CATS Celebration Success

CATS Celebrate Hike 2016 — Over the Mountain to Lake Champlain Hike, June 4, 2016 (Credit: CATS)

What a GREAT DAY! Over 60 hikers came out to Celebrate National Trails Day with CATS by hiking Over the Mountain to Lake Champlain on June 4th! Following the hike, they were joined by others who came to enjoy the CELEBRATE event at Camp Dudley. We enjoyed great some great local food and drink prepared by Camp Dudley, and had a full-house for my presentation of the 207-mile hike I took with my family in France and the many ideas and lessons learned along the trail we can apply here in the Champlain Valley.

A special thank you to ALL our sponsors and the many volunteers who helped make the day a SUCCESS!

If you didn’t have the chance to hike the Over the Mountain to Lake Champlain Trail with us, we recommend this as the trail of the week. This is a moderate 8-mile, one-way hike through Champlain Valley forests. You can begin in Mineville and follow Mountain Springs Road, a seasonal road that goes over the mountain to Stevenson Road south of Westport. We recommend parking a car at both ends, otherwise it is a 16-mile round-trip walk. Click here for a map of this hike.

What’s Coming Up?

With TWO big and successful events behind us, what’s next? We have a FULL SCHEDULE of events coming up for you this summer.

Saturday, June 25, join Plattsburgh State University adjunct lecturer in Anthropology, Andy Black, for a walk through old stone walls, ruins, and homestead remains on the CATS Homestead Trail in Essex. This workshop, Reading History through Archaeology, will address how the use and structure of the landscape has changed in the past 200 years. Click here for more information and to register.

Chris Maron
CATS Executive Director

Grand Hike Success! What’s Next? (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Walking the French Way (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Champlain Area Trails Honors Founding Member Bruce Klink (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Champlain Area Trails (CATS)

Champlain Area Trails (CATS) is a non-profit organization, begun in 2009, which creates and maintains hiking and cross-country ski trails in the Champlain Valley that link communities, connect people with nature, and promote economic vitality. In its short history, CATS has developed 35 miles of trails that when added to existing trails, gets it half-way toward the long-envisioned goal of a 30-mile trail loop between Westport and Essex. CATS will extend its trails to neighboring towns and eventually connect them to trails in the Adirondack Mountains, Vermont, and Quebec. Learn more on the CATS website.