Author: Amanda Baker

The Maine Chapter of the International Appalachian Trail (MCIAT) is pleased to announce that Dr. John Calder, of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has accepted the MCIAT invitation to deliver the keynote address at the International Appalachian Trail North American Annual General Meeting on June 5-7, 2014 at the Twin Pine Camps, Millinocket, Maine.

Dr. John Calder, a Research Geologist, received his Bachelor of Science degree at Saint Mary’s University and his PhD at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia. Throughout his productive career, John made many research contributions to Appalachian geology and is a leading authority on the newly recognized international Geoheritage program. He is an active member and officer of the Atlantic Geoscience Society, the Geological Society of Canada, the Mineralogical Society of Canada, and the Geological Society of America. He is the recipient of the Provincial and Territorial award, the Premier’s Award for Excellence, the Gesner Distinguished Scientist Medal and the E.R. Ward Medal of the Geological Association of Canada. His publications are too numerous to be mentioned here.

John is a strong leader and proponent of “ Geoheritage” a descriptive term applied to sites or areas of geologic features with significant scientific, educational, cultural, or aesthetic value. He sees Geoheritage as a path by which we can bridge the deep chasm that separates the knowledge possessed by geoscientists and the public. He says that the term offers an important message: that we share a common history on Earth, and perhaps more importantly, that we also face a shared and uncertain future that presents humanity with very real challenges.

John is recognized as a principal for the famous and newly established “Joggins Fossil Cliffs” World Heritage Site in Nova Scotia.

John may be joined by Dr. Randy Miller, Research Curator and Head of Geology and Paleontology at the Department of Natural Science, New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, NB who took the lead on the establishment of the first GeoPark (Stonehammer, NB) in Canada and recent recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Atlantic Geoscience Society .

Please plan to join us for the 2014 NAAGM in Millinocket, Maine, at Twin Pine Camps, located at the border of Baxter State Park, with awe inspiring views of nearby, iconic Mt. Katahdin. This will be a terrific opportunity to meet the other chapter representatives, engage in interesting programs, sight-see in the area, and enjoy the company of colleagues engaged in this unique IAT/SIA project.The Maine Chapter will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the NAAGM as well as celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the IAT!

Dr. John Calder, of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has accepted the MCIAT invitation to deliver the keynote address at the International Appalachian Trail North American Annual General Meeting on June 5-7, 2014 at the Twin Pine Camps, Millinocket, Maine.

John Neff, a retired pastor of the United Methodist Church, author of Katahdin: A Historic Journey along with Howard Whitcomb, Professor Emeritus of political science at Lehigh University and author of Governor Baxter’s Magnificent Obsession will speak on the history of the exploration of Katahdin, with an emphasis on the eastern routes, sections of which are now incorporated into the IAT.

Some of the events:

6/5 – Maine Chapter annual meeting, dinner, keynote address6/6 – Chapter updates, panel discussions, followed by excursions in the field, 20th anniversary celebration6/7 – Panel discussions and additional excursions6/8 – Climbing Mt. Katahdin and other hiking for those interested

Meals will be provided at the renowned River Driver’s Restaurant. More details on registration will be sent next month.

Mark your calendar for June 5-8!

(For those of you using social media to converse about the event, please reference #NAAGM, as we will be gathering various posts in the program Storify)

John Neff, and Howard Whitcomb will be presenting at the North American Annual General Meeting – June 5-8. They will take us on a photographic journey into the heart of this mountain dominion and the park that so nobly embraces it. The journey will move from the native peoples who so revered Ktaadn as a sacred place, to those who, in the present day, walk in its shadow and find an inner strength,. They will share some of the rich cultural history that makes this massif, where the IAT/SIA begins its remarkable journey, so incomparable.

John Neff is a retired pastor of the United Methodist Church and lives in Winthrop, Maine. He is the author of Katahdin: An Historic Journey, published by Appalachian Mountain Club Books in 2006. He first climbed Katahdin in the early 1960s and was for 30 years the maintainer of five miles of the Appalachian Trail within Baxter State Park. He is past president of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and the founding president of the Friends of Baxter State Park.

Howard Whitcomb is Professor Emeritus of political science at Lehigh University.He is the author of Governor Baxter’s Magnificent Obsession; A Documentary History of Baxter State Park, 1931-2006. He also compiled and annotated a four-volume set of original materials on Percival P. Baxter’s Vision for Baxter State Park. Howard’s park experiences date back to the early 1950s when he climbed Katahdin three consecutive summers.

More information will be posted and mailed regarding registration and the event.

Mark your calendar for June 5 – 8!

(For those of you using social media to converse about the event, please reference #NAAGM, as we will be gathering various posts in the program Storify)

Maine Chapter board members Dick Anderson, Walter Anderson, and Don Hudson attended the 138th Annual Meeting of the Appalachian Mountain Club on Saturday, January 25th in Norwood, Massachusetts.

