When telling the story of our first trail shelter, I neglected to mention one important detail. I did say that a company which erects trail shelters similar to what we were looking for would put one up for us for around $8,000.

Of course that was pretty much over our budget, so we began looking for a way that we could do one for a lot less.

After kicking around a great many ideas, and searching for materials which we could afford, we came up with a plan.

Fortunately, our secretary Lois Morey, now the owner of the property formerly owned by her parents Lew and Janette Baker, said she would donate the pine trees for the logs we needed. We found that we could get the rough-cut lumber from a local sawmill, at a price which we could handle. An Amish metal roofing mill nearby could supply the roofing.

The logging and sawing operation has been described. Unfortunately, my good friend Karl Altenhein, the mill owner, has passed away from Covid complications, without ever having seen the finished product.

Now, the part I failed to mention: we put up this first shelter (and the only one we’ve constructed of logs), for about $800, quite a difference. Of course it may not be as “pretty” as one made of cedar, but one has to wonder if a backpacker taking refuge in there on a stormy night, lies there warm and dry, wonders “what kind of logs is this shelter made of?”

That one was built in 2016, and we have put up four more since then, using the framed up style, all pretty much the same, with little improvements here and there as we go along.

If plans come together we will be building shelter number six in the near future (this month hopefully). This one will be at Bolich Run, a great spot along the Hogback Trail.

The next STC meeting will be held at the home of Ilene Altenhein, at Mina, on Saturday, Sept. 10. Of interest to many I am sure, this meeting coincides with the Annual Farm Day at the Klein (Altenhein) Family Farm.

This gets underway around 10 a.m., and our meeting will be held at noon, and will be a dish-to-pass affair, similar to our recent meetings, except Ilene will have a big pot of chili, in lieu of our usual sloppy joes and hot dogs.

Weather permitting, we may have one more outdoor meeting in October. Plans for winter meetings are unsure at this time, with the Covid threat still around.

Bill Boyd is a member of the Susquehannock Trail Club. He can be reached at billboydsts@gmail.com.

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