible uses. was in the club’s work on re- all of a sudden we had to
ies off Mt. Washington. ATN: Has the way that you locating 180 miles in Maine. answer to somebody. It laid
ATN: Do you think it’s still look at the Trail and the role I designed a lot of that and down the force and author-
possible for someone to fall of clubs changed over the helped establish most of the ity of the Code of Federal
in love with the woods in years? Trail corridor in Maine. All Regulations on what we
the way that you did? Field: Indeed it has. It has of that stuff confronted me were doing. We had no ex-
Field: It’s still possible—and evolved slowly, though. The with the need to think about perience with that. Even for
likely—although I think biggest transition was evolv- things other than my first the clubs in the South, the
that now people come to the ing from a near-anarchist as love—Trail maintenance. 1984 agreement made a
Trail from many different far as Trail policies are con- Clearly, as I became more big difference in how they
involved with ATC, more worked with the parks and
than with the Maine A.T. national forests. That’s still
I think of the long-distance European hiking
Club, it faced me with the evolving today. The parks
trails as the A.T.’s only counterparts, because
necessity of being concerned are sort of sovereign, espe-
of the geographical and the jurisdictional about Trailwide policy, cially the older parks, and
complexities. It’s one of the most fascinating turning my focus away the rules and regulations
parts of the whole enterprise. from Maine and toward the governing the clubs in those
things that are common to parks are different. There’s
all clubs, from the Georgia now a continuing effort to
backgrounds. Hunting, fish- cerned to more of a “team A.T. Club to the Maine A.T. get the agencies—from the
ing, and the woods are still player.” There’s an attitude Club. And, I became aware Chattahoochee National
a part of the living environ- in Maine that favors inde- of the things that were very Forest to the White Moun-
ment that I experienced pendence, being left alone, different. Like most Trail- tain National Forest to
growing up, and it’s cer- being allowed to be creative, club presidents, we mostly the various national park
tainly possible there. And and not following the tried to figure out how to units—to behave and to po-
then you have people whose manual so much. That was keep the ATC off our backs. sition themselves toward
parents sent them to a youth me, and I was simply a Trail I had no appreciation until I the A.T. with a little more
camp in the Maine woods, maintainer until 1968, re- got involved with the Board consistency. It’s a fascinat-
or professional forestry sponsible for the same sec- of how different the environ- ing project. There’s nothing
graduates who’ve come to tion of Trail that I maintain ment is for the different like it in the world. I think
the Trail from that direc- today. clubs. In Maine, we never of the long-distance Euro-
tion—I’ve had a number of ATN: That’s when you first had any involvement with pean hiking trails as the
my forestry students who’ve became involved with other the Forest Service and A.T.’s only counterparts,
gone out and hiked the club activities? the National Park Service. because of the geographical
whole Trail. It’s interesting Field: That’s when I agreed to There is no national forest and the jurisdictional com-
that resource professionals become the club’s overseer in Maine crossed by the plexities. It’s one of the
were heavily involved in the for western Maine, which Trail and no national park most fascinating parts of the
founding of the Trail and are meant acting as liaison be- crossed by the Trail. This is whole enterprise.
10 JULY–AUGUST 2001