Trail Name: AT BIKER
Home: West Norriton, PA (across the river from Valley Forge Park)
Volunteer History: Recruited by Ed Riggs in 2014 and have volunteered as docent or for spring cleanup a few times each year since. Now that I'm retired, I will attempt to volunteer more often between my hiking trips and retirement travel with my spouse.
Favorite PA hiking location: Almost anywhere on the AT – modest elevation changes make it very conducive for biking and hiking itineraries. Duncannon to Swatara Gap was particularly interesting with the Stoney Creek rail and coal history.
Favorite other hiking places: Backcountry in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Recently returned from a trip to the Roan Mountains (TENN and NC) and that probably was my favorite hiking so far on the AT itself.
Other Interests: Life-long baseball card collector, now starting to slowly sell off my collection to supplement income for retirement travel.
Fun Fact #1: Trail name is self-appointed. When ATC opened up vanity plates for PA I jumped right on it and tried to get AT HIKER but it was already taken. AT BIKER was a logical second choice. Since my car says I am AT BIKER, I guess I can claim it.
Fun Fact #2: While staying at a hostel in Massachusetts in 2019 I was conversing over the kitchen table with another section hiker. We swapped home towns and she indicated that she volunteered for PATC work projects – I indicated that I was a PATC member also, but too far away to get involved with work crews. She then added that she also volunteered for the AT Museum - I said "whaaaatttt" and we high fived and pointed out that I had an ATM sticker in my car window. That hiker was Becky Foreman, now one of the more active ATM volunteers! Small world and all of that kind of thing.
Fun Fact #3: I combine my section hiking with section biking. Bike down on roads from trailheads at a higher elevation to a trailhead at a lower elevation and then hike back up to my car. Allows me to hike alone as I prefer, without having to pay for a shuttle or retracing my steps. Also allows for a totally different view of the area between trailheads other than the “Green Tunnel” of the AT. I will be presenting a program at the museum in August to highlight how I do that (more info coming soon on the program).
Upcoming AT trips this year: Looking to fill in the gap between Roan Mountains and Pearisburg and moving further North from Kinsman Notch. Everything else in-between completed over the past 15 years in many section hikes.