Last year at Trail Days (2007) in Damascus, VA, I spoke to Mark Flagler of FlaglerFilms about his “Appalachian Impressions” movie. He had remembered me from the previous Trail Days (2006) and so I was curious about whether he was off to produce the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Mark said that he was actually better off filming the Continental Divide Trail because there was actually a demand for it. Good point.

Mark continued on informing me that he was going to be heading back out to the CDT to do more filming and hopefully have something towards the end of the year, which, I checked periodically, nada. He also said that he was probably going to do the voice over (VO) work, which would have been cool but, silly me, couldn’t help but recommend Sam Elliott.  He’s got that very rustic, slow, country-style voice.  To my surprise and delight, upon viewing the movie preview, Mark was able to have the famous Peter Thomas narrate this newest project, sweet!

According to the FlaglerFilm’s site, he will be screening this latest edition in what I (and probably many others) hope will be the second in a total of three films, eventually making up what could be a Triple Crown box set.

Check out this latest preview: Walking the Great Divide

Article as follows…

Rare chestnut tree survives at Sheldon

By TOM JACKSON | Monday March 24 2008, 12:42pm

HURON TWP.

Erie County harbors a rare treasure: A full-sized American Chestnut tree that somehow survived an epidemic that wiped out untold numbers of other chestnut trees.

The tree stands 89 feet tall and measures 64 inches around the trunk. Its crown spreads 41 feet. It’s a shocking anomaly at a time when most surviving chestnut trees are dwarfs sprouting from the roots of trees killed by the chestnut blight.

It’s the largest known chestnut in Ohio, said Andy Ware, assistant chief of the Division of Forestry in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

“To our knowledge, we don’t have any that come close to this size,” said Gary Obermiller, a regional manager for the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves in the ODNR.

Jittery about preserving the very rare tree and worried about the eagle’s nest located in it, state officials won’t reveal the tree’s exact location in the 465-acre Sheldon Marsh preserve.

In fact, the existence of the tree has been kept quiet for years by state officials.

“We found the tree probably seven years ago,” Obermiller said. “We didn’t spread the word about the tree a whole lot.”

Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, revealed the tree’s existence during Wednesday’s meeting of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission in Oak Harbor. Logan bragged about the tree’s size and said he was going to visit it later that day.

After the meeting, reporters began phoning ODNR for more details. Spokeswoman Cristie Wilt set up interviews with ODNR officials after asking the scribes to promise they won’t give away the tree’s specific spot.

Obermiller, however, says his boss didn’t breach state arboreal secrecy when he mentioned the tree at a public meeting.

After the Strickland administration took over, the new chief of Natural Areas and Preserves, Steve Maurer, decided the public ought to be told about the tree, Obermiller said.

“He realized this was a very special tree,” Obermiller said.

Maurer has contacted the American Chestnut Foundation to see if the group wants samples of the tree to determine if it is resistant to the chestnut blight, Obermiller.

Erie County’s chestnut tree produces fruit, but the seeds aren’t viable because there isn’t another tree to pollinate it, Obermiller said.

American Chestnuts were once found all over Ohio and all over much of the U.S., Ware said.

“They are often referred to as the redwood of the east because of their tremendous size,” he said.

Old chestnuts

* American chestnut trees once made up about 25 percent of the eastern North American forests.

* They grew up to 100 feet tall and lived up to 600 years.

* Chestnut wood was valued because of its straight, light-weight, rot-resistant qualities.

* In 1904, a non-native species of fungus was first identified. It probably arrived on imported Asian chestnut trees as much as 10 years earlier. The American chestnut trees in the New York Zoological Park began dying.

* By 1910, the trees across Pennsylvania were dying, and the blight was moving south at a rate of 50 miles a year.

* By 1912, all the American chestnut trees in New York City were dead.

* By 1913, the blight entered North Carolina.

* By 1950, the American chestnut had ceased to exist as an ecological factor in the eastern Appalachian forest.