John Mullen, Vice Chair – Maine AMC

One of the main purposes of the visit was to spread the word about the IAT in Canada and Europe. AMC membership stands at 87,000, and another 90,000 people are reached through social media and the website. That’s a big market in the world of outdoor activity and adventure travel!

Dick Anderson, Maine Chapter Treasurer, talking with Brian Wentzell, AMC Regional Director for Maine

In a workshop on volunteer leadership of AMC adventure travel trips, Don handed out IAT bookmarks and spoke about contacts in the northeastern Canadian provinces, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroës and western Europe — from Scandinavia, through Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, to France, Spain and Portugal — eager to work with AMC volunteer leaders to bring people to stretches of the IAT outside of the United States.

Dick and Walter touched base with the current Executive Director, John Judge, and the former Executive Director Andy Fallender, and met the current Chair of the Board of Directors, Wayne Thornbrough.

IAT 2000 miler, Cotton Joe, is spending a few weeks in Morocco before heading home. He has been relaxing and meeting people. He did climb Jbel Youbkal and walked some in the Sahara Desert. He sent us these beautiful pictures of the some mountains in Morocco.

Eddie Woodin presenting check to Maine Chapter President, Don Hudson joined by Earl Raymond (far left) and Dick Anderson

Eddie Woodin recently continued his long-time, major support of the Maine IAT Chapter with a one thousand dollar contribution.

He made the contribution Sunday, December 8th , at the ALL STAR sports pub in Yarmouth, Maine, during the half-time break of the Patriots football game. Eddie and several of his friends, IAT Maine Chapter officers and Board members, and fellow Patriot fans, were holding their collective breaths hoping for another Patriot win (they did win).

Eddie made a point of telling the Maine IAT Chapter folks what a great job they had done as volunteers to establish the trail in Maine and Canada and then to help establish many Chapters in Europe.

Eddie was thanked for his continued support of the Maine section of the trail by Maine IAT President Don Hudson.

Earl Raymond, Dick Anderson Eddie Woodin, Don Hudson are joined by Tom Brennan, representing another major IAT Maine Chapter suporter, Nestle Waters, North America

The Gang! Watching the Patriots Win!

Recently, the family of Robert B. Neuman, Geologist and IAT Supporter, gifted $5,000 to the Maine Chapter IAT to honor their father’s memory. With this donation from the Neuman family, The Neuman Fund of the Maine Chapter of the International Appalachian Trail is being established to support trail development and maintenance in Maine. It will continue the work begun by Robert B. Neuman to understand and share the geoheritage of the landscape through which the trail passes.On December 9th, the Maine Chapter Board held an electronic meeting and the following motion was made, seconded, and passed. “By a vote of the Board of Directors, the Treasurer, Dick Anderson, and President, Don Hudson, are authorized to open an account at the Bath Savings Trust Company that will serve as an endowment for the Maine Chapter of the IAT. The endowment shall be created with a $5,000 gift made by the family of Robert B. Neuman, as well as any additional gifts that might come to the Maine Chapter now or in the future in honor of Bob Neuman. The Neuman Fund will be the inaugural fund of the Chapter’s endowment”. Any additional gifts that come to the Maine Chapter in honor of Bob will be added to this fund. If anyone is interested in making a donation to this fund, please contact Dick Anderson or Don Hudson. On December 17th, Maine Chapter President, Don Hudson and Treasurer, Dick Anderson met with Tom Whelan at Bath Savings Trust Company to setup the account.

Ed Whelan, Don Hudson, Dick Anderson

ROBERT B. NEUMAN 1920-2013

Robert Neuman made innumerable contributions throughout his career with the United States Geological Survey and the Smithsonian Institution to the geology of Maine and the Northern Appalachians. His research is recognized by a broad spectrum of the scientific community. He published dozens of maps and research papers in government publications and national and international journals. In the early 1960’s he was in the right place at just the right time as his early geological mapping along the East Branch of the Penobscot River confirmed a newly proposed theory of “continental drift”, now known as plate tectonics. Bob recognized that marine brachiopod fossils in the nearby Shin Pond volcanic ash were European in nature and quite distinct and separate from their North American shore-line hugging contemporaries far to the west, and brought reality to the postulated seaway (Iapetus) that lay between them. There was then too much deep water that prevented Bob’s “Celtic fauna” from swimming across to mingle and interbreed with the North American ones, and vice versa. Bob was the first to perceive this, and his name will forever be linked with the emerging recognition of the 450 million year old Ordovician Iapetus seaway. He was the discoverer of the “Penobscottian orogeny, the early stages of Appalachian mountain building which occurred with the closing of the Iapetus seaway and the subsequent collisions of Europe, Africa and North America. His recognized work and discovery on the East Branch forms a solid scientific foundation for future recognition of the area as a “Geologic Heritage Site”

In 2006, The Maine Chapter of the International Appalachian Trail recognized Bob’s contributions to Appalachian geology (the fundamental underlayment of the IAT) by naming the Grand Pitch lean-to on the East Branch in his honor.

