Autumn 2011

The Susquehannock Club’s ANNUAL WILD GAME/HARVEST DINNER Saturday, October 8, 2011 @ 6:00 PM Gold Community Church Route 449 Genesee, PA 16923

This covered dish dinner is always a great feast and one we look forward to each year. Fare consists of delicious recipes made from wild game and plants harvested from the great outdoors, as well as a few dishes made from prepackaged foods. There will be main dishes and desserts, wild and domestic meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, pie and cakes. There is always a great variety for all to enjoy.

This year, club member Randy Cimeno will be sharing his trail stories from how he began hiking on a whim when invisted by a college buddy, to his adventures hiking the Applachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, as well as regional around the US and abroad.

We hope to see you there!

STC 2011 Camporee The Annual STC Camporee was held July 16 - 18, 2011 at Inside this Issue . Nine members of the club participated. Joe and Barbara Allis joined Wanda Shirk and George Petrisek Friday STC 2011 Camporee ...... 1 morning to do volunteer work in the park under the direction of park .Susquehannock State Forest District personnel, in return for free camping for the STC. Overhead limbs were Annual Public Tour ...... 2 trimmed along park trails and educational signboards were given a Susquehannock State Forest District scrubbing. A Friday night campfire was highlighted with the tales of the Annual Public Tour ...... 2 Alaska trip Joe and Barbara had just returned from three days previously. STS Circuit Hiker Award ...... 2 Saturday morning found the two camping couples joined by Curt & Memberhsip Renewal Time ...... 2 Penny Weinhold and John & Jerri Smeigh. Wanda, Joe and Barbara Map & Compasss Workshop ...... 3 headed out for an 8 mile hike on the Quehanna Trail and the Trail Guide Tidbits ...... 3 Sinnemahoning Road Trail in , starting on Wykoff Run. Curt, Penny and George explored various trails in Sinnemahoning State Big Tree Tour of Potter County...... 4 Park and the Smeighs headed off for the Brooks Run Area of the Finding the Great Rhododendron ....5 Bucktail Trail. Long Hollow Trail Upgrade ...... 6 On Saturday evening, Wayne Baumann joined the group for a delicious Prince Edward Island ...... 7 dinner and STC meeting, held in the park pavilion. A presentation on STC Government ...... 8 migratory songbirds by the park naturalist in the amphitheater was Notes from the wild ...... 8 followed by mountain pies made over the campfire by Joe Allis

.Susquehannock State Forest District and mandates of the Bureau of Forestry’s timber management program, and pointed out specific Annual Public Tour examples of how the district is attempting to achieve By Tom Fitzgerald those objectives. The tour this year was held on May 1, 2011, and A field lunch of sandwiches and salads was provided focused on the Bark Shanty division of the by the forest district. Unfortunately, the cold rain Susquehannock State Forest. Several members of induced most of the group to eat lunch on the bus. the Susquehannock Trail Club attended plus a number of folks from the North Central Forest The final stop on the tour was a large wildlife Landowners Association and a few interested opening established by the Game members of the public. About 23 persons in all Commission in the 1950’s. In the early 1970’s, the attended the tour. site was turned back to the forest district for management. The National Wild Turkey Federation The first stop was the private Tree Farm and provided grant money for improvements to the site Stewardship Forest of Allen McCullough in Odin which included herbaceous food crops and ever- Hollow. Service Forester Stan Hess introduced Mr. green shrubs for cover. STC member Paul Lilja, McCullough, now in his mid 80’s, who has owned who is a retired staff forester from the Susquehan- the property since about 1960. He practices nock District, had once been in charge of managing intensive silviculture with special emphasis on the the opening. Paul was present, and reviewed the management of black cherry. Deer browsing has history of the wildlife opening and described the been a continuing impediment to regenerating his various enhancements carried out over the last half forest, and he has had to fence in large areas to century to make the site attractive to wildlife. exclude deer until the new seedlings grow too tall for the deer to reach their tops. The effort has paid off, he said, for revenue from timber sales has exceeded the expenses incurred with no degradation of the STS Circuit Hiker Award forest. The condition of his forest is better than it Congratulations to the following for completing the was when he bought the property, or would have circuit, and in turn earning the Circuit Hiker Award! been today had nothing been done. 1016 Cathy Vonderhide Next, we stopped at a pipeline on Lookout Moun- Wellsville, NY tain where District Forester Christian Nicholas If you would like more information on the required discussed the challenges to the Bureau of Forestry qualifications for earning the Circuit Hiker Award, or resulting from gas well drilling. The state does not would like some “insider tips,” you may contact the club own the mineral rights on all state forest land. Gas at PO Box 643 Coudersport, PA 16915 or email to rights are owned by other parties on large areas. [email protected]. Nicholas displayed a map of the Susquehannock State Forest showing the extent of state ownership of the gas rights. DCNR Wildlife Ecologist Emily Memberhsip Renewal Time Just discussed the impact that gas well sites and To provide for a better management of the club’s pipelines have on the sylvan fauna. The chill wind, membership we have moved the membership drizzling rain, and muddy soil made it impractical to renewal to the October issue of the Susquehannock walk to a nearby gas well drilling site. Hiker. You will find enclosed a membership renewal After a brief pit stop at the Bark Shanty Forest form on page 9. Please fille this form out and return Maintenance Shop, the bus continued on to the it with your membership renewal. It is important Gaswell Road (named for a shallow well drilled that this form be returned, for it facilities us in decades earlier) where we walked down a skid road keeping up-to-date records on club member’s into an active state forest timber sale. Nicholas and interest as well as the member’s demographic Staff Forester Troy Stimaker discussed the objectives information (address, phone number, etc).

