March – April 2014
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JOURNEYS THE MAGAZINE OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY March – April 2014 CELEBRATING 2,000-MILERS INSIDE: The Trail to Health ❙ Alternative Thru-Hikes ❘ JOURNEYS FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE MAGAZINE OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY Volume 10, Number 2 March – April 2014 IN THE WORLD OF coNSERVATION, THE coNCEPT OF PROTECTING LARGE landscapes and watersheds has become very popular in recent years. Attention to this idea Mission is due in part to the Obama administration’s “America’s Great Outdoors” initiative, which The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail — ensuring prioritizes protecting nationally significant landscapes through collaboration by federal that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow, land managing agencies with state and local governments and private and community and for centuries to come. partners. This past December the National Park Service (NPS) convened a workshop with the stated objective of helping the agency realize its full potential to lead and engage in Board of Directors A.T. Journeys protecting large landscapes. NPS has a specific goal of identifying five national park Sandra Marra ❘ Chair Wendy K. Probst ❘ Managing Editor units within broader landscapes that deserve special attention as part of its “Call to Clark Wright Jr. ❘ Vice Chair Traci Anfuso-Young ❘ Graphic Designer Action” agenda for the 2016 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the NPS. Both the Elizabeth (Betsy) Pierce Thompson ❘ Secretary Appalachian Trail superintendent Wendy Janssen (whom we feature in an interview in Arthur Foley ❘ Treasurer Contributors this issue of A.T. Journeys) and I participated in the workshop. Beth Critton Laurie Potteiger ❘ Information Services Manager What could be a better candidate for this designation than the Appalachian National On the Cover: Richard Daileader Anne Baker ❘ Proofreader Scenic Trail? It is officially a unit of the park system, and it is managed in close Elated 2,000-miler, William D. Marcia Fairweather partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, individual state agencies, and the Appalachian “Saber” Sam, at the completion Edward R. Guyot The staff of A.T. Journeys welcomes Trail Conservancy (ATC). More importantly, the A.T. corridor is well protected and of his 2013 thru-hike. Mary Higley editorial inquiries, suggestions, and comments. features a very special part of America’s natural and cultural heritage. Terry Lierman E-mail: [email protected] Carrie Rodriguez-Tweeten Why do people hike on the Appalachian Trail? Some of the major reasons are to: Samuel J. Sarofeen Observations, conclusions, opinions, and product ❚ Walk through scenic landscapes, such as the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Nathaniel Stoddard endorsements expressed in A.T. Journeys are those ❚ Experience the thrill of high elevation viewsheds across mountain ranges in the Great Smoky Greg Winchester of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those Mountains and Shenandoah national parks. of members of the board or staff of the Appalachian ❚ Better appreciate the early settlement of the Appalachian Mountains and the Civil War history ATC Executive Staff Trail Conservancy. as it unfolds for hikers in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and in our hometown of Harpers Ronald J. Tipton ❘ Executive Director/CEO Ferry, West Virginia. Stacey J. Marshall ❘ Director of Finance Advertising ❚ Explore the unique ecology and rare plants and habitat in places like Roan Mountain, Hawk & Administration A.T. Journeys is published six times per year. Mountain, and the bogs of northern New England. Royce W. Gibson ❘ Director of Membership Advertising revenues directly support the & Development publication and production of the magazine, The TCA and its Trail maintaining clubs built the Appalachian Trail in the 1920s and Laura Belleville ❘ Director of Conservation and help meet Appalachian Trail Conservancy 1930s. After World War II, the ATC created a successful and sustainable A.T. management Brian B. King ❘ Publisher objectives. For more information and advertising program that is the envy of the trail community across the country and around the Javier Folgar ❘ Director of Marketing rates, visit: appalachiantrail.org/advertising. world. In the past several decades, the ATC has led the remarkable public/private effort & Communications to permanently protect this Trail primarily through federal and state land acquisition. A.T. Journeys is published on Sterling Matte paper that Now we have the historic opportunity to expand this zone of protection through is manufactured by NewPage Corporation, responsibly having our Trail designated as one of the nation’s special national park units within a sourced, using allocated chain-of-custody certified fiber. larger landscape. This would give the A.T. a higher priority for funding from important It is printed with SoySeal