Mountain Odyssey 2001
Come one, come all, and join in a festival of heady highlands journeys designed to excite and delight the eyes, exult the arms and legs, and enrapture the soul - Mountain Odyssey 2001!
This is the Conservancy’s sequel to the lively trail blazed by Tom Rodd last year in his brainchild, Mon-athon 2000 – and, keeping alive the energy that Tom generated with this project – the Outings Committee has been hard at work insuring that Mountain Odyssey 2001 will turn out to be an equally worthy effort. We are planning on a long list of outings, increasing the diversity of offerings, and hoping to reach out to many more folks this year. And with your help and participation, we’ll have one of the best outings programs in these parts!
This year, we are offering three different kinds of outings: Recreational Outings, Educational Outings, and Volunteer Outings
Recreational Outings will include day hikes (with a repeat performance of Hugh and Ruth Blackwell Rogers’ Peak Experience!), backpacks (with a three day Dolly Sods "Stem to Stern" ramble), canoe trips, caving trips, bicycle trips, and, hopefully, some cross country ski excursions, and others. Something for every palette.
Educational Outings will include a unique outdoor experience called an "EarthWalk," natural history excursions, culturally and historically oriented activities, and trips designed to better familiarize the public with locations that are the focus of Conservancy projects and concerns. The EarthWalk program provides a thrilling hands on experience in the wild that integrates activities in sciences and humanities into a seamless whole with the aim of connecting people more deeply and delightfully to the natural world – and to their concomitant role in protecting the earth. Thus far, two trips are in the making. One of these will be an exciting experience featuring Ruth Blackwell Rogers’ "Four Worlds So Far" scroll painting of the Hopi creation story. These journeys are especially geared to young people. Teachers will also find these outings of interest we think. In addition to EarthWalk, the Outings Committee is also soliciting folks to lead natural history oriented trips – wild flowers, birding, wetlands, botanizing, unique environments in West Virginia, etc.; and also historical and cultural explorations, and experiences aimed at educating people about sites that are the target of advocacy activities of the Conservancy.
Volunteer Outings will be a new and wonderful part of MOUNTAIN ODYSSEY 2001. Participants will contribute their time and energy to conservation, reclamation, and development and maintenance projects in the Monongahela National Forest. We should not only enjoy the forest, but should also contribute to sustaining its viability as one of the Eastern gems of the National Forest System. Dave Saville and Ruth Blackwell Rogers and others are working on developing a continuing volunteer program there. Also, another Tree Planting is being planned on the Upper Shavers Fork for April 21st - as part of the effort to restore the Red Spruce Ecosystem there. More to come!
How Can I Get Involved in All This Mountain Madness ?
« Participate in an Outing. In fact, participate in many outings! Coming on an outing is a great opportunity to really get to know other Conservancy kindred spirits. We work to protect WV, but we also need to enjoy it. Look over the current Outings List at the end of this article or, alternatively, find the listings posted on the Conservancy webpage,
www.wvhighlands.org, and choose what journeys pique your interests. Be sure to contact the leader immediately as space may be limited! The trip leader will explain the details of the trip to you. Remember, outings are being added all the time, so if you don’t find anything that appeals to you, keep checking the website and the VOICE for something to turn up.« Volunteer to Lead a Trip. The Outings Committee is actively soliciting volunteers to lead trips. We are encouraging folks to share what they love and cherish about the highlands with others. Don’t keep it a secret! If you would like to lead a trip, contact Jack Slocomb at 301-777-8810 (email –
JSLOCOMB@prodigy.net) or Peter Shoenfeld at 301- 587-6197 (email -- peter@cais.net). We will discuss your proposed outing with you and provide you with a Trip Information Form to complete. The outing will then be listed on our website and in the VOICE. As soon as you sign up to be a leader, you will receive a Leader’s Information Form which explains the protocol for leading Conservancy outings and everything else you need to know. We would like volunteers to lead or help lead any kind of outing – Recreational, Educational, or Volunteer. We especially welcome people who are interested in sharing their knowledge of West Virginia history and culture. If you would like to share a place you love with others, but you feel uncomfortable leading the trip by yourself, not to worry. We will try to find an experienced leader to assist you.« Join the Outings Committee: We need your help! Especially in advertising Mountain Odyssey 2001. Our outings program is a major outreach tool for the Conservancy! Therefore, the more people we can entice to participate, the more possible new members we can recruit to keep our ranks filled and support our great conservation initiatives in WV. Although current outings will be published in the VOICE and posted on the website, we could reach many, many more folks if this information appeared regularly in some major local newspapers. So if there is anyone out there who could help us with this, you would most certainly make an invaluable contribution to this project. It would also be very helpful if people could list outings in organizational newsletters. We really need to get the word out if Mountain Odyssey 2001 is to be a success. If you’d like to join the committee, contact Jack Slocomb, Outings Chair, at 301-777-8810 or by email at
JSLOCOMB@prodigy.net.The Outings Committee is looking forward to a wonderful season of outdoor adventure and fellowship
And this is just the beginning, folks. You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!
WE WANT YOU TO JOIN US IN THE FUN!
This message brought to you by your Way Out Outings Committee: Jack Slocomb, Dave Saville, Ruth Blackwell Rogers, Peter Shoenfeld, and Bob Marshall.