That’s now the reality.

The addition of the Tracy Run North Shelter and Big Boulders Shelter south of Kellettville wrap up that initiative.

“Both of these shelters are on National Forest land, so the first step in erecting the shelters was to get sites approved by the Forest Service,” Tina Toole explained. “That involved over a year of collaborating with Forest Service personnel and NEPA studies being completed.”

Once the locations were approved, the challenges of constructing the shelters themselves

Photos provided to the Times Observer Wall frames are added to the Big Boulders Shelter near Kellettville by Jason Petkov, Jeff Manelick, Doug Mangold and Randy Thomas.

“The shelter built at Tracy Run North, in Tracy Ridge, presented a significant challenge,” she said. “It was sited almost four miles from the nearest road access and it had to be set back 1,500 feet from the Allegheny Reservoir shoreline.”

Materials had to be boated across the reservoir and then hauled uphill to the site.

“It took volunteers seven trips ferrying boatloads of supplies, five days of hard work and countless miles of hiking tools and materials to the site,” she said.

The Big Boulders shelter was much easier — located just two-tenths of a mile from Branch Rd.

“Because of the proximity to the road, this shelter took only two days to build,” she said. “On the first day, four volunteers built the foundation. Then, a few days later, fourteen additional volunteers carried the materials into the site and constructed the shelter.”

While the shelter was the crown jewel of the project, side trails to the shelter from the NCT as well as trails to nearby water sources were also constructed. Fire pits were erected with local stone and Forest Service-provided picnic tables were built at those locations.

“The ANF Chapter is appreciative for all the volunteers that helped with the build and donated the use of their boats,” Toole said. “The Chapter also extends thanks to the Forest Service, for their assistance in site selection and approval and to United Refining Company of Warren, PA who donated funds for shelter materials.”