Planning Hikes? New Resource a Useful Tool ou can turn winter dreams into spring, summer and fall hikes on the North Country National Scenic Trail by turning to the new resource book just published by the North Country Trail Association. The book, called Hikeable Segments of the North Country National Scenic Trail, is now available in the NCTA Trailshop for a nominal $5.95. Many new members get the book free as a gift for joining, just as current members received Wes Boyd's Following the North Country National Scenic Trail published some years ago. The new up-to-date book is not an atlas of maps, nor should it be used as a hiking aid, but it can help plan hikes of all lengths. The guide lists all the hikeable segments of the trail and presents accurate mileages along and between segments. It also presents a condensed history of the trail. There is a chapter devoted to each state, beginning with a general description of the trail in that state, accompanied by a map showing the trail. Each trail segment on the map is numbered and corresponds to a description of that segment. For example, the Michigan map has 42 numbers, which correspond to the 38 segments described. Each segment description includes: The geographical range, total trail miles, the number of blazed road miles to the next segment if not contiguous, the name and web site of the local volunteer group, such as an NCTA chapter, to contact for more information and all the map sources, both those produced by the Association'scartography department and others available for that segment from our partners. Other local contacts for each segment, such as a state department of natural resources, or the U.S. Forest Service, or other land managers also are listed. One of the useful features of the book is the Table of Contents, which can double as a checklist of all the NCT segments you have hiked. As you may imagine, the book is the result of a huge research effort
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The North Star *January-March 2004
coordinated by Tiffany Stram, the Association'scartographer and GIS specialist. Much of the research, which involved hundreds of telephone calls, was performed by Ginny Wanty, a volunteer member of the Western Michigan chapter. Jennifer Tripp, associate editor of The North Star, spent many volunteer hours formatting the text and laying out the pages, while Max Boyd designed and executed the cover. The editing, too, was a cooperative enterprise. Text was passed around the headquarters office for checking and then sent out to all the chapters and affiliates for further checking and corrections. Particular mention should be made of Jim Sprague, from the BuckeyeTrail Association and the NCTA Ohio coordinator; Gayle Coyer, of the Superior Hiking Trail Association; and Irene Szabo, President of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, for their meticulous checking. The guidebook is very much a
work in progress. The digital file will be updated continually as more trail is built or re-routed. Thus with every new print order as the Association runs out of books, the latest version will be published. Current plans are to issue a new guide at least every two years. -Werner Veit
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