Keep Your Toes Warm Trails to Great Photos While Winter Hiking Robert Rodriguez Jr. reveals Why they get cold and how to some of his favorite places for avoid problems on the trail. photography in our region. READ MORE ON PAGE 11 READ MORE ON PAGE 7 Winter 2012 New York-New Jersey Trail Conference — Connecting People with Nature since 1920 www.nynjtc.org Awards Celebrate Cleaning Up Our Volunteers the Messes Trail Conference Awards are deter - The email from Sterling Forest mined by the Board of Directors, Trail Supervisors Peter Tilgner except for Distinguished Service and Suzan Gordon was dated Awards, which are determined by the October 31, 2011: Volunteer Committee. The following awards were announced at the Dear Sterling Forest Trail Maintainers, October 15, 2011 Annual Meeting in Today I was at the Tenafly Nature Center where I cleared, with hand tools, Ossining, NY. 0.4 mile of trail in about 4.5 hours. You all have your work cut out for you. I suggest RAYMOND H. TORREY AWARD you get to it pronto. Please note and let us Given for significant and lasting know the position of all blow-downs for contributions that protect hiking trails future chainsaw work. and the land upon which they rest. Thank you in advance for your effort doing this herculean task. We know you are All-around Volunteer JANE DANIELS, up to it. R I Mohegan Lake, NY E W E Jane Daniels, a well T Two days after the storm dubbed Snow - T E G known leader in the R tober tracked along much the same O E local, regional, and G route previously blazed by Tropical state trails community Storms Irene and Lee, Trail Conference for at least three Training & Recruitment volunteers were once again cleaning up decades, received the after Mother Nature. “Not in my 10 highest volunteer years of volunteering with theTrail Con - award given by the Trail Conference. The Boost Trail Crew Rosters ference have I seen such havoc on Raymond H. Torrey Award, named for a Bergen County trails,” commented founder of the Trail Conference, was pre - Chris Connolly, trail volunteer and Trail sented to Jane at the Annual Meeting. hen last seen (by this reporter) than 1,800 miles of trails in our region Conference board president, after a day’s Jane has served on the Trail Conference Monica Day, of Highland Park, would not exist or would be impassable— work at Tenafly. (He worked with main - board of directors for more than 20 years, WNJ, was scrunched under the especially after a season of storms such as tainers Suzan Gordon, Peter Tilgner, and including six as board chair. She is co- Appalachian Trail boardwalk in Vernon, we experienced in 2011. (Monica and the the chainsaw team of Jack Driller, Mark author with her husband, Walter, of NJ, perched on a precarious stack of boards rest of the West Jersey Crew were putting Liss, and Adam Jacobs). Walkable Westchester , a best-selling guide to that was sinking slowly but steadily into the the Pochuck boardwalk back into place hundreds of miles of trails in Westchester muck of the Pochuck Swamp (photo after it had been floated off alignment by County that has led countless residents and above). She was working out, with help the floodwaters that followed Tropical visitors to discover trails in the county. from crew-mate Lee Mott, the correct Storms Irene and Lee.) Jane represents hikers on the New York alignment of a metal fixture that would With the growth of trail miles, increasing State Trails Council and serves on the hold the platform aloft. For something like knowledge about trail-building best prac - board of the Hudson Valley Greenway two decades, this has been Monica’s idea of tices, and the simultaneous shrinking of Council. She is supervising the building of weekend fun. public funding for parks and trails, the Trail a new community trails network in York - Thankfully, Monica isn’t alone in her Conference recognized the need to recruit town, where she lives, working with town choice of outdoor sport. new crew members and leaders for our officials, mountain bike groups, Trail Con - existing crews, offer more skill-develop - ference volunteers, and others to create this ment workshops for volunteers, and add R I E We launched four new W new community resource. Jane fosters sim - new crews, some with specialized skills. E T T ilar collaborative trail work between hikers Thus was born, in 2006, Trail U; its first, E crews in 2011 and see G R and other user groups throughout the state and for a while only, campus was the Bear O E potential for more. G and the region. Mountain Trails Project. Steve Zubarik of the West Hudson South Above all, in all her roles, Jane has been This year the Trail Conference, with chainsaw crew clears a tree from the for a generation a Voice for the Volunteers, financial