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Map & Compasss Workshop have at least one magnetic north line drawn on the map to do this accurately. Pat explained how to use By Jasper Reamerstraff Pat Childs demonstrates the On Sunday afternoon, proper way to hold a compass. the compass to determine the bearing from one May 22, STC members point to another on the map. She also stressed the Pat Childs and Ralph importance of laying the map on a non-metallic Stockman hosted a surface when using a compass for this purpose. (If training session on how you have a circular protractor and a straight-edge, to read USGS you can determine a compass direction on the map topographic maps and use without the compass, but you must still have the a magnetic compass. The magnetic north lines drawn in. location was the Childs Our visit to the Childs’ camp lasted only three camp near Stannards, NY. hours—not enough time do steps six and seven of A few interested club the training. Step 6 involves longer compass shots members plus a Cub across a large nearby field, and Step 7 is a five-mile Scout and his mother from Photo by Jasper Reamerstraff compass hike. Bolivar, NY attended. Although the actual distance hiked was small, the mental challenge of the exercise made it a fun afternoon. Trail Guide Tidbits Pat Childs and her husband work extensively with ©By Chuck Dillon Boy Scouts in the Wellsville, NY area, and have an Mile 79.34 - The Eastern excellent permanent compass training course set up Continental Divide is less at their camp. After the boys receive instruction on than ¼ mile west of [the] how a compass works, they practice finding their Sunken Branch Road [and way with a compass by navigating through a series of STS] intersection. There the labeled concrete pads on the ground. Each headwaters of the Allegheny participant starts at one of the pads and follows a River run west, eventually specified series of bearings (azimuths) from one pad joining the Ohio and to the next. The second step of the training involves Mississippi Rivers, emptying standing at one of the pads, sighting through the into the Gulf of Mexico. At this same location, the compass at a specified bearing, and correctly headwaters of Pink Creek run east, eventually joining identifying the major object in the line of sight. The the Susquehanna River, and emptying into the third step consists of following a longer compass line Atlantic at Chesapeake Bay. About five miles north that has to be done in Pat instructs Cub Scout Seth of Denton Hill, near Gold, PA, the Divide also Brisky and his mother. stages while avoiding forms the headwaters of Triple Divide sign near STS obstacles. Fourth, the the Genesee River, which participants follow a flows to the North course through a series Atlantic via the St. marked trees in the Lawrence River. The nearby woods. ecological health of this The fifth step of the area is important to all of training is instruction in those watersheds, and the significance of problems here could have magnetic declination and widespread potential learning to orient a map consequences for many with the aid of the areas of the eastern North Sign Illustration by missfitzmedia compass. It is necessary to Photo by Jasper Reamerstraff American continent.

