FARMINGTON — The public is invited to join the High Peaks Alliance at the North Church on High Street for the High Peaks Trail Social from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16.
Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame member David Field will present the “History of the Appalachian Trail in Franklin County.” All are invited to take in a night of stories and camaraderie in the great outdoors. There will be light fare provided by the High Peaks Alliance and time to network with fellow trail lovers.
Field, Overseer of Lands for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club and a trail maintainer in Maine for 63 years, will relate Myron Avery’s amazing struggle to extend the AT beyond the White Mountains, and the people in western Maine who helped him find the way. The talk will focus on the story of the original location of the AT in Maine, with a special emphasis on Franklin County (the first plan was to go over Mt. Abraham). Field will complete the talk with the story of the relocation of more than half the route in Maine from 1970-1990, the 40-year task of finding protection for the surroundings of the trail, and the key people involved in all of these efforts.
Field is a native of Phillips. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1959, received a BS in Forestry from the University of Maine in 1963, a Master of Science in Forestry from the University of Maine in 1968, and a PhD from Purdue University in 1974. He has worked in the woods logging, surveying, and on forest fires. Dr. Field went on to have a successful career as a professor of forestry, eventually becoming chair of the Department of Forest Management at the University of Maine. He holds Maine Licensed Forester certificate No.19. He is also the author of “Along Maine’s Appalachian Trail,” published in June 2011 as part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series.
The High Peaks Alliance is a volunteer, nonprofit organization made up of local hunters, hikers, birders, loggers, fishermen, snowmobile and ATV riders, Maine Guides, cross-country skiers, mountain bikers and others working together since 2007 to ensure continuing public access to Maine’s High Peaks Region.
For more information, email Brent West at brent@highpeaksalliance.org.
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