GET Going with TuGuNu & WVSTA
The Great Eastern Trail (GET) will provide a 2000 mile hiking experience in the western Appalachian Mountains. It will connect pre-existing trails (like the Mary Ingles, Allegheny, Tuscarora, and Appalachian Trails in WV) and existing outdoor recreation areas from Alabama to New York. This mighty trail will cross eight counties in West Virginia; Mingo, Wyoming, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers, Monroe, Greenbrier, & Pocahontas.
The GET Committee of the WVSTA was formed in 2009, and is focused on developing the GET along the Mary Ingles and Allegheny Trails in Summers, Monroe, Greenbrier, and Pocahontas Counties, WV, and Craig and Alleghany Counties, VA. If you reside in any of these six counties and wish to help develop the GET, please contact Doug Wood, Trail Coordinator for Section 4 of the Allegheny Trail, 304-550-1006, chingwe1755@yahoo.com
The TuGuNu Hiking Club was formed in Wyoming County, West Virginia in 2010 to support the creation of the GET in the Mountain State, particularly in Mingo, Wyoming, Raleigh, and Mercer Counties. The club name stands for the Tug (Tu), Guyandotte (Gu) and the New (Nu) Rivers. Local communities are eager to have the GET cross our state and we hope you will join us in this project. The club is blazing new adventures while hiking and maintaining local trails. We applaud the volunteer spirit and enthusiasm. If you live in any of the four counties mentioned above, please join us.
Visit our website at: www.tugunu.com
To become involved contact: tugunu@gmail.com or
Tim McGraw, TuGuNu President, 304-732-8412, timmcgraw14@hotmail.com
Joanna Swanson, 320-279-3959, joannamswanson@gmail.com
TRAIL ANGELS IN WV AND VA, PLEASE HELP!
The following contact info from Peggy Pings will help you connect with the first ever through-hikers of the proposed Great Eastern Trail: Joanna Swanson “Someday Jo” <joannamswanson@gmail.com> 320-364-3959 cell and Bart Houck “Hillbilly Bart” <olbart@yahoo.com> 304-207-1108 cell.
SIGN UP TO FOLLOW THEIR HIKE BY EMAIL! http://www.gethiking.net/
A map where you can follow the GET journey is at: https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1JhuWRlity88SxQGojLpenVDYQ0OqHlqM (password:longwalk) [Peggy notes “I use Internet Explorer, and click "show all content" to bring up the password box”].
Uncle Allegheny wants YOU! to help the first ever Great Eastern Trail through-hikers, Joanna (“Someday Jo”) & Bart (“Hillbilly Bart”), to make it through the Mountain State and the Old Dominion without too much difficulty. These stout and sturdy through-hikers will likely start their walk through our region at Matewan, WV (Mingo Co.) around March 26. Sometime in the first couple of weeks in April, they should make it to the Hinton, WV (Summers Co.) area. There, they will be hiking on the GET co-alignment with the proposed WVSTA project called the Mary Ingles Trail (MIT). For more on that trail development project check out: http://maryinglestrailblazers.homestead.com/index.html Sometime around mid-April, they are expected to walk the Appalachian Trail (AT) co-aligned portion of the GET and then connect with the co-aligned portion of the Allegheny Trail (ALT) atop Peters Mtn, where they will follow the WV-VA state line, more or less, along the ALT until they reach a point around Lake Sherwood where they will leave the ALT and head into VA towards the co-aligned segment with the Tuscarora Trail (TT).
El Derecho and Winter Storm Sandy, have consipired with gypsy moths to hammer the ALT with blowdowns. Someday Jo & Hillbilly Bart will also have a difficult time in other places on the GET through our region. Uncle Allegheny wants all “Moosefrogs” (Allegheny trail work volunteers) and “Trail Angels” to connect with our intrepid through-hikers and assist them in some way along their difficult journey. Your efforts to help Someday Jo and Hillbilly Bart, will make their effort to highlight the GET and our region’s partner trails (MIT, AT, ALT, TT) much more successful. The dream of connections between many, many existing trails in a foot-travel web across the Appalachian Mountains is coming closer to fulfillment with this effort.
Moosefrogs, get out there in March and hike your favorite segment of the ALT where it co-aligns with the GET, clearing blowdowns and brush along the way. Trail Angels, connect with Someday Jo and Hillbilly Bart through the links & e-addresses provided above and find out how you can provide them with an occasional respite from lodging in the woods or along the road. Many parts of the GET consist of long road walks. Can you help them find safe places to sleep? Will you offer to buy them a meal or pick them up for a homemade meal at your place near the trail? Can you guide them through the remoter segments along the MIT and the ALT? Can you set up an interview with local media, schools, libraries, or community service clubs to bring the news of their journey and trail development to the citizens of our region? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a helpful part of this tremendous effort. Uncle Allegheny says “LET’S DO IT!!”