LOCALadk Magazine

Last fall, leaders of Girl Scout Troop 4202 of Morrisonville, New York, wanted the girls to hike some trails to earn their Trail Adventure Badge. When Lauren Currie, the troop leader, learned of Champlain Area Trails' Northern Pathways Challenge, she knew it would be a perfect fit, because the girls needed to hike three trails by December 31, 2021, to meet the Challenge and earn the badge. With support from a NYS Health Foundation grant, Champlain Area Trails (CATS) created the Northern Pathways Patch Challenge to publicize and encourage people to hike trails in and just north of the Adirondack Park. "We've had great success with our trails in Essex County," said CATS Executive Director Chris Maron. "ey provide people with healthy outdoor physical activity, so this grant helped us promote hiking on trails here in the North Country." e Challenge ran from June until December 31, 2021. To complete the Challenge, participants had to hike three of the five following trails (all are shown on the CATS Northern Valley Trails Map): Mud Pond Road/Old Military Road Trail (Peru), Ausable Marsh Trail (Peru), Lyon Mountain Trail (Lyon Mountain), Little Ausable Trail (Peru), and Point Au Roche's Long Point Trail (Beekmantown). "It was a quiet day in the office when Lauren Currie called to see if they could participate as a group," recalled Emily Segada, CATS Operations Manager, "As a former Girl Scout, I was thrilled to hear they wanted to do this challenge. So, we sent them maps and said to let us know of their progress." For the girls, who ranged in age from five to eleven, the Challenge became more than exploring the three trails. It showed how they could experience the challenges of hiking a variety of trails together and earn their badges. First on their list was the Long Point Trail at Point Au Roche State Park. is two-mile loop trail would meander through the forest along the western shore of a peninsula going south into Lake Champlain and then return through woodlands to the trailhead. So, the girls laced up their sneakers, and accompanied by parents and family members, set out on the first challenge adventure. is was in September. As the troop considered their second challenge, they wanted to climb a mountain. But CATS' Northern Pathways Challenge trail up Lyon Mountain was a bit of a drive, and they wanted a view of Lake Champlain, so the troop asked permission to hike Rattlesnake Mountain, north of Willsboro, instead of Lyon Mountain. "When they asked us, of course, we enthusiastically replied 'Yes,'" said Maron. e troop chose to hike Rattlesnake Mountain on October 20, national Take Your Daughter On A Hike Day. is inspired many parents to get out and hike with their girls up the sometimes-steep trail to the wonderful rock ledge looking out over Willsboro Bay and Lake Champlain towards Vermont. For many of the scouts, it was their first summit. e fall foliage, backed by the lake's deep blue waters, offered breathtaking views they will remember forever. Ava Currie, a nine-year-old scout, said, "Rattlesnake Mountain was my favorite hike. is was the first time I hiked a mountain. e view at the top was beautiful. I had so much fun talking to my friends as we hiked." For the final trail, they chose the Little Ausable River Trail in "downtown" Peru. is trail goes along the river that runs below the main part of the town. It's a paved, accessible trail with interpretive signs, some offering educational messages about the planets in our solar system. Although that may seem to deviate a bit from what you'd expect to see on a nature trail, it works. Zilpha Irland, age ten, said, "My favorite part of the Little Ausable River Trail was the planet signs that were spaced out to show their distance from each other. It was snowy, so we had fun guessing which planet was next before we brushed the snow off of the signs!" "e troop had planned to hike it on a mid-December evening so they could learn about the full moon, but the weather had other plans for them," noted Currie. "ey were able to complete this trail on December 29th, just making the cut-off date of the Challenge. e girls loved seeing the interpretive signs along the way about the solar system." 47 LOCALadk Story by Chris Maron & Photography by Troop 4202 NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK COMPLETE NORTHERN PATHWAYS CHALLENGE

• Cover