The GATHERING
@ The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
... In the A.T. Trail Town of North Adams, Mass. ...
... Columbus Day Weekend, October 7-9, 2011 ...



Around Alaska in 176 Days
Featuring Andrew Skurka

The Keynote Speaker
at ALDHA's 2011 Gathering

THE LAST TIME the Gathering was in New England, Andrew Skurka was there to tell us about his coast-to-coast hike piecing together trails and road walks for a 7,778-mile "sea-to-sea" route that was quite unique.

.. Now, with the Gathering set to return to New England, we are happy to announce that Andrew will be joining us once again, this time with tales of an Alaska-Yukon adventure that covered 4,700 miles over the span of six months. It is his most recent -- and as he describes it -- "most audacious" adventure yet.

.. Andrew skied, trekked and packrafted his way through stunning scenery and remote wild places, passing through eight national parks including Denali, where he skirted just beneath Mount McKinley. He descended famous wild rivers like the Copper and Yukon, and traversed the legendary Brooks Range.

.. Across the most remote stretch in the Yukon Arctic and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, he went 650 miles without crossing a single road and 24 days without seeing a single person. Now that's wilderness!

.. His Alaska-Yukon expedition was featured in the March 2011 issue of National Geographic, so check it out online if you didn't get a hard copy. The online graphics are interactive, allowing you to follow Andrew's progress around Alaska and the Yukon at your own pace.

.. You can also watch a video interview of Andrew, produced by National Geographic.

.. When Andrew spoke at our last Gathering at Dartmouth in 2005, it was the first time he gave a presentation to a large audience. Six years and more than 150 programs later, Andrew has honed his presentation into an even better experience.

.. He will also present two dayside workshops, one on lightweight backpacking and the other on the High Sierra Route in California and the Hayduke Trail in Utah and Arizona.

.. So help welcome Andrew back to the Gathering, especially since it is being held for the first time in his native state of Massachusetts!

(Photo by Andrew Skurka)


Friday night program starts at 7 p.m.
Forecast looks good, but the ground at the campsite is very wet. Hope it dries a bit before Friday. Allow extra travel time because of this weekend's good forecast after a couple of weeks of soggy weather in New England. Lots of people will be getting out this holiday weekend so traffic may be slow. Our Friday night opening program starts at 7 p.m. sharp. We expect a huge crowd, so apologies in advance if it's standing room only. See you there.



Online Ride Board — Please check frequently!
Heading for the Gathering... Updates to the Ride Board may not be able to be made, FYI.


Sept. 30, 2011, Update

 NEW TRAVEL ADVISORY: The Williamstown Public Works Department will completely close a paved portion of Oblong Road about 0.2 miles north of our campsite to repair a culvert damaged by Irene. The DPW hopes to be finished by Friday the 7th. During that period, Monday, Oct. 3, through Friday, Oct. 7, at about 4 p.m., the only way to get to the tentsite will be via Woodcock Road, which comes off of Route 7 just south of where Route 2 comes in from New York.

Woodcock Road is the better route anyway and is mentioned in the directions in the summer newsletter insert. So approach the campsite via Route 7, NOT via Route 2 and a sharp-angled right-hand turn onto Torrey Woods Road, FYI. For a map illustrating all this, click here.



Sept. 28, 2011, Update

 DIRECTIONS TO CAMPSITE: Point your GPS to 237 Oblong Road in Williamstown, Mass., to find the exact location of our campsite for the weekend. The GPS coordinates are North 42 x 41 x 8.07, South 73 x 14 x 46.37. Check out the summer newsletter insert to find other directions and information, and check the TRAVEL ADVISORY below for information about Hurricane Irene-related detours. If you haven't checked out the info on that last page lately, you may want to read it again before the Gathering, FYI.

MAP OF GENERAL AREA: Here's an illustrated map of the general Williamstown and North Adams area showing where our camping field is located, where MCLA is located, and where the theater in Williamstown is located. (Saturday night's program is in Williams theater; Friday and Sunday night are back at MCLA.) Many thanks to newly minted Triple-Crowner Eric White for donating this land to ALDHA's use and bending over backwards to accommodate us for the weekend, all at no charge to ALDHA. If you see Eric during the Gathering, be sure to say thank you. Many thanks to Jim Niedbalski, Wayne Krevetski and Noel DeCavalcante, along with Shane O'Donnell and Mike Wingeart for their attention to details, big tents, tables, chairs, port-a-potties, signs, firewood, etc., at the campsite.

For an overhead shot of what the campsite field looks like, click here. When you arrive, please follow signs and/or our volunteers for instructions on where to park.

