The Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club
The Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club (ODATC) is an organization of individuals and trail-related organizations who meet to recreate in the outdoors in various ways as well as act as stewards of a portion of the Appalachian Trail and the public lands it runs through. Our recreational endeavors focus on hiking in Virginia but includes biking, paddling and touring as well. While the majority of our events occur in Virginia our only true limits are what members wish to limit themselves to. Learn more
News Flash:
*Update On ODATC Hiking and Carpooling Guidelines
*Important Announcement regarding online membership dues payment appears below.
* S2MOUNTAINEERING Resumes Domestic & International Trips
Upcoming events
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THE ODATC EXPERIENCE - CURRENT ISSUES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Change in Payment of Membership Dues For members who have been making their annual membership fee payment using PayPal, please note that there has been a change in the way payments will be handled on the ODATC website. Prior to this change, members would elect to pay with PayPal and be redirected to a PayPal site. We will no longer be using PayPal to make payments. Instead, we will be using the website’s hosting company’s automated payment system. At our last board meeting it was decided to make this change so that we could save the club an additional two hundred dollars a year. This is the amount Wild Apricot charges us for not using their system. Treasurer Bill Beck made the necessary changes, and has tested it out. What you will notice when your pay your dues is that you will be asked to enter your credit card information - just like any other online purchase. There will be no option for PayPal. If you are accustomed to making your payments by sending a personal check to ODATC, please continue doing so. This change only relates to those members who have been making their payments via PayPal. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
LS2MOUNTAINEERING Resumes Operations S2Mountaineering, an organization founded in 1998 and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico organizes and leads hundreds of trekking and mountaineering expeditions on every continent. Recently, they have resumed organizing treks after a three year hiatus. They have provided ODACT with a message for anyone ready to climb in 2022. To see their latest message, please click here. If you are interested in learning more about S2Mountaineering, you can visit their website by clicking here.
Leonard Adkins Receives Award for His Latest Book ODATC member Leonard Adkins's book All About the Appalachian Trail was recently named a Silver Award Winner in the 33rd annual Independent Book Publishers Please click here if you would like to read the full article. If you're interested in procuring a copy of Leonard's book, please click here for the information that originally appeared on our site.
ATC July Issue of The Register Now Ready |
Update On ODATC Hiking and Carpooling Guidelines The current policy of ODATC is that all persons participating in club sponsored recreational hikes shall be vaccinated. Carpooling will now be allowed. It is recommended that masks be worn in the car, but this decision will be at the discretion of the driver and passengers. Obviously, an agreement should be finalized before traveling. Carpooling is still not allowed for Appalachian trail maintenance and border monitoring trips, because these activities fall under the regulations of ATC and other government agencies.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is dead. Abandoned by Dominion Energy and its partner, Duke Energy, the $8 billion project has reached a regulatory dead end. The decision, announced Sunday, ends a six-year effort to build the 42-inch-wide natural gas pipeline through the heart of Virginia to connect gas shale fields in West Virginia with markets in southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina. Click here to read the full article.
ATC Announces Voluntary Stewardship Agreement The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), The Conservation Fund, and Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP), announced a voluntary stewardship agreement that will advance the Conservancy’s mission to manage, protect and advocate for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. As part of the agreement, MVP has committed up to $19.5 million for use by the ATC to conserve land along the Trail corridor and support outdoor recreation-based economies in southeastern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. Through this agreement, the ATC and its partners will be able to enhance the A.T. hiking experience, protect thousands of acres of high-priority land, and provide support to local recreation-based economies in the region. Please click here to see the full news release.
It Pays to Increase Your Acronym Power Have you ever sat at one of the ODATC meetings when the policy wonks are going full throttle throwing out acronyms as if they were born knowing them? Well, you too can be an acronym wizard! Please click here to see a comprehensive list of acronyms that you can use to simultaneously astound and numb the brains of everyone around you! |
Popularity A Mixed Blessing As Hikers Visit Appalachian Trail in Record Numbers NPR Article by Adiah Gholston Escapism has brought people to the Appalachian Trail for years, and over this past, pandemic-ridden year, more people than normal found themselves on the trail for that very reason. But that influx of people brings other issues - like littering - which is straining both the trail systems and the volunteers and professionals who maintain them. To continue reading the remainder of this article, click here.
Nelson County Parks & Recreation Announces Opening of New Trail Nelson County Parks and Recreation announced today the opening of the Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel Trail system. Over 700 feet below the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap in Afton lies the 4,273-foot abandoned train tunnel in the heart of the Crozet Tunnel Greenway. The tunnel was constructed between 1850 and 1858 by Claudius Crozet, designer and chief engineer on the project and Irish immigrant laborers. For more information on this new Virginia trail, click here.
Senate Considers Bill Ending Ban on Mountain Bikes in Wilderness Areas
In the latest bid to lift the ban on mountain bikes in federally designated wilderness areas, the U.S. Senate is considering a bill to amend the Wilderness Act of 1964 which created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States and currently protects 109.5 million acres of federal land. Click here to read the full article. |
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