The North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) allows hikers to travel 4800 miles from Vermont to North Dakota, through eight northern states.
It is a trail that is built and maintained by a strong network of volunteers, supported by the North Country Trail Association (NCTA) and the National Park Service, along with many local land managers, like the U. S. Forest Service.
The full variety of beautiful landscapes that the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) has to share can be seen from the almost 100 miles of NCT that wind through it. These miles are maintained by the ANF Chapter of the NCTA. Besides routine maintenance such as tree removal, mowing, brush cutting and drainage work, the chapter completed many projects in 2021.
One thing the chapter focused on was bridge repair. A new railing was put on the Nelse Run bridge. New treads were put on a Hemlock Run bridge and on the Staircase Bridge.
Three small bridges along Pell Run had their treads re-nailed. About 25 smaller bog bridges along Chappel Bay, Cherry Run and Coon Run were rebuilt or repaired.
Other construction projects included rebuilding a staircase, rebuilding an informational kiosk and repairing the parking area at the Rt 66 Rt Trailhead.
Along with all the construction, Chapter members made three reroutes, ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 miles. These reroutes moved the trail off of wet ground.
Two shelters that were built in 2020 were stained this year after allowing the wood to cure. Finally, the northernmost 25 miles of trail were re-blazed.
Each year, one quarter of the NCT miles in the ANF are done so that the blazing that hikers follow through the forest is fresh. Finally, the chapter worked with the Forest Service to start the process of getting approval for two large and one small bridge and a connecting reroute in the Tracy Ridge area, along with approval for two more shelters.
These two big bridges are the last large bridges needed to cross all the large streams along the trail. The shelters will complete the goal of having one shelter for each 10 miles of trail.
The chapter offered several trainings this year for their volunteers: sawyer certification/recertification, First Aid/CPR training and grip hoist training. These trainings allow the volunteers to gain new skills and safety knowledge.
The ANF Chapter also promotes the NCT through the Allegheny-100 Hiking Challenge (A100), monthly hikes and a completion patch. They lead a guided hike about once a month. Attendance ranges from about five to 20 hikers.
The A100 is a successful event that allows hikers to choose a distance of 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles to hike in one weekend. A total of 134 hikers from as far away as California and Florida participated in 2021.
Many of the hikers were successful in meeting their goal, including 28 hikers and one dog that completed the 100 miles. The chapter has taken over awarding patches for completing the ANF NCT miles from the Allegheny Outdoor club.
For more information on these programs and ways to get involved in the ANF Chapter or to attend their events, visit https://northcountrytrail.org/trail/pennsylvania/allegheny-national-forest/.