certified ink in the U.S.A. by federal conservation programs such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Dartmouth Printing Company, Hanover, New Hamphshire. Forest Legacy program. It would also encourage closer collaboration among multiple public and private partners to achieve shared goals. A.T. Journeys ( ISSN 1556-2751) is published bimonthly The ongoing struggle to protect the Trail in the face of new energy development, for $15 a year by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, higher transmission lines, wider and faster roads, and commercial and residential 799 Washington Street, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425, development that would degrade the A.T. will not go away. Having our Trail designated (304) 535-6331. Bulk-rate postage paid at Harpers Ferry, as one of the country’s premier landscapes can help in this effort. West Virginia, and other offices. Membership Ronald J. Tipton ❘ Executive Director/CEO Postmaster: Send change-of-address Form 3575 to For membership questions or to become a member, call (304) 535-6331, ext. 119, A.T. Journeys, P.O. Box 807, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. or e-mail [email protected]. © 2014 Appalachian Trail Conservancy. All rights reserved. Get Social With Us A.T., earLY morning near BLand, Virginia − photo BY Bert “Chopper” ALLen 02 ❘ A.T. JOURNEYS ❘ march – april 2014 march – april 2014 ❘ A.T. JOURNEYS ❘ 03 CONTENts ❘ March – April 2014 features 10 The Trail to Health Hikes of any length along the A.T. have the power to stimulate an increase in regular activity levels, offer a path to physical fitness in a transformative setting, and build an appreciation for both nature and humanity. Collin “Ash” Maher on the A.T. in the Bigelow Preserve, between West Peak and 26 Avery Peak – by Katie “Lobo” Polemis Alternative Thru-Hikes ❘ 36 ❘ Less conventional thru-hikes of the Trail can offer amazing ❘ 26 ❘ weather conditions, more time to take in the scenery, an enhanced sense of solitude, and have a positive environmental impact on the footpath itself. 30 Purposeful Expression Danielle Klebes kept detailed journals and sketches throughout her 2013 A.T. thru-hike, documenting the amazing people she met along the way and, afterwards, producing a series of exceptional mixed media pieces. 36 ❘ 38 ❘ Resolved Refuse Removal Heather “Whirled Peas” Laney A troublesome collection of old debris in Maine’s Bigelow takes a yoga break on Mount Preserve area was finally cleaned up last year, due in departments Washington – by James Shrum part to the perseverance and ingenuity of one Maine ❘ A.T. Club caretaker. 14 TRAILHEAD ❘ ❘ ATC Earns Four Star Rating; Preventing 10 Norovirus Infection 38 ❘ Q & A This spring, Wendy Janssen celebrates her first year as the superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and explains what the role ❘ 18 ❘ means to her both professionally and personally. 40 ❘ TRAIL STORIES CELEBRATING 2013 Ever since his 1973 southbound thru-hike, Richard Judy has been “bedeviled by an obsessive compulsive urge to pursue adventure 2,000-MILERS — ever ready to slog out another mile or two” 03 ❘ FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The ATC congratulates the record 948 2,000-milers who registered the on the A.T. 06 ❘ LETTERS completion of their hikes of the entire Appalachian Trail last year. ❘ AS I SEE IT 47 ❘ Joshua Stacy’s “flip-flop” hike of the Trail allowed 08 OVERLOOK him to experience both a north and southbound 42 ❘ TRAIL GIVIng journey — and to encounter some spectacular A gleeful 2013 2,000-miler Brenna “Apple Butter” weather along the way. 46 ❘ PUblIC NOTICES McCree at McAfee Knob – photo by Nick Amante march – april 2014 ❘ A.T. JOURNEYS ❘ 05 ❘ LETTERS ORDER YOUR A.T. LICENSE I STARTED MARCh 7, 2013 ON THE eastern seaboard of the United States. hikers coming down. I complained to A.T. at Springer. After snow, ice, record- Except in the Hundred Mile Wilderness, them about the difficulty of the climb, the PLATE AND SUPPORT THE breaking cold temperatures, and you can easily get on and off the Trail at heat, the lack of switchbacks, and then norovirus, I made it to Harpers Ferry on convenient intervals. You can resupply. asked, “Is it as bad up ahead as it has been APPALACHIAN TRAIL! June 28. And I decided to “flip.” After TheT rail is scrupulously documented and the last five miles?” One of the south- trains, planes, and automobiles, I sum- carefully maintained. It is a flagship of bounders replied back to me, “It is, if you mited Katahdin on July 14, and made it long-distance hiking, and a backbone of want it to be!” That reply changed me. I south to Harpers Ferry just as winter was an even larger system of trails that pur- could either make it a miserable experi- settling in to bite again on November 22, posely connect to it; a vast system to which ence or a rewarding experience, it was up the week before Thanksgiving. And oh, am more miles are being added every year. The to me. I have tried to do the same with VENTILATION I grateful! The epic majesty of this journey A.T.