North Star Vol. 21, No. 4 (2002)

,N~. 4

It cost me $20 bucks this Summer to park at a trailhead so I could volunteer to give blood to the mosquitoes in the Huron-Manistee National Forest while reblazing a section of the North Country trail.

Daily, or weekend passes are available for volunteers working on a specific, scheduled project approved by the forest service. But for trail adopters, like me, who come up whenever they happen to have time to keep the trail in good shape, we still need to buy parking stickers.

That cost continues as a constant irritant to volunteers who labor diligently to create an outstanding experience for all hikers, whether Association members or not, and then pay through the nose to park after already spending money for gas and other expenses.

Certainly, the badly under funded U.S. Forest Service needs to find more income to pay for some of its recreational responsibilities, but there ought to be a way to exempt our volunteers from the fee when they're actually working, whether on a scheduled, pre-approved session or note.

Members of the Forest Service don't necessarily disagree but have not come up with a workable system.

Because our trail managers have such a good working relationship with forest service personnel, I wish we could be trusted not to abuse a system that would provide a pass for a whole season.

The issue really struck home while pasting the "Trail Maintained by" stickers on the Carsonite posts on our trailhead. The stickers say: u This segment of the North Country Trail is maintained by volunteers of our XXXX Chapter ... "

The stickers were sent out by head- quarters to the chapters. Get some, please and attach them to appropriate places. We need to spread the word about our good deeds.

Glaciation from 10,000 to 75,000 years ago. Bob helps me read proof and he changed "Wisconsin Glaciation," to Wisconsinin. That's almost right. The ice sheet is actually called the Wisconsinan (an, not in). By 18,000 years ago it had spread as far south as northern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The Wisconsinan was actually comprised of two independent sheets, the Laurentide in the east and the Cordilleran in the West. There, I'm sure you wanted to know that.

No botany lesson courtesy Joan Young in this issue's Editor's Note; instead your editor has the benefit of a glaciation lesson from Bob Papp, our executive director, a geology major at Carrolton College in this student days.

Our article on the Ice Age Trail in the last issue said the state of Wisconsin was named after the Wisconsin

The Valley City Fire Department hoisted Roger Meyer skyward on their aerial ladder to enable him to get the picture of the Medicine Wheel on Page 18. Firemen also stood by in case our bonfire that night got out of control. It didn't.

The Peter Wolfe Chapter, headed by Doug Welker who authorized this issue's article in our Trail Profile series, has only 23 members but it's among our hardest working. Not an issue of The Doug at Work North Star seems to appear without a report on Peter Wolfe's latest trail building or improvement venture. The chapter gets its name from the North Country Trail's first end-to-ender.

Joyce Appel, who took the dramatic photographs on pages 20 and 22, is a stalwart of Butler, one of our most creative chapters. It even held a Cinco de Mayo event this year. The chapter was formed by hiking trail enthusiasts of the venerable Butler Outdoor Club who helped spearhead the large expansion in Pennsylvania which has been pushed and prodded by state coordinator Bob Tait, for whom a day not spent extolling Pennsylvania is a day wasted.

be within easy reach of the trail after a tiring day.

The Pub at the End of the Rainbow

2 North Star * October-December 2.002

A t the end of six miles you can end (or .li.interrupt) your hike in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, suggests Tom Learmont (Page 9) at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub at Camp 33, virtually right on the North Country Trail.

Such revelations virtually demand further research, of course, and I write here to tell you that brewmaster Lark Ludlow has mastered his art with such offerings as Lumberjack Lager, Northwoods Amber, Porcupine Pale Ale and, of course, Black Bear Stout, the color of Guinness and the stamina of an end-to-ender. (If there are any hikers who eschew such heavenly fare at the end of a dusry walk-there must be some, although I must say I haven't met any-I add quickly that Lark also brews root beer. Inexplicable, but there it is).

Are we remiss, I wonder, to omit such oases from the splendid North Country maps created in our office by our resident cartographer and GIS specialist, Tiffany Stram (nee Halfmann) who carefully notes the watering holes on or near the trail?

Perhaps. If so, I would add at least two I'm particularly keen on: the Lake Superior Brewing Company on Lake Street in Grand Marais, within shuffling distance of the trail, and the basement pub of the Brae Loch Inn in Cazenovia, NY. Neither require hitchhiking from the trailhead.

I know I have only scratched the surface of the foamy possibilities. We could even issue a Pint Hoisters Guide to the North Country National Scenic Trail. How about sending me your nom- inations of equally humanitarian enter- prises catering to thirsty North Country hikers? Just remember, the pubs should

How about a new Category for our NCTA trail maps?

WERNER VEIT

EDITOR'S ~l:J@:

The Norrh Star, Fall Issue, Vol. XXI, Issue 4, is published quarterly by the Norrh Country Trail Association, a private, not- fur-profit 50 lc(3) organization, 229 East Main Street, Lowell, MI 49331. The Norrh Star is published fur promotional and educational purposes and as a benefit of membership in the Association. All rights reserved. No pan of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the North Country Trail Association.

Werner Veit, Editor Biii Menke, Contributing Editor Roger Meyer, Contributing Editor Joan Young, Contributing Editor Aaron Phipps, Art Director Jennifer Tripp, Production Manager

The North Star Staff:

About the Cover Rod MacRae, recipient of the North Country Trail Association's 2002 Lifetime

Achievement Award, was photographed by the North Star's Art Director, Aaron Phipps.

Next Year-Page 25 The beautiful cascades on the Little Garlic River will be in easy range of members attending the 2003 conference of the North Country National Scenic Trail at "Trailtown USA," Marquette, MI.

Columns Editor's Note Page 3 Trail Head Page 17 View from Madison Page 26 View from Lowell Page 27

Departments Heart and Sole Page 38 Hiking Calendar Page 27 Hiking Shorts Page 25 Milestones Page 16 Portrait of the Trail... Page 8 Public Affairs Page 4 Trail Craft Page 15 Trail Councils Page 36 Trail Log Page 28 Trail Shop Page 30 Trail Supporters Page 35 Who's New Page 37

A Glance Inside

Also Permission from Owners Page 5 Web Site Comes of Age Page 6

Tenns Expiring 2003 Werner Veit, at Large 229 E. Main St., Lowell,

MI 49331 (888) 454-6282 [email protected] Joan Young, Secretary, at Large 861 W. USlO,

Scottville, MI 49454 (231) 757-2205 [email protected]

Richard Hanis, VP East, at Large 974 SOM Center Rd., Mayfield, OH 44143 (440) 449- 7467 [email protected]

Daryl Wllllamson, Minnesota 5901 Timberglade Dr., Bloomington, MN 55438 (952) 835-2186

Tenns Expiring 2004 John Leinen, Jr., at Large . Vice President,

Finance 14205 St. Croix Trail, Stillwater, MN 55082 (651) 433-4456 [email protected]

Irene Szabo, at Large 6939 Creek Rd., Mt. Morris, NY 14510-9638 (716) 658-4321 [email protected]

Gaylord Yost, President, at Large 2925 W. Bradley Rd., River Hills, WI 53201-1013 (414) 354-8987 [email protected]

Bob Norlln, Great Lakes PO Box 718, Iron River, WI 54847 (715) 372-5229 rnorlin@ir onriver.baysat.net

Garry S. Diii Jr., Ohio 4070 Traitorsville- Brighton Rd., London, OH 43140 (937) 834-2891 [email protected]

Bob Tait Pennsylvania Box 2968 Butler, PA 16001-2968 (724) 287-3382 [email protected]

Tenns Expiring 2005 Derek Blount, at Large 906 N. Alexander,

Royal Oak, MI 48607 (248) 548-1737 [email protected]

Helen Coyne, at Large 212 Willow Circle, Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724) 776-0678 [email protected]

Mary Lucas, at Large 753 Davenporr St., Rhinelander, WI 54501 (715) 362-0616 [email protected]

Howard Beye, New York 202 Colebourne Rd., Rochester, NY 14609 (716) 288-7191 [email protected]

Jon G. Undgren, North Dakota Vice President, West 2001 N. Seventh St., Fargo, ND 58102 (701) 232-7868 jon_ [email protected]

North Country Tran Association National Board of Directors

NCTA Staff: Bob Papp, Executive Director

Tiffany Stram, GIS Coordinator Bonnie Wayman, Office Manager

Biii Menke, Trail Foreman Glory Meyer, Public Services Coordinator

Allison Barr, Bookkeeper Sherry Staal, Office Assistant

229 East Main Street, Lowell Mi 49331 Ph. (888) 454-NCTA, Fx. (616) 897-6605

[email protected] www.northcountrytrail.org

~~c~:r:t~ ~~ ASSOCIATION

ember reatlon and Public Lands

, .. DC 20515 ';'[email protected]

use Resources Com ton, DC 20515

[email protected].~~r,

-Bob Papp

House Committee and Subcommittee that need to move this bill. (It must start in the Subcommittee, then move up to the main Committee before it can go to the House floor for a vote.) Your comments can be brief but should include at least these points: We need their help to pass S.1069,

which would provide the authority to acquire land from willing sellers for three National Scenic Trails.

