RAILWALKER NTEW YORK-NEW JERSEY TRAIL CONFERENCE...MAINTAINING OVER 1300 MILES OF FOOT TRAILS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 Trail Conference Web Store Opens for Business The NY-NJ Trail Conference Web store—the Hikers’ Marketplace—is now up and running. We’ve entered the 21st www.nynjtc.orgwww.nynjtc.org century! Browse the new electronic Hikers’ Marketplace to see the range of Trail Con- ference maps and guidebooks that are available for purchase. You’ll find full de- scriptions of our maps, guidebooks, and other items. Buying your selections via the web store is quick and easy. And the store is more than just maps and guidebooks! Non-Members can join the Trail Conference through the Hikers’ Marketplace, and then take advantage of member prices. Current members can also use the Hikers’ Marketplace to both re- new their memberships and make dona- Web, you can still browse through the Hik- this issue, or tions. ers’ Marketplace to see which items you n phone your order into the Trail Con- You can enter the store from the Trail wish to order, then either: ference Office at 212-685-9699. Conference’s home page—http:// n print a copy of the order form from Special thanks to Trail Conference www.nynjtc.org. Just look for “Hiker’s the Web and mail it to the Trail Confer- member Dave Bertollo for his energies to Marketplace” on the menu. Remember, ence office, or get our web store up and running. as members you can use the Members’ n use the Order Form on page 8 of section of the Marketplace. To purchase items from the store, you need a Mastercard, Visa, or American Express card. Rest assured that your credit card information is fully protected and $10,000 American Express encrypted through the use of modern Web security methods and software. Company grant to aid Highlands Trail For those of you who don’t wish to send credit card information through the The NY-NJ Trail Conference is very Frankovic. “We also think the Highlands pleased to announce receipt of a $10,000 Trail is an exciting project.” Celebrating East Hudson Conservation grant from the American Express Com- “This grant will enable the Trail Con- pany to further develop the Highlands ference to enhance the vision and mission Millennium Trail in New Jersey. of the Highlands Trail to benefit the The Highlands Trail was designated present and future constituents well into New Jersey’s Millennium Trail in Octo- the new millennium,” noted Bob Moss, LALLA R. GRIMES ber 1999 by the nationwide Millennium Highlands Trail Committee Chairman. A Celebration Trails program, a partnership among the Our thanks to the American Express of Conserva- White House Millennium Council, U.S. Company for their support. tion in the east Department of Transportation, and Rails- Hudson Valley was held on to-Trails Conservancy, in cooperation with September other agencies and organizations. What’s Inside 23, hosted for The American Express Company is a the Trail major financial supporter of the Millen- Conference nium Trails program. Trail News .................. 4 by Anne and Of the 50 designated millennium trails Trail Crew Schedules ..... 5 Fred Osborn across the country, only selected trails were at “Cat Rock,” considered for an American Express Hikers’ Bookshelf .......... 6 their home in award. Garrison. The event featured two speakers from among our partners in the east “We’re giving grants to states that are For & About Our Members7 Hudson area: Joe Martens, President of Open Space Institute, and Chris Davis, places where American Express’s employ- President of the Hudson Highlands Land Trust. Above, three wonderful land conserva- View from Albany ........10 ees and customers live and work,” noted tors and Trail Conference members conferring about recent achievements in the Hudson Valley: Dr. Margaret Johns, Klara Sauer, and Anne Sidamon-Eristoff. See American Express Company’s New Jersey Hikers’ Almanac ..........12 page 3 for more coverage. and Pennsylvania District Manager Eric from the president’s notepad... forests dotted with ponds and thriving with TRAIL WALKER wildlife, it is little wonder that we feel such Volume XXVII, No. 6 Nov./Dec. 2000 affinity for this park. Change is on the way for PIPC as well. Nora Porter Managing Editor Paul Leikin Advertising Manager While most of their parks are in New York One Hundred Years Old and Still Growing State, the “Interstate” part of their name The TRAIL WALKER (ISSN 0749-1352) is will soon include additional parklands in published bi-monthly by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference as a benefit of mem- This month my notepad is a mixed over the course of our 80 years. I want to the New Jersey Highlands. This is a bership. Of membership dues, $4 is allocated bag of news—some about change, but take this opportunity to express apprecia- change born of their century-long stabil- to a one-year subscription. Subscriptions are mostly about celebrating stability. tion to the Commission members with ity, and we will be all the richer for it. available to libraries only at $15.00 a year. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY. The announcement of Jan’s leaving whom we have worked in recent years, It is well documented that these parks Postmaster: Send address changes to the ad- has made us all pause to inventory the and to PIPC senior staff, including Carol are attractive to people from many cul- dress below. Opinions expressed by authors changes he has helped bring about in his Ash, Executive Director; Ken Krieser, tural and national backgrounds—reflect- do not necessarily represent the policy or po- sition of the Conference. Contributions of brief stint as Executive Director. From Deputy Executive Director; Kieran Quinn, ing the changing diversity of the popula- typed manuscripts, photos and drawings are implementing our strategic plan and new NY Superintendent; James Hall, NJ Su- tion in the metropolitan area. The Trail welcome. Manuscripts may be edited for style data base, to enhancing our fund raising perintendent; and Tim Sullivan, Chief and length. Send SASE for writers’ guidelines. Conference and PIPC are working together Submission deadlines for the TRAIL WALKER and publications capacity, together we Ranger. All of them, and many others, on an outreach program to introduce hik- are February 1 (Mar./Apr. Issue), April 1 have grappled with major changes in the contribute to the long-lasting partnership ing to groups that have not traditionally (May/June issue), June 1 (July/Aug. Issue), Trail Conference. And in light of skyrock- August 1 (Sept./Oct. Issue), October 1 (Nov./ that we have enjoyed since our founding. been part of the hiking community. We Dec. Issue), December 1 (Jan./Feb. Issue). Un- eting rents in midtown Manhattan we will The headquarters (and the heart) of will soon have information pamphlets in solicited contributions cannot be acknowl- likely need to move our office sometime PIPC is at Bear Mountain. It should come several different languages available to edged unless accompanied by SASE. For in- formation on advertising rates, please write in the next year and a half. as no surprise that Bear Mountain/ visitors wanting to know more about hik- or call. Too much change you may think. No Harriman State Park is consistently iden- ing the trails in the park. Copyright 2000 by: argument from me. Yet at the same time tified as the favorite place for our mem- The Trail Conference wishes the Pali- New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Inc. 232 Madison Avenue we are celebrating our 80th year of serv- bers to go hiking. Furthermore, our clubs sades Interstate Park Commission another New York, NY 10016 ing the public through our program of and individual volunteers love to main- 100 years of successful stewardship of these 212-685-9699 building and maintaining footpaths. We tain the trails in the park (there are sel- wonderfully varied and accessible parks, e-mail: [email protected] World Wide Web: http://www.nynjtc.org/ are proud of our legacy over these 80 years, dom any vacancies here). Members are and 100 years of continued partnership in of the partnerships that have developed willing to forego the breath-taking alti- providing rewarding trail-based recre- and of the successes we have shared in tudes of the Adirondacks and the forested ation. NEW YORK - NEW JERSEY protecting open space. vistas of the Catskills for the more readily For now, we just await our chance to TRAIL CONFERENCE But there is an even more impressive accessible wildernesses of this park. It pro- ride the magnificent new merry-go-round Mission Statement milestone being celebrated this year. It is vides a destination offering great variety. at the Bear Mountain Inn in celebration The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, the 100th anniversary of the founding of From backpacking for a weekend to chal- of the first 100 years. founded in 1920, is a federation of member the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. lenging day hikes, from lunching at the clubs and individuals dedicated to providing -Gary Haugland recreational hiking opportunities in the re- (We call them PIPC; rhymes with tipsy.) tops of mountains overlooking the Hudson gion, and representing the interests and con- What a tremendous partner they have been River Valley, to being enveloped in pine cerns of the hiking community. The Confer- ence is a volunteer-directed public service or- ganization committed to: • Developing, building, and maintaining hiking trails. • Protecting hiking trail lands through support and advocacy. E T T E R • Educating the public in the responsible L S use of trails and the natural environment. Board of Directors Geography must be objective Letting children lift rocks is not with- Paul DeCoste who recently “retired” as Gary Haugland President Jane Daniels Vice President In his recent review of the book out some element of danger, particularly the Chairman of the Trail Conference’s Daniel Chazin Secretary Catskill Trails—A Ranger’s Guide to the from snakes in our area which like to hide New Jersey Appalachian Trail Manage- William Mishler Treasurer High Peaks (September/October 2000 beneath them at times.