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Big Tree Tour of Potter County The skeleton of a long-dead white pine tree still By Tom Fitzgerald clung tenaciously to the rocks above the quarry. On Saturday, May 28, 2011, Susquehannock State Part 2 of the tour was a visit to Assembly Park in Forest District Service Forester Stan Hess led 17 Shinglehouse, where the group was greeted by Deb members of the Susquehannock Trail Club on a tour Resig, Shinglehouse Borough secretary and member of big trees in the Coneville and Shinglehouse, PA of the borough shade tree commission. Ms. Resig areas. The group gathered at 9 AM at the briefly reviewed the history of the bark and led the intersection of PA routes 44 and 244, and then group on a hike along the Assembly Park Nature proceeded to the property of Jack and Melanie Trail, and a portion of its internal educational loop, Martin half a mile away. The Martins had prepared known as the Skunk Cabbage Trail. The internal an ad hoc trail up one of their hillsides into the loop was appropriately named. We walked through family woodlot where several very large red and the largest expanse of skunk cabbage that this writer white oaks and at least one white pine dwarfed all had ever seen! the other trees in the woodlot. The oaks are Shinglehouse is an official Tree City USA believed to have taken root before the Declaration of community, and is very proud of the care it gives the Independence was signed. trees in its park and along its streets. At various Tom Fitzgerald examines the oak branch depression points along Skunk Cabbage Trail, Stan pointed out several very large trees, including the largest known yellow birch in Pennsylvania, as well as a red maple believed to be the second-largest of its species in the state. Stan explained the point system for selecting big trees: one point for each inch of circumference at “breast height” (4½ feet above the ground on the uphill side), one point for every foot of height, and one-quarter point for each foot of average crown spread. Forester Hess checks the diameter of a large red maple tree Photo by Curt Weinhold Jack was concerned about a depression on the upper side of the base of a lower side branch of one of the red oaks. He was afraid that it would collect rainwater, and cause the branch to decay. Prior to our visit, Jack had lugged a stepladder up to the tree, and asked Stan to climb the ladder and examine the branch. Stan asked retired Service Forester Tom Fitzgerald for a second opinion. The depression was very shallow and the bark on the branch was sound. Both foresters assured Jack that it was nothing to worry about. Several other hikers also checked out the branch. Photo by Curt Weinhold The group completed the tour of the Martin The tour ended with a snack lunch at the park. property with a visit to a long-abandoned flagstone Afterward, a few of the group drove to a site in quarry. Stan pointed out lichens and moss on the nearby McKean County in the hope of seeing a exposed rocks that are slowly turning the rocks into patch of white trilliums. But no flowers were visible soil—a process that is measured in geologic time. today.

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Finding the Great Rhododendron By Chris Bell In June, while hiking the STS, my friend Heber and I walked through many areas of mountain laurel in full bloom. This was a real treat as many areas I hike are usually tackled in early spring or late fall.

Photo by Chris Bell It’s worth getting away from the house to see what great sights there are. For some “road hiking” near Potter County, the lower Kettle Creek area or Wykoff Run will provide easy access driving along to see the great rhododendron. Quit reading and go Photo by Chris Bell hiking. I recalled a hike the Susquehannock Trail Club took Chris during a July Camporee one year where we viewed the great rhododendron in full bloom. Thinking on this, I decided to go see if I could find the great Thoughts to Ponder… rhododendron in bloom once again. I was not to be By Penny Weinhold (From a Celestial Seasonings tea box) disappointed. Although the temperature was hot in the open meadows the woods were shaded with a gentle cool breeze. The smaller huckleberry bushes are full of fruit. I snacked on them here and there as I walked along. Many hikers I met told of seeing rattle snakes. I did not see any myself but listened and watched for them.

Photo by Tom Fitzgerald Out behind the house we have "our mountain." Alpinists would chuckle at its diminutive size, but the modest grassy summit affords an ample perspective of the surrounding country. And why else do we climb, if not for perspective? When the mists in my head rival those Photo by Chris Bell of our valley floor on an early morn, I know where I I finally came to some of the rhododendron but no need to go; up to where I can see. There is nothing flowers. Yet as I descended off the plateau into a fancy here, I'm afraid, just my little footnote in the sheltered run, the blooms were full and busy with a great human striving for clarity. But I must confess to continuous hum of bumble bees. Many times I have a feeling that some happy magic is at work, when the passed this way but never seeing them in all their mists clear, and I arrive home, a little wiser for today. glory. --Quote by David Jacoby

