Spring/Summer 2017 The STC – More than Just a Club By Wanda Shirk As the STC calls its first half-century a wrap and looks The STC, on the other hand, is a bigger deal than that. ahead to its second half century, I began to ponder the We are, in reality, a service organization. Some such question of who we are. My dictionary says that a club is “clubs,” like a Lions Club or Rotary, are ever on the look- “a group of people joined for a special purpose, such as a out for new and different ways to contribute to their tennis club.” My first thoughts about “club” were that it communities, and projects may range from improving a implied merely social association and friendship around a town park to putting on festivals or parades to decorating common interest, like my little four-member book club for holidays or providing scholarships for local students. composed of three of my fellow retired teachers and me, Some community organizations benefit one particular getting together once a month primarily to keep in touch community asset. The Potter County Fair Association, with each other, and secondarily, perhaps, to challenge the Friends of Lyman Run State Park, library boards, fire each other in a mildly academic sense to read a good book companies and hospital auxiliaries, and PALMA – the every month. The demise of this club would be a loss to Pennsylvania Lumber Museum Association – come to us, but not to the community at large. mind locally. The STC falls into this category -- a group centered around a very particular purpose: maintaining If a group's purpose is merely the pleasure of its members, and promoting our beautiful Susquehannock Trail System. whether a book club or a hiking club, then the longevity of the club is inconsequential. To clarify a distinction: just as Our club's middle name is “Trail,” as Bill Boyd has point- a book club doesn't matter in the long run, but the library ed out in one of our discussions. While we sponsor hikes, board does matter for the community, so a hiking club both to enjoy trails ourselves and to generate the interest doesn't matter in the long run, but a real trail club – like of other people in the trails in our area, our primary focus the Susquehannock Trail Club – does matter. Our pur- is on maintaining and improving the STS. Pondering this pose involves maintaining something wonderful for the led me to look at the list of member organizations for the community now and preserving something wonderful for Keystone Trails Association, our statewide “umbrella or- posterity. ganization,” the federation of similar groups around the state. The STC: It's more than just a club. Thanks for being part of our mission. I found seven “Trail Clubs” besides ours. Interestingly, only a couple of them, like the Standing Stone Trail Club and the now-defunct Quehanna Area Trail Club, actually centered on a particular trail. Others, such as the Asaph, 50th Anniversary Patch Chester County, Philadelphia, and Wilmington Trail Club(s), are really hiking clubs in their areas. Three Appalachian Trail Clubs are part of KTA – the Cumberland Valley ATC, the Potomac ATC, and the Sus- quehanna ATC. They are specifically focused on main- taining sections of the AT. Seven KTA member organizations are named “Hiking Clubs”: The Allentown, Batona, Berks County, Lancaster, Lebanon Valley, Susquehanna Trailers, and York Hiking Club(s). There are three “Outdoor Clubs”: the Allegheny, Butler, and Pocono Outdoor Club(s). In addition, there's the Sierra Club, with several regional chapters in Pennsylvania. In commemoration of the half-century mark of the Sus- quehannock Trail Club, we have ordered a limited number Then there are “Associations”: The Mid State Trail Asso- of 50th Anniversary Patches. About a fifth of them have ciation (with four regions), North Country Trail Associa- already been sold as this newsletter goes to print. The tion (with four chapters in Pa.), and the Warrior Trail As- price is $8.00 for one patch or $15.00 for two. sociation. Six “Conservancies” are KTA members: The Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the Horse-Shoe, Rachel Welcome New Members Carson Trail, Schuylkill County, Western Pennsylvania, By Lois Morey, STC Secretary and Wildlands Conservancies. Allen Berfield David Luthi Other than that, names include the Alpine Club (they Coudersport, PA Nescopeck, PA maintain the Loyalsock Trail), two “mountain” clubs, a John Dzemyan Pammy Luthi “climbing club,” a “Friends” group, an “outings club,” and Smethport, PA Nescopeck place-centered groups such as a camp, a heritage associa- Larry Hirst Kelly Stemcosky tion, and a forest and wildlife preserve. Cross Fork, PA Elkland, PA