President's Trailhead - June 2025 by Wayne Gross

Dear Trail Enthusiast,

June is Bustin' Out All Over again!  It's summer, get out for a hike, bring a friend, and invite a family!   

It was a couple of days after college graduation in May 40 years ago, I found myself loaded with a backpack and hiking up the approach trail to Springer Mountain to begin a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail.  But how did I end up there? It was from being introduced to the AT while a youth. It was a Scout Troop leader who would take us Scouts on weekend hikes and week-long 50-mile backpack trips on the Appalachian Trail. It was an elderly lady at my church, a member of ATC, who would bring her copy of Trailway News that she had read, marked, and footnoted articles for me to read, inspiring a young person to dream.

Why do I bring this up? It's because we each have a role in mentoring young people and the next generation of hikers to lace up their boots, pick up their pack, Pulaski, and tools to hike a trail, make memories, and give back through trail care, donations, or volunteering their special skill sets. If you enjoy hiking, you may want to share the experience with others and work to preserve it for those you may never meet, who can walk a trail you helped maintain.

Congratulations to our eleven club recipients of the KTA Grants to Clubs who are making a difference in preserving our trail experiences. There are so many outstanding things happening in our local trail clubs. Grant funds, part of the annual interest distribution from our endowment fund, are making a real "feet on the ground" impact on trails throughout Pennsylvania.

Our KTA Trail Care program for 2025 is in full swing. Plan to participate in one or more of the remaining trail maintenance events that Jenn Ulmer and the Trail Care Committee have lined up for us, and invite a friend. Check out our website for details.

KTA Trail Care is using Panther Run Cabin in Sproul State Forest as a base for our trail maintenance events in the PA Wilds. Be sure to attend a Trail Care in that area to visit the cabin.

The Scott Farm, located along the Appalachian Trail, will eventually become KTA's headquarters. KTA has been preparing the Scott Farm Trailhead Master Site Plan in collaboration with our consultants. We hope to have the master plan available soon.    

It's not too soon to start thinking about nominating members and clubs for our various service awards. They include Certificates of Achievement, Volunteer of the Year, Club of the Year, the new Leave No Trace Award, and the Citation Award for lifetime achievement. These will be presented at our KTA Hiking Awards Celebration. The celebration will occur on Saturday, December 6, at the beautiful Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in Millersburg, PA. Please put his date on your calendar for a special day of celebration. Please see our website for a listing and description of these awards. The Awards Committee will be seeking nominations for these awards. Start considering members and clubs to nominate. We have some of the most outstanding volunteers in our hiking organizations. Please consider nominating someone or a club that you think is worthy of recognition.

Be sure to log your miles to keep track of your miles for one of the several Hiking Awards.
We have special awards for the Young Hiker Award and the Teen Hiker Award.

A comprehensive list of KTA hikes, events, webinars, activities, and trail care opportunities is available.  There is so much to do. Please visit our website and sign up for one or more, and bring a friend.

Our KTA Fall Council meeting will be nestled among the many hikes and activities at the Keystone  Hiking & Outdoor Weekend in the Pennsylvania Wilds on October 17-19. Please add these dates to your calendar and visit our website to register, allowing you to plan your attendance.  

On behalf of the Board and the membership, I want to thank Brook and all our staff for the excellent job they are doing to further our mission. 

For the trails and those who wander on them!

Thanks
Wayne E. Gross
President, Board of Directors 
Keystone Trails Association
The Statewide voice of Pennsylvania Hikers