Once again, the KTA Trail Care Program will be 'all over the map' in 2013, bringing volunteer know-how, commitment and enthusiasm to Pennsylvania's network of hiking trails at a location near you! Hard work (usually) and a sense of accomplishment (always) is the give-and-take of the volunteer experience at a KTA Trail Care event. Occasionally, as well, an evening cookout takes the conviviality at the end of the day up a notch.
This year, both the Susquehannock Trail Club and the Friends of Pinchot State Park will be doing just that, hosting cookouts for participants who bring their talents to the treadway. Work on the Susquehannock Trail System will take place during a weekend Trail Care based out of Ole Bull State Park in May, while the Pinchot Friends will co-sponsor a Code Orange workday at the beginning of October.
Trail Care will be returning to The Bucktail Path in 2013 as well, at the request of the Elk District Forester Jeanne Wambaugh, who has made the Brooks Run fire tower cabin available for the event.
A one-day Code Orange trail care event at the end of August is scheduled to upgrade the Long Branch Trail, which connects the West Rim Trail to the Black Forest Trail via the Algerine Trail. With camping available Saturday night along the Pine Creek Rail Trail, this will be an excellent chance to bike Pine Creek or hike the Golden Eagle Trail on Saturday, and volunteer on Sunday.
November Trail Care will be located in Cowans Gap State Park where park trails, the Standing Stone Trail and the Tuscarora Trail all provide outstanding hiking opportunities. Park manager Ryan Donovan has reserved cabins for KTA volunteers to bunk in.
Also (did I mention?) there are five Trail Crew weeks scheduled for 2013, complete with meals provided, centered around June. Participants can volunteer for the entire week, Tuesday through Sunday, or any combination of days therein. Pre-registration is required so that the cooks have some idea of how many folks they will be feeding each day.
The complete 2013 Trail Care and Trail Crew schedule is now available, so start planning to get involved -- you might even end up with a "Volunteers Blaze the Way" t-shirt!
Click here for the full schedule.