November Newsletter 2023

**View from Rounds Rock, Greylock, pic by M Waldman**

End-to-End Challenge 2024 – Chairperson, Co-chair & Other Volunteer Opportunities Available!

The next End-to-End (E2E) Challenge is scheduled for Saturday, May 11, 2024. We need an event Chairperson, Co-Chair, and other people to help organize the event. We have been doing the event for years, so nothing needs to be fully developed, just updated. This is a fun and exciting event!

Do you like working with people? Do you enjoy organizing club, family, or workplace events? Are you good with details and like to follow up on things? Are you familiar with Eventbrite or similar on-line registration apps? If so, the E2E Chair or Co-Chair position is perfect for you!

The Chair and Co-chair can split the previous Chair responsibilities to make it easier for each of you. Some of the tasks include the following. You would be updating our existing Eventbrite account, using previous texts as a basis, to allow the eager E2E participants to register on-line. You will get to know the participants with a couple of follow-up emails, and it is easy to catch their enthusiasm and energy! In addition, you would be working with other volunteers and communicating with our contacts at NYSDEC and MADCR at Pittsfield State Forest. After getting the hikers on their way at daybreak at Berry Pond, you would be monitoring the hikers and sweeps throughout the day to address any issues that may arise. And of course, you can personally congratulate everyone for a job well done at the end of the day!

Maybe you would prefer to have a smaller volunteer position such as to organize the four sets of Sweeps (volunteers who follow the participants on the four sections of trail the day of the Challenge) and Shuttle Drivers (people to drive the sweeps back to their cars when they are done). You would be using the email list of sweeps from last year as a start, then word of mouth and advertising to find additional sweeps and shuttle drivers.

Although we are primarily looking for the E2E Chair, Co-chair and the Sweeps/Shuttle Coordinator at this time, please let us know if you think you would be interested in helping with one of these activities before the event: trail work, carrying water up Mattison Hollow for the hikers a day or two before the Challenge, assembling the E2E Certificate packets, or organizing food, water, etc. for the check points at Petersburg Pass and the Rte. 346 end of the trail. Or if you want to do something the day of the event please consider these: being the gatekeeper at Pittsfield State Forest, being a sweep, shuttle driver, driving the hikers supplies from the start at Berry Pond to Mattison Hollow Rd or Petersburg Pass, volunteering and cheering the hikers at Petersburg Pass or the Rte. 346 end of the trail or any other tasks. To get engaged in this fun event, please contact one of the Board members or email us at taconichikingclb@gmail.com (remember - no “u” in club)

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP for 2024 now!

You may renew online or by mail. Be sure to update changes in your contact information: email, phone, or address.

To renew a membership by credit card or PayPal, go to the membership page of the Taconic Hiking Club website, or click here https://taconichikingclub.org/membership

To renew by mail, make out a check payable to the “Taconic Hiking Club” in the amount of $10. (per person). Send completed check to:

Taconic Hiking Club, c/o Sue Jordan - Membership Chair, 276 South Manning Blvd, Albany, NY 12208

WONDERING WHAT TO READ? As we settle into the quieter darker days of November, we might find time for a good read along with a cup of tea by a fire in the woodstove. We’ve cited in the March 2022 newsletter some nonfiction books about hiking and woods, and here are a few recommendations for fiction that offer hiking as a backdrop or that include a trail motif. Enjoy!

The Trail, by Ethan Gallogly (from Kirkus reviews). A young man overcomes grief as he backpacks one of North America’s most arduous trails in a novel that celebrates nature and companionship. When Gil’s mother asks him to join his father’s old friend Syd and hike the John Muir Trail—220 miles across the top of the Sierra Nevada mountains—Gil is less than thrilled. His mother thinks that the hike will help Gil get his life back on track, but he thinks he’s doing just fine watching kung fu movies, casually hooking up with women, and drinking to excess. In addition, Gil doesn’t want to be responsible for Syd, who’s dying of leukemia; indeed, Gil is convinced that the older man won’t be able to complete the hike. However, Gil is curious to learn more about his father, who passed away a decade ago, so he goes on the trip, ready to cut it short if necessary. So begins a story of two men, bonded by loss, who undertake one of America’s most challenging and beautiful hikes. The more time they spend on the trail, the more they develop a companionable rhythm. Initially miserable, Gil slowly learns to appreciate the nature around him, the community of fellow backpackers, and Syd himself, who’s full of wisdom and tales of how the John Muir Trail came to be. In his debut novel, Gallogly deftly mixes a history of people who helped to preserve the American wilderness with a portrayal of backpacking culture, all while unraveling a realistic story of a young man caught in a cycle of grieving and loss. The author shines in his descriptions of the natural world as well as in his methodical portrayal of Gil and Syd’s blossoming relationship. The transformative power of nature is a palpable force that drives the narrative, which is at its best when it focuses on how outdoor living can foster human connection. It’s a subtle and vivid tale of finding peace in the great outdoors.

Happy Trail by Daisy Prescott is the first book in the author’s Park Ranger series. A man of few words, Ranger Jay Daniels values the calm, quiet solitude of the Great Smoky Mountains. Never quite fitting in with either side of his family, he prefers the company of birds and trees to people. Yeah, he'd most definitely prefer a bird--any bird, any bird at all, take a vulture for instance--to the human-tornado hybrid that just blew onto his peaceful stretch of the Appalachian Trail. The path of true love never has run smooth for Olive Perry. After getting dumped and promptly abandoned in the middle of her multi-month hike, Olive swears off men. Determined to finish the long trek by herself, she doesn't need a prince--or broody and taciturn ranger--to save her. Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, and Ranger Daniels is charged with getting hikers to safety, that includes hot-tempered Olive Perry. Snowed in and forced to share an abandoned cabin, can Olive's heated intensity melt Jay's cool reserve? If so, then what?

In The Treacherous Trail by C.R. Hedgcock. The Bakers and the Wilburs have become fast friends who decide to go on a vacation together. While the women enjoy the luxurious facilities at the lodge, the men and boys go camping in the wild area nearby. They expect their greatest thrills to come from the horse-riding, canoeing, and hiking they had planned. Little do they know what they are getting themselves into when they help an injured hiker. An adventure of hide-and-seek, suspense, and uncertainty begins. Mr. Baker must get his team back to safety with no supplies or means of contact, stuck with a thief who will not speak.

OUTINGS: Refer to the THC website outings page for details about the outings and how to register. We schedule on a monthly and short-term basis, so check the website periodically.

Thursday, November 2: Stony Ledge via Haley Farm Trail, B+
Tuesday, November 7: Snow Hole, Petersburg Pass B-
Thursday November 9: Alford Springs B
Wednesday, November 15: Hunter Mountain B+

“Take only memories, leave only footprints.” Chief Seattle