Remembering Bob Webber
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Summer 2015 Remembering Bob Webber If everybody led the life he tried to live, the world would A True Mountain Man not be as polluted as it is today.” By Cara Morningstar, Williamsport, PA Sun-Gazette - Reprinted with permission As a young man, Webber started working with Durrwach- Editor’s note: This article was forwarded to us by two STC members. It is better than any- ter's father, a forest ranger. thing we could have written ourselves. “Early on, he enjoyed the Pine Creek area. He got bit and overwhelmed with the beauty of the Pine Creek Valley,” Durrwachter said. He dedicated his life to enjoying the beauty of the area. He worked with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to build trails, a passion that lasted a lifetime. “My father always said Bob was truly a self starter. He never had to tell Bob what to do. He saw what was need- ed, and he did it. I think after a short time, the Bureau of Forestry recognized they had a rare gem in Bob. He had a passion really, for developing and maintaining trails in the Pine Creek and Slate Run areas his entire life,” Durrwach- ter said. With a deep love for hiking, Webber would carve out trails for others to enjoy after finding beautiful views or spots he appreciated. “He had a pick, an ax, and a machete. He’d just start hammering out these trails,” Durrwachter said. “He de- veloped most of the trails with connectivity, meaning they joined one trail to another, and developed loops and vistas that are truly breath-taking.” John Eastlake, a retired state forester who worked with Webber said Webber never worked with anything more mechanical than a chain saw. Long before “living off the grid” became a buzz phrase popular among the young, Robert “Bob” Webber chose “He would physically make a trail by clearing a path. Some that lifestyle, building a log cabin to call home—absent trails were already there; it was just a matter of refining electricity or running water—overlooking the Pine Creek them and maintaining them because they got grown over, Gorge. Eastlake said. Webber, who recently died at the age of 80, fully embraced He said Webber’s trademark was to make a bench to let a world without modern conveniences. Working as a for- people enjoy beautiful views. ester in the valley he loved, blazing trails, and leaving the “He made me some benches out of oak. They’re beautiful. smallest carbon footprint possible behind. They’ll outlive me. He’s definitely a craftsman when it “He wanted to get as close to nature as he could,” said Dr. comes to wood,” Durrwachter said. George Durrwachter, a childhood friend. “He wanted to When asked how Eastlake kept in touch with Webber to leave the smallest carbon footprint he could possibly leave. meet up for trail work, Eastlake joked that they used smoke signals. Durrwachter said visiting Webber always Hikers who follow the switchbacks up the mountain and was a surprise. follow the Bob Webber Trail 1.7 miles to the end will find “You couldn’t call him. If you wanted to catch up, you’d hand-crafted benches there where they can enjoy a peace- leave a note at the Slate Run post office, Durrwachter said. ful moment while looking out over the Pine Creek Valley and enjoying nature, much like Webber did. Webber would walk miles from his house into town. It’s a simple legacy, but one that will last for generations to “This guy was a walker,” Durrwachter said. “I don’t know come. what kind of shoes he purchased, but they must have been great shoes.” Webber’s active lifestyle made him hard to keep up with Welcome New Members on trails. By Lois Morey, STC Secretary “My kids would go out with us sometimes, and they were Chris & Connie Amidon Joe Bartek dumbfounded that this older gentleman would be ahead of Coudersport, PA Coudersport, PA them. They couldn’t keep up,” Eastlake said. Herb Yazzie Dan & Sue McDermott When Webber retired, he remained active, leading hikes Bradford, PA Renovo, PA along trails. Steve & Deb Quelet “One of his philosophies was to get people out there and Coudersport, PA enjoy nature, to enjoy the natural world. He was really great with kids. He could relate to kids,” Eastlake said. “There’s no one that I know who is more comfortable in STS Circuit Hiker Award his own skin that Bob,” Durrwachter said. “He lived the Congratulations to the following who are the most recent most simple life without electricity, running water and all inductees into this distinguished group! the conveniences the rest of us share and have, but he never felt that he was deprived.” 