S.1069 is essentially identical to HR834, which was passed by the House by unanimous consent in March 2001, except that the authority has been limited to only three of the nine trails covered in the House Bill.

Include a brief personal comment or two about why the North Country Trail is important to you, or why you think it's important for the federal government to be able to buy land for the trail.

Please contact the Members of the House listed below.

Congress takes over, we'll need to start all over from scratch!

You can help by calling or sending an e-mail or fax to the leaders of the

Bill providing Willing Seller acquisition authority to the North Country Trail and two other trails, and that the House of Representatives has passed a Bill providing the exact same authority to the North Country Trail and eight other trails. So, you'd think that we're home free, since both the House and Senate have agreed that the NCT should have this authority, right? Sadly, it's not that easy, since both the House and Senate must pass identical versions of a Bill before it can go to the President to be signed.

We still have hope. We'll be working in the next few months with friends in the House to try to get their support to pass the Senate Bill, as is. This will be the simplest way for us to ensure that the NCT receives Willing Seller acquisition authority. There are a number of other scenarios too that could get more complicated. In any case, if we don't succeed by January, when the new

4 North Star * October-December 2002

As many of our members know, when Congress authorized the North Country Trail back in 1980, the federal government was prohibited from acquir- ing any land or interests in land to protect the trail corridor. Unfortunately, this makes the challenge of completing . a 4000plus mile long trail very difficult. Of the 22 trails in the National Trails System, nine were so restricted.

For all eight of the trails established since 1986, the federal government was given the authority to acquire land from "willing sellers." In other words, the government can buy land (or easements) from people who want to sell, but can- not condemn or "take" any land. We've been working for many years with a number of other organizations to pass legislation that would give this "willing seller acquisition authority" to those trails that lack it, including the North Country Trail.

Now for that update. In March of last year, a Bill passed the House of Representatives to give Willing Seller authority to all nine of the trails for which all federal acquisition is currently prohibited. The Bill became stuck in the Senate subcommittee responsible for reviewing it, until this past March when a hearing was held.

There was some concern in the subcommittee about the lack of limits on how much land could be acquired, so, throughout the spring and summer we worked to try to negotiate changes to the Bill that would be acceptable to all sides. Unfortunately, it turned out that the only change acceptable to those with concerns was to drop the six "western" trails from the Bill.

So, a new Bill providing Willing Seller authority to only three of the nine trails that need it was taken up by the committee. Those trails are the Ice Age, Potomac Heritage and North Country National Scenic Trails. The Bill went through "mark-up" in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in July, and was reported favorable to the Senate floor on September 12. By the time you read this, we expect that the Bill will have passed the Senate by what's called "unanimous consent."

So, what does all this mean? Well, it means that the Senate has passed a

Willing Seller Update: We Still Have Hope, But Your Help Needed

' PUBIJ ............................ v .. t

...................................... October-December 2002 * North Star 5 -Al Larrnann

Property Owners, State Big Help in Central NY

Completion of a 23-foot long bridge and its approaches marked an outstanding partnership between the North Country Trail Association's Central New York chapter, private property owners and the New York State Department of Environmental Quality.

Spanning a deep ravine that is a roaring stream at times, the structure eliminates four miles of road travel and results in an attractive foot trail between NY State Route 80 and Dugway Road to the north within the Tioughnioga Wild Life Management Area administered by the DEC.

The chapter worked with the state and four private landowners to develop the new trail segment. Vic Nelson, owner of the property spanned by the bridge, not only permitted use of his land but also worked constantly as a valued volunteer. Joe Schelah, the adjacent landowner at the west end of the bridge, also con- tributed valued help.

NY Bridge key to moving trail off-road.

support for the trail, the borough council then granted permission. This makes Wampum the first town in Pennsylvania to have the NCT pass through it.

Thanks to the diligence of the Wampum Chapter members and the cooperation ofCemex, Gateway, and Wampum Borough more than seven miles are being added to the N CT.

-Gail Blakely

New Pennsylvania Stretch Creates Long Segment

A new, 1.8-mile segment in Cherry Township, Butler County, PA, connecting to a 9.3-mile segment in Pennsylvania's Gamelands #95, has produced a continuous 11.1-mile stretch of the North Country National Scenic Trail, made possible by Waste Management Inc., agreement to cross its Northwest Landfill property.

The Butler Chapter celebrated the new section with a ribbon cutting on Sept. 18, the climax of a busy few months of negotiations and trail building.

Joe Smith and Ron Rice first met with Waste Management in February and received agreements for the trail installations in May. In just six months, the whole stretch of 11.1 miles of new trail was completed even though seven bridges, ranging in length from five to 16 feet, had to be installed.

The primary trail builders besides Joe and Ron were Bob Tait, Bill Stegman, John Herchock and Bill Purto,

-Ron Rice

Ron Rice {left), Joe Smith {center) from the Butler chapter meet with a representative from Waste Management Inc., which granted passage.

The North Country Trail will soon be crossing lands owned by two large corporations near the town of Wampum, Pa.

The principals, Cemex Corp., previously known as Southdown Corp., and Gateway Commerce Center, a division of Meritex Corp. were both initially con- tacted by this writer in 1999. The first of many meetings was presided over by Lou Alaksin who convinced corporate officials that the trail would be beneficial to all concerned. Management liked the idea of good public relations at no cost to them.

Negotiations progressed slowly for three years due to numerous liability and safety issues. Wampum Chapter remained optimistic for neither corporation was actually saying "no" to the trail concept. This interim gave Richard Lutz, Denny Shepard, Bill Majernic and others time to map out and flag the proposed trail routes. Final agreements were reached with both corporations in April of 2002.

Lying between Cemex and Gateway lands is Wampum Borough. At first perrnis- sion to mark the NCT through the town was denied by borough council. Following this denial, I began to give informational NCT talks to local organizations.

The Wampum Business Association and Wampum Historical Society soon realized that the NCT would bring rev- enue to the area. With growing local

Wampum Persisted to Overcome Difficulties

Going over the route are {left to right) Mike Herrel, Southdown Environmental Engineer; Carl Petras, plant superintendent; Lou Alaksin, who led the effort for the Wampum chapter; Charles Shearer, of the chapter and Richard Lutz, the then Wampum President.

beat Bill's or Bob's score was awarded the chance to gloat and wear a button saying "I beat Bill," or "I beat Bob."

Well, the upshot was that NO ONE beat Bill! A few folks beat Bob, who cheerfully took his knocks, and promptly ordered an extra "I beat Bob" button for Annette, his wife! The overall prize was won by Charles Krammin of the Chief Noonday Chapter with a score of 337 out of a possible 473. (Bill ended with 349 points.)

By the end of the contest people were looking forward to National Trails Day and a folder of pages was launched to help people find NTD events along the length of the Trail. In 2002 this group of files was handed over to a volunteer, Gerrie Carmen, who quickly had to get up to speed on our organization. She created new pages for the Chapters and groups sponsoring events, using their local logos.

While we are on the subject of volunteers, several sections of the web site are maintained by volunteer help.

In the summer of 2001, Dave Adams of Pennsylvania offered to build a file of pages promoting the Annual Conference. He's continued this respon- sibility in 2002 and collected the links and set up the pages to entice you to visit North Dakota.

The Links page is maintained by Richard Lutz, also of Pennsylvania. He redesigned this section to make the spa - ghetti list oflinks easier to use. In addition to these people, individual chapter web sites are designed and maintained by local volunteers. If no chapter member can accomplish this, we do provide a template of basic information to make sure each Chapter has a web presence.

We've now chronologically reached autumn of 2001. The number of hits on the website has increased to 500 per day. Other priorities accomplished were correcting the many internal errors

scratch, but the task was completed by September and orders immediately began to come in at the rate of about one per business day.

The next priority was to make the site more dynamic- to give people reason to come back often. In October of 2000 the (almost) daily news item was added to the site. This idea was an instant success- the news item file is the second most popular group of pages on the site.

The next big project was to tap into the popular idea of giving people a chance to support the trail financially through purchasing items on line from various merchants who participated in a program to donate a percentage of those purchases to the NCTA. We gave this idea a trial run of a year.

Our Business and Partner Organizations pay $150/ year for their memberships, and one of the benefits we provided them was a link from our website. At the end of the trial year for the shop-to-donate program it was obvious that this idea was not going to raise anywhere close to $150/year per mer- chant. In fact, the NCTA made a grand total of about $36 from this experiment, and it took a lot of web management time. With no regrets, the program was dropped.

In the early gray months of 2001 a web-based contest was launched with the top prize being free registration at the summer New York conference. Lots of people had fun with this experiment-> 39 people had the courage to enter.

Three entrants who could not compete for prizes also tried their luck, and thanks to their good nature provided everyone with even more fun. Bill Menke, at that time NPS Manager of the NCT, and long-distance hiker of the Trail, turned out to be the contestant to catch.

