Deck the (log) halls!

Backcountry caretakers are unique, dreaming of days spent on glorious high alpine ridgelines, but also having no qualms about talking about the actual consistency of the “material” in the composting outhouses. They also love their jobs, and express their love in unique ways.

So, how do caretakers celebrate the holidays? One of our first-year caretakers, Angela, celebrates annually with building a gingerbread house with her sister. This year, Angela’s was a gingerbread shelter, complete with outhouse!

According to Angela, who can be found caretaking at Cardigan Lodge right now, she wanted to make a Garfield Ridge Shelter inspired gingerbread one, but she found the wall lines too tricky to build. We’ll cut her some slack, she is a caretaker and not a timberframer after all.

Happy holidays from us in the Trails Department!!!

Speak up for the Recreational Trails Program!

For us rock-moving, hole-digging, griphoist-tensioning trails folks, the workings of federal politics sometimes escapes us. However, when it comes to the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funding, we understand what the loss of that program means. With the current budget discussions, the RTP program has been under serious threat.

Here’s a bit of background on the RTP program in general. The RTP program has been in effect for 20 years, funded through the Highway Trust Fund, derived from federal fuel taxes. The funds are allocated to each state, and the state has the freedom and flexibility to determine how to spend the RTP funds. Overall, 30% of the national funding are spent on motorized recreation, 30% to non motorized recreation, and the remaining 60% go to projects that facilitate diverse trail use. It is heavily relied on by trail maintaining organizations around the country, including AMC.

In our case, how does a national trail funding program translate to work on the ground?

It translates to four weeks of trail crew on the Lonesome Lake Trail in New Hampshire, to an extensive series of staircases, drainages, and retaining walls on the heavily used trail to Lonesome Lake Hut. It translates to over 1,000 hours of work on the Appalachian Trail in Maine, to 82 bog bridges, erosion controls, and trail work designed to meet the unique (i.e. ledgy) terrain of the Mahoosucs: carving steps out of ledge and installing iron rungs. Next year, we hope it will rebuild the Carlo Col trail in both New Hampshire and Maine.

Looking even further back, RTP funding supported the Grafton Loop Coalitions work in building the Grafton Loop Trail from 2001-7. It is also worth mentioning the long list of small, volunteer organizations that rely heavily on RTP funding such as our neighbors and friends the Randolph Mountain Club and the Mahoosuc Land Trust, as well as numerous snowmobile and ATV clubs.

The American Hiking Society has put together an excellent fact sheet and information clearing house on the history of the RTP program, the current status of the program, and talking points related to the program. AMC is a supporter of RTP. For more information on how to speak up for the RTP program, go here.

(Photos of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, and the Grafton Loop Trail, both cooperative projects with Maine RTP)

2012 Trails Volunteer T-Shirt Contest

You can help design the 2012 AMC Volunteer For Trails T-Shirts!
Submit you drawing or design to the AMC Trails Department for a chance to see your entry on the 2012 T-Shirt.

These T-shirts are given to over 2000+ AMC Trails Volunteers for their work on the trails each year. It could be your design or drawing on the back of every one!

Contest Information:

1) Entries must be received January 13, 2012

2) Your entry is for the Back of the T-Shirt design

3) Size Limit for the design is: 14 inches X 14 inches

4) Submit your drawings or designs in one color for screen printing

5) If you would like, specify the color T-Shirt and the color ink for your design

6) Keep it clean – please make sure that your entries are appropriate for the program

7) If e-mailing the design, please be sure they are at least 300 dpi or higher for professional quality printing.

Submit Entries To:
adelucia@outdoors.org

or Direct Mail:
Alex DeLucia
AMC Trails Department
Volunteer T-Shirt Contest
P.O. Box 298
Gorham, NH 03581

Good Luck!

Spirit of NH Awards 2011

On November 8th at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH the 2011 Spirit of New Hampshire Awards were held. Over 100 volunteers from many different organizations and areas of the state were recognized for their commitment to service and the New Hampshire tradition of volunteerism.