BUZZ CAVERLY, CONTRA DANCE, WORK TRIP, ETC.: Revisit our Program Highlights page for fresh updates, information and news about the Gathering, including the addition of a special guest on Sunday, Buzz Caverly, the retired superintendent of Baxter State Park in Maine. There are also details here about the Contra Dance, work trip and showers.

MINUTES FROM THE 2010 GATHERING: At our annual meeting on Sunday morning, Oct. 9, you'll be asked to approve the minutes from the last annual meeting, in 2010. Here they are in case you wish to read them ahead of time.


Sept. 20, 2011, Update

 DAY HIKES ON OCT. 8: The Massachusetts Trail Management Committee has scheduled a series of day hikes on the A.T. for Saturday, Oct. 8, and all members of ALDHA who attend the Gathering are welcome to take part. You just have to notify the hike leader that you'll be going and show up at the appointed meeting spot at the appointed time.

We are posting the list of hikes and hike leaders here, but please pay attention to the levels of difficulty for each hike. If you're too fast a hiker, you may not want to join certain groups, and if you're too slow, there are hikes you should avoid. We don't want to slow down or otherwise inconvenience these gracious folks.

We encourage you to take part in one of these hikes, by the way. There are plenty of workshops during the day on Saturday but some may be crowded. It's fall in New England, and you're in Appalachian Trail Country. You can't find a better spot to be for a nice day hike.



Sept. 17, 2011, Update

 TRAVEL ADVISORY: According to Massachusetts highway officials and state police, Route 2 is closed from Charlemont west to North Adams because of damage from Hurricane Irene. Officials at MCLA recommend Interstate 90 as your main route to North Adams. Interstate 90 from Boston to the New York border is open and all routes north of Exit 2 (Lee Exit) are open.

In addition, Routes 7, 8, 8A, 9, and 116 into Adams and North Adams all are accessible. MCLA encourages you to consult the following travel references before you embark on your trip to campus for up-to-date route information:

These links and maps get updated on a regular basis, so it would be important to monitor them regularly if traveling to North Adams from the North, East or from Connecticut.



Sept. 16, 2011, Update

 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS: Here's an updated list of some of the workshops, slide shows and panel discussions scheduled to take place during the Gathering, plus reminders about some of the other events happening over the course of the weekend. We hope to post some other important news on this page soon regarding the post-Gathering work trip and a special deal at the premier museum in North Adams, so stay tuned.



July 5, 2011, Update

 VIDEO PROMOTING THE GATHERING: Thanks to Robert "Sly" Sylvester, we now have a video promo for the Gathering. You'll need Windows Media Player to watch it. Or download it to your computer and use a program like RealPlayer to watch it.

Click here for the video to play automatically when new, separate window opens.



June 8, 2011, Update

 SPECIAL 4-PAGE NEWSLETTER SECTION ON THE GATHERING: The summer newsletter is on the way to all members, and both the print version and the digital version contain a 4-page insert on the Gathering, with details about where we'll be camping, where the Saturday night program has been moved to accommodate everybody, and what your role in all of this is. A link to just those pages is posted here:

The special 4-page packet of info about the Gathering includes details on lodging other than the campsite we'll have set aside for all Gathering attendees as part of their registration fee. But if you plan to stay elsewhere, REMEMBER: this will be PEAK fall foliage season in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. We will be in the shadow of the entire Greylock Reservation all weekend long. The trail leading up to the A.T. and Bascom Lodge will be heavily traversed by the residents and neighbors of Adams, Mass., on their annual Ramble to the top. So if you are thinking of coming to the Gathering and don't want to "rough it" with us at our campsite, book your motel as early as possible. Like now! A selection of motels is listed in the above newsletter insert, along with links to fill you in all the area restaurants and some worthwhile attractions.



Register at the Gathering
Preregistration is closed, so if you're still planning to come to the Gathering, No Problem! Just register when you arrive at the campsite on Friday afternoon, or on campus later Friday and all day Saturday. Directions to the campsite and campus are in the Gathering insert of the summer newsletter.


Wallpaper for your desktop
Click on this link to get the high-rez version of a handy Gathering reminder and save it to your computer for use as a desktop image for your computer screen. This handy wallpaper was created by Dave Hennel.


Facebook page
If you're on Facebook, check out the page that's been created to share your thoughts, comments, ideas, hopes, dreams, and so on about the Gathering. And let us know whether you're attending or not, or maybe still on the fence. You'll have to log into Facebook to see this page, and if you're not signed up yet there's a way for you to do so on this link. (It's free!)




Trailhead
New Boots + Gathering + Grapevine + Springer Fever
A.T. Companion + Headlamp Material + Work Trips + Side Trails