Bob Papp cheerfully applied his gray matter to the tasks as well. Anyone who

Some 800 Enthusiasts Now Visit the Associations Web Site Daily ... Long Steps from the 10 Hits a Day We Started With ...


Thanks to several individuals, the North Country Trail Association has had a presence on the World Wide Web since the very earliest days when that was even an option.

A name familiar to many, Wes Boyd, the former North Star editor, made that first web site possible. Wes had space to spare on his own server, and he created a site for the NCTA that included lots of facts about the trail. I remember Wes reporting joyfully that our site was getting 10 hits a day! One of Wes' big accomplishments was to create the bulletin board for the posting of messages by interested individuals. This site was operational from about 1995 through 1998.

At that time, Bob Papp, our Executive Director, registered our own domain name: northcountrytrail.org. Bob had experience coding HTML and he also liked dabbling in graphic design. Soon the web site under the new name appeared= sprouting logos, consistent menu designs and lots more pages.

It wasn't too long before Bob realized that he was not going to be able to keep up with the need to update what had become a huge website. Local chapters maintain their own sub sites, but the number of pages supporting the national association had grown to several hun - dred.

"I really enjoyed working on the site, but my role as Executive Director had to take priority," Bob recalls. "Weeks would go by without any work being done on the site. At the same time, the ideas for what we could and should do kept growing. So, we finally agreed that we needed a much better solution to managing our web presence."

Thus the organization posted an opening for a paid web site manager position, and in June of2000 I was hired to take over the maintenance and development of the national web pages.

There were several immediate priorities. We wanted to get the Trail Shop on-line. This had to be built from

By Joan Young Contributing Editor

Hiking the North Country Trail with your trusty mouse

October-December 2002 * North Star 7

first Chapter to be featured is Western Michigan ... the charter chapter, and largest of the organization! We have to start somewhere, and with the first one to be formed seems to make sense to me.

Featured Business Partner: One of the benefits of being a Business Member is that a link is provided from our website to theirs. But since those links are buried rather deeply in our site we wonder how much of a benefit this really is. So we'll rotate through those groups, Partners and Trail Champions, who support the NCT.

Featured Link: This will be a rather arbitrary selection of a link to an outstanding external site of special relevance to the North Country Trail. I've selected Chet Fromm's journal of his End-to- End hike on the NCT to be featured first.

We still have some big goals on our desks. The entire National Park Service Trail Building and Maintenance

Handbook will be on line in pdf format eventually.

The current bulletin board is cumbersome and outdated. We'll find a better one and hopefully stimulate some great discussions. The Trail Shop also needs upgrading so that you don't have to wait for one long page to load, which contains all the items, and also to improve security.

We want to update the old slide show ... we truly believe that people have hiked the NCT since those pictures were taken! And the popular "Explore the Trail" section needs to be revitalized. Stay tuned!

Finally, we welcome and need your feedback and input. Send news items, locations to feature, and events for the calendar. Currently, over 800 people visit the site every day. Help keep the site dynamic and up to date.

Have you checked www.northcountry trail.org recently?

which had crept in over time as the site continued to grow somewhat like Topsy, aiding chapter web managers, and correcting outdated links on external web sites which still pointed to our ancient address.

Also during the first year of having a paid manager, we added the "Heart & Sole" feature from The North Star to the web site, a guide to finding maps for hiking the trail, an improved Trail Conditions page, and an internal search engme.

One of the first goals Wes Boyd had articulated was that of providing an all-trail calendar of events. In fact, this was tried several times in The North Star. However, the project is so huge and unwieldy that it never had a chance to leap into reality. It always took a few weak, staggering hops and collapsed under its own weight.

This spring, Wes' dream became reality. The web site now offers a trail- wide calendar. It's not searchable yet, but color coding and consistent organization can help people find events which may be near their homes, or on routes they may be travelling. Of course, such a calendar is only as good as the information received, so we still need to educate all of YOU to let us know about your local events.

Most recently, Bob decided, and I concurred, that the web site needed a facelift. Therefore, on any visits you've made to our site since August 1 you've encountered a different look. New ban- ners and pull-down menus are the big- gest changes.

We sure hope you'll find it easy to use. Some internal pages have been organized better. The home page will now contain some features, which will be updated from time to time. I'd like to promise every month, but that's probably optimistic. These will include a featured location, chapter or affiliate, business partner, and link.

Featured Location: The North Country Trail is so huge that it's difficult to become familiar with sights beyond our own backyards. We hope to familiarize you with some well and lesser known spots along the trail. I'd welcome pictures and information about your favorite spot. I don't need to pick all of these myself!

Featured Chapter or Affiliate: We now have 24 Chapters and 6 Affiliates! Who can keep them all straight? The

its approaches total about five miles in length, and you'll be about 200 feet above the water at the highest point.

Better plan ahead, though, as the bridge is only open to pedestrians on Labor Day. Be prepared to share the bridge with at least 50,000 others, as the annual Bridge Walk is a very .popular event, and, depressingly, you'll .have to hike it from north to south (I promise this is my last L.P. dig!).

At the north side of the Bridge is the town of St. Ignace, a popular summer tourist destination and departure point for ferries to Mackinac Island, a few miles offshore in Lake Huron.

The first leg of the trail leaves the Michigan Tourist Information Center on the north side of the bridge, on a journey which begins with a view of two Great Lakes and ends at the greatest of them all, Lake Superior. (See the April-June 2002 North Star for a recent description of this hike).

Heading first into Straits State Park, the trail eventually reaches a trailhead

(Continued on Page 10)

Visitors Monica, Kathy and Steve Biii on the trall at the Craig Lake outlet.

seem to dominate the U.P. culture. Most came to the U.P. in the late 1800's and early 1900's to work in the mines, but Finns are more at home in the woods and fields, so they usually saved up their money so they could buy previously homesteaded land and return to farming.

Some "Yoopers" have advocated separation from the Lower Peninsula to form a new state called "Superior," citing what they consider neglect by the powers in the state capital and basic differences between Yoopers and residents of the Lower Peninsula, "affectionately" known as "Trolls" because they live "below the bridge" (the Mackinac Bridge, that is, which separates the two peninsulas).

The U.P. has the greatest percentage of completed North Country Trail of any "state." There are 364 miles of certified trail, and 17 miles of signed connectors. Another 45 miles or so are completed but not certified. Only about 50 miles of trail remain to be built, mainly in three areas. So, a hike across the U.P. involves about 410 miles of trail and signed connectors, and 50 miles of road walking or bushwhacking.

Your hike across the U.P., from east to west, would begin at the spectacular Mackinac Bridge, spanning the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lakes Michigan and Huron. The bridge and

Come see da great trail in da U.P., eh! (Editor: Yooperspeak Provided by the Author)

To many Midwesterners, Michigan's Upper Peninsula is the end of the world. Hundreds of miles from all major metropolitan areas, the U.P. is a favorite destination for travelers seeking some- thing wilder than closer areas in northern Lower Michigan and much of northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota.

Spread east-west across 350 miles, between Wisconsin and Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, its 300,000 residents share 17,000 square miles of mostly forests, lakes, rivers, and wetlands, with a scattering of towns, small cities, and farmlands.

Its relative isolation has fostered a "Yooper" culture, centered on the Upper Great Lakes with their logging, mining, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, other outdoor recreation, struggling farm homesteads, insect pests, long winters with heavy snow, natural beauty, and isolation.

Long the home of several Native American tribes (most recently the Ojibwa), the U.P. was later settled by the French, Finns, Cornish, Italians, eastern Europeans, arid various other nationali- ties. The earliest settlers came to trade with the natives, but most were drawn by jobs in the iron and copper mines.

Finns, a majority in some areas,

a .. N~rth 5i~; .... 0~~~b~~~6~~~~b~~ i:

By Doug Welker President, Peter Wolfe Chapter

350 Sparse Miles Spreading Between 3 Great Lakes

North Country Trail - Existing Trail

Future Trail

North Country Trail Portrait Continued: Michigan's Upper Peninsula

5 - Norwich Mine Area Loop A loop in the Norwich Mine area

makes great day hike in the western U.P. From the north, go west from downtown Ontonagon for about 1.5 miles on M-64. Turn left (south) on Norwich Road (NOT Norwich Trail) and go about 12 3/4 miles to the trailhead, which is on the right between Victoria Road and Forest Road 630. From the south, begin at the junction of Norwich Road and M~28, nine miles east of Bergland and 5.7 miles west of Ewen. Head north on Norwich Road for 9.6 mites 'a:n(l parkat the NCT parking foi oitJh:e left side of Norwich Road, j~st past Forest Road 630, and 2.4 miles past the obvious bridge over the West Branch of the Ontonagon River. The parking lot is not well-signed, but look for NCT trail signs along the road near the trailhead,

It's best to hike clockwise. Walk north for a few hundred feet on Norwich Road, then east on pleasant,

' little-used Victoria Road for 1.6 miles to an NCT parking lot on the right. Follow the white-blazed trail from

1 the lot about 0.9 miles to the NCT. There's a fairly easy creek crossing on the way. As of 7102, there's no sign . at the NCT junction, but blue NCT blazes are a dead giveaway. Turn rigHt (uphill), and follow the NGTfor 3.8 miles back to your car; Along the way are many spectaculardifftop overlooks, with 40 mile views;

The trail pottion ,of this. hike is very hilly, so plan on taking your time. The road portion can be avoided with a car shuttle, but Victoria Road is not always in good condition. The entire route is shown on the online map at http: //www.northcountrytrail.org/pwf/ images/ segment7map.jpg.

