Mount Nittany News

Earlier this year Ken Reeves was unexpectedly taken from us. Ken’s wife, family and many friends are still in our thoughts.

Ken was an integral part of the founding of the Mount Nittany Conservancy in 1981. He served as our third President and was deeply involved in the organization as a Board member and Emeritus Board member ever since.

Ken’s love for the Mountain, his vision for its preservation and conservation, and his knowledge about all that surrounds it, has been an inspiration for all of us who have the honor of serving the Mountain. It was our privilege to have known and worked with Kenny and his guidance and friendship will be greatly missed.

To help keep his memory alive, the Lions Paw classes of 2007 and 2008 collected donations to the Mt. Nittany Conservancy in memory of Ken. But they also decided to create a geocache on the Mountain for him. The cache includes the following placard about Ken and what he meant to the Mountain.

In addition, since Kenny was all about the weather, a weather instrument is included in the cache. This will allow visitors to record date, year, barometric reading and temperature in the log book. We’re sure that Kenny would find that pretty cool!

To visit the Ken Reeves Memorial Geocache, go here: http://coord.info/GC3JWPM

As of today, three folks have logged their visit to the cache. Here is the first to find entry:

I’m pleased and honored to be FTF on this wonderful memorial cache. Beautifully done–I loved the contents of the cache, so appropriate. This was my first ever FTF, so I did a little happy dance up there on Mt. Nittany 🙂

We encourage anyone who plans to hike the Mountain that Ken loved so much to make this another “must complete” item on their Life List.

In early April, MNC Past President Vince Verbeke notices that Google Maps had added a portion of the White trail to the Mike Lynch Overlook. Using the “Report a problem” option, Vince contacted Google and asked if they could add the remainder of the White and the Blue trails. And so they have!

Here is an image from April 24, 2012. We still need to add the various trail points and a few segments of the trails are slightly off. But we are working to report these to Google and get them updated.

You can also click this link to view the map online: http://g.co/maps/4rqa8

The Mount Nittany Conservancy is deeply concerned about the current state of the iconic Mike Lynch Overlook on Mt Nittany. Due to increasing number of hikers, along with our wet weather this year, the soil at the Overlook is becoming increasingly eroded.

You can help support our efforts to stabilize the Overlook by becoming a Friend of the Mountain. You can also attend our second annual Mount Nittany Night to be held Friday, September 30, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Evidence of the erosion can be seen in the below photos. While the Conservancy and volunteer groups have worked to place water bars (logs that cut across the overlook to re-direct water), more actions are needed. In order to make this happen, we do need your support!

As you approach the Lynch Overlook

Looking down at Lynch from first water bar (notice the erosion around the tree roots)

Wide swath of use on the right side of descent to Lynch Overlook

Evidence of erosion as seen from right side of Lynch Overlook

Looking back up at the left side of descent

View of the Lynch Overlook from the left side of the descent

Looking back up at the right side of descent

If you live and work in Happy Valley, you can gaze out upon Mount Nittany every day. Mount Nittany is our Plymouth Rock, our Old Faithful, our Gibraltar. The moment we see her, we know we are home.

Yet, Mount Nittany is more than an iconic geographic feature. It is also a place to hike and explore. In order to tell that story, the Mount Nittany Conservancy is reaching out to the community with a planned series of interpretive stations throughout the valley.

The “front yard” of the Mount Nittany Middle School received the first of these Viewing Stations this summer. The Stations are designed to be attractive, educational, and informational. Each Viewing Station will include:

• brief history of the Lion’s Paw Alumni Association (the group who first worked to protect the Mountain from lumbering and other development threats) and the formation of the Mount Nittany Conservancy
• how Mount Nittany is used for recreation purposes
• the etymology behind the word Nittany
• pictures and a trail map of Mount Nittany from the current location of the viewer

Images of the Mount Nittany Elementary School Viewing Station are below. We hope that everyone can take the time to visit the site and see the final product. Your support of the Mount Nittany Conservancy is what makes this new outreach effort possible. Thank you! And a special tip of the hat to Ameron Construction for installing the Mount Nittany Elementary School Viewing Station.

A small group of enthusiastic hikers (Carol, Renee, Cathy, and Cory) went up Mt. Nittany with MNC board member Vince Verbeke on Sunday, July 3rd. They were led up the Mountain to the Mike Lynch Overlook. Then the group continued on along the Blue Trail to the Mount Nittany Middle School/Boalsburg Overlook, then to the Deeded Square Inches site. Along the way, they heard from the “The Legend of the Valley” as well stories about Lions Paw and Conservancy history.

Each of the hikers who joined the guided hike commented on what a great idea this was. We agree and plan to do more. To keep up with plans for future hikes, you can follow us on Facebook.

The Conservancy has established this series of seasonal guided hikes in memory of Director Emeritus Pat Farrell, who frequented the mountain and traditionally climbed each New Year’s Day. Since 1981, Mount Nittany Conservancy has worked to conserve more than 825 acres of Mt. Nittany, the Centre Region’s most prominent landmark. It maintains more than ten miles of hiking trails and eleven overlooks on the mountain for visitors to enjoy.

The Mount Nittany Conservancy board meets four times a year. Meetings are held on Sunday mornings from 9-11 AM at the Centre Region COG Bldg. All are welcome. For a list of 2011 meeting dates, send an email to info@mtnittany.org.

We’d like to welcome and THANK the following board members for agreeing to serve as officers for the upcoming term. Special thanks to John and Doug for stepping into officer roles.

2011 – 2012 Officer Team Left to Right: John Hook, President; Doug Wion, Secretary; Bob Andronici, Vice President; Blake Gall, Treasurer

MNC Directors and Directors Emeritus – Left to Right: Jon Brooks, Karl Shellenberger, Doug Wion, Erich May, Ron Woodhead, Ken Reeves

Meetings start at 9 AM on Sunday: Left to Right: Alan Cameron, Kim Steiner, Patrick Scholl, David Frankenfield, Jeff Dietrich

View from the front row Left to Right: Vince Verbeke, Dan Jones, Bob Andronici, Tom Smyth

Kim discussing the new viewing station from The Arboretum at Penn State- Left to Right: Kim Steiner, Jeff Dietrich

Alan welcomes John as the new president Left to Right: John Hook, Alan Cameron

Members and friends of the Conservancy recently received in the mail our Fall newsletter from the Conservancy. A link to the newsletter is below.

The Conservancy commissioned Penn State grad Doug Bauman’s photos, and director Bob Frick helped create the following slide show of the seasons on the Mountain The soundtrack was donated by local bluegrass group Murphy’s Junction. The song, New York to Knoxville, was composed by Gwen Stimely. Slideshow programming was done by Penn State grad Julio Negron.