–Source: The American Chestnut Foundation

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-07-31-gen-mod-trees_x.htm

Actually, I ran across that company’s website. .I just wish not to have it linked to me, go Google it and freak out.

I’m going to do a bit more research to see what is out there.. more to follow.

Why does man, with all his flaws still think he can do what mother nature has been doing for millions of years in only a decade?  WHY??

Anyway, I was trolling around on the ‘internets‘ when I ran across this site for the CDT. It’s called ‘The Walkumentary‘ and it’s about the CDT Thru-hike of “Disco” and “P.O.D.” (being the main characters) with large supporting roles with he ever hilarious German, ‘Speedo’ and the extremely healthy eating ‘Skittles.’ I downloaded the five hi-quality chapters off their site (very nice, btw) and watched them back-to-back. I felt as though I was wasn’t living life. Everytime I watch a video like these, especially if they are made from different people, I realize that I am still not doing what it is in this world that I want to do. How pathetic. I’ve become a slave to myself! On the flipside, it would seem that my fire has been re-lit and that getting out on the AT will remedy this feeling.

 Matt

TrailJournals Link: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=163193

I don’t think I ever even discussed why I chose a Pocketmail device in the first place. I think it was entirely Jan Liteshoe’s fault. I’d heard about this device from a many a persons, but when you read her journal (and I think that all hikers/dreamers/warm bodies should) you’ll understand how much easier it is to be able to communicate with one. They are lightish, great on the battery life and take only two (2) AAs, which are easy to find on the trail, and pretty rugged, not some dainty thing that must be protected.

Matt

TrailJournals Link: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=165946

 http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20061128-9999-1n28trail.html

Congrats Scott!

    I am actually shocked that my legs and body don’t hurt as bad as I’d thought. My knees cricked a little as I got down from the top of the shelter, but other than a bit of tenderfeet (to be expected) I was okay. My heal had started a very small blister but it was nothing to get worked up about. I was kinda shocked to still see sleepy hiker in the shelter, you’d think that with all that sleep he’d gotten he would’ve took off long ago. Seems as though his alarm didn’t go off. See, even in the woods we use that excuse!

    I was out of the shelter and on my way at 7:45. A bit later than I desired because I wanted to catch the sunrise over the mountains and enjoy breakfast while doing so. There’ll always be next time. Boy did the climb out of Peck’s look totally different than the sauntering in that took place the night before.

    While hiking up Mount Sequoyah I ran out of water and my stomach was complaining about having nothing to do but slosh around acid while huffing and puffing uphill, so I took my first break and got some food in me which was a good thing because I also needed to take some Vitamin I (ibuprofen). Since my first x-hike, I am always petrified when I run out of water because it was my second biggest downfall to that hike. First being the imbalance of my electrolytes.

    Pulled into a wonderful shelter, Tricorner Knob. There, an overnight hiker was finishing up his lunch before pulling out just as another hiker had just come in. Fool was his name and he too was a SoBo thru-hiker. What luck, two hikers, one each day. Very cool. I took my time and just chatted with him while we both enjoyed our lunches. He had started his hike in July and was only two days behind Young Gun (Young Gun admitted that he’d taken about a month’s worth of zero days on the trail). I picked his brain about various trail activities and the like. He was very courteous and joyous. When I spoke of this being a shake-down hike he told me that his was from Harper’s Ferry to Springer last year. Then, this July he started at Katahdin and was hiking all the way back down to Springer, again. I acknowledged how cool it was that he didn’t just get off in Harper’s Ferry but decided to continue on to Springer. He shared in this thought and mentioned that other (thru-hikers mind you) thought he was crazy for continuing on. Just when you thought you knew thru-hikers huh?