-Doug Welker 0~~~b~~~D~~~~b~; -~~~~ * N~rth 5i~~ 9

4 - Little Garlic River Intriguing hikes abound north of

Marquette: Up Sugarloaf or Hogback Mountain; around the Wetmore Pond; along the Lake Superior shore with its granite rocks, sandstone cliffs, and pristine beaches. All are eitllefa part of or connect with the North Country National Scenic Trail. .

One of my favorites is iheLitrle Garlic River Trail, a four-mile segment which is not yet attached to the others but is a certified section of the NCT. The trailhead is a small parking lot on County Road 550, 12 miles north of Marquette.

The River is dedicated to trout fishermen, but the trail attracts hikers of

~all'ages and abilities. It winds through a typical northern forest of mixed hard- woods and conifers with a gentle but persistent climb as it follows the river upstream. Much of the trail is high above the river on the edge of the ravine. The sound of water tumbling over rocks puts a bit of music into the silence.

In the Fall, the colors are glorious

-Ayleen VanBeynen www7nps.gov.piro

3 - Wildflowers & Strawberries ' ;fhefive-mile segment of North

Country Trail westward from the Grand Sable Visitor Center in Pictured

Rocks National Lakeshore to "Log Slide," provides not only spectacular views of Lake Superior but a magnifi- cent show of Spring wildflowers.

A great time to visit is around the second week of May when Spring beau- ties proliferate and Dutchman Breeches and Squirrel Corn carpet the country- side. A week or so later, trillium burst on the scene. But even if you hike ip July, there is a special treat: wild strawberries growing on the dunes. '

There are other highlights in this remote section of Alger County. Among them: Grand Sable Lake with its high sand dunes and the "Penny Tree," where multitudes of pennies have been squirreled into the trunk by pass- ing hikers.

. Detailed information may be Obtained from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (906 387-3700)

left; Rainbow Lodge is just outside. --Tom Learmont

Go as far as you wish before turn - ing around, but better yet hike six miles to the Red and Green bridge over the Two-Hearted River and return to the mouth by canoe. Rainbow Lodge, at the mouth of the river, rents canoes ana spots them for your return trip.

To reach the trail at the mouth, head north on H-37 from M-123, then pick up County Road 412 at Pine Stump Junction, turn west and north to County 423 and follow 423 to the two campgrounds at the mouth. The NCT passes through t~(f campground on the

-Tom Learmont

1 - East to Tahquamenon The six-mile hike to Upper

T ahquamenon Falls from Luce County Road 500 brings a special reward besides the meandering through great country.

As you leave CR 500 you follow an old two track road though a mixed hardwood forest with beautiful colors in the fall. Aft~t ~bout 1/2 mile, the trail turns no+t}i)eavlng the two track and enters xed forest with hard- woods, hem ock' ~nd pine. After a short distance you.will cross a small stream, and ascend a long high ridge with very

' large virgin hemlock trees. Continuing east you pass pines,

birch and open areas while ascending and descending rolling hills. Along the way you will skirt several lakes before entering Tahquamenon Falls State Park where you will pass some of the tallest white pines in Michigan before ending your hike at the Falls.

Your reward beckons: The Falls Brewer/Dining Room located in the upper falls parking lot. Great food there and handcrafted beers.

(See Map, Previous Page)

UR. SAMPLER: 5 Great Day Hikes

North Country Trail Portrait Continued: Michigan's Upper Peninsula and in Spring, violets, lady slippers, Jack-in-the-pulpit, columbine and trillium make their appearance.

The trail crosses a gravel road at about the 3-milepointand continues on for another a 'lovely cascade

ime for grateful .efreshirtg snack in

this peaceful setting. The return trip over the same trail always seems to provide new views and fresh insights.

-Denise Herron

Laughing Whitefish River. In Marquette County, the NCT primarily uses a variety of two tracks and old railroad grades as it crosses the sandy lake plains to Marquette.

Marquette is the U.P.'s largest city, boasting a population of nearly 20,000. The city has been a great host for the trail (it won a Trail Town award a number of years back), and for most of the way through the city the NCT follows a bike path along or near the Lake

Superior shore. It's a good place to buy a pasty or two (a pasty is a Cornish dish, basically meat and vegetables baked in a crust, which the miners traditionally took into the mines for lunch. When you ask for it, remember that in rhymes with "nasty"!

Just north of Marquette is some of the nicest trail in the central U.P. It's close to town so it receives lots of use, but the views from Sugarloaf and Hogsback Mountains are great, and you'll love the rocks and sand beaches of Wetmore Landing and Little Presque Isle. The Harlow Lake area offers Michigan DNR rental cabins.

The next major landmark west of Little Presque Isle is the falls of the Little Garlic River, where the trail temporarily ends westbound. The next trail west is in the Coles Creek Canyon area on the north shore of Silver Lake Basin. The North Country Trail Hikers chapter is making progress on this connection, which will involve 15 to 20 miles of trail in rough terrain.

Leaving the shore of Silver Lake Basin, the trail heads west through very rugged terrain to the Ottawa National Forest's McCormick Wilderness, 17,000 acres of rocky knobs, lakes, swamps, and streams, with many areas of old growth forest. Hikers here have to watch the trail carefully, as no trail blazes are present.

Not far west of McCormick is Craig Lake State Park, with 7.5 miles of NCT and several beautiful lakes along or near the trail. Plan WELL ahead, and you can reserve one of two DNR cabins on the west shore of Craig Lake.

Moose are occasionally spotted in

bluffs (more blueberries!). Much of this is public land, so remote camping oppor- tunities are plentiful, and there's also a drive-in campground at Muskellunge Lake State Park. The shoreline walk ends, temporarily, at Grand Marais, a scenic lakeside town with many of the comforts of home.

Just past Grand Marais, though, the trail enters Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, one of the most popular outdoor recreation destinations in the Upper Midwest. Famed for its spectacular verti- cal sandstone cliffs, which drop as much as 200 feet vertically to Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks also has numerous campgrounds, waterfalls, small lakes, and sand dunes rising up to 300 feet directly from the lakeshore.

While the NCT often runs on top of the Pictured Rocks cliffs, they are seldom in view because of the convex curve of the shoreline. The best views are seen from a kayak or tour boat. Tour boats leave regularly from Munising.

Munising marks the western end Pictured Rocks, and from there west the trail first follows highway M-94 and then enters the western portion of the Hiawatha National Forest, through which it rambles 16 miles to the east boundary of Rock River Canyon Wilderness. Circling the wilderness on the north side, the trail continues west through rolling country, with some small cliffs and waterfalls, to the Marquette County line.

One particularly noteworthy feature of this area are the endless wooden steps the NCT Hikers Club put in so the trail could descend to the


A bluff top overlook in the Trap Hills

Brevoort Lake, about a quarter of the way to Lake Superior, is several miles long and has a pleasant, convenient campground at its west end.

When the trail emerges at the Lake Superior shoreline, a hiker is greeted by a view of miles of sandy beach in either direction. Check the water temperature, though, before wading in; the "Big Lake" can be 50 degrees or less at times along the shore, even in mid-summer, depending upon the wind direction (north winds are best; they blow warm water into shore).

Continuing west, the trail soon crosses Naomikong Creek on the "Mini- Mac," a suspension bridge somewhat reminiscent of the Mackinac Bridge. This bridge is a popular day hike destination for hikers coming from a paved road not far to the west.

As the trail continues west, it follows shoreline, an inland route, and some roads until reaching the Rivermouth Campground ofTahquamenon Falls State Park. Tahquamenon, one of Michigan's largest state parks, is home to over 20 miles of the NCT, many other trails, two campgrounds, a long segment of the Tahquamenon River, numerous lakes and marshes, and, of course, the falls themselves.

The Upper Falls, which the NCT passes, is one of the largest east of the Mississippi River. It's 50 feet high, 200 feet across, and flows of 50,000 cubic feet of water per second have been recorded there.

Past Tahquamenon Falls, the trail enters Lake Superior State Forest, and wanders west and north, past a number of small lakes, to once again emerge on Lake Superior. From here the trail stays on or near the shoreline for over 20 miles, often along pine-capped sand

(Continued from Page 8) that signals the start of a long section of basically continuous trail across the eastern part of the Hiawatha National Forest. Here the land is flat to rolling, with numerous lakes, streams, marshes, sand dunes and beach ridges, and miles of forest. Look for blueberries in the sandy areas, and listen for the noisy call of sandhill cranes in the wetlands.


