SHENANDOAH 2015 “Hiking Through History”
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FEBRUARY 2014 SHENANDOAH 2015 “Hiking Through History” The Mountain Club of Maryland and the Potomac tration table, and help out with many other logistics Appalachian Trail Club are proud to host the Appa- during the event. lachian Trail Conservancy’s Biennial Conference at It’s easy for you to volunteer! Simply send an e-mail to Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia from [email protected] and indicate if you have a July 17 to 24, 2015. The ATC Biennial Steering Com- preference or just want to help where needed. mittee has been developing action plans to organize SPECIAL REQUEST! MCM has been charged with workshops, hikes along our many miles of handling onsite registration and all of the trail, excursions to historical sites, nightly activities associated with this task such as entertainment, lodging and food, receptions preparing attendee information packets and ATC business meetings. and gift items. Bob Grossman is the MCM While July 2015 may seem like a long way representative on the ATC Biennial Steer- off, some of our deadlines will be coming ing Committee. He will lead the efforts on quickly. Volunteers of all types and skills are registration. If you have suggestions and/or welcome. For example, we’ll need volunteers would like to help with registration packets, to lead hikes and excursions, assist with the please contact Bob via e-mail at rbtgross@ workshops, take a shift or two at the regis- gmail.com or cell at 410-961-8204. Annual Holiday Party at Oregon Ridge Nature Center Peter Johnson The day’s weather was snowy and rainy, but it was all smiles and Our financial situation is very good, cheers at the MCM Holiday Party. Approximately 30 people braved reflecting a combination of reduced the slush and rain to meet at Oregon Ridge. There was approxi- mailing costs and years of prudent mately an hour of socializing and snacking prior to the planned management. There are a variety short meeting. The food was varied and delicious. of jobs within the club, and a large President Peter Johnson provided an overview of the club’s number of people who contribute to status and highlighted many of the volunteers who keep the club get these jobs done. In addition to going. We’ll reach the people who are on the council, our 80th anniver- we count on many, many hike lead- sary this year, and ers, trail maintainers, and trail mon- the club is still going itors. The party was coordinated and strong. Our activi- organized by Leslie Marcuse. She is ties schedule is very also a councilor. Mike Jenkins with his robust, especially We had two members, Bob Eleanor Sewell Award and when compared to Cave and Mike Jenkins, who re- ATC Silver Service ward. other nearby clubs. ceived Silver Service awards from the Appalachian Trail Conser- Our membership is vancy. These awards recognize 25 years of volunteer service to the large and diverse, to- (continued on page 8) As usual, there was plenty of food! taling nearly 1,000. FEBRUARY 2014 HIKER HIGH POINTS • 1 MCM THROUGH THE YEARS MCM Turns 80 in December Janine Grossman FDR was president. Albert Ritchie was Maryland’s as a model. In fact, he was instrumental in forming clubs governor. Milk was 10 cents a gallon. The Great Smoky from Allentown, PA to Lynchburg, VA, to help build the Mountains National Park was dedicated. Babe Ruth hit AT. Examples include a club in York in 1932, the Mary- his 700th home run. And the Mountain Club of Mary- land Appalachian Trail Club in Hagerstown in April of land was founded in December. The year was 1934. 1934, and the MCM in December of 1934. Orville Crowder was Back to our guy, Orville Crowder. After learning about the force behind our hik- the AT, Crowder went on a PATC work trip. Avery quick- ing club. As an avid hiker ly tapped him to lead work trips in 1933 and 1934. The he had explored many June 19, 1934 edition of trails in the western states. the Evening Sun included He also often hiked in his a story about the AT, and native Maryland, and was Crowder was quoted say- intrigued by the concept ing, “a Maryland club to of the Appalachian Trail take over responsibility which he learned about in for a section of the (AT) 1933 during a dinner at a trail will be organized in friend’s home in Catons- the fall.” The very next ville. month Crowder set up a The AT was the vision display featuring the AT of Benton MacKaye, a for- in the Enoch Pratt Li- ester and conservationist brary. from Connecticut, who Crowder typed a short thought we should spend Orville Crowder at the