Bob led and frequented many geological field trips with the following….”do not risk being left in the woods like Hansel and Gretel. There are no gingerbread houses here”.

Vice Mayor Vitor Antune, Earl Raymond and Carlos Neto de Carvalho

10-13 – September – International Appalachian Trail delegate Earl Raymond inspects Naturtejo Geopark.

Responsible from the Maine chapter in USA Earl Raymond came to visit the project to introduce the International Appalachian Trial in Portugal, on the way to the IAT Annual Meeting in Scotland. Together with Carlos Neto de Carvalho he visited parts of the Moradal Mountain, from Picoto do Moradal to Cabeco Mosqueriro, where Moradal-Pangea Trail will be implemented starting in October. They also had a meeting with the vice-mayor Vitor Antunes to clarify the importance of this project for the sustainable development of Oleiros. Besides, Carlos guided Earl Raymon in Idanha-a-Nova to visit the Cultural Centre, Idanha-a-velha Roman city and Monsanto’ Boulders Trail. At Proenca-a-Nova they visited the Living Science Centre dedicated to forest and the new excavations to a Pre-historic tomb under the frame of the archeological summer camp. Finally they joined the group of participating students, municipal technicians and archaeologists in the traditional village of Figueira to enjoy the evening.

Julie King and Ed Talone celebrating in Portland with Maine Chapter IAT Board members

On Friday, November 1, 2013 the Maine IAT Chapter hosted a small welcome party for Julie King and Ed Talone at Sebago Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. Julie and Ed have been hiking in Maine and Canada’s Maritime provinces since May, 4, 2013, when they started at the northeast corner of Baxter State Park in Maine, USA. Their hike included sections of the IAT, many rail trails and local and regional trails. During their hike they hiked in Maine, USA and New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In total they hiked 2576 miles and, by Ed’s count, crossed 1723 bridges.

Some of their side trips included; Quebec’s Magdalene Islands, Nova Scotia’s Cabot Trail and an extensive hike in in the Labrador area of Newfoundland and Labrador. During their hike Julie did a spectacular job maintaining a SHUTTERFLY web site and you can see all the great pictures of the places they visited and read about their hiking at edjuliehikingadventures@sfly.com

Maine Chapter President, Don Hudson officially welcomed Julie and Ed and thanked them for all the wonderful efforts they made to promote the IAT and acquaint people along their way with the IAT. Poul Jorgensen, NB Trails Coordinator also attended the event. He transported Julie and Ed from his home province to Portland to attend the event and catch up on other IAT activities, like the AGM in Scotland.

Ed Talone with Maine Chapter Secretary, Seth Levy

Dick Anderson urged everyone to visit their SHUTTERFLY site and see all the spectacular countryside that they traveled through and all the wonderful people they met along the way, who made their hike a special experience for them. At the event Julie and Ed thanked everyone for the great support they received, both in the planning of the hike and along the route they traveled.

Ed is one of a very small number of people in the United States to have hiked more that 50,000 miles and Julie has hiked extensively in the British Isles, Australia and the United States. It was a pleasure indeed for me, and the group that attended the event, to share a few moments with two exceptional hikers, have a bite to eat with them, thank them for their great contribution to the IAT and bid them farewell.

Dick Anderson

Maine IAT Chapter Board members, Dick Anderson and Earl Raymond, attended a very special event on Friday, November, 15, 2013, the one hundredth birthday of Ed Werler!

Ed Werler, on watch at Deasey Moutain fire cab, 1947

Ed was the fire watchman on Deasey Mountain from 1947 to 1950. He and his wife, Mary Jane, moved from Connecticut to Stacyville, in 1947. While serving as the watchman, Ed and Mary Jane lived in a cabin (now in great disrepair) on the trail to the summit, had a small garden, and carried their supplies up from the East Branch of the Penobscot River. Now owned by Elliotsville Plantation Inc., the lookout is on the International Appalachian Trail and EPI has supported Maine Chapter IAT volunteers in repairing and maintaining it.

The lookout is also on Maine Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Associations’ (www.firelookout.org) register of historic lookouts.

Recently, a group IAT volunteers, geology students from the University of Maine in Farmington, repainted the lookout. Dick and Earl gave Ed a picture of the newly-painted lookout cab at the birthday party and also gave him an insulator from the phone line that used to go to the top of the mountain.

Dick Anderson presenting photo to Ed Werler

Dick Anderson presenting insulator to Ed Werler

Ed loved the picture and thanked Dick and Earl profusely. Ed has written a book, “The Call of Katahdin” about his life on Deasey and working as a ranger at Baxter State Park and for the Maine State Park system. The book is available from Amazon.

Earl and Dick had a great time at the party and promised Ed that IAT volunteers would take good care of his old lookout.

Dick Anderson