October-December 2002 * North Star 11 (2 and 3 cover most of the Ottawa NF) 3. M14-From Cascade Falls to Ironwood. 2. M1~rom Alberta to Cascade Falls.

to Au Train Lake (Mostly in the Pictured Rocks).

1. M10-From Grand Marais

are now available in the Trail Shop: The following Upper Peninsula maps

not for acrophobes, but expect a view of three states on a clear day.

From Copper Peak west and south, toward Ironwood and the Wisconsin line, is the last big gap in the trail, another 15 to 20 miles, most of which must currently be traversed on roads.

Three chapters cover most of the U.P., Peter Wolfe in the west, NCT Hikers in the center, and Hiawatha Shore to Shore in the east. The chapters and the various state and federal agen-_ cies who manage and maintain the NCT invite you to check out our trail. Contact info is found in the North Star, and links to our chapter websites are found at http: I /www.northcountrytrail.org/ ncta/ chapters.htm.

NCT shelter) at Old Victoria, Lookout Mountain with it's view of Victoria Dam and Reservoir, old copper mining excavations, dozens of bluff top overlooks, Gleason Gorge and Falls, and more suspension bridges.

Next it's on to the Porkies (Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park), another of the Upper Midwest's famous tourist destinations. Here there are miles of trail (including 22 miles of NCT), tens of thousands of acres of virgin forest, miles of Lake Superior shoreline, remote DNR rental cabins, several drive-in campgrounds, beautiful lakes and streams, and still more waterfalls.

The NCT passes five of the cabins, the drive-in camp- Potawatoml Falls on the Black River ground at Presque Isle, several named waterfalls, and one inland lake, and follows the Lake Superior shore for six miles (as you reach the mouth of the Little Carp River, you'll have your first view of Lake Superior since leaving Little Presque Isle near Marquette).

West of the Porkies, and seven miles from the current western end of the NCT in the U.P., you find Rainbow Falls, one of five spectacular named falls on the Black River. If the light's wrong for your picture of the falls, don't despair. You'll soon be seeing it from the other side, as the NCT loops down to a suspension bridge at Black River Harbor, and back up the river on the other side.

While at the Harbor, you might want to lounge a while on the sand beach just east of the river's mouth. Spend some time there, as it will be your last view of Lake Superior until reaching Duluth, over 200 miles to the west by trail.

Ascending the Black River, there are more falls to see: Sandstone, Gorge, Potawatomi, and Conglomerate, before you must end your hike at a trailhead north of Copper Peak. Within the next year, the trail will likely go to the base of Copper Peak, site of the highest ski flying hill in the western hemisphere; jumps of well over 500 feet have been made here, and you may ascend the ski jump to where the jumpers start. It's

the high country, known as the Peshekee Uplands or Michigamme Highlands, of Marquette and Baraga Counties. Previously extirpated from Michigan, they were reintroduced in the mid 1980's, with modest success.

Just west of the park, at the outlet of Long Lake, begins the next big gap in the trail, 15 miles or so to existing trail on Baraga Plains. On Baraga Plains begins a continuous section of over 140 miles of trail. The Plains, flat to gently rolling with jack pine, wetlands, and wildlife openings, are a world apart from the highlands to the east. They owe their origin to sands deposited by the last glacier.

Watch for raptors and waterfowl in the openings, and listen for sandhill cranes and wolves. Several hikers have seen or heard these canines here, and with over 200 wolves in the U.P. now, you might have a chance, too.

Before leaving the Plains, the NCT passes Tibbets Falls and the Oren Krumm Shelter on the Sturgeon River. Built in the memory of a Michigan Tech student who died an untimely death, the shelter is one of two on the NCT in the western U.P. Others are planned. As it leaves the Plains, the NCT enters the Ottawa National Forest, and parallels Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness; there's a short trail leading from the NCT to Sturgeon Falls.

West of the Sturgeon River, the country becomes rolling and heavily wooded. The trail runs past or near Bob Lake Campground, two long suspension bridge, 0-Kun-De-Kun Falls, and a rather interesting but little known spot called the Rousseau Loop.

Here the NCT climbs, at a 20% grade, from the valley of the East Branch of the Ontonagon River on the route of an old logging railroad. One railroad- ing magazine once claimed this was the steepest adhesion (friction) railroad in the world. The trains full of logs could only climb this grade by rocking back and forth out of the valley!

After crossing the West Branch of the Ontonagon, the NCT enters the copper-bearing ridges of the western U.P.; parts of this high, rugged country, with many sheer south-facing cliffs, are known as the Trap Hills. There's a lot to see in the next 45 miles, from a partially restored mining village (and another


ence heavy use and would benefit from interpretive signing.

Based on the Ten-Year Strategic Plan developed by the CDTA and the federal land managers in 1999, the CDT needs: 1,200 miles of new trail construction. 800 miles of reconstruction or major

repair to the existing trail due to very poor conditions.

More than 100 miles of rights-of-ways or easements through nonfederal lands.:

1,500 miles of planning, design, survey or land acquisition work before construction can begin.

Many, many trailheads, bridges and campgrounds to be constructed to serve the thousands of hikers, horseback rid- ers, mountain bikers and nature lovers who use the Trail.

"To construct, manage and preserve a public back country trail

along the full length of the Continental Divide

from Canada to Mexico and to link its signifi- cant resources with the assistance of volunteers and public and private

partnerships. To develop an appreciation of and enjoyment in Americas natural lands through

education and the opportunity to experience the

Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. "

CDTA Mission Statement

to complete the CDT border to border. As with the North Country Trail,

the help of private citizens is required because the U.S. Forest Service, which was given overall management of the trail, has not been able to allocate sufficient funding and resources to complete the Trail. Approximately 62% of the total 3,100 miles are complete, but unfortunately, much of the existing trail is in very poor condition and not up to National Scenic Trail standards.

The CDTA has identified 526 of the nearly 800 miles of the CDT in Colorado that needs either planning, new construction, reconstruction, reloca- tion out of sensitive areas and off roads, and/ or sufficient marking.

In addition, the CDTA is targeting areas along the CDT that may experi-

Some day, perhaps by 2008, the Continental National Scenic Trail will stretch 3,100 beautiful miles from the Canadian border to Mexico over some of the most challenging country in the world. It will thread together 25 National Forests, 13 Wilderness Areas, three National Parks, one National Monument and eight Bureau of Land Management resource areas.

Like the North Country Trail, the Continental Divide Trail is promoted, guarded, mostly maintained and frequently built by an association of volunteers, in this case the Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA).

Its vision is to create a primitive and challenging backcountry trail on or near the Continental Divide to provide an opportunity to experience the unique and incredibly scenic qualities of this spine of the country.

The CDT will serve hundreds of thousands each year and provides a resource for many recreation activities, including hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, wildlife viewing, fishing, hunting and sight-seeing.

Because of its remoteness, the CDT provides a unique experience that is more and more difficult to find and increas- ingly sought.

The goal is to complete the CDT by the year 2008, or the Trail's 3ot.h Anniversary. In 1999 CDTA developed a Ten-Year Strategic Plan that identifies the specific needs and costs for the Trail and contemplates using volunteers, youth groups, civic organizations, corporate support, private donations and federal dollars to meet this ambitious goal. In Colorado alone, the cost to complete the CDT is today estimated at $7.3 million. Overall, the plan estimates $26 million

iiN~rth.st~~0~~~b~;~r;~~~~b~;~~~

By Bruce Ward Executive Director, COTA

By the Year 2008, It Should Stretch From Canadian to Mexican Border

Our Sister National Scenic Trails: The Continential Divide

Llama trekking on the CDT In the Wemlnuche Wiiderness In Colorado.

CDT volunteers at work at Morgan Peak In the Arapaho National Forest.

managers and the public over the next few years to develop a CDT Master Plan. This plan will provide a compre- hensive and consistent approach to the completion, management and protection of the CDT and its surrounding environments. The plan will include the identification of a CDT corridor that will appropriately represent and preserve the vision for the CDT.

CDT Land Acquisition Plan - The

benefit the Trail. CDT Public Outreach Tour -

CDTA staff will again be traveling along the CDT throughout the year meeting with local residents, community leaders, land managers and a variety of organizations to talk about the purpose of and the future vision for the Trail and to listen to learn from their views.

CDT Master Plan - The GDTA is working closely with the federal land

Trall winds through Rocky Mountain National Park.

Current Programs Current CDTA programs and activities include:

Implernentation and Maintenance of the CDT Ten-Year Strategic Plan - The CDTA joins with federal land managers to implement and update the Ten-Year Strategic Plan.The CDTA meets annu- ally with the land managers along the Trail, raises funds for trail work and tracks progress.