    He took off after about 45 minutes and I left shortly thereafter. I looked at my watch and realized that I’d broke for lunch for about and hour and half. What was I thinking?? Sheesh. Did I really want another night hike, with that crappy light to boot? I knew I’d be okay, but I don’t like to cut comforts off that close. The views, like the day before were spectacular. Granted on the east side, a lot of color was washed out due to the sun, but on the west side, the colors were warm and inviting. You could see Gatlinburg and the surrounding areas, truly brilliant.

    As I was walking through some thicker, green shrubbery and trees, I noticed some metal on the ground and looked about. Just down the way there were more pieces, large pieces, the size of sheet cake pans and bigger. Ahhh, this must be where the plane crash was that Eric mentioned that I would see while on this section of the trail. How interesting, I’d like to learn a little more history about this wreck before my hike next year. I wasn’t certain exactly where I was so-as to know what mountain to look up regarding the wreck until mere minutes later I was at the sign post for the AT and Snakes Den Ridge Trail. 5.3 miles until I can get to my car, take off these boots, put down this pack, drink some Gatorade that I left in the car, eat a Rice Crispie Treat that my sister made for me.. ahh, just a couple hours away.. I can almost taste it. But first, I have about 5000 feet in elevation that must change before any of that’s going to happen.

    I realized something on the way down the windinginess (new word) trail I’ve been on to date, mountain trails are peculiar. At the top, some 6000 feet, the path is nice and relatively flat, perhaps some rocks, but not much to worry about. Usually there are more rocks used for erosion control that you need to worry about more so than naturally protruding ones. Then, you come down in elevation a bit and there are rocks galore, all over the place, your ankles twisting left and right trying desperately to keep the rest of you upright and prone. Then you make it down a few more hundred feet and the trail is somewhat rocky but much more wet and therefore muddier.   After a short time in that, you hit the elevation where fallen leaves play a role in how you must try to hike. This time, your feet have been taking all kinds of abuse but you knew what to expect and were able to counter it, most of the time. Now, the trail is hidden under a blanket of leaves, leaving your body at the mercy of your feet to work everything out on their own. This will continue for some time until you make it down to an 2000 to 1000 feet where there is much less rocks and mostly hard terra firma where your paws can finally just going about their daily task of taking you where you ask them to. Except on this trail, by the time I reached this ‘zone,’ I, at the same time, entered the horse trail dung area. So, I had to constantly be aware of my footing of old and fresh horse manure. There were a few close calls, but man there must of been a whole herd of them that decided that this section (about 1800 feet) is where they did their business.

    Right on schedule, at 3:57pm (4:00 was my goal) I’d made it to the bottom of the mountain to Cosby Campground. Five minutes later, I was at my car enjoying that Gatorade.

    Due to the aggressive schedule and the constant downhill my foot was able to create a nice big blister on the bottom of my foot (just groovy.) Other than that, I felt fine. In fact, I was a amazed how well my knees held up the entire time. Very pleased.

    Off to Gatlinburg, into the heart of the beast. I wanted to stop by the Happy Hiker outfitters to pick up a pair of hiker crampons, not the large Antarctic-style ones that were in my pack. Not only that, but they cost $158 and I didn’t even need to wear them, not so good. I knew that the outfitters had what I was looking for (thanks, once again to Eric at A Walk in the Woods). Made it to their establishment and walked about reading the numerous Polaroids and thank you cards tacked to the walls throughout the store. What’s sad/cool/interesting were how many people I recognized, either from encounters, online journals or references from others. There were even some people that I recognized from published literature.. pretty cool. I chatted to the staff for quite some time (there were no customers) and was able to learn a lot about the area and the people. I additionally learned that hikers usually don’t have too many problems making it up and down the mountain during the ‘thru-hiker season’ which occurs right before droves of tourists descend upon Gatlinburg to start the summer season. In fact, A Walk in the Woods will take hikers up/down for $10/ride.. which seems completely reasonable. As it was getting late, and I was a hungry hiker, they pointed me to an Italian restaurant close by and I was off. Hopefully I’ll be able to stop in come April and say hi.

Matt

TrailJournals Link: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=163192