PS - For those of you who can't hike you can donate directly to the Watershed Agricultural Council - Farmer Flood Relief.
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Getting Formal for the Farmers: Ballgown Fundraising Takes On The Flood
We started out getting formal for the forest (thank you, Melissa Bean, for coining that phrase!), but we didn’t stop there. The ballgown hikers are getting formal for the farmers, to show them the love, care, and dollars they deserve and need!
Here in the Catskills, hurricanes are not regular occurrences. Irene and Lee were truly out of the ordinary, dumping huge amounts of rain and causing massive flooding throughout the mountains, forests, villages, and beyond. As residents, hikers, fund raisers, and eaters of farm products, the g4g crew (I use the royal “we” here) felt compelled to respond to this disaster.
It didn’t take long to craft a response. A little research, a few emails to the g4g email list (which is growing bigger by the minute – please drop me a line at gowns4greenbacks@hotmail.com if you’d like to be on the list – but be forewarned, we do seem to send each other a fair amount of mail), and we had a plan. A single hike with specific fund raising to benefit regional farms: we picked a date and a destination and starting emailing and facebooking the heck out of it. Perhaps a reader with a twitter account could “tweet” about this for us.....twitter still eludes me.
Quick summary for those of you that are skimming and don’t want to read all my hikerly details and asides:
what: hike from Woodland Valley to Giant Ledge with option to continue to Panther
when: 10/2/11, 9 a.m. start time
where: Woodland Valley Trail Head and Parking Area is at the end of Woodland Valley Road, at the state campground, technically in Phoenicia, I think.
why: to support small scale farmers in the Catskill region that are unable to apply for FEMA or other funds
who: HIKERS! Non-HIKERS! YOU! We need people to hike and folks to sponsor them.
The hike is open to the public but DEC limits the size of a group to 20. We are asking that every hiker come with at least $100 in sponsorships and donations. To hike, contact me. To sponsor a hiker, contact me.
Recipient: All funds for this hike only will be donated to the Watershed Agricultural Council. Make checks payable to WAC and note “Catskill Farmer Relief” on the memo line. They are a 501c3 organization, meaning you can get a receipt and all donations are tax deductible.
Hikers: yes, you should show up at the hike with your envelope full of checks, cash and coins. I will collect the donations at the hike and get them to the WAC pronto. Sponsors, yes, you should write your check to the WAC now, and give it to your hiker now. You may simply mail the WAC a check if that is easier. Use the address and info on their website to do so.
Ok, if you are still reading, then that means you probably care about hiking minutiae! Here ya go: the distance is from WV to GL is 3.45 miles, and the hike is of “moderate” difficulty. Not a miserable endless slog up killer steep trails, but not “easy.” I haven’t hiked this section of trail in several years, and I don’t know how lumpy and bumpy the trail has gotten since Irene and Lee turned it into a river, but I would guess that at least some parts of it are washed out making the hiking feel a bit like walking up a dry creek bed. A little hard on the feet and ankles, but nothing too crazy.
A few of us that have been g4g-ing all along plan to continue to Panther Mountain from Giant Ledge. From Giant Ledge to Panther is another 1.85 miles. We plan to continue from Panther’s summit north to the Fox Hollow parking area (another 4.9 miles), where we will have stashed a few cars for the shuttle back to Woodland Valley. You can do the math: 3.45 plus 1.85 plus 4.9. A little over ten miles total, all trailed.
Post-hike, might I suggest a visit to a local eatery? Please consider stopping in Phoenicia to grab a bite, stroll, shop, and support the businesses that have been repeatedly slammed by flooding.
The bigger g4g project has been going strong, right up until Irene’s appearance. We have done 12 mountains (Danny has done 13!), and have had some great times. Those hikes will continue, and that project is on-going. For those just coming up to speed on g4g, the overall project is a collection of hikes to bag all 35 Catskill peaks over 3500’ in elevation IN BALLGOWNS. We are seeking sponsors for that project, and all of those funds will be donated to the 3500 Club – a completely volunteer effort that provides people and cash to maintain the trails in the Catskills – lean-tos for overnight adventures or bridges for those tricky stream crossings, the 3500 Club has a hand in almost all the seen and behind the scenes work that goes on in the forest, maintaining the infrastructure and keeping the trails open for our enjoyment.
For those of you who would like to read more about the Gowns 4 Greenbacks group here is a link to their blog: Gowns 4 Greenbacks