Trail Construction and Maintenance - The CDTA works with the land managers to identify and rank CDT needs each year. Needs range from building new trail to purchasing rights- of-ways. The CDTA raises money, recruits volunteers and works on issues to

The CDTA, which is central to this effort, was formed in 1995 to work for the trail in the face of increasing pres- sures from development, rising land costs, popularization of the West, and decreases in federal funding. Its more than 1,000 members have been successful in coordinating more than $-I million in volunteer labor, improving and cornplet- . ing hundreds of miles of the CDT, building positive relationships with the federal land managers and local clubs, organiz- ing the first border-to-border survey of the Trail, implementing an Adopt-A- Trail program and convincing Congress to appropriate nearly $2 million for the CDT in the Forest Service budget.

Our Sister National Scenic Trails: The Continential Divide

Advocacy and Fund Raising Secured almost $4 million in CDT

add-on earmarks to the Forest Service budget for the CDT. Instrumental in the creation of a House Trails Caucus. Responsible for initiating legislation in the House of Representatives that would

allow "willing sellers" to sell their lands for the purposes of the CDT and other National Scenic Trails.

CDT Long Distance Planning Guide - To better serve CDT users, the CDTA wrote and published a planning guide booklet specifically to educate and inform the public about the CDT. This publication will help to ensure safe and enjoyable experiences.

valued at over $900,000 in labor impact- ing 844 miles of the CDT.

. Besides the Continental Divide Trail Alliance, the trail is also supportedby ~e C()flWienta!;;J=l,.ivi rail ~;~:;:iety.~he S~~~ry.(

brush saw, mower or in extreme cases even arrange for a brush hog to concen- trate on clearing further to the side of the trail to eliminate the leaners. This work should only have to be done every several years. Watch for anything that will lean further under a snow load, or that will leaf out and grow next spring and remove it.

Vistas are among the most appreci- ated features along the trail. But many of them will not remain open without periodic maintenance. If your section of trail has a vista, you should clear it at the same time that you clear the trail-that is at any time of the year but fall is a good time to catch up.

Cut only selected trees, retaining large shade trees to retard the growth of sun-loving plants. If possible, clear vistas with the help of a second person who can stand on the trail and tell you what to cut. Try to leave few traces of your work and make the opening appear as natural as possible.

Always remember: A well-maintained trail is a joy to hike on but a poorly maintained trail is merely an annoyance. o~~~b-~~~-n~~~;;;b~;-~~~~-.--N~rth.st~~-15

tion of trail is overgrown every time you maintain it, this means that you should maintain it more frequently.

Thinking back to this series of articles on spring, summer, and now fall maintenance, I still hold that spring and summer maintenance is the most difficult. In the spring, there are all the things to get back in shape following winter's assault and to prepare for the hiking season.

Throughout the summer, there is the constant ongoing maintenance. But when fall rolls around, you should find that your task is easier. Now all you have to do is finalize any unfinished tasks and get the trail ready to rest for another winter. The cooler weather is also an ideal time to take on some of the heavier periodic tasks such as vista maintenance or trail rehabitation.

But before getting into those tasks, take care of another basic need -blazing and signing. While this should be in good shape from your spring and summer efforts, you should again inspect the condition of the blazing and correct anything that is fading or missing. Signs have a way of disappearing and now is

a good time to replace them. Many varieties can be requested from the National Park Service.

Now we move on to the heavier tasks. Fall is a good time to make next year's work easier by uprooting or cutting any brush or trees that are beginning to encroach on the trail. Often we find that after several years, brushy species begin to lean toward the small amount of additional sunlight along the trail. This leaning eventually narrows the trail below the desired 4-foot clearing width and the culprits are not easy to stop as their base is beyond the reach of a normal mowmg.

Photograph by Bill Menke The solution is to use a

As I begin to collect my thoughts on what should go into this article, I find myself struggling with always trying to segregate the maintenance of the trail into seasonal activities. Many of the maintenance tasks are actually ongoing throughout the year.

As a maintainer or adopter, you should remember at all times that while the North Country National Scenic Trail is considered a footpath, it should remain open and easy to follow. It is not meant to test the hiker's ability to bushwhack along an unkempt, obscure track. It should remain clear and a pleasure to travel. This requires constant attention by an adopter.

Last issue, I stressed that by July l st, your section of the trail should have probably been mowed. Just to demonstrate how a trail requires constant attention, I mowed a section of trail and removed all fallen limbs on June 8. Returning on July 18, I led the Wisconsin DNR Trails Coordinator along this same section of trail thinking that I would be showing her an outstanding example of a well-built and maintained trail.

After the first 200 yards, I was hor- rified to see that in five short weeks of time, the bracken ferns had regrown to somewhere between waist and shoulder height making the trail tread very difficult to even follow. And along the way, there were several fresh windfalls that were large enough to require returning with a saw to get them off the trail.

The horrifying thing about this example is that I don't think it is all that unusual. During the active growing season, the trail requires frequent check- ing and maintenance in order to keep it in good shape-probably as often as monthly, especially when rainfall is consistent. If you find that your sec-

a Joy and not an Annoyance

The Goal: Create

Trail Craft with Bill Menke

Ferns are attractive but take care that they don't overgrow the trail.

rail-Sandy Beaver 40% Hiawatha Shore to Shore 25% Peter Wolfe 21 o/oslf S e River Valley 19%

Fastest Growin haptel'S The highest percentage gro

among our 24 chapters during second quarter of as enjo

Forty percent of the potential North Country National Trail in North Dakota was completed with certification of a new stretch of the North Country Trail in Valley City, ND.

As of this Summer, 112 members of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, the North Country Trail Association's first affiliate, were also members of the NCTA, double the number a year ago.

With the approval of Lonetree' s charter by the Board of Directors at their August meeting, Lonetree became the second chapter in North Dakota and the 24th of the Association. Our association had four chapters six years ago!

Recruiting Members ds are given for recruiting

10, 100 and 250 new members. Our top recruiters during the second quarter of 202 were: Richar Saur 9 John Pat Leinen 6 Bill an onna Menke . Bob Tait ................. ; . Jerry Allen J!L 2 Don Beattie 2 Neil Juhl . Arlen and Arlene Ma

Current Change Since Members Last Quarter

172 +6 +4% 188

1,209 +32 +3%

241 -8 -3% 232 +1%

-s

89 -6 +6% 2,376 +35 +1%

State North Dakota Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan Ohio Pennsylvania New York Other Totals

--- ----------- ---------- State by State Membership Membership in the NCTA demonstrates public support for the trail. Membership dues help fund activities that benefit the trail. Here's how each state stacks up at the end of our 2nd Quarter.

Percent Increase Other Total Marked Done and Miles Since Last Off-Road Off Road Road Certified Certified Issue Miles Miles Miles

Minnesota 24.8% 93.0 0.0 4.7 97.7 0.0

53.8% 619.4 0.0 64.7 684.1 104.2

0.0 29.9 159.8 5.8 s fl :

BIGOOO[Q)~ Totals 40.7% 1,697.6 14.8 191.2 1,888.8 192.1 -------------- - .. - . - . - - ... - - .. --~- - - . - - ......... - - - - - - - - - - - - .

Trail Building Progress on the North Country Trail The National Park Service certifies those completed miles that satisfy its standards. In addition there are many more completed miles that may be enjoyable to hike but can- not be certified for a variety of reasons.

Along the way to building the longest continuous hiking trail in the country, we pass many milestones. This page marks some that show our progress.


Another great membership conference has come and gone. What a great time we had in Valley City and the weather couldn't have been better or more cooperative. Our thanks goes to the association staff who worked tire- lessly to complete arrangements with the help of highly enthusiastic North Dakota members.

We particularly appreciate the efforts of Board member Jon Lindgren, North Dakota state coordinator; Sheyenne Valley Chapter President Lisa Engel, Lonetree Chapter President Elden Ehrman; Alicia Hoffarth of the Valley City Chamber of Commerce, Maria Effertz-Hanson, communica- tions director of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy; Bryan Stotts, District Ranger of the Sheyenne Ranger District, Lisbon; Scott Tichy, US Army Corps of Engineers; and Scott Peterson, North Dakota Fish and Game assigned to the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area for helping to make this trip so interesting and educational.

. I

isn't a firm basis for any kind of formal letter or action by our Association.

The NCTA is not a general environmental organization as are the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Audubon Society, and others. We have a specific charter and mission. It includes protecting the North Country Trail and its scenic and historic features and environment.

Only in the context of the trail should we make official comments on projects or threats that appear to impact the trail environment. In that sense, we ARE an environmental organization - in direct support of the North Country National Scenic Trail. And we very definitely need to make our thoughts known on projects that may be a threat.

So keep your eyes open as you work on the Trail or are out hiking and enjoy- ing it. You are the eyes and ears of our organization and, without you, anything can happen. Get together with state and local officials and get involved enough so you know what they are doing in the areas around our Trail. We can help them develop the Trail as a premier scenic recreational resource that benefits all the recre- ationists who use it and both our organization and their unit of government.

' ... We have a specific charter and mission. It includes protecting the North Country Trail and its scenic and historic features and environment ... '

plans most government agencies develop to carry out their missions. Monitoring and analyzing these plans can easily be done and information in them can indi- cate where potential future projects and/ or threats may occur. If Trail Councils and members can provide input to the agencies involved early enough, it may help to deflect or modify such proposals before they even get to the ground dis- turbing stage.