1099 Brian Anderson 1103 Debbie May Hookstown, PA Union Dale, PA Webber had a battery-operated radio that kept him in 1100 Traci Anderson 1104 Ralph May touch with current events, and he was very well read. It Hookstown, PA Union Dale, PA was his genuine personality that made him so remarkable. 1101 Caitlin Brosi 1105 Tom Schmick “There was some kind of twinkle in the guy’s eye. He Cuyahoga Falls, OH Montoursville, PA would look at you and listen to what you had to say as if 1102 Joann Heimer you were the only one on Earth that he cared about,” Dur- Jersey Shore, PA rwachter said. For information on the Circuit Hiker Award, contact the “What’s amazing about the guy is the fact that he lived life Susquehannock Trail Club at PO Box 643, Coudersport, the way he wanted to, and not many people can say that,” PA 16915, or email us at [email protected]. Eastlake said. “He didn’t have a credit card. He didn’t have a cell phone. He did things his way, and he lived the way he wanted to live.” History of Home Underground Railroad One of the trails Webber built in the Pine Creek Valley from: Historical Notes in the Development of Potter County eventually bore his name, the Bob Webber Trail. The route taken by fugitive slaves, known as the Under- He built the trail and he had some name for it. I talked the ground Railroad, passed through Potter County Pennsylva- outfit into renaming it the Bob Webber Trail. It was an nia. The "stations" on this road, so far as known, were the old trail he refined and cut a vista at the end to make it store of John S. Mann in Coudersport, the farm of Nelson worthwhile to hike up the mountain to see something,” Clark two miles north of Coudersport, the home of Sala Eastlake said. Stevens in Clara Township, the home of Rodney Nichols at Millport, and the John King homestead at Ceres, Pa. The trailhead is across Route 414 from the Clark Farm/ From that point they were guided or assisted across the Utcer Station Recreational Parking area, 1.5 miles north of frontier into Canada. Cammal. 2 Newsletter printed by the Welfare Hollow Publishing Group, New Florence, PA 15944 Trail report - April 5 to June 19, 2015 Typical Adirondack Shelter By Bill Boyd To date, we have amassed over 460 hours working on most of the STS and its crossover links plus the Daugherty Trail in Ole Bull State Park. The principal untouched area of the Susquehannock Trail System is the long stretch from Morgan Hollow to the Culver Woods Road. Boy Scout Troop 432 of Jonestown, PA visits that section eve- ry year in late March. Heavy snow this past winter made any trail work impossible. And of course, the major foot- path restoration project in the central Hammersley is still pending. Other unchecked sections of the STS are: • Fanton Hollow to Sarah Jane Trail • Empty Tank Trail Photo from http://www.wikipedia.com • Hockney Hollow to Patterson Park The club is also looking into the possibility of erecting an Adirondack Shelter at a location along the STS. You may Notable improvements along the trail system this year are: be familiar with these structures—they are the three-sided, • Log bridge with cable handrail across Lyman Run open-front lean-to type shelters found throughout the Adi- • Log across the Hogback steam rondacks and along such trails as the Appalachian Trail. • New signs at the B&S/Ewing trail intersection Backpackers look forward to spending the night in these A big thanks to the following. We could not have gotten shelters, especially in inclement weather. We have to pick a this much done without all your help: location, write up a plan, and submit it to DCNR for ap- proval. We believe that by doing most all of the work our- • Joe Allis • Mark Kelly selves we can keep the cost very reasonable. We have ten- • Donna Batterson • Charles Kern tative offers of donated Larch poles, we can do the cutting • Chris Bell • Sam Leblanc and hauling, and we're sure the club has enough people • Bob Bernhardy • Barb Luft with the necessary skills to do the building. The logs will • Helen Bernhardy • Lowell Luft be slabbed on three sides, eliminating notching of the cor- • Bill Boyd • Evan Makdad ners. The sawing costs should be fairly reasonable. A • Joe Boyd • Rick Oyen rough estimate at this time would be around $1000.00 (But we don't have any proposals yet, so this cost can vary.) • Alice Buchanan • Mary Lou Parker Anyone with any experience with this type of building is • Pat Childs • Shawn Shirk urged to contact the club with any suggestions which may • Chuck Dundon • Wanda Shirk be helpful.