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O: VOLUME III Number 1 JANUARY 1983

ORGAN I ZAT IONAL

NORTH COUNTRY NATIONAL SCENICTRAIL ASSOCIATIONP.0. Box 311hlhite Cloud, Michigan 49349

President: Lamy LemanskiVice President: Virginia Wunsch Mr. Lance Feild, Ma.ineSecretary : Joyce Harl ukowi cz *****************************************Treasurer: Kenneth Gack'ler************************************ NATi0NAL ADVISgRy BSARD

THE NEWSLETTER Honorable Wm. S. CohenU.S. Senate

The corrununications median for the Washington, D.C. 205i0North Country National Scenic TrailAssociation. Mr. Robert E. Dre'is

632 Smith StreetEdi tor: John G. Hi pps , M.D.

0rchard Hill Farms

NEt^l YORK

Dr. William EhlingDr. Robert Hofer

PENNSYLVANIA

NORTH DAKOTA

PRESIDENT EMERITUS

Spooner, l.lisconsin 54301

Nati onal Park Servi ce1709 Jackson StreetOmaha, Nebraska 68L02

Honorable Gaylord Nelson1901 Pennsy'lvania Ave. NW

l,lashington, D.C. 20006

Honorable G. Wm. WhitehurstHouse of RepresentativesWashington, D.C. 20515*****************************************

NAMES & ADDRESSES OF 1983 OFFICERS

' Mr. Lawrence L. Lemansk'iP.0. Box 10i44Lans'ing , Mi chigan 48901

Ms . Vi rgi nia WunschRoute 4 2780 Mundy Ave.White Cloud, Michigan 49349

Ms. Joyce Har'lukowiczMetro Detroit CouncilAmerican Youth Hostels3024 Cool idgeBerkley, Michigan 48092

Mr. Kenneth Gackl er418 l^lest Johnson StreetCaledonia, Michigan 49316

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Mari envi l'le , PA 16239 Ms . Carolyn Hoffman(814 ) 927-6685 R. D. 4 B-ox zt7************************************ Dillsburg, pA LTOtg

NATIONAL B0ARD 0F DIRECT0RS (by State) Ur. Robert P. Martin

Dr. John HippsDr. James (Bill ) Shiner

OHIO

Dr. Richard HarveyMr. Ralph RameyMr. Robert Paton

MICHIGAN

Mr. Lawrence LemanskiMs . Vi rgi ni a WunschMr. Kenneth GacklerMs. Joyce Harlukowicz

l^lI SCONS I N

nMINNESOTA

Dr. T'imothy Knopp

THE NEWSLETTER VOLUME I I I JANUARY i983

EDITORIAL

It is the considered opinion of thiseditor at this point in time thatthe N.C.N.S.T.A. will be off andrunning very shortly. It 'is the casethat we have floundered and bobbledand babb'led considerably over thepast two years. l,lle of the board areconvinced that we have the appropriatebase now to really get th'ings ro1'l-ing. An immense amount of planning,organizing, trail' 1ay-out and main-tenance must be accompfished in thevery near future. This is a callfor your help to become a member ifyou are not already and to becomeinvolved in the essential job of mem-bership, trail 1ay-out.and trail main-tenance. I,Je have an "Adopt-A-Trai I ,,

drive going as described in BillShiner's news note. Our next driveand it s slogan 'is "Get a New Mem-ber". If each one of us wil] obtainjust one nevl member we can have sev-eral hundred by our next meeting 'inApri'l , 1983, and by 0ctober.ls mem-bership meeting we can have amember a miie and that means 3,200.************************************

Our Board of Directors meeting, Nov-ember 13 & i4 , l9BZ was handsomelyhosted by Ralph Ramey at the GlenHel en Centerin YeI l ow Spri ngs ,Ohio where Ralph is the d'irector ofthe Glen Helen Outdoor Education Cen-ter at Antioch Co11ege.