support from REI, and working Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail in November. working tirelessly to recruit, encourage, Building bridges, moving heavy rocks, with Trail U alumni and experienced vol - The crew cleared 171 trees in the region mentor, and reward the ever-growing cadre clearing new trail routes, constructing ero - unteers, launched four new trail crews. The in the month following the October 29 of Trail Conference volunteers. The Trail sion controls—people who enjoy being Jolly Rovers, a roving trail crew specializing snowstorm, and 455 trees from July 1 Conference today fields more than 1,200 outside, working with others, putting “old- in technical stonework, hit the trails in through November 30. active volunteers who maintain more than fashioned” tools such as hammers and drills March (see their report on page 5). Their 1,800 miles of trails in the New York-New to work, and seeing the results of their projects often double as training Yet within days, many trails were Jersey region and produce trail maps and labor at the end of the day—these are the grounds—satellite Trail U sites—for stu - cleared and reopened to the public. John books used by hikers and others. pleasures often cited by trail crew volun - dents of stone work. Mack, trails chair of the West Hudson The award presented to Jane Daniels by teers. “It’s a great change after a week in the The Invasives Strike Force, which removes South region, reports that the region’s the Trail Conference honors her countless office,” is an often heard sentiment. targeted invasive plants from selected trail - chain sawyers and their support teams contributions to these achievements. The Trail Conference is working to sides, made its first work trips this fall (see cleared 171 trees from trails in Harri - continued on page 6 attract and train more skilled volunteers page 7), as did the Bear Claw Crew, which man-Bear Mountain and the Tenafly like Monica. brings Natural Design principles and rock- Nature Center in just the one month Trail crews and maintainers are the back - work training (courtesy of the Jolly Rovers) immediately after the storm. The bone and muscle of the Trail Conference. to trail projects in north Jersey (page 5). sawyers were still at work as of Decem - Without these volunteers most of the more In November, the new Orange-Rockland ber 1, but trails in the region were, for Long Distance Trails Crew, which will focus the most part, cleared. VOLUME XXXIX, N UMBER 1 ISSN 0749-1352 on Appalachian Trail, Highlands Trail, and Trails Council Chair Pete Heckler was Long Path projects in the West Hudson out hiking many miles of trails Thanks - region, debuted by clearing a route for an giving weekend and afterward had AT relocation on West Mountain in Harri - nothing but praise for the crews and man-Bear Mountain State Park (see West maintainers. “Hundreds of people were Hudson Field Notes, page 4). out enjoying the trails at Harriman. The success of the multi-level training That they were able to do so is thanks to continued on page 3 the hard work of our volunteers.” Page 2 Winter 2012 Join the Gunzlers in ATC to Highlight Town of Warwick VOLUME XXXIX, NO.1 WINTER 2012 Building a Legacy for Trails GEORGETTE WEIR EDITOR Acting on an application prepared by Gene LOUIS LEONARDIS GRAPHIC DESIGNER Giordano, chair of our New Jersey TRAIL WALKER (USPS Permit #970-100) Appalachian Trail Committee and a War - (ISSN 0749-1352) is published quarterly by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference as a wick resident, the Appalachian Trail benefit of membership. Subscriptions are Conservancy has designated the Town of available to libraries only at $15.00 a year. Warwick as an Appalachian Trail Commu - Periodical postage paid at Mahwah, N.J., and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address nity. The town is the first in the New changes to the address below. Opinions expressed York-New Jersey region to be granted this by authors do not necessarily represent the policy designation, and one of just a dozen com - or position of the Conference. Contributions of munities so designated along the length of typed manuscripts, photos, and drawings are welcome. Manuscripts may be edited for style the AT. Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt and length. Send SASE for writers’ guidelines. supported the application. Submission deadlines for the TRAIL WALKER “Appalachian Trail Communities help are January 15 (Spring issue), May 15 (Summer conserve the landscape of the trail, but also issue), August 15 (Fall issue), November 15 (Winter issue). Unsolicited contributions cannot reap the rewards of eco-tourism and out - be acknowledged unless accompanied by SASE.