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Long Hollow Trail Upgrade One day in May after the snow had melted and most By Tom Fitzgerald of the mud on the state forest roads had dried out We’ve been calling it a “relocation,” and technically enough for two-wheel drive, I drove to Long Hollow it is, but since the new footpath will be only a few and laid out a proposed route along the hillside far dozen yards from the old. “Upgrade” is probably a enough above the streambed to eliminate any danger better word. of flash flood washout. (If the trail goes this time, it will be by sheet erosion.) I chose the Sproul State Long Hollow is one of the little narrow valleys in the Forest side of the hollow because the lower hillside far southern portion of the Susquehannock Trail is slightly less steep than the Susquehannock side. System. It starts in Potter County, and flows When I was far enough up the hollow to be above southeast into Clinton County where it joins the Left the scoured-out stream channel, I gradually blended Branch of Young Woman’s Creek at the new “Ted’s the new route back into the original trail in the bot- Truss” footbridge. Or I should say it flows in wet tom of the hollow. Ted Ligenza, came out several weather, but usually dries up in the summer. Only days later, inspected the route, and recommended the lower end of the hollow has a defined stream approval to his boss. A few weeks after that, I channel. But that little channel gets pretty wild after returned with orange paint and put up the blazes a heavy rain or when the snow melts in the spring. before Mother Nature and her critters of the forest Seventy-five years ago, the Civilian Conservation had time to make off with the temporary flagging. Corps chose Long Hollow as the site of one of their That was the easy part. Footpath construction is many trails. It must have been a dry summer that another matter. I put my own foot in my mouth and year, because they built the footpath almost on the promised Ted and Doug that the Susquehannock bank of the stream. And like all streams that flood, Trail Club would construct a hundred feet of Long Hollow Run overflowed its banks from time to footpath to Civilian Conservation Corps standards time, and eventually washed away the footpath. before winter this year. The STC’s work would serve The Susquehannock Trail Club chose the Fork Hill as a model for whatever volunteers show up later to Road, Morgan Hollow, Long Hollow, and Bobsled complete the job. (The CCC gauged the width of Hollow as part of its connecting link between Ole their trails by the length of a pick handle, and I Bull Park and Cross Fork despite the eroded wanted STC to do the same.) footpath in Long Hollow. It was as far south as we The lion’s share of the work will involve picking and could go without leaving the Susquehannock State stacking semi-flat rocks by hand to make a base for Forest. Those four physical features form part of the footpath. The smaller stones that can be raked the boundary with the . A few around are a few inches below the surface. Please let years later, when the Sproul State Forest laid out STC Trail Maintenance Chairman Bill Boyd know their own Donut Hole Trail, they used the same when you are free to rearrange rocks for a day. route as part of that trail’s northernmost extent. For Sample footpath constructed to pick-handle width the last few decades, hikers on two trails have begun the climb up Long Hollow by stumbling across the rocks in the narrow stream channel, hoping to keep their feet dry in the spring, and trying not to brush against the stinging nettles in the summer. Last March at an annual foresters’ meeting, District Forester Doug D’Amore of the Sproul State Forest and his recreation assistant, Ted Ligenza, approached me and asked if I thought the Susquehannock Trail Club could help them relocate the Long Hollow trail up out of the streambed. I said we could—and Photo by Tom Fitzgerald would.

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Prince Edward Island popular children’s books, the Anne of Green Gables By Eric Greisinger (Circuit Hiker # 915) series, first published in June 1908. The author’s PEI is surrounded by many miles of beaches. farm, which served as a setting for the books, today boasts an interpretive site. The newly-married Royal Couple of Great Britain are expected to visit this site in the near future, as Prince William’s bride is a fan of the Anne of Green Gables books.

