BETHEL – Hikes, raptors, canoeing and kayaking dot the Saturday, June 5, schedule of a state trail maintenance club’s National Trails Day event.
Event coordinator Kathy Kahler of Oakland said the Maine Appalachian Trail Club’s second such event is to be held from 8 a.m. to beyond 3 p.m. at Bethel Outdoor Adventure Campground on Route 2.
Kahler said one of the event’s goals is to resolve identity confusion between the Appalachian Mountain Club, which is headquartered in Boston, and the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. They are two separate organizations.
“We’re doing this mostly because of the whole MATC-AMC confusion,” she said.
“I think that people don’t know who we are, and we would like for our club to get a little more exposure, and what better way to do that than with a fun event.”
Activities include:
• An avian program on birds of prey by Chewonki Foundation outreach educators, that includes live raptors
• An introduction to wilderness medicine
• Hikes in the nearby Mahoosuc Mountains range
• Knot-tying, map and compass, boating and canoeing/kayaking demos
• Learning the 10 safety essentials to take hiking
• Learning about volunteer opportunities
Admission is free at the rain or shine event, but there is a cost for the late afternoon barbecue and overnight camping. Lunch is to be sold by The Good Food Store of Bethel.
The Maine Appalachian Trail Club is a volunteer nonprofit corporation that manages 267 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, from the west side of Route 26 in Grafton Notch to Katahdin, the trail’s northern terminus.
The club, which is a trail maintenance club, not a hiking club like the AMC, also manages the trail’s facilities and corridor.
The AMC maintains the Appalachian Trail in Maine from the east side of Route 26 in Grafton Notch, into New Hampshire, and in Massachusetts and Connecticut, a distance of 1,400 miles.
National Trails Day in the United States is the first Saturday in June. Originally established in 1993, the event is a nationwide celebration of America’s trails.
For more information, phone Kahler at 465-9075 or visit www.matc.org.
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