The idea behind Mon-Athon 2000 was to promote outdoor recreation in the Monongahela National Forest – and to have fun! My goodness, we have succeeded both in the nicest way. For example, what could be more fun than a bevy of Charleston beauties -- like Tom Zerbe, for example – soaked to the skin in the Sinks of Gandy! Talk about your wet T-shirt contest!

Or how about a clamber to the top of North Fork Mountain with a gaggle of geologists from the National Speleological Society, to learn about Germany Valley. These caver folks (never say "spelunkers" -- they just hate it) talk about 300 million years ago like it was 1956!

Anyhow, at the Conservancy’s Fall Review on October 15, 2000, at the Elk River Touring Center in Pocahontas County, during dessert we will have a drawing for fabulous prizes for folks who participated in some kind on Mon-Athon 2000 outing. We are talking cool stuff -- like hiking staffs, flashlights, fanny packs, and more! You need not be present to win. So submit your Mon-Athon 2000 outing report at www.wvhighlands.org!