Photo from http://www.chrisharris.com We eventually arrived at our rented cottage, and found it to be a wonderful accommodation with a Last summer as we reached the one year mark of our great deck overlooking the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. stay in Canada where I am studying for a Ph.D. in The next day found us swimming in that famed Gulf history at the University of New Brunswick, my wife, and enjoying the sun and sand of West Beach. The Liz and I were happy to have my mother (a thirty- Gulf, though warm by most Maritime standards, was plus-year member of the STS) visit us. She came to chilled and the tide was so low that you could wade visit for her birthday and we all agreed that a trip to out a good bit and remain only waist deep. My an exotic location would be fun. Liz the expert mother, who loves beaches, had a wonderful time researcher did some fact finding and found the and we all enjoyed the mix of sun and water. There perfect cottage. So on a beautiful sunny day we left are Osprey nesting sites, and we had the good Fredericton, NB, and headed to Prince Edward fortune of spotting a family of Osprey. Island. Leaving the Province of New Brunswick, we The next morning we left our cabin and headed to crossed the Confederation Bridge. The bridge is an Summerside where we visited the Acadian Museum. engineering marvel and one of only two ways to get The Acadians were/are the French inhabitants of the to the island. In the winter, the bridge closes, and all Maritime region who took up residence there before surface passage two and from the island is by ferry. the British arrived in numbers. They were brutally In that season, the island residents truly become expelled by the British during the French and Indian island dwellers. War, and many headed south to the Colonies where Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province of they settled in the French colony of Louisiana, where only about 2,200 square miles, has a strong military, they became known as “Cajuns.” That tragic forced historical, agricultural and literary history. For those expulsion and resettlement has been immortalized in interested in books, history, nature, and seeing a truly Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, beautiful countryside, P.E.I. should be on your list if Evangeline, published nearly a hundred years later in you ever visit Atlantic Canada. It is, in my opinion, 1847. There is still a strong Acadian culture thriving the most charming and picturesque of the three in the Maritimes and their story is fascinating for Maritime Provinces, and is by far my favorite. those with an interest in history. Harold “Hal Lone Pine” Breau sang about these That ended our visit, and we once again crossed attributes in his popular Country song, Prince Confederation Bridge back to New Brunswick. Edward Island is Heaven to Me. Confederation Bridge We began with a brief stop in the small city of Charlottetown, the beautiful and historic capital of the province, where the Articles of Confederation which created the Dominion of Canada as a sovereign nation were signed on July 1, 1867. But our main destination was the quaint and quiet section of P.E.I. known as Cavendish. Cavendish’s major claim to international fame is the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the Photo from www http://www.chrisharris.com

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STC Government who send in dues, letters to the club, among other When the Susquehannock Trail Club was founded in things. 1967, the original by-laws of the club provided for A second part of the club’s problem relates to the five officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Secretary position. Now that more correspondence Treasurer, and Archivist), plus an Advisory Council is coming to the club via the website, It would be consisting of the officers, chairmen and assistant more convenient to split that office into chairmen of standing committees, and three corresponding and recording secretaries. That additional members. Terms of office were one year, would involve a change in the by-laws. The and memberships expired at various times through infirmities of age are catching up with some of the the year depending on the month each member older members. A recording secretary who takes joined. notes at the meetings needs to have good hearing. The by-laws were revised in March 1992. Terms of It’s less important for a corresponding secretary. office were extended to two years, the Advisory New officers will be elected in May 2012. We would Council was expanded from three to six additional like to have this change in the officer structure members, and a requirement was added that one of before then. Please let us know if you would accept the extra members must be the district forester of a nomination for one of the offices—especially if the Susquehannock State Forest (if he is willing and you are a local member. And what do you think of able to serve), and another must also be a splitting the office of Secretary? A quick email to professional in the field of forestry. Membership [email protected] or short note to P.O. Box 643, terms were standardized to coincide with the Coudersport, PA 16915 is all it takes to voice your calendar year. opinion! Inflation has crept up over the years, and individual dues have been gradually raised from $2.00 per year to $10.00 per year. (Club membership is actually a Notes from the wild little cheaper today. Two dollars in 1967 had the Our website, brochures, and members’ word-of-mouth bring interest in our purchasing power of $13.57 in 2011, according to trail system from far and wide. The easiest, and usually quickest, way for a prospective hiker to get specific questions answer is by email. Within this the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price section we hope to answer some of the more common questions we received. Index Inflation Calculator.) The club has an internal crisis. Well, maybe that’s I have am interested in doing some hiking on the STS. I only too strong a word. Call it an internal challenge. Not have a weekend, and would prefer a loop instead of an out and back hike. I plan to start out at the Northern Gateway. enough members have indicated an interest in Are there any crossover trails that would provide me with a holding office for a couple of years. Some of the nice 3 day hike? current officers are getting a little burned out, and Thank You, Jim would like a break. The others feel that it’s not good for the same person to hold office for long periods. Jim, Ideally from a logistical standpoint, it’s desirable that The area is crisscrossed with old Civilian local members who live in or near Potter County Conservation Corps (CCC) fire trails, retired logging hold most of the major offices simply because of the roads, pipelines, and the ATV/snowmobile trails. convenience of travel to attend the monthly The CCC trails are on all the topo maps. Some of meetings and checking on the mailbox in the the logging roads, pipelines, and the motorized trails Coudersport Post Office. But the club once did are shown on updated quadrangles. Broadly, have a president from downstate PA, and it worked possible crossover links are mapped but not marked out fine! on the ground, and (except for the ATV and One thing we can’t afford to do is move the club’s snowmobile trail systems and pipelines) are not mailing address around. That would continually brushed out. frustrate hikers who try to contact us and members Happy bushwhacking!!

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