This nature preserve that serves asan environmental education center andhas a number of deljqhtful hikingtrai I s i s assoc'iated wi th Ant'i ochCollege and is in the path of theNorth Country Tra'il . It is 3,s1 .r-other of the great many excitingthings that is to be experiencedalong the North Country NationalSceni.c Trai l************************************

It was discovered during the courseof the member Board Meeting that ournews'lettq,r name is the same as thatfor the Buckeye Trai'l . It is there-fore necessary for us to come up witha new one. In the meantime, it wil'lbe known simply as "THE NEWSLETTER".This editor hereby invites aIl mem-

bers to participate in a "Name.the-l,lews-letter" contest. Please send your sug-gestions to me at the address given onthe first page.******************************************

Another discovery"of our recent Boardmeeting was to learn that peop'le whohave recently joined our organizationhave not received membersh'ip cards. Thiswill be corrected in the very near f,uturewhen Ken Gackl er obtai ns them to send outto you.****************** *:k**********************

Very Near Future

It was exciting to receive the little pack-age from Ken Gackler that included ourner membership cardlll Now we rea'l1y areback in businesslll Good job well done,Kenll: ,******************************************

Mr. Chorles Yocoobiqn, Presidentof Trai'l Foods recently offered throughLance Feild to send out our application formwith his most recent catalogue. 10,000cop'ies were provided for this purpose andhas gone into the mail in December thanksto Raloh Ramey, Buckeye State Board memberfrom Yel 'low Spri ngs , Ohi o .******************************************

THE NEWSLETTER VOLUME I I I JANUARY 1983

STATE & REGIONAL VIEWS & NEWS

OH IO

The cal I i s out to al'l omembers

of theBuckeye Trail Association by way oftheir newsletter for volunteers toparti ci pate 'i n the 1983 rvork-daysscheduled for the week-end of 0ct-ober 22 & 23, 1983. They p1 an tocomplete the North Country Tra'il fromSouth Eastern Ohio to the Penn-sy]vani a State l'ine; a di stance of60 to 70 miles. Th'is is an excel-lent chance for Trail members inPennsylvania to add to the inter-state hook up of North CountryTrail sections and a'id in the futuregrowth of the entire North Countryl{at'ional Scenic Trail . It is a goodopportunity also to cooperativelywork with established and experiencedtrai I -makers as the Buckeye Trai I canboast from way back. Ed De'laet,State-wi de Trai I Coordi nator forthe Buckeye Trail Association extendsthis call to anyone, anywhere, tra'i'lmember or not. There is no'limit tothe number of people needed so youcan be a volunteer in mission toai d i n trai 'l 'lay-out and mai ntenanceright down to the last minute. Thiscall is for those who may want towork on trail sections closer home,el sewhere i n the Buckeye State.The address 'is: Edward l,l. De]aet,State-wide Trail Coordinator, Buck-eye Trail Association, 138 BonitaDri ve , Dayton , Ohi o 45415.**********************i*************

PENNSY LVAN IA

Bi I I Shi ner i s worki ng on revi s'ionsof the Tra'i I Associ ati on Byl aws .

They will be recopied and distribut-ed pri or to our next meeti ng 'i n Apri 1 ,1983, at whi ch time they w'i1i be ad-qpted after any further changes.

Bi I I Shi ner i s al so work'i ng on ob-taining add'itional Board Members forNew York, Wisconsin, Michigan, andNorth Dakota. Any suggestions willbe welcomed at Slippery Rock StateCo1 lege, Sl ippery Rock, PA.whereBill 'is Head of the Dept. of Parks'and Recreation.

The U.S. Forest Service recently citedtwelve SRSC students for work on theNorth Country Trail within the AlleghenyNational Forest. A.R. Flechsig, DistrictRanger at Marienville cited the parks andrecreation majors for reconstruct'ion. ofa si de hi'll section of the trai'l thatwas in unsatisfactory conditjon.

The students who worked on the projectwere Chri s Ca1houn , El ai ne Schwartz ,Peggy Hill, Nancy Martin, Marie Martin,Sue Layden , Ti m Nos s , Dar^rn VanDerP'l oi g ,Linn Wasliewski, Karen Muxfeldt, SaraColeman and John Thompson. The projectwas sponsored jointly by Rho Phi Alpha(parks and recreation honorary) and theParks and Recreation Club.

