Adirondack Trail Improvement Society Newsletter www.atistrail.org A Letter from the President We wrapped up another wonderful summer in late August, and I am very appreciative of the seamless transition we have made to new staff and organizational structure. My kudos to Tony Goodwin, Erik Jacobsen, and Sam Hoar for their leadership. With fresh ideas and enthusiasm, Tony, Erik and Sam were able to assemble great depth of talent and experience in the staff. This blend of continuity and fresh ideas is what keeps ATIS vibrant and successful. I will leave it to the three of them, and the photos that capture some of our summer activities, to tell the story once again of a great season and exciting plans to come. We look forward to seeing everyone next summer, and as always, please visit the website to see more pictures and to keep informed on ATIS plans. Bobbie Junior Program
Fall 2014 Officers President: Bobbie Landers Vice-Presidents: Karen Doman Margie Whitman Secretary: Margie Wolf Treasurer: Mary Janeway Directors Janet Balaguer Terry Buchanan Laura Scott Caputo Karen Doman Barbara Dwyer Timo Fritzinger Eliza Harris Jenny Lang Hennessey Sam Hoar Caroline Hoffman John Hutchins Mary Janeway Bobbie Landers Tamra Mooney Heather Raker Doug Tansey Susan Ticknor Tinny Weintraub Margie Whitman Margie Wolf Martha Ann Zelski Advisors Ana Bickford, Laurie Daniels, Nancy Emrich Freeman, Sam Fisk, John Fritzinger, Emily Koch, Muriel Luderowski, Stephen McCarthy, Barbara McClelland, Carol Reed, Ben Runyon, Cyr Ryan, Maggie Sheldon, Lise Strickler, Margie Ticknor, Fay Weig, William Paternotte- ex officio
With the exception of a few days of heavy rain, including one which caused a postponement of the July picnic, 2014 proved to be a beautiful summer to explore the trails, woods, lakes, and cliffs of the Adirondacks. The ATIS summer kicked off in with the 50th running of High Peaks Camp, paired with the second year of High Peaks Leadership Camp for older, more experienced campers. High Peaks Camp stuck to its tried and true, but never boring, structure of overnight canoeing trips, hiking days from the Upper Lake, and overnight backpacking trips. This year, Leadership Camp added canoeing to its program and completed a through paddle/hike starting on Follensby Pond near Upper Saranac Lake and ending at the Adirondak Loj. That group then returned to the Keene Valley area for the rock climbing section of the trip and a meet-up with the High Peaks group for the traditional end-of-camp banquet.
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A total of 255 different campers joined ATIS on the 215 trips of various types run throughout the “regular season” of 2014. Those trips conquered old favorite objectives like Algonquin, Tenderfoot Pools, and Marcy and the Complete Great Range, and forged their way toward new destinations such as Boreas Mt., the Angel Slides on Wright, and Mt. Adams. Nature Activities, led this year by the tremendous team of Maddie Ticknor Tamra and Scott Mooney celebrate their close victory over James and Nicholas and Charlie Janeway, continued to Plaut in the family canoe race at the August picnic. provide curious young minds with an opportunity to learn about, explore, and, even at times, play with the natural world around the Ausable Club. Adirondack Survivor continued, with a slightly modified format, to teach kids specific skills of ultimate value for their wilderness self-sufficiency. Campers also enjoyed the opportunity to continue to improve their rock climbing and paddling skills throughout the summer at destinations all across the park. A special congratulations for completion of the 46 peaks goes out to ATIS participants, parents, and grandparents, (and even one counselor and one canine companion!) Mary Hedrick, Soren Dupont, Nicholas and James Plaut, Caitlyn Quinn, Dixon McClintock, Daniel Larson, Norman Smith, and Kyle Titsworth. Great congratulations also go to Oliver Daniels-Koch, winner of the 2014 ATIS award. Finally, a tremendous thank you to the counselor staff of 2014: Sophie Janeway, Henry DanielsKoch, Maddie Hoar, Kathryn Landers, Schuyler Nardelli, Emily Old, Liam Schwarz, Kyle Titsworth, XE Weig, Taylor Goldman, Charlie Janeway, Maddie Ticknor, Eli Bickford, Ellie Garland, Meg Hedrick, Pierce Laing, Annie Soren DuPont places a capstone on the Rocky Ludlow, Sascha Morris, Reid Quigley, Alex Peak Ridge summit cairn. This was Soren's "capstone" climb of the 46. Photo by Emily Old Richardson, Avery Tait, Clem Titsworth, Thomas Wei, and Evan Weig. The amount of time and effort that this group exerted on the trail, at Capture the Flag or the ATIS picnic, and behind the scenes in the ATIS hut was truly extraordinary, and their dedication to the organization exemplary. Sam Hoar
