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Reports from Committees .... Camps Report Our summer caretakers, Jenny Cleary and Nathan Robinson, did an excellent job this year. They showed a lot of initiative and with minimal supervision completed a large number of projects at the camps. We were very lucky to have such hard-working and motivated caretakers this summer. Our Field Supervisor, Zach Gayne, also deserves a big “thank you” for the time he invested into the camps. His efforts and his dedication to the club were greatly appreciated. Matt Cittadini took care of the camps this past fall with no problems at all. Thanks Matt! A new winter caretaker, Adam Hale, has moved into Gray Knob the first week of November.
Web Site We currently have 15 trail signs up for bid at our Trail Sign Auction. The auction ends December 15th, 2003 at 9:00 am. Remember, this time it’s a silent auction – good luck! Be sure to visit the site in the near future. We may be adding the convenience of online credit cards transactions to the site very soon! Renewing your RMC membership could be as easy as a couple of clicks of your mouse! RMC Base Camp Committee The RMC's recently formed base camp committee is charged with seeking a resolution to one of the longest running challenges the club has had in caring out its mission - finding permanent housing for RMC's trail crews and caretakers on their days off. Long gone are the days when we can count on hiring all of our summer employees locally. In order to continue to attract and retain a good trail crew, we need to offer housing. All other clubs already do so - even much smaller clubs like the Wonalancet Out Door Club. This year we were able to attract back all the members of last year's crew because their experience with the tents and the Jones Cottage had been so positive. This made the trails work this summer particularly effective. However, the Tuckers have asked us to find a permanent such base for the RMC's crews, as they cannot promise us the use of the Jones Cottage and their land for the long run. The Committee anticipates and welcomes input from members concerning the base camp concept and expects to undertake a feasibility study on financing alternatives. Several long time RMC members have been recruited to assist in this effort. On the Base Camp Committee are two former RMC Presidents, Ben Phinney and Jeff Tirey, former caretaker and longtime RMC member Guy Stever, RMC members Neal Brodien and John Scarinza, and Trails Chair Doug Mayer. Current RMC Trail Crew members Laura Conchelos and Dan Rubchinuk are providing their advice as well. Trails Report The summer of 2003 should go down in the RMC trails’ annals as one of the most efficient seasons ever thanks to senior crew made up of entirely returning members. Even our SCA crew, which normally consists of three first-year trail workers, had in its ranks returning RMC'ers Roz Stever and Rachel Hestrin. Our senior crew, with a combined 13 years of prior trails experience, performed miracles on the upper reaches of the Kelton Trail. That effort, which concludes a two-year contract with the US Forest Service, consisted largely of stabilizing sections of steep sidehill. Due to years of wear and tear from passing hikers, the trail bed was eroding away and literally slumping down the hillside. (See related article, The Paradoxes of Trail Work). Our SCA crew also wrapped up another two-year effort, following up on substantial work last year on the Ice Gulch Path. The crew installed bog bridges, waterbars, ditches, rock steps and rock stairs on Peboamauk Fall Loop and Cook Path. This project was substantially funded by a grant from the State of New Hampshire’s Recreation Trails Program. Along with the routine miles of brushing on a myriad of paths, our crews also accomplished a number of other tasks, including erosion control work on Castleview Loop, recairning of the upper section of Castle Ravine Trail, construction of additional bog bridges on the lower section of Owl’s Head Trail, and relocating and adding a short switchback to a section of Diagonal. Along with this regular agenda of work, RMC’s trails efforts were thrown a curveball in the spring with the collapse of the old, 26 foot long tree trunk that formed the underlying support for the otherwise new Caroline Cutter Stevens bridge across Snyder Brook, at the junction of Randolph Path, Brookside and Inlook Trail. To meet new US Forest service bridge standards, two new 800 pound fabricated, treated stringers were used to repair the bridge. The work was accomplished by Dave Salisbury and Russ Miller of Carter Notch Construction. The heavy beams were hauled to the site by the combined efforts of RMC’s two trail crews with the generous support of the Androscoggin District US Forest Service trail crew. Longtime RMC member and former President Jeff Tirey donated his engineering service, to determine the exact specifications of the new beams. Maintaining over 100 miles of trails sometimes feels like a daunting task for a small organization like RMC. But time and again, volunteers step up and give their time and energy. Thanks this season to work trip leaders Mary Krueger, Sally Micucci, Aaron Parcak, Al Sochard, signmakers Tami Hartley and Regina Ferreria, cartographers Jon Hall and Dennis Pednault, Trails Assistants Matt Schomburg and Al Sochard, and Dan and Edith Tucker for their continuing generosity in allowing RMC’s trail crews and caretakers to use the Jones Cottage on Durand Road. Amalia May, granddaughter of Randolph's Bill and Beverly May, graciously volunteered several days of her time this summer and assisted the RMC crew in their efforts. Later this winter, the RMC will be putting the finishing touches on an interpretive guide to the new Four Soldiers Path. The booklet, funded by a grant from the State of New Hampshire’s Bureau of Trails, will be available at no cost to the public. As soon as it’s available, we’ll post the news on the RMC web site. Comments, suggestions and ideas of all manner are always welcome! You can email your trails chair through the RMC web site. Treasurer's Report At the time of this writing, we are 9 months into 2003. Even though we do our best to estimate income and expenses when we prepare our annual budget, it is often impossible to accurately forecast what will happen as the year progresses. Based on our experience in prior years, it looks as if we will come pretty close to target by year-end. Compared to last year at this time, our gross profit is right in line. Our total gross profit by the end of the year will probably reach budget expectations because camps earnings are high in the fall and winter, and because we do not receive all our grant income until later in the fall. On the expense side, there have
been a number of overages which we didn’t anticipate when
we prepared out budget last January. In Administration, our expanded
newsletter cost $2,200 more than budgeted, and we had to pay
$1,500 more than budgeted for insurance due to a nation-wide
increase in insurance costs. In Special Projects, the unanticipated
loss of the Caroline Cutter Stevens Bridge on the Inlook trail
cost the club over $4,500 to replace. Fortunately, most of this
cost has been offset with one very generous contribution and
a board decision to fund $2,500 of the expense out of the Trails
Reserve Fund.
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A
new educational display is now hanging on the walls of Crag Camp!
It’s an Alpine Stewardship display funded by a grant from
The Waterman Fund (