MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Summer, 2017
This is my first article since you elected me as president at the annual membership meeting on March 16th. Four years ago when Jim Foster asked me if I would be willing to serve as the club’s vice president, I said I would if I do not have to be president someday. I should have known better; Thanks Jim.
I would like to thank the membership for having the confidence in my ability to carry on the good leadership we have had under Frank, Jim, and Christine before me and hope I am up to the task.
As I write this, we are approaching the period when most northbound hikers attempting a thru-hike will be passing through our section of the AT. In late March and April, my wife Cindy and I hiked the Trail from just south of our section to PenMar on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. I was surprised by the number of backpackers we met who were heading north from PenMar or Harpers Ferry, but I probably should not have been.
With the increasing popularity of distance hiking on the AT, the ATC has been encouraging flip-flop hikes to lessen the impact on the trail in Georgia. Based on our observations this spring, it appears that lots of distance hikers are embracing the flip-flop hike. For CVATC, this means that more NOBO distance hikers reach our section of the AT earlier (near the beginning of their hike rather than in the middle), so we need to keep this in mind going forward and make sure we are ready for them sooner than in the past.
CVATC—through our partnership with the ATC and National Park Service—is responsible for maintaining the trail corridor and boundary from Center Point Knob to the top of Blue Mountain. Our section is also very popular with day users, and it always will be due to the convenient access points throughout the Valley.
Cumberland County residents are truly blessed to have a national park running right through the middle of our area! With the convenient access to our section of the Trail comes a higher potential for some trail users to not be educated regarding rules that must be followed and trail etiquette in general.
Part of our responsibility as club members and ambassadors is to help educate other trail users regarding things such as Leave No Trace principles. We can all help with this in little ways when we are out there on the Trail. Of course, we are not out there to enforce the rules and principles that we take for granted, so if you see something illegal or questionable going on out there, please take the time to send us an email at cvatclub@gmail.com.
I hope by the time you read this, the rainy start to May is over.
Happy hiking!
Kevin Shannon
Summer, 2017
This is my first article since you elected me as president at the annual membership meeting on March 16th. Four years ago when Jim Foster asked me if I would be willing to serve as the club’s vice president, I said I would if I do not have to be president someday. I should have known better; Thanks Jim.
I would like to thank the membership for having the confidence in my ability to carry on the good leadership we have had under Frank, Jim, and Christine before me and hope I am up to the task.
As I write this, we are approaching the period when most northbound hikers attempting a thru-hike will be passing through our section of the AT. In late March and April, my wife Cindy and I hiked the Trail from just south of our section to PenMar on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. I was surprised by the number of backpackers we met who were heading north from PenMar or Harpers Ferry, but I probably should not have been.
With the increasing popularity of distance hiking on the AT, the ATC has been encouraging flip-flop hikes to lessen the impact on the trail in Georgia. Based on our observations this spring, it appears that lots of distance hikers are embracing the flip-flop hike. For CVATC, this means that more NOBO distance hikers reach our section of the AT earlier (near the beginning of their hike rather than in the middle), so we need to keep this in mind going forward and make sure we are ready for them sooner than in the past.
CVATC—through our partnership with the ATC and National Park Service—is responsible for maintaining the trail corridor and boundary from Center Point Knob to the top of Blue Mountain. Our section is also very popular with day users, and it always will be due to the convenient access points throughout the Valley.
Cumberland County residents are truly blessed to have a national park running right through the middle of our area! With the convenient access to our section of the Trail comes a higher potential for some trail users to not be educated regarding rules that must be followed and trail etiquette in general.
Part of our responsibility as club members and ambassadors is to help educate other trail users regarding things such as Leave No Trace principles. We can all help with this in little ways when we are out there on the Trail. Of course, we are not out there to enforce the rules and principles that we take for granted, so if you see something illegal or questionable going on out there, please take the time to send us an email at cvatclub@gmail.com.
I hope by the time you read this, the rainy start to May is over.
Happy hiking!
Kevin Shannon