**Beaver dam at Valentino Family Community Forest, pic by M Waldman**

END-TO-END CHALLENGE UPDATE

The May 9, 2026, End-to-End Challenge roster is filled. There is, however, still room on the waiting list if you are up to the 30+ mile, 7000 feet gain challenge. The link to register is on the THC End-to-End Challenge page. Now that most of the snow has melted away the trail crews will be diligently working to clear the trail. We are keeping our fingers crossed for dry weather for the Challenge!

REMEMBERANCES Let’s take a trip down memory lane to visit a few THC members and local outdoor enthusiasts who have passed and have been memorialized somewhere in our nearby preserves.

Susan Roberts and Susan’s Ramble at the Albert Family Community Forest, a Hudson Taconic Lands Preserve

Susan was a gifted pianist, equestrienne, Alpine goat breeder, Rottweiler trainer, and opera lover. With her Ph.D. in hand and her great intellect and a lot of fortitude she climbed all the Adirondack High Peaks and managed her farm. She made jam from her grapes and raised pigs for slaughter. Never shirking a job, she made a commitment each year to lead a hike each season for one of the hiking clubs. One winter she led outings on all the segments of the Taconic Crest Trail, arranging some difficult parking and some formidable, untracked drifts up on the ridge. Volunteering was part of who she was, and she believed strongly in the power of the individual to lead a life of purpose and meaning. She loved being part of the Taconic Hiking Club and was well connected to some of its founders and its origins.

Phil Fountain and The Phil Fountain Bench on the Taconic Crest Trail south of Robinson Hollow

Phil Fountain, from Watervliet, was a staunch supporter of and trail worker for the THC, ADK and other groups. Always willing to lend a hand and perennially full of good cheer, it was a delight to be on a trail with him. There are great memories of him leaping open cracks on the Shawangunk rocks, and he was not a tall man. Phil loved hiking and biking and left us too soon.

He was struck and killed by a car while setting out traffic cones for a Bon Ton Roulet cycle ride. During the summers, he volunteered as a campground host at the ADK Loj, even spending one night benighted on the trail. “Where did you sleep, Phil? Well, I just laid down on the side of the trail and slept there until morning.” No big deal for him.

The Fred Schroeder Memorial Trail at Thacher State Park

After decades of helping kids explore and learn about the outdoors through the Albany Boys Club, Fred in his retirement led over a thousand hikes for the Albany Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club and introduced dozens of hikers to the delights of being on the trails. He knew every peak in the northeast and every backroads crazy way to get there. On any midweek day he’d be flying over the roads in his van stuffed full of happy hikers. He and his wife Martha funded, helped create, and donated the Emma Treadwell Thacher Center in Thacher State Park to the State of New York. Never one to just sit, he helped design, blaze, map and often reroute sections of the Long Path through the Hudson Valley. And that’s when he wasn’t weeding his extensive vegetable garden. If you knew Fred, you would have vivid memories of his striding through the woods on his long legs, flicking sticks left and right, at a pace no one could keep. Winters he loved nothing more than backcountry skiing with some speed down steep mountain trails in the snow. He was a classical music and opera lover and traveled to Europe to sample performances.

Colin Campbell and bagpipes and chainsaws

Encountering Colin in the woods, one could never mistake him for someone else. Gravel-voiced and decked out in his Army fatigues, Colin was a unique feature of the Taconic Crest Trail. Indefatigable, he had designed a special backpack with a wooden frame that could hold his chainsaw and assorted parts. With his big mustache and big smile, he chainsawed his way through miles of TCT blowdown each season--before volunteer chainsawing was shut down.

Scotty’s Lookout at the Richmond Overlook at BNRC’s Hollow Fields

Many hikers enjoy the trail from Perry’s Peak Road in Richmond through BNRC’s Hollow Fields, up over Scotty’s Lookout and Perry’s Peak summit and then north to Rt. 20. Other than in the open fields, the only view on that trail is from Scotty’s Lookout, a local name for the Richmond Overlook. Scotty Crawford and his dad owned a car repair business on Rt. 20 in Pittsfield. He was beloved for his gentle ways. There is a beautiful running deer carved into the bedrock at the lookout with its views east over the valley. Scotty would run up to the Lookout almost every day after work from Rt. 20. Look for that deer and the poem strung on Buddhist flags at a lookout rock.

**Deer carved in stone at Richmond Overlook - Scotties Lookout**

BNRC’s commemorative benches

A trio of land conservationists are memorialized in the Berkshires by BNRC at a series of benches dedicated to them at Hollow Fields and on Yokun Ridge. All have fabulous views that look out on some of the magnificent valleys and to the mountains around them.

Don MacGillis was on the BNRC Board and was a Globe Editor whose love of hiking and gentle ways made him many friends.
Gige Dery was an advocate for hunters and outdoorsmen and a great friend of colleagues in Fisheries and Wildlife. He knew most of the Berkshire’s trails intimately and has a Wildlife Management Area dedicated to him too, located on New Lenox Road in Lenox, MA.
George Wislocki was the founder and President of Berkshire Natural Resources Council, the land trust that has protected tens of thousands of acres in the Berkshires and that is known for its outstanding trail systems.

Come explore these areas and see if you can find all three benches!

VOLUNTEER TO USE YOUR CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS. Do you have a topic that you think would be of interest to our members? We are looking for one or more people to submit one or more human interest articles for the newsletter. You could write about something in nature— birds, trees, animals, invasive species, etc.—or something about outdoor activities—hiking, cycling or paddling. You could focus on the fundamentals of outdoor recreation or write something of a historic nature around the Taconic Crest Trail. Maybe you just have one idea or maybe you would like to take turns and submit articles periodically. Think about it! Then contact Martha at taconichikingclb@gmail.com (no u in club) if interested.

SPRING GATHERING - 2026: Save the date! Our Spring Gathering will be at Grafton Lakes State Park on Saturday, June 20. We have the Deer Field Pavilion reserved for the day, come for all or part of the event. We will have a group hike in the morning, then we will meet at the Deerfield Pavilion for a BYO picnic lunch. Afterwards you can paddle in one of the lakes, take another hike, or relax and hang out at the pavilion. More details will be posted on the Outings page as we get closer to the date of the event.

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.

Wednesday, April 8: Yokun Ridge South Loop from Olivia’s Overlook B-
Wednesday, April 15: Sarah Tenney – TCT – Shepherds Well Loop B
Monday, April 20: Grafton Lake State Park – Dixon Fire Tower B-
Tuesday April 21: Zim Smith Trail Bike B-

QUOTE: “April marks the real end of winter. Daffodils pop open and nod their yellow heads. Grass starts to recover from its frozen cover of snow.”– Sharon Leah

April Newsletter 2026