Other threats may appear from activities on private land. These may be tougher to deal with but where they may be a major impact, it still pays to make known what is happening and the possible effects it may have on the Trail.

If such activities are carried out under a permit from a state or local gov- ernmental agencies, even if they are on private land, they are usually done under some sort of a authorization. These per- mits can be issued so that provisions for going ahead with a project require mini- mizing or eliminating an impact.

But once a threat is apparent, what to do? The state trail coordinator for the two threats mentioned 'above reported them to our national office. And 'that's what we hope you will do once a threat is recognized that may definitely impact the trail.

The report, to be analyzed by our Executive Director, isn't much good unless it contains enough information to determine where the threat is coming from, what it is, if it is a formalized project, who's responsible for it, and what the details actually are. This type of information should be obtained first hand from the project proponent. Second hand information in newspapers or flyers

"I.ORD YOST President

Every so often, someone calls in or sends a report about a threat to the North Country Trail's well being. It may be a housing development, a timber sale, road construction, or any other of a host of possibilities. The threats are brought to our Executive Director Bob Papp's attention or to others on the Board of Directors. The questioners want to know what to do about it.

The latest such threats came from one of the eastern states where a "non- toxic" waste landfill is proposed for a tract ofland adjacent to a state park par- cel in which the trail is located.

A second threat appeared to come from a proposal to lease state park and forestlands for oil exploration and probably eventual extraction.

It goes without saying that either one of these activities could pose some serious threats. Exploratory activity and extraction could have serious impacts to scenery along the trail, pollute water sup- plies used by trail users, and/or disrupt the trail corridor and tread by the place- ment of roads, drilling rigs, and other development.

In a country where population growth continues unabated, more of these threats are just around the corner. We hope that the North Country Trail Association's Trail Councils can liaison with Federal, state, and local governmen- tal agencies to develop an early warnings system on possible projects that may pose a threat.

Once a good relationship is established between the Trail Councils and agencies, it should be just a matter of routinely meeting or calling the officials for an update on work or projects under consideration.

Members also can keep their eyes wide open as they hike or work on the trail and report any unusual projects or disturbances. A project can easily slip through the warning system or not even come from an agency.

Additional threat sources are the

Threats to the Trail: Report them to the NCTA Office ;MIL

'@~[[)

at an award ceremony and held a quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors. (Details appear on subsequent pages).

All seven of our trail states had representatives at the conference but the largest of the visiting contingents came from Pennsylvania where the Buder Chapter, led by Joyce Appel, organized a two-van load contingent. They came to Valley City, 16 strong, after days of hiking, touring and canoeing on the way.

After Sunday morning's adjourn- ment (or before the Thursday opening) large numbers of members visited the western terminus of the North Country Trail in Lake Sakakawea State Park, a site too distant to make a conference- wide visit practical. But, those who went were impressed with the site including the recently completed visitor center.

Others made a post-conference inspection of the trail in the Sheyenne National Grasslands. Their report starts on Page 22.

stay behind to attend a one-day semi- nar, mostly teaching leadership skills, at Valley City State University which provided the accommodations and splendid meals for the conference.

With Rep. Earl Pomeroy, one of our trail's stalwart Congressional supporters, in attendance the conference opened with the dedication of a new Valley City segment of the trail. Thanks to its completion, 40 percent of the potential trail in North Dakota.

The conference closed with a hilari- ous presentation by Ryan Taylor, the author of "Cowboy Logic," a column that appears in area publications, and, of course, the traditional silent auction followed by the live auction, as usual fea - turing the tactics of our executive director, Bob Papp, skilled in wringing the last penny from unsuspecting guests.

In between, the Association held its annual meeting with state of the trail reports, honored its busiest volunteers

Association members gather around a rock sculpture celebrating the calendar discovery process by ancient civilizations. The medicine wheel bullt by Professor Joe Stickler and his astronomy students at Valley City State University, measures 213 feet around. The 28 spokes represent the days In the lunar cycle. Their extensions beyond the wheel are aligned to the horizon positions of sunrises and sunsets on the first day of the four seasons.

Acres of sunflowers, stretching eastward to a distant horizon, steadfast winds whipping up whitecaps on prairie potholes dotted with waterfowl, a gently undulating, grassy North Country trail and above all the cheerful hospitality of our Sheyenne Valley and Lonetree chapters remained in the memories of more than 100 members who attended the North Country Trail Association's annual conference in August.

The chapters, the Valley City Chamber of Commerce and staffers from the Garrison Diversion District outdid themselves to welcome the Association, starting right from a greeting on the Valley City State University marquee when members hit town.

Thanks to their arrangements, we experienced an opening picnic with bison burgers, climbed Valley City's steepest hill to share the passion of an astronomy professor for ancient calen - dars, rock structures and astronomical properties; laughed with a cowboy poet, toured the key sites of the Garrison district, stretched our legs on hikes in Fort Ransom State Park, the Sheyenne National Grasslands, Lake Ashtabula, the Lonetree Wildlife Area and completed a circuit of seven bridges crossing the Sheyenne River, the aorta of central North Dakota, which creates most of the meaningful geographic features along the North Country Trail.

All the activities made it difficult to

VALLEY CITY, ND--

By Werner Veit Editor, The North Star

Of Sunflowers, Old Symbols, Grasslands

North Country Trail Assocation 2002 Annual Conference Valley City, ND


" ... in recognition of her devoted volunteerism, outstanding skills and exemplary achievements in promoting the Association and the .... trail."

The Barons' plaque reads: "In deep appreciation of their persis-

tent and caring work behind the scenes, ensuring that everything goes off without a hitch and no one is overlooked on the North Country National Scenic Trail."

Seventeen members and two others who worked on the North Country Trail even though they are not members were awarded shirts for having volunteered more than 400 hours. The non-members are William Schultz and Adrian Vanko. The members are:

Garret Dill and James Runk, at large; Mike Burbank and Terry Ladd, Baw Beese; Peter Nordgren, Robert Norlin and Bill Menke, Brule-St. Croix; John Rudnicki, Chief Noonday; Rick Halbert and Richard Naperala, Grand Traverse Hiking Club; Dana Zintek, Great Trail-Sandy Beaver; Janice Wester, North Country Trail Hikers; Rolf Swanson, Peter Wolfe; Jerry Allen and Vern Killinger, Tittibawassee and , ,: Joanne Baron and Paul Haan, Western~.r

. . ' .:; ' ';'l Michigan. ' -Werner Veit

Butler's Ron Rice

and exemplary dedication to expand- ing ... the trail through the planning and construction of new trail segments."

On Al Mitton' s plaque: " ... in recognition of his initiative,

hard work and outstanding dedication to improving the quality of the ... trail and the experiences of trail users."

On Angie's plaque:

Western Michigan's JoAnne and Len Baron

Spirit of Woods' Angie Addington work and achievement were:

Werner Veit, board member, President of the Western Michigan chapter and editor of The North Star, who received the Association's 2002 Distinguished Service Award.

Ron Rice of the Butler Chapter, named the Association's Trail Builder of the Year.

Al Mitton, of the Itasca- Moraine Chapter, named Trail Maintainer of the Year.

Angie Addington, of the Spirit of the Woods chapter, named Communicator of the Year and

Len and JoAnne Baron of the Western Michigan chapter who received the Association's Sweep Award.

They were chosen by a committee consisting of national board members Helen Coyne (chair), Derek Blount, Mary Lucas and Joan Young.

Rod's plaque reads: "In recognition of more

than a decade of extraordinary dedication, exceptional service and outstanding contributions toward our shared dream for the North Country National Scenic Trail."

On Werner Veit' s plaque: "In recognition of exceptional service

in furthering the goals of the NCTA, and outstanding contributions toward the dream of the North Country National Scenic Trail." '

On Ron Rice's plaque: " ... in recognition of his tireless work

D od MacRae, who served for years as 1'Minnesota State Coordinator, and President of its Headwaters Chapter, is the recipient of the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award of the North Country Trail Association.

The award ceremony was a highlight of the Friday banquet at the annual conference in Valley City, ND.

Other members honored for their

Minnesota's Rod Mac Rae, Other Distinguished Members Honored


October-December 2002 * North Star 21 Hikers stepped carefully around this nest filled with blue-winged teal eggs In the Lonetree Wildllfe Area.

Excuse me? If you were not at the conference's conclud- ing banquet you missed our executive director, Bob Papp, winning a rope-spin- ning contest. Honest.

Some of the 16 Pennsylvania members who came together in two vans hiked the North Country Trail in Fort Ransom State. Park. (left)

Members enjoy a pleasant, guided hike in the Hannaford Wlldllfe Management Area along Lake Ashtabula.

Lake Sakakawea is visible beyond the new visitor center at Sakakawea State Park, the western terminus of the North Country Trall.