The students ai"e currently looking intothe Forest Servi ce's "Adopt-A-Trai I "program which perm'its them to accept"offi ci al " responsi bi I i ti es for ma'i n-taining a part of the traii. Others 'in-terested in the "Adopt-A-Trail" proQrammay contact Mr. Flechs'ig at the Marien-vi'lle Ranger Station, Marienville, PA 16239.*********************************************

MICHIGAN

The f i rst Hostel facl 1 i t.y avai I abl e tothe users of the North Country Trai'l hasopened'its doors at Wabous Lake nearGrand Rapids. Their faci'lity is locatedright on theNorth Country Trail and isa member of the American Youth Hostels,inc. Reservations can be made from midMay to mid September at L1277 Springhi'11Drive, Greenv'ille, MI 48838, (616) 0gt-7260 and from mi d September throughApril at Box 1570, Grand Rapids, l4I 49501.

The National Headquarters Building wi1'lbe open by the time of our next board andmembershi p meeti ng i n 0ctober, 1983 'i n

what Ginny Wunsch calIs "a primitiVe. s tate " . The bui 'l di ng i s now the prooertyof the North Country National Scenic TrailAssociation and r{e owe great gratitudeand honest homaqe to Lance Fei'ld andGinny t,lunsch for obtaining and renovat'ingthe building and the site. Considerablework yet needs to be done on the bu'i'ldingso that contributions are bad'ly neededfrom those of you willing and ab'le to help

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.THE NEWSLETTER VOLUME JI I JAI'iUARY 1983

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STATE & REGIONAL VIEI^IS & NEWS

the North Country National ScenjcTrail Association in a financialway. Your contri but'ions wi I I be taxdeductahle since we are about toreceive our tax exempt number.

Congratulations are for our officersfor 1983; Larry Lemanski, President;Gi nny l^luns ch , Vi ce Pres i dent : JoyceHarlukowicz, Secretary; and KenGackler, Treasurer. Joyce Harluk-owicz 'is our most recent add'ition tothe Member Boards of the North CountryTrai I .

Gi nny l,luns ch w'i I I al so serve asTrai I Associ at'ion Hi stori an andLi brari an i n addi t'i on to the off i ceof Vice President.************************************

The next N.C.N.S.T.A. meeting will bethe weekend of April i3 & 14, 1983. Itwi I I be 'in the Al l egheny National FonestArea of Southwestern New York and North-western Pennsyl vani a . The A1 1 eghen.v lli ki ngC1ub, Finger Lakes Trail Council and thePennsylvania Section of the N.C.N.S.T.wjll host the meeting which will be co-ordi nated by Bi 1 1 Sh j ner and John H'ipps .

Detai 1s regard'ing How To 's (Get There ,Stay, To Do, etc. ) wi 1 1 be forth comi ngin the March i.ssue of the NEWSLETTER.*******************************************

HE LP.OTRAILBLAZER NEWS ITEMS

Pleose send ony items you moyof interest for future issuesThe Troilblozer to:Dr. JOHN G. HIPPS, M.D.ORCHARD HILL FARMFOREST ROADMARTENVTLLE, PA. 16239

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IHE NEh,SLETTER VOLUME II I JANUARY i983

TALL TRAIL TAILS

I :hrHOoPS : :

There'is a growing awareness in the world today that the North Country NationalScenic Trail is indeed special and unique. So many things about the trail arethe most, or the greatest, or some such superiority. It is the longest and thenewest scenic trail. it has the greatest yariety of wild life, fofiage, birds,terrain and seasons. It also has nights that are the darkest and that can meanthe toughest and scariest. And the section throuqh the Adirondackis the most ofal I that.

I experienced jt for myself one m'id July night when the moon was new. The starswere there but could not be seen under the canopy of the densely crowned decidioushardwood trees. I tried not to notice the inky blackness as I stomped steadilyforward over some wet, spongy ground.

