Cover

OFFICERS
Celia Greenberg, President 649-3627
Rick Holt, Vice-President 454-2955
Paulette Wood, Secretary
Rich Stiles, Treasurer
 

CALENDAR
Rolling Sessions: 8-10 pm every Friday night, Prinkert Pool – lock unattended boats left on cars
Halloween Party: October 25-26 at Fieldhouse
Beginners Caving Trip: Sinks of Gandy. Bring hard hats, if you have them; flashlights with new batteries; and a complete change of clothes, including shoes. Figure that you will get wet.
Auction: October 29, after the meeting. Bring things to be auctioned (donations gratefully accepted) and money to buy. See ad.
Plus: trips announced and planned at all meetings
Plus: socializing after every meeting, everyone invited.

An address list will be out in the near future.

All contributions to the Anteater are greatly appreciated as are offers of assistance. Editor, Kathy Canter, phone 474-5007

Bike Trip – Eastern Shore Special
September 21

We did a 34 mile loop from Easton to St. Micheals and back. The weather was great – cloudy and cool. Highlights were a ride across the Tred Avon River on the oldest operating ferry line in the country and a tour of the historic town of St. Micheals. We spent a couple hours checking out the back streets. Lunch was at the “Crab Claw” where we enjoyed a traditional Maryland seafood dinner. (Ask John about the ‘crab dog’ he had.)

There was a festival in progress, so there were plenty of activities. We watched a jousting tournament for a while, then headed back via the ferry.

Rick

Potomac Follies

Two trips went out in October to initiate earger (?) beginners in the subtleties of whitewater canoeing. October 5, 14 boaters assembled at Violet’s Lock. The river was running at 4.0 on the Little Falls gauge.

Two decked boaters explored river bottom at the remains of Dam #2. Everyone else successfully flushed through the Seneca Rapids.

The chute through the lower end of the Watkins Island was played until one canoe leaned wrong. Then practiced emptying canoe after canoe.

Lunch at Great Falls was followed by one-mile portage. (6-foot waves at the S turn runout.)

2 flips at the Maryland Chute due to crowding. One fished out and the other nudged to shore by the covered boats. 2 more flips at Yellow Falls. 12 miles covered.

October 12, 16 boaters gathered at the Sandy Hook Bridge near Harper’s Ferry. The trip left from Dam #3, where Bob, from C.C.A. joined us. The wind was blowing downriver hard. At Harper’s Ferry some experienced deck-boaters went to do the lower stretch of the the Shenandoah while the others had lunch.

One boat swamped in White Horse Rapids – followed by a good self-rescue. The other boaters rejoined us here.

Several tired canoeists hung up on rocks at Weverton and File Factory Rapids, but no flips. Took out at Knoxville, having done 5 ½ miles in 5 ½ hours.

Ron

Little Devil’s Stairs Dayhike
September 7

Don, Beth, Chuck and I took an uneventful excursion on a gloomy Sunday. We had a little trouble finding the trailhead at the base of the mountain because we didn’t drive far enough up the access road.

Little Devil’s Stairs Trail is a nice, uphill hike over slippery boulders. We buzzed up to the top, had lunch, a short rest and some lessons in the behavior patterns of a harassed millipede. The downhill trip was a downhill trip.