Four Club Overnight, listed in the Oct. 1939 bulletin about a hike he Bulletin. MCM joined with PATC and the Hagerstown and York more time outdoors hik- was organizing on Sun- clubs. Proceeds went toward shelter construction on the MD A.T. ing and camping. In fact, day, October 21 from the U.S. Census in 1920 showed that for the first time Crampton Gap to Weverton Cliffs. He was quite pleased in our history more than half of the population lived in when 27 hikers joined him. Crowder suggested the for- metropolitan areas. MacKaye imagined a trail from Mt. mation of a hiking club when the group stopped for Washington in New Hampshire along the Appalachian lunch at Weverton. He led two hikes in November: one Mountains into North Carolina. The trail, of course, from Smithsburg to Pen-Mar and one from Ilchester to would eventually stretch from Maine to Georgia. Orange Grove. A meeting to discuss the formation of a There was a broad network of hiking trails through- club was held on Dec. 4, 1934 at the Enoch Pratt Library. out New England, some of which dated from the 1880s. The featured speaker was none other than Myron Avery. Yet not much in the way of trails had developed south Crowder, Alex Kennedy and Osborne Heard wrote the of the Hudson River. A group met in 1925 and formed MCM club bylaws soon after the Dec. meeting and a Trip the Appalachian Trail Conference. William Welch, who Schedule was created. The first official MCM hike was in worked in the New York state park system, was elected January 1935. to lead the ATC. Arthur Perkins, a Connecticut lawyer Avery pushed for an affiliation between the MCM and and judge, served as the second ATC president starting the PATC, which would have included the use of PATC in 1927. Myron Avery, a junior law partner of Perkins, tools, maps and guidebooks in exchange for a portion of was determined to help build the AT. the MCM member dues. The MCM officers discussed it Avery’s job took him to Washington, DC where he but the club did not approve it until the end of that first started the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club in 1927. He year. It was noted in the Dec. 1935 MCM Bulletin and was on a mission to establish guidelines for where and the Jan. 1936 PATC newsletter. how the AT would be built south of the Hudson River. Avery recruited hikers for weekend work trips and con- (Story to be continued.) vinced others to establish hiking clubs using the PATC 2 • HIKER HIGH POINTS FEBRUARY 2014 ALONG THE TRAIL MCM Participates in “Hike across Delaware” Eric M. Dahl On Saturday, November 2, 2013, eleven Mountain Club of As the mob slowly spread out over the first mile, temperatures Maryland members turned out for the 20th “Hike across Del- began to rise above that forecasted, and by the 2-mile point, aware”. Over 250 hikers from across the region attended the the temperature was pleasantly in the mid-70s—making it event, sponsored by the Wilmington Trail Club. ideal for shorts and t-shirts . The “Hike across Delaware” is a 14.1 mile hike along the However, this was not your typical MCM hike, as it had only north side of the Chesapeake & Delaware (C&D) canal, which 60 feet of total elevation gain, more than half the route (8.28 begins at the Maryland/Delaware border and ends in historic mi) was on pavement (Mike Castle Trail has been recently Delaware City at the mouth of the Delaware River. The route paved) and the final mile and a half was on city streets. Both lies mainly on land designated boots and walking shoes are rec- as the Canal Wildlife Zone. The ommended for those planning on event is sponsored each year participating next year. by the Wilmington Trail Club The route was scenic with plen- (www.wilmingtontrailclub.org). ty of fall foliage combined with a After registering at Battery view of boats using the water- Park in Delaware City, each par- way. At the 8-mile checkpoint in ticipant received a T-Shirt com- St. George’s DE, food, drink and memorating the event before transportation for those not plan- boarding busses which took us ning or able to complete the event the starting point at the Mary- were provided by the Wilmington land state line near Chesapeake Trail Club. City. At the start 250 hikers ea- The Hike across Delaware is gerly poured from the buses, held the first Saturday of Novem- looking for friends and/or hikers MCM participants included (standing left to right) ber each year. with similar abilities. Walt Miller, Don Brown, Garry Galvin, Rose Dempsey, Lori Nicolle, Les Ansel, Reuben Dagold, Duncan Glenday; (kneeling left to right) are Eric Dahl and Bill Saunders.