November/December 2006
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RAILWALKER TNEW YORK-NEW JERSEY TRAIL CONFERENCE — MAINTAINING 1,669 MILES OF FOOT TRAILS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 In this issue: Clubs Are Us...pg 3 • A Moldering Privy...pg 4 • Community Trails Campaign...pg 5 • Avoid Back Pain...pg 9 • 50 Hikes in NJ...pg 10 Estelle Anderson: New Long-Distance Hiking Loop NJ Parks Volunteer of the Year Dedicated in Orange County Trail Conference member Estelle Anderson (at left, below) received the The NY-NJ Trail Conference joined with Volunteer of the Year Award in members of the Hudson Valley Conserva- September from the NJ-DEP Depart- tion Corps of the Student Conservation ment of Parks. Association (SCA) in September to dedi- The loop involves no Estelle, of cate a new long-distance hiking route in new trails or blazes, West Milford, the Wallkill Valley region. but links existing trails NJ, was given The project was led by Mike Knutson, the award in an intern with the SCA on assignment with into a coherent route. recognition of Scenic Hudson in Poughkeepsie. Original- her work as an ly from Corning, NY, Mike moved to our Assistant area in December 2005 for his SCA assign- Supervisor in Norvin Green State For- ment. “I thought it was flat,” Mike says of est. The award comes just five years after his preconceptions. “I didn’t realize that she took the Conference’s Maintenance New York had long-distance hiking trails.” 101 course and followed up by volun- In looking for a service project, Mike teering to maintain a section of the decided to focus on a project that would Highlands Trail. raise people’s awareness of the natural beau- Estelle’s zeal for trail work and Norvin ty and outdoor recreation possibilities in Green quickly led to greater involve- Orange County. ment. She has cultivated excellent The result is the Wallkill Valley Loop, a relationships with our state trail part- 117-mile-long route that follows sections of ners, and with the law enforcement the Appalachian Trail, the Shawangunk and public works departments of the Ridge Trail, the Long Path, and the High- surrounding communities. She has set lands Trail to make a circuit of the valley. It up and worked with community service connects points such as Schunemunk programs such as Ramapo College’s Mountain, Greenwood Lake, the Shawan- Erony Whyte (left) and Jolene Johnson take a break on Schunemunk Ridge. The two were among the relay teams of Student Conservation Association interns who completed a circuit Community Service Center and Passaic gunk Mountains, and the Highland Lakes. of the new Wallkill Valley Loop. County’s SLAP program. “Estelle is a The route, Mike notes, involves no new devoted advocate for the preservation of trails or blazes, but links existing trails are limited opportunities to camp and On September 30, 15 SCA interns, this natural environment and loves into a coherent package. He adds that the park cars. These facts, he hopes will raise operating in rotating teams of two, com- every living bird, animal, and plant in route also highlights the fact that a good awareness of the need to protect the open pleted an eight-day relay hike and bike of Norvin Green State Forest,” comment- portion of the LP section in the county is space and provide basic amenities that the Wallkill Valley Loop, ending at Lion’s ed Robert Jonas, Area Supervisor for the a road walk, and that throughout, there support such trails. continued on page 2 Trail Conference. Trail Conference Protects 200 Acres of Long Path North Corridor In late August, the Trail Conference closed The Good Tidings property is a hilly, on the acquisition of 205 acres along the heavily forested parcel with significant Long Path just north of the Catskill Pre- wetlands and some small streams. It is con- S serve. This property, which was owned by sidered excellent wildlife habitat and is a A L N L the Good Tidings Bible Conference, was designated aquifer recharge area. E O J D O T subdivided off of a larger parcel to provide Working together with DEC, the Trail R O E G B a buffer to the Long Path as it moves from Conference has previously protected nearly D O R R the Catskills north toward the Mohawk 400 acres in this area. The Trail Conference A Estelle is pictured here with a hiking W D group she led during this past River and ultimately the Adirondacks. currently owns a total of 332 acres, which E spring’s Great Wyanokie Outing. The Trail Conference identifies this por- will all be transferred to DEC. The Trail Conference has protected this forested parcel along the Long Path in Greene County. tion of the Long Path as the “Ginseng continued on page 10 This love inspires her to get people Ridge Assemblage”; the goal in this area, out on the trails. She leads hikes up which extends north of Route 23, is to pro- VOLUME XXXIII, NUMBER 6 ISSN 0749-1352 PERMIT #970-100 Assiniwikam Mountain