Rick

TTC VOCABULARY

In case you’re having trouble understanding what old Trail clubbers are saying, here is a partial vocabulary list:
A.T. – Appalachian Trail; a sometimes crowded trail that runs from Maine to Georgia.
Anteater - An animal from South America and Africa; a voracious consumer of Hymenoptera.
Campfire Frolic – A stupid game that, for ecological reasons, is usually played around a circle of roaring stoves (backpacking variety.)
C.C.A. – Canoe Cruisers Association.
Carbide Lamp – A light source used by cavers; uses carbide and water to produce acetylene gass.
Class I,II,III,etc. Rating system for rapids; Class VII is an unrunable waterfall. Class I & II are suitable for beginning canoeists.
C-one – A decked (closed) canoe for one person who kneels and uses a single bladed paddle; also C-2, same but is for two people.
Dolly Sods – Beaver ponds, spruce trees, blueberries, open meadows, bad weather and one of the Trail Club’s favorite hiking places. In Monogalhela National Forest in West Virginia (approximately 200 miles from here).
Fieldhouse – a house in Riverton, West Virginia (200 miles distant), rented by P.S.C. Open to P.S.C. passholders and their guests for overnight use. Trail Club has special permission to use Fieldhouse for party weekends. All guests must pay $1.00 per night.
Good Food – A diner in Front Royal, Virginia with cheap and edible food and a portrait of TTC members.
Gorp – Good Old Raisins and Peanuts, but now all sorts of candy, dried fruit and nuts, etc. all mixed up in one container. A backpacking staple.
Ground Hog Party – Early February party held at Fieldhouse after a day of hiking and caving, etc.
Halloween Party – Same as above only near the end of October; most people drive out Friday night so they are rested (HA!) for Saturday’s activities. Also, staying until Sunday avoids the problem of drinking and driving.
Hunting Season – Time to be prominent and audible. Do not make deer-like noises and don’t act like a turkey. Some caves are closed during hunting season.
Idiot Trip- Any trip involving excessive driving, hiking, canoeing, etc. Like Maine in a weekend, Florida in a weekend, or hiking 105 miles in 2 days (unsuccessful)
Jessup – Home of the State Surplus Agency that sells us surplus at very low cost. This stuff is loaned to members for varying periods upon receipt of a deposit. (See President or Vice-President.)
K-1 – A closed (decked) kayak holding one person who sits and uses a double bladed paddle.
Mrs. Smith – A friendly lady who lives near Fieldhouse and cooks breakfast (eggs, bacon and all the pancakes you can eat) for $1.50 per person and dinner for $3.00. The only phone at Fieldhouse only connects with her home.
North Mountain – T.T.C. maintains a shelter and a segment of trail here. It is in George Washington National Forest on the Virginia-West Virginia line (Trail sign reads “County Line Trail”.)
Open Boat – a normal canoe, not covered; frequently seen filled with water with people hanging from the side.
P.A.T.C. – (Patsy), not a sucker or a person; Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.
P.A.T.C. Mountaineering – An almost autonomous segment of P.A.T.C. concerned with climbing.
P.S.C. – Potomac Speleological Club.
ROCK!! – yelled immediately after rock is dislodged if there is a possibility it may fall on someone.
Spare clothes – dry warm closed donned after canoeing or caving, if you don’t want to freeze or be stared at in the Tastee Freeze.
Spruce Knob – The highest point in West Virginia. Lots of hiking trails down and around it. Cold in winter.
Rolling Sessions – Learning or practicing the flipping and righting of a covered boat. 8-10 pm Friday nights this semester, Prinkert Field House. A good place to try out a covered boat.
T.T.C. – Terrapin Trail Club, you dummy!
Zonked – The mental state of drivers going home after a weekend trip.

Indian Cucumber
(Medeola Virginiana)

This plant grows in woods from Maine to Florida and west to Minnisota.

The visible portion of the plant consists of a single, long slender stem about twelve to fourteen inches tall. About two-thirds of the way up is the first set of leaves. Just above this is a cluster of straw-colored flowers, followed in autumn by deep purple berries.

The edible root of this plant has a sweet cucumber taste well worth digging for. There is no preparation necessary to enjoy this plant.

Buck

 

 

 

 

 

Biking-Solo Weekend
September 27-28

The Trail Club bagged out and I was left to do 150 miles of bicycling alone. Saturday, I rode on the League of American Wheelman National Century Ride. Actually, I was far from being alone on this trip – about 150 other cyclists showed up to attempt the 100 hilly miles. It was a great ride.

Sunday, I was sitting by the Student Union waiting for those Trail Club people to join me for a day of cycling in Frederick County. Nobody showed up! Not wanting to waste a great sunny day sitting around this putrid university, I decided to go anyway. The Covered Bridge Tour is a 40-mile loop, from Frederick to Thurmont and back, which passes through three covered bridges. The terrain is rolling hills with a few short steep ones to make it interesting. I recommend it highly.

