Connecting with Local Hikers at Trail Days

In May, volunteers Moe Lemire, David Hans, Greg Calabrese, and Barbara DeLade drove 670 miles through the night to Damascus, Va., to celebrate and promote the Trail Conference’s work along the Appalachian Trail at the 34th annual Trail Days festival. Our main message to current thru-hikers, past thru-hikers, and A.T. lovers was Protect the Land You Love. We educated festival-goers on Leave No Trace principles and explained how the Trail Conference built the first section of the A.T. We also talked about trail maintenance and corridor monitoring.

We connected regional hikers to their home states’ trail club and recruited a bunch of new volunteers from New York and New Jersey to give back when they finish their hike. We had 700 visitors to our booth. It was great to represent the Trail Conference!