Mary Hirst George Stover Whatever their names, most of these groups have mem- Cross Fork, PA Woodward, PA bers who are avid hikers and often trail maintainers, and Linda Knowlton Vivian Stover who have a wide variety of other outdoor interests ranging Coudersport, PA Woodward, PA from canoeing and kayaking to birding and camping. Michael Knowlton Coudersport, PA This newsletter is written with 100% recycled words 2 Newsletter printed by the Welfare Hollow Publishing Group, New Florence, PA 15944 2017 Trail Maintenance Projects Crooks Trail Dynamite House New Door By Bill Boyd By Jasper Reamerstraff Photo submitted by Tom Fitzgerald Photo submitted by Bob Bernhardy Priority Number One this year is alleviation of the wet The dynamite house was originally built by the Cherry muddy segments of the Susquehannock Trail System in the Springs Civilian Conservation Corps Camp #S-136 in the Hogback Valley. This stretch of the STS has been plagued early 1930’s for explosives storage. During the Depression with excessive water problems ever since the trail was laid years, earth-moving equipment was in short supply, and out fifty years ago. We want to keep the trail in this valley many camps used dynamite to break up rock formations because of its scenic nature. Corduroy logs have been and loosen tree stumps from the ground enough to com- used in the past, but they eventually rot away. We are con- plete the work by hand with non-power tools. For security sidering the use of stepping stones and possibly catwalks and safety, the dynamite house was of sturdy brick con- to cross some the worst problem areas. Stay tuned. struction and located about 200 yards up the Crooks Trail from the Sunken Branch Road. Camp #S-136 was about a Another long-standing unsatisfactory condition that we third of a mile away, around the brow of a hill. hope to be able to address this year is the trail in the cen- tral portion of the Hammersley Wild Area. The problem After the CCC was disbanded, the building stood empty here is eight decades of slow hillside erosion that has al- and unused for three decades. When the STS was first laid most filled in about 6/10 of a mile of CCC trail that paral- out in 1967, the STC stored a small number of black locust lels the steep hillside north of the famous Hammersley sign posts in the dynamite house. However, it turned out Pool. This stretch is almost five miles down the trail from to be inconvenient to go to the building whenever a new the nearest road. Simply walking in and out takes most of post was needed so we transferred the remaining posts to the work day. Very little is likely to be accomplished here the home of Trail Maintenance Supervisor Bill Boyd for until we can get a crew to camp out on-site for a weekend. more convenient access. We are also considering a second Adirondack-style shelter, And then the hinges of the heavy steel-plated door began and are debating whether to build it from scratch as we did to pull loose from the wall of the building. For safety, the the first shelter, or construct it from a prefabricated kit. Susquehannock Forest District removed the door, and Susquehannock Trail Club member Joe Allis, a master And of course, there is the usual annual maintenance— craftsman, built and installed a new lightweight door on mowing, cutting back encroaching brush, refurbishing the building. This summer, club member Vincent Rose, a paint blazes, maintaining signs at trail intersections, and retired mason, will touch up some of the cracks in the removing the occasional tree limbs and whole trees that brick walls of the structure. fall into the trail from time to time. Now that the building has been fitted with a safe light- One of the biggest difficulties in carrying out these plans is weight door, the forest district will allow it to be used as an old age. Most of our active trail maintainers are in their emergency shelter by hikers. 60s and 70s, and don’t have the energy they had when they and the STS were young! This newsletter is written with 100% recycled words 3 Newsletter printed by the Welfare Hollow Publishing Group, New Florence, PA 15944 Old Geezer Hiking Memories decay beech tree trunk, I watched four adult deer in dark Early Spring Lone Hike winter coats walk into my view and stare at me. I tried to By Bob Knowles make a slow half turn. Four tails flare out, four deer run uphill. Four white bouncing tails disappear among the Spring has arrived according to the calendar. Strange feel- distant woodland trees. The hiking was easy on a generally ings stirred in my winter-weary body. Spring is a promise level unblazed trail covered with last year’s brown dried of change and renewal.