The only problems I had were getting lost, which added 6 miles, and being chased by 4 dogs (including a humongous German Shepard), which took about 10 years off my life. Luckily, the dogs all stopped in their tracks when I “popped” them with the .22 caliber starter’s pistol I carry for just that purpose.

You missed a great weekend of cycling. Come along next time!

Rick

Shaver’s Fork Backpacking
September 13-14

Then people, a dog and about 400 pounds of equipment were scrunched into the back of my truck Friday evening. Many miles later, we plopped our weary bodies down all over the parking lot at Gaudineer Scenic Area for a quick rest. The temps in the 30’s made many wish they’d brought their winter gear.

We survived the night and cooked a quick (2 hour) breakfast. It was an ideal day for hiking – 40’s, bright sun and a little wind. We took a quick hike around a nature trail and finally picked up the North-South Trail (668) at its junction with FS 27. This section of the North-South Trail is a bit overgrown with stinging nettles and assorted leg scratchers, but easy to follow because of an overly ambitious blaze painter – every other tree has huge blue blazes.

Lunch was at John’s Run Shelter. The next 3-4 miles provided excellent hiking, a few moderate hills to climb with an occasional view of the surrounding mountains. One particularly memorable view was a prominent bald knob to the east, which I presumed was Spruce Knob. (Anyone care to challenge that presumptuous presumption.)

At the Helmick Trail (338), we turned west to search for the “good” campsites described in the guidebook. Passing up a few not so good rhododendron thickets, we settled on a birch grove, which provided flat ground, a stream and firewood. Tents went up, stoves started roaring, and the smell of simmering glop filled the air. Later, we sat around the fire breathing smoke and absorbing the warmth and quiet conversation. So ended a great day – the fire waned, and the last diehard philosopher drifted off to sleep.

Sunday’s weather was a repeat of Saturday’s. We celebrated by lingering till 10:30 over breakfast. Finally underway, we continued west and downhill toward Shaver’s Fork. The trail was obscure, in places non-existent. In spite of this, gravity brought us to the river and the railroad. Unfortunately, a railroad follows the bank of this otherwise beautiful river. We looped back toward a trail leading to the decrepit extension of FS 27. Our group split. Mark, Polly and I headed up the jeep road back to the truck. The rest opted to follow the tracks to the “High Falls of the Cheat” were we would meet.

From this point, the story gets complicated. The whole mess involved endless bushwhacking up and down vertical slopes, through tangles of rhododendron; driving up and down dirt roads; jumping up and down and screaming. The result of all this was that nobody found the “High Falls of the Cheat” and nobody really cared. Our rendevous complete, we headed for the University, hit the Tastee Freeze in Moorefield, and arrived back around midnight.

For the record, this group consisted of Mark Trent, Polly Wood, Linda C., Ken, Silent John and his brother Bob, Bob T., Dennis O’Neill, Chuck H., and yours truly (Rick Holt) – and one dog type individual: Pax.

Rick

43rd (?) Annual Old Rag Hike
September 20

Tradition prevailed as 24 hardy bodies made the yearly pilgrimage to the top of Old Rag Mountain, Va. Most were “old scouts”, but there were some new members too. While we were on top, we set up a few climbs, did some climbing and bleeding, and, later a little rappelling.

On the hike down past Old Rag Shelter, we were mercilessly attacked by a horde of angry yellow jackets. There were about 75% casualties. Only a few lucky (fast) ones made it without getting stung.

Set a new record on this trip – squeezed 13 people into my truck!

Rick

Biking-Pennsylvania Dutch Tour
September 6

Polly, John, Mark and I joined the Baltimore Bicycle Club for a tour of the Amish Country. It rained 10 minutes at the beginning of the trip and ten minutes at the end. Otherwise, it was cloudy and a great day for cycling. We stopped at numerous interesting places including a cheese factory, an old mill, a furniture factory, and a farm where we had fresh ice cream.

We also stopped at a tourist trap restaurant in Intercourse, where I had a flat tire. After the bike ride, we had dinner at the Bartram Leman farm. Tons of outstanding home-cooked food! Nobody went home hungry.!

