One hundred miles of that trail cut through the Allegheny National Forest.

And the organization that cares for the ANF section of trail had a busy 2021.

“The full variety of beautiful landscapes that the Allegheny National Forest has to share can be seen from the almost 100 miles of NCT that wind through it,” Tina Toole, president of the ANF Chapter of the North Country Trail Association said.

The trail requires maintenance – tree removal, mowing, brush cutting and drainage work.

Photo provided to the Times Observer An Allegheny National Forest Chapter trail work crew with the 0.3 mile reroute they built.

But the Chapter took on bigger projects this year.

“One thing the chapter focused on was bridge repair,” Toole said. “A new railing was put on the Nelse Run bridge. New treads were put on a Hemlock Run bridge and on the Staircase Bridge. Three small bridges along Pell Run had their treads renailed. About 25 smaller bog bridges along Chappel Bay, Cherry Run and Coon Run were rebuilt or repaired.”

Work also included a rebuilt staircase and informational kiosk as well as repairs to the parking area at the Rt. 66 trailhead.

“Along with all the construction, Chapter members made three reroutes, ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 miles,” she explained. “These reroutes moved the trail off of wet ground”

As if that wasn’t enough, the chapter stained two shelters that were built in 2020 and reblazed the northern 25 miles of the trail.

“Each year one quarter of the NCT miles in the ANF are done so that the blazing that hikers follow through the forest is fresh,” Toole explained. “Finally, the chapter worked with the Forest Service to start the process of getting approval for two large and one small bridge and a connecting reroute in the Tracy Ridge area along with approval for two more shelters.

“These two big bridges are the last large bridges needed to cross all the large streams along the trail. The shelters will complete the goal of having one shelter for each 10 miles of trail.”