I just kept right on walking as I noticed the spongy ground give way to a light,airy sensat'ion, then I realized I was wa1king over a deep, wide chasm from onerocky top to another. The blackness was so dense and thick i could walk on'itw'ithout fall'ing through. It was l'ike walking on a black marble floor. I beganto feel pretty omnipotent and was about to be overcome r;rith a Christ-like complex.And that's when Divine justice caught up with me. A boit of lightening exp'lodedout of the black sky above and struck the blackness in front of me. An intenselybright chink cleft open and I plunged down'into the inky abyss on what apoearedto be a 'long, steep, slippey'sliding board

An eternity of split secondS Iater I suddenly stopped with such a jolt that thesparks f'lew up from where I sat like a burst of Roman Cand'les. This under-world around me lit up a near-b'linding brightness and I realized I landed on,of al1 places, the Appalachian Trail. I was so revolted by th4s that I beganto jump up and down with righteous indignation shouting non-righteous remarksabout the ground I found myself on.

The Appalachian Trail soon revolted at this tirade and reacted by bounding me

high into the air right back up to where I started from. I was able to grabhold of the top edge of the inky b'lackness, pulled up my boot straps and walkedon trying to make like nothlng unusual happened.

I didn't fool myself, however, and wasmore chinks and clefts. That was one

to avoid lightening bolts andilluminat'ion I could do witho'''

qui ckkind of

John Hi pps

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THE NEWSLETTER JANUARY 1983

SPECIAL FEATURE

This issue's special feature is written by Lance Feild, Expert Backpacker, Auth-or and President Emeritus of the N.C.N.S.T.A. Board of Directors.

It w'ill be pubf ished in a series of threer'in successive issues of the NEI^JSLETTER.

You w'ill find'it full of useful 'informatibn on trail making so be sure.youkeep your issues for future reference.

SUGGESTIONS FOR VOLUNIEER.S I,IHO PLAN TO ESTABLISH A NEl/l

HIKING TRAIL

Lance Fe'i I d

There are certa'in steps that help make the process of establishing a new

trail a little more coherent and easier to understand. Th'is is espec'ia1]yimportant to the volunteer who so nobly gives of h'is time, energy, money andintelligence to make our American trails a worthwhile.natural resource for boththe present and posterity.

These nine steps and the b'its of wisdom associated with each should beseriously considered before tackling the long and rewarding (be it ever sotough) joO of starting 'd new hiking trail .

1. Find a sponsoring organization. Ideally, jt could be the nearest localnon-motorized outdoor club. It is best to approach a private land olvner ora public official in the name of a responsible organization. Tra'il mainten-ance responsibi'lity'is better'lodqed w'ith an organization than with an in-div'idual , who may die, move away, or otherwjse have to terminate his act-'ivities. If existing organizat'ions feel they can't take on the sponsorship,form a new group to be respons'ible for the trai'1, composed of those willingto establ'ish and maintain it. Ass'istance. for maintenance might be obta'inedfrom such bodies as school outing clubs and scout orqanizat'ions, but stateparks and forests can seldom provide such assistance, by the nature oftheir operations.

2. Do a preliminary once-over of the area to ascertain where the best route andalternate routes wou'ld 1ie, (not cons'iderations under point 5 below). Do

no trai I cutti ng or marki ng now, exceptposs'ib'ly for di screte f l aggi ng (orangesurveyor's ribbon). If there'is any question as to whether you are.per-m'itted to walk in the area, check with the appropriate land owner(s) orI and manag'i ng agenc j es .

3. Identify the owners of the land along the best route and the'ideal alter-nate routes. Consult the loca'l tax assessor's property'line maps and relatethem to the proposed routes wh'ich you should draw on the pert'inent U.S.Geo'logical Survey map. 0ther aids are to read the names on "no trespass'ing"s'igns and to consult loca'l surveyors and residents. Consulting deeds ands'imilar land records is tedious, not too rewarding and extremely time-consumi ng .

-To Be Continued-

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