Photograph by Joyce Appel

20 North Star* October-December 2002

Rep. Earl Pomeroy helped to celebrate the opening of the newest stretch of certified trail in Valley City. He showed his approval to Jan Stowman of the Valley City Chamber, the mis- tress of ceremonies at the opening picnic where members were treated to buffalo burgers and home- spun entertainment.

Lisa Engel, President of the Sheyenne River Valley Chapter, and Jon Lindgren, the Association's North Dakota state coordinator, were on hand to greet members.

A Members' Photo Album



Susan Bond, Chief Noonday Chapter: The guided walk through the "tall grass prairie" flora of eastern North Dakota was a delight. Plants never or seldom seen in Michigan were identified by our guide. While most government lands prohibit collecting, we were free to pick samples of the locally plentiful {and periodically grazed over) plants. Throwing my plant press into the car had proven to be a good move.

Flo Hedeen, Itasca ~ Moraine Chapter: Sheyenne National Grassland was home for me during much of my growing up years! Walking the prairie, reveling in the sights, sounds and smells was a very nostalgic experience... Hiking the grassway through fences, past artesian wells, sidestepping cow pies with only the clouds and blue sky over-head gave me a whole new appreciation for the place where I was born and raised.

Dick Lightcap, Member At~Large: I never knew what a prairie really was or how vast the wide-open spaces were. Now I do after visiting the Sheyenne National Grassland. Our Forest Service guide knew his grasses, plants, birds, mammals, soil and water resources; he was very impressive with his knowledge.

Joan Young, Spirit of the Woods Chapter: The gravel path is too soft for some hikers, and in places the cows have made a clam shelled mess of it and have dug holes- maybe they're lying down in the cool dirt? On the other hand, there aren't very many places where the North Country Trail feels like "cowboy" country-- it really adds to the diversity of experiences along the trail. The cattle were "wild" yet curious and the windmills were working - pumping water for the tanks. We even saw the goat herder on horseback with his working dogs and several hundred goats.

What they said about the Grasslands:

cutting through the chin sod and expos- ing the sand beneath. In the Sheyenne, the NCT was initially designed without a tread, so that hikers could meander along their own routes through the grass from one marker to the next. However, we trail users are trained to "stay on the trail," so once a tread was established the tendency was to use it. Unfortunately, much of the trail in this area was improperly routed straight up and down slopes. With the protective sod lost, water started eroding the underlying sand and, in some areas, cut severe gullies along the trail route.

Eventually, staff at the Grasslands came up with a creative solution to these problems by applying for a grant for flood damage reparations. With $200,000 in hand from a federal flood mitigation grant, they set about the task of rerout- ing, redesigning, and stabilizing the North Country Trail through the Grasslands.

Steep slope and heavy use eroded this older section.

"trail" with flags. Lacer, the flags were replaced with posts and, in July of 1990, 25 miles of new NCT were certified.

Unfortunately, the lace 1980's were very dry years in chis region of North Dakota, and they were followed by some very wee years in the early to mid 1990' s. The water cable rose dramatically, and the Sheyenne suddenly looked more like the Everglades than a Grassland. Much of the new North Country Trail disappeared completely under water - in some areas it was chest deep. Clearly, the route for the trail had not been chosen to accommodate such fluctuations in rainfall, and some- thing had to be done.

As the 1990' s wore on and the waters receded, the trail took a beating from another source - erosion. In the eastern region of the Grasslands, which are closer to Fargo, intensive use by equestrians, hikers, and illicit motorized traffic ended up

The Sheyenne National Grassland is unique among the ten National Forests crossed by the North Country Trail. One of only 20 National Grasslands in the U.S., the Sheyenne offers a "western" experience to our hikers, with a mix of flat and rolling prairies, grazing cattle, and its own distinctive management issues. Our annual conference in August created the opportunity for many NCTA members to explore the Grasslands through hikes and tours. This is what we found.

Back in the lace 1980's, the USDA Forest Service embraced the idea of rout- ing the North Country Trail through the Sheyenne National Grasslands. Though well intentioned, the people involved in chis initial process didn't have a lot of experience with trail design. Pouring over maps and aerial photos, they selected what seemed to be a good route, and sent a seasonal employee out co mark the new

Members of the Butler County (Pennsylvania) Chapter discover the rare beauty of these National Grasslands during their visit to the conference.

By Bob Papp Executive Director, NCTA

Charting a Course Through Sheyenne Grasses



Marie Altenau, Spirit of the Woods Chapter: The grasslands are another world to hike in ... walking on a green carpet that extends as far as you can see in every direction (the short grass prairie) - the long grass prairie is like hiking in a sea of grass and gives real meaning to the "amber wi:ives of grain" .... the land is so vast and the sky so huge ... thunder and lightening storms are from another dimension ...

Barbara Hawke, Western Michigan Chapter: Grey skies, muted grasses knee-high, poison ivy eager to kiss our legs. Old and new comrades collected and dispersed among waves of sandhills punctuated by purple Blazing Star explosions.

Ken Howell, NPS Land Protection Specialist The new construction really helps protect the resource from damage by hikers and other trail users.

out of character as some imagine it might be. Grasses and prairie forbs were already growing in and softening the edges.

Biii Menke, NCTA Trall Foreman:

Kathy Elsele, Central New York Chapter: Fields of sunflowers, waves of prairie grass in the wind, and very friendly people are what I'll remember about North Dakota.

Gaylord Yost, NCTA President: It is really exciting and pleasing that Forest Service Ranger Brian Stotts is so enthused and pro-NCT. The work he is doing out there to relocate the trail and find a suitable surface material to help delineate it may not please everyone, but certainly attests to his aggressive desire to make the trail an asset to the Lisbon Ranger District and to all the public who uses it. My hat is off to him for his attentiveness to the trail.

the Sheyenne National Grassland fully embraces our vision of the NCT being a premier hiking trail. The fact that other non-motorized uses are currently allowed on the trail could conflict with the trail vision, if use starts to pick up.

Even so, we were encouraged that management at the Sheyenne is address- ing use issues. Much of the intensively used northeastern region of the Grasslands will soon be closed to motorized use. The Grassland also is open to a review of allowable uses on the NCT if the time comes that hiker experiences are negatively impacted. The chances of this may be less- ened now with the new "stabilized" trail tread since the softer surface is more likely to discourage bike use on the trail than encourage it. Ironically, use conflicts now may stem more from cattle who seem to appreciate the chance to nestle down on the cool dirt surface of the new trail tread!

own can step just 50 ft off the tread and it will disappear from view, hidden completely by the surrounding grasses.

The only real detraction we found was that the new surface was still a little soft for hiking. Bryan Stotts, District Ranger for the Sheyenne acknowledged that the sand/gravel mix wasn't quite what they'd wanted, but they expect to improve it for the remaining half of the work. Also, it's expected that the surface will become more packed in with time and more stable as plants continue to reclaim it.

As with most of the other National Forests crossed by the North Country Trail, we also face the potential challenge in the Sheyenne of conflicting uses on the trail. At present, use of any sort along most of the NCT in the Grasslands is very thin, so encounters with other users, let alone conflicts in experience, are mini- mal. We do need to ensure, though, that

During the early 90's, the water table rose, dramatlcally changing the nature of the grasslands and flooding much of the trall.

To date, most of the work in the flat- ter, less used western region is complete. First, the trail was rerouted to higher ground, and the old straight runs up and down hill slopes were eliminated. Then, a more stable tread was created by carving a strip two feet wide and four inches deep out of the sod and filling it with a mix of heavy sand, clay and fine gravel. New interpretive signs and trail marker posts were installed to finish the job.

The new tread looked very raw a year ago when work was completed, but today encroaching grasses are softening and nat- uralizing the look considerably, creeping in along the edges and coming up through the new surface itself.

One of the nice things about this new tread is that people who are more com- fortable following a clear tread will feel at home along it. At the same time, those who prefer the feel of striking out on their

Board members, volunteers and staff of the NCTA and NPS tour a newly stablllzed section of the NCT.



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website geocaching.com, "Where you place a cache is up to you."

The policy adopted by the Board reads:

"The North Country Trail Association recognizes that the sport of geocaching offers a unique and social approach to exploring the outdoors that may appeal to a growing segment of trail users. At the same time, the Association also recognizes the potential drawbacks of practicing this sport, which may include resource degradation, infringement of property rights, and/or conflicts with 'tread lightly' trail use ethics. Therefore, co minimize these concerns, the Association endorses geocaching and sim- ilar activities along the North Country National Scenic Trail only under the following conditions:

"Where written permission has been obtained in advance from the appropriate land manager or land owner, providing a specific timeframe and location for the activity, and

"Where proper care is taken to avoid damage caused by digging or trampling to vegetation, archeological evidence, trail tread or other fragile resources in the area."

(To read the full minutes, log on to www.northcountrytrail.org.)

-Werner Veit

ful experience for hikers, they voted to request more information and to learn whether such designation would impact the trail.

The board decided to establish a personnel committee to recommend salaries, benefits and working conditions for the staff and President Gaylor

Documents

North Star Vol. 21, No. 4 (2002)