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Trail Crew The 2014 Trail Crew season began (as is usual) in mid-May with 3 weeks of patrol of the ATIS trail system. The patrol allows the crew to remove all winter blowdown and take a general inventory trail conditions. The blowdown volume was average for the year, but the crew did discover that the 40’ bridge that spans the Inlet on the Elk Lake/Marcy trail was completely washed away during the spring thaw. As a result, building a new bridge became the sole objective once patrol was completed. Once a new higher and more robust bridge was in place across the Inlet, the crew began to tackle numerous annual maintenance projects including cleaning drainage ditches, clipping encroaching vegetation, and small repairs to ladders, bridges and signs through out the entire system. Concurrently, the crew engaged in more significant projects including a large reroute on the Beaver Meadow Trail (which involved the installation of a significant section of stone The beefed up Inlet bridge about to be rolled into position steps), defining “easy” versus “scenic” routes on the Gill Brook Trail, adding significant new drainage to the Wedge Brook Trail, and a total ladder replacement at Knollview on the Cy Beede’s Ledge trail. The season concluded with the demolition and the complete reconstruction (including a wooden pier and stone abutment) of the 1st bridge on the Ladies Mile just past the AMR gatehouse. The installation of 1500’ of new bog bridges through Marcy Swamp, which was scheduled to take place this past summer, will now happen during the 2015 season. There were unfortunate complications associated with the helicopter delivery of the building material to the work site which delayed this project.
Scott Mooney at the new, less-scary Knollview ladder
Aaron Johnston did a great job leading the 2014 crew which included Jesse TangKong, Matt Mansfield, Max Magill, Eli Bickford, Katie Woltner and Scott Mooney. Erik Jacobson
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Adult Program Thanks to the efforts of organizers Sarah Marble and Karen Doman, and all of the volunteer leaders, adults again had an amazing variety of trips to choose from. Offerings ranged from the traditional, such as Shanty Brook and Gothics, to paddle explorations of new state acquisitions and a tour of the new local farms that have sprung up in the Ausable Valley. A well-attended paddle of the newly-acquired Essex Chain of Bill Tansey emerges from the culvert between Fourth and lakes south of Newcomb ended up merging Fifth Lakes in the Essex Chain. Not seen are Vinny with a large DEC/Nature Conservancy/media Barrett in stern and Maggie Barrett "vegging". group that was touring the newly-designated campsites while preparing to announce the camping permit program for the area. Another successful group celebrated the "super moon" with a moonlight paddle on Moose Pond near Bloomingdale. This program depends on volunteer leaders, so whether you have a favorite trip you'd like to share or a new destination you'd like to explore with some company, be sure to contact Sarah or Karen early next spring to get your trip on the calendar. Report on the Annual Meeting - August 16, 2014 The meeting opened with the report of the Nominating Committee. New directors are Timo Fritzinger, Caroline Hoffman, and Heather Raker, all of whom moved up from the Advisory Council. New members of the Advisory Council are Ana Bickford, Simon Cornelissen, Emily Koch, and Cyr Ryan. Officers for 2014-15 will be Bobbie Landers, President; Margie Whitman and Karen Doman, Vice-Presidents; Margie Wolf, Secretary; and Mary Janeway, Treasurer. The slate of officers and directors was approved unanimously. Allan Forsyth, Jonathan Old, and Ed Palen, who are stepping down, were thanked for their service on the boards. The treasurer reported that the organization's finances are in good shape with strong contributions to match the growing programs. ADIRONDACK TRAIL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY P.O. BOX 565 KEENE VALLEY, NY 12943 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