in the Wyanok- tect a four-mile trail segment of the LP ie Mountains for the “Great Wyanokie with a mix of New York State Dept. of Outing,” sponsored each spring by the Environmental Conservation (DEC), New towns of Caldwell, North Caldwell, York City Dept. of Environmental Protec- West Caldwell, Fairfield, and Roseland, tion, and Durham Valley Land Trust lands which collectively own Camp Wyanok- in the towns of Durham and Windham in ie in West Milford, NJ. Greene County. RAIL ALKER T W FROM THE CHAIR VOLUME XXXIII, NO.6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 GEORGETTE WEIR EDITOR LOUIS LEONARDIS GRAPHIC DESIGNER The TRAIL WALKER (USPS Permit #970- 100) (ISSN 0749-1352) is published bi-monthly by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference as Changing Times Requires a New Kind of Board of Directors a benefit of membership. Subscriptions are available to libraries only at $15.00 a year. Each year at our Annual Meeting (this year set goals for the organization. The board amount that each decides is appropriate. Periodical postage paid at Mahwah, N.J., and held October 21) a slate of candidates is maintains a bird’s-eye view of the organiza- People come onto the board through a additional offices. Postmaster: Send address elected to the Trail Conference board of tion, rather than a worm’s view, while nomination process which begins when the changes to the address below. Opinions expressed directors. All boards, no matter the size of continuing to pay close attention to fiscal president selects a nominating committee of by authors do not necessarily represent the policy the organization or the board, or whether details. Trail Conference board members five people. These individuals have a great or position of the Conference. Contributions of typed manuscripts, photos, and drawings are the board focuses on fundraising or is have always been asked to take on responsi- deal of responsibility and influence over the welcome. Manuscripts may be edited for style deeply involved with running programs, bilities in addition to their board duties. direction the Trail Conference will take. and length. Send SASE for writers’ guidelines. have responsibilities for the fiscal and Some function as trails chairs, others chair They are responsible for finding people who Submission deadlines for the TRAIL WALKER strategic oversight of the organization and committees or serve on several committees. can accomplish the goals the board has set. are January 15 (Mar./Apr. issue), March 15 for ensuring that the organization is meet- Successful boards have members who As we embark on our new fiscal year with (May/June issue), May 15 (July/Aug. issue), July 15 (Sept./Oct. issue), September 15 ing its mission. work, provide wisdom, or bring wealth. our newly composed board of directors (see (Nov./Dec. issue), November 15 (Jan./Feb. The Trail Conference board is no differ- The Trail Conference goes one step further the complete list in the masthead at left), we issue). Unsolicited contributions cannot be ent. Yet over the years, as our organization and looks for people who provide two out can all be proud of the achievements and acknowledged unless accompanied by SASE. has grown and taken on new responsibilities, of the three. As in the past, today’s board ambitions of previous boards and their con- For information on advertising rates, please write our board has changed. Ten years ago, the members are hikers. As recently as five fidence and skill in overseeing the or call. Copyright 2006 by: board would decide such details as where the years ago, we paid little attention to recruit- organization. Board members give enor- New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Inc. Annual Meeting would be held, how many ing board members with specific skills, mous amounts of their time, energy, 156 Ramapo Valley Road (Rt. 202) copies would be printed of a book, and if it instead focusing on the geographic distri- knowledge, and financial resources to the Mahwah, NJ 07430 were okay to relocate a trail. Today the board bution of our board members. Now, to Trail Conference and to the hiking commu- 201-512-9348 delegates all of those questions to commit- accomplish tasks of larger magnitude, it is nity. For all of us, I say to them, Thank you. e-mail: [email protected] editorial e-mail: [email protected] tees. Instead, we discuss whether the Trail necessary to have a mix of skill sets. Since World Wide Web: www.nynjtc.org Conference should undertake a capital cam- the capital campaign, all board members – Jane Daniels, Chair, Board of Directors paign, we approve land purchases, and we are asked to make a donation annually, an NEW YORK - NEW JERSEY TRAIL CONFERENCE Mission Statement working on producing a completely new Editor: Below is a short course in Trail The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, digital edition of our North Jersey Trails Blazes 101.