Fresh off its successful Grand Hike to the Essex Inn, Champlain Area Trails is holding another big hike on National Trails Day, Saturday, June 4 followed by an event featuring Chris Maron, its executive director, who will talk about his recent 207-mile hike from town-to-town in France.
The “Over the Mountain to Lake Champlain” hike will go about 10 miles from Mineville to Camp Dudley. People are to park at Camp Dudley at 11:00 a.m. and take buses arranged through Moriah Central School to the beginning of the hike. The route follows Mountain Spring Road to a trail through woods along Stacey Brook to Stevenson Road and a scenic walk to the Camp. The post-hike event will be from 4:00 – 7:00 when non-hikers will join hikers to enjoy local food, drinks, and Maron’s talk.
“CATS goals include promoting tourism, especially hamlet-to-hamlet hiking. We want people to identify the Champlain Valley as a place they can visit, hike from town to town, eat at local restaurants, and stay in the variety of lodging the area offers,” said Evan George, CATS’ board president. “A good way to do that is to simply have more of these long hikes. They attract attention and they’re a lot of fun.”
A shorter 1.5 mile National Trails Day hike will be at the Cheney Mountain Trail on Pelfershire Road starting at 8:45. It is sponsored by Moriah’s Chamber of Commerce on a trail CATS and the Town of Moriah built on town-property going to three great views.
“National Trails Day is a great way for people to get outside, explore our area’s trails, and share experiences with friends and family. For the past six years, we’ve had hikes and then a celebration in Essex,” said Maron. “This year we are hosting the Celebrate Champlain Area Trails Event in a new place—Camp Dudley, halfway between Westport and Port Henry. So, hiking over the mountain from Mineville to Dudley is a good idea and shows the variety of hiking opportunities here.”
“We’re looking forward to the event and Chris’ presentation,” said Vincent DuPont, owner of Edgemont B&B in Moriah. “It will be a shorter version of the PowerPoint talk he gave to a full house at the Wadhams Library. People really enjoyed hearing his stories and the lessons he learned as he and his family walked through southern France. We could put them into practice and inspire more travelers to come here to hike and bike between our communities.”
People can take part in the hike and event or just attend the event which starts at 4:00 and features local food and drink. The cost of the hike and event is $30. The pre-registration price for just the event is $25. Details are at CATS website www.ChamplainAreaTrails.com.
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- Grand Hike Success! What’s Next? (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
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