Rick

Save the Caves

 Every month seems to bring news of another cave closed to the public. This is primarily due to inconsiderate actions on the part of cave visitors. The caves we visit stay open only so long as cavers remain on friendly terms with the owners and their neighbors.

 Caves with Access Problems

Always ask permission to enter caves, park vehicles, or cross property. Be careful with farmer’s fencing, closing gates, equipment and livestock. An owner is likely to welcome visits by cavers as long as we do not annoy him or his neighbors. Annoyance develops when: we cave in large groups, create excessive noise, or carry on behavior offensive to local people. Several caves have been closed recently because their owners objected to caver’s stripping to change clothes within view of the family. Some thoughtless psuedocavers have worsened the situation by being unnecessarily rude to cave owners or vandalizing or destroying their possessions.

 Caves closed or touchy

Virginia

Highland County

 

Bath County

 

 

Rockbridge

 

Rockingham

 

West Virginia

Pendleton County

 

Grant County

 

Randolph County

 

Pocohantas County

 

Tucker County

Big Spring Cave – Closed Sept 1 to April 1 by West Virginia University

 

Nothing like staying on the surface to conserve caves. If you crave a trip underground, how about Sinks of Gandy? Remember that Nut and Sinnett-Thorn Mountain are privately owned and there have been continuing threats of owner closure. Don’t compound problems there, please.

Reprinted from PSC Press

 

Labor Day Canoeing – 1975

On Saturday morning, 20 Trail Clubbers descended on the Yough; ten to run from Ohiopyle to Stewarton as a warm-up fro the Savage and the rest for a beginner’s trip on the Middle Yough. The lower Yough was as usual, only more so.

 Penn State was doing a time and motion study of river traffic. Everyone and his grandmother was flushing down river in rafts. There were waiting lines in the eddies for playing the rapids. It was like paddling through the Normandy Invasion. There was even a one-handed paddler (He was pretty good) and a kayaker so fat he didn’t need a spray skirt. Paul buried himself up to his helmet in Double Hydraulic, intentionally.

 Back at Brian’s “cottage” at Deep Creek Lake, his parents fixed dinner for all. The weather turned foul with heavy rain. We slept in the unfinished loft over the garage.

 Sunday, the group split again. The beginners headed for the Cassleman below Fort Hills. There were 4 beginners in 2 open boats and 2 experienced paddlers in kayaks. The Casselman was high and rising. The Rapids at Cucumber Run were class 3, but the beginners had no problems.

 Meanwhile, down at the Savage, 9 paddlers were offering themselves and their boats as tempting morsels to the 1000 cfs. River god. Only one boater, Pat, made the whole run without flipping.

 The Triple Drop got a few, but Memorial Rock wreaked havoc. Some down and back up, 3 down and out. One boat holed, one face bashed. I made that one upright, missed the eddy and swamped in the next set. I lost Grendel and Eric helped me to shore. We found her fetched up on a rock, undamaged. We hurried back to the others and found one injured, but no boats lost or wrecked.

 We were down to seven – almost six. Graham had doubts about continueing, but assurances that it eased off persuaded him onward. The river continued heavy with the few eddies hidden, up in the bushes, but it didn’t get back up to the 100 ft./mile of the Gorge and we all popped out onto the warm water of North Branch at 3 p.m.

 We finished the day watching the slalom races, regrouping the boats and people. Scott and mark amused themselves rescuing other people below Memorial rock. Jim returned from the hospital bruised but basically sound.

 Many people left Sunday evening, but some stayed and ran the Upper Savage from Merrill to the reservoir Monday. It was a shallow Class 2, easy and scenic. Enough.

 Freki

 Laurel Fork Backpacking

Labor Day Weekend

 A bunch of us took a very long drive to a ‘new’ area in West Virginia. Our first day of hiking was the only dry day of the trip. It was also the day we made a wrong turn and hiked a couple miles in the wrong direction only to be informed of our error by a couple trail bikers.

 Laurel Fork Trail winds up the stream valley, crossing the stream at every other bend. The rain brought the stream up about a foot; so soggy boots were the order of the day.