This annual recognition program is administered by Volunteer NH in collaboration with the Office of the Governor. Spirit of New Hampshire awards honor outstanding contributions to volunteerism throughout the state of New Hampshire. They augment the many local recognition events that show appreciation for the work of community volunteers and volunteer programs.

The AMC's North Country Trails Volunteer Programs were awarded the Spirit of NH Champion Award. The Champion Award recognizes a volunteer organization that provides outstanding opportunities to volunteers.

The North Country Trails Volunteer Programs, of Gorham, is a project of the Appalachian Mountain Club and includes over 800 volunteers. The program, supervised by Alex DeLucia, works in New Hampshire’s forests maintaining 400 miles of trails through cleaning out brush, drainage structures, repair or build scree walls and cairns above the tree line. Preserving the trails for future use, protecting their environment and providing a quality experience for all trail users, the program is integral for the long term sustainability of New Hampshire Appalachian mountain trails. The program logs over 19,000 hours of volunteer service annually to fulfill these efforts.

(In the photo, far left, Susan Arnold: AMC Vice President for Conservation. Second from left, Andrew Norkin: AMC Director of Trails & Recreation Management. Fifth from the left in the front row, Alex DeLucia: AMC North Country Trails Volunteer Programs Supervisor)

Photo by: Volunteer NH

Trail Sign Auction Ends Friday!

AMC Trails Department's Annual Trail Sign Auction ends this Friday! Find more information and place your bid today!>>

WINDBORNE grit and ice scour them. Porcupines gnaw on them. Sun and rain beat on them. And still, the wooden trail signs that help guide hikers in the White Mountains put up with it all, serving as silent guideposts in the woods and above the treeline, around the clock, often for years and years before they need to be replaced.

Each year, trail sign fans and supporters of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s trail stewardship program provide future homes for retired trail signs by submitting winning bids in the annual online trail sign auction. This year’s auction opened on eBay on Tuesday and continues until the close of bidding at noon on Friday, Dec. 2. As noted on the What’s New blog at outdoors.org, “All proceeds from the auction will directly support AMC’s trail maintenance efforts and, in particular this year, trail cleanup and repair work following Tropical Storm Irene.”

Six signs are available, representing such locales as the Presidential Range, the Zealand Valley and the Mahoosucs, among others. The Tuckerman Crossover sign is among those in this year’s auction. According to the description on outdoors.org, the sign “spent several long hard years living amid diapensia and mountain sandwort above treeline at the Tuckerman Junction. When not covered with rime ice or befuddled in fog, this sign directed countless numbers of hikers along the Tuckerman Crossover toward the Southside Trail and Lakes of the Clouds Hut.”

Fans of the Mahoosuc Range will likely recognize the Goose Eye trail sign, which had been located at the junction with the Carlo Col Trail since 1985.

A white-and-green Royce Trail sign is also in the auction and includes directional arrows and mileages for other trails and features in the area, including Burnt Mill Brook Trail, West Royce, Laughing Lion Trail and the Brickett Place.

The Cascade Brook Trail sign is billed as the only sign in this year’s batch to carry the Appalachian Trail logo. Others include an Osseo Trail sign and the Ethan Pond Trail sign. The auction is an important fundraiser for AMC’s trail maintenance program.

By: Rob Burbank- AMC

AMC Trails on Latvian TV

In early November a film crew from Latvian Public Television visited AMC Pinkham Notch to learn more about our trails volunteer programs. Latvia is a small country in eastern Europe with large amounts of public lands. There was great interest in AMC Trail Volunteers and their commitment to caring for our public lands here in the Northeast. It was their hope that we can help to strengthen Latvian volunteerism in the same way.

We spent a wonderful day with Eva Ikstena-Strapcane sharing stories, swapping experiences, and most of all finding common ground on a passion for helping to maintain the outdoor places we love.

For all of our Latvian speaking AMC members, enjoy! Even if you don't speak Latvian, the message of AMC's commitment to the White Mountains and the support of our Volunteers comes through.