 That night was particularly soggy, especially for those who attempted to sleep under a ‘water resistant’ tarp. The extra heavy rain that night brought the stream up even more, so we decided to get out while we still could.

 For more details on this area, and how to get there, see Bob Huber (I don’t remember, I was only the driver.)

 Rick

 Dear Anteater:

Roaring Plains Backpacking: 21 Sept.

 Stella and I decided a family trip was in order to celebrate the end of summer, so we chose Roaring Plains, it being the easiest trip we could think of with a worthwhile view. After an abnormally high bagout rate (75%), Bayiluis T., S??yfte, our neighbor (sorry, I can’t decipher, ed.); David and David Roderer, Stella’s first cousin once removed (but later replaced) and his son; and Matthew (K-9), Stella and I gathered in our cluttered apartment for packing and Moo Goo Guy Pan.

 We hit the road about 8:30 Friday, the six of us crammed in David’s Audi. The accommodations were fine, except Little David had the front floor between Bill’s legs and Matthew (who’s use to a back seat all to himself). After one barf-stop for Matthew, we arrived at Red Creek Campground. There were no less than 3 dozen illegally camped groups in the vicinity (due to a birding group on a hawk count). I was prepared to camp at Seneca if Red Creek was filled, but there’s real safety in numbers like this, so we joined them.

 After breakfast Saturday, we were joined by Brian MacDonald who had slept down by FR72 and we all headed back there for a leisurely hike. We were a diverse and well rounded group – a couple of botanical-ornithologists; a couple of entomologists; a geologist; an antitrust lawyer; a frolicking canine; and a “Hey, you guys, wait for me!” seven year old. Once atop the plains, we were struck by the beauty of the view, goldenrod on the lower plains and Tuscarora fin in the distance. We relaxed, then Brian and I explored below for campsites and water. Watered, we elected to sleep on the grassy plains just to the left of the ridge, upstairs. This was fine till just after dinner when the rains came. Everyone dove for cover except the fearless MacDonald, Matthew and me. Ponchoed and too wide awake to crash, we explored. Lo and behold! We stumbled upon the famed Sheltere Krepnere! Returning to our camp ¼ mile away we were greeted by soggy people huddled in Stella’s and my tent—the only one besides Brian’s that was not leaking or condensing or both. They were all only too happy to break camp and move on in the rain which appeared to have settled in for the night. We assembled the two dry tents and all bodies before a fire at the shelter some half hour later and retired around 9:30. Matthew barfed again sometime that night and I stepped out with him into a cold, clear moonlit sky that said – “Hi guy – fall is here!”

 Sunday early, Chingatch Kook (Matthew) and I explored for water and wound up on the plains far below. He, as always, led me back to the campground afterward. We found that blueberries were still around—in fact they were more abundant the first day of fall than they had been up on Flatrock Plains during the height of the blueberry season.

 We broke our fast on blueberry pancakes, then broke camp and nearly broke our necks running back to the car. Took the long way home through Onego and Seneca so everyone could see Seneca Rocks and eventually made it for dinner at the Good Food. All were pleased with the experience, but Brian, who found a Calliphorid in his collard greens.

 Home by about 8 pm to a hot shower. Cost: about $12 gas and $15 food (for 4 or 5 of us anyway).

 Yours very truly,

Scott

 Cacciatore – On The Trail

 “Cacciatore” means hunter. In this mode of cooking, you take what you have, add what you can find, and toss in whatever meat you may have bagged. I don’t like hunting and I’m terrible at finding my own herbs and spices, so here’s an alternative:

 Tomatoes, mushrooms, (fresh), onion, green pepper, clove of garlic, celery flakes, basil, oregano, and whatever meat you prefer.

 Brown the meat in a pot of sufficient dimension to accommodate your party, then add the chopped green pepper, onion and mushrooms, and brown them with the meat. Finally, toss in crushed tomatoes and spices. There should be enough moisture in the tomatoes to make the dish quite stewey, but if not, feel free to add a little water.

 P.S. – All the ingredients can be carried in plastic bags. Don’t worry about squashing, it’ll save you work. Also, don’t forget salt and pepper and olive oil for the meat.

 Paul Marx

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