Warwick Appalachian Trail Community Day

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Saturday, August 9, 2014, has been chosen as Appalachian Trail Community Day by the Town of Warwick, New York.



There are a variety of activities throughout the day culminating in the main event: A photography exhibition about the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers and their experiences, captured by local artist, Heather Palecek. Join the community on this day in Warwick, NY and at the Opening Reception of the exhibit "Tales of the Trail" held at Love Life Tattoo & Art Studio in Warwick, NY from 7 - 9 PM.

Each year, the Warwick A.T. Community Committee sponsors activities such as hikes, informational programs, and trail maintenance work trips for local residents. Many local artists and musicians find inspiration hiking the A.T. and this year's event brings art to the forefront of the annual event.

The first section of the A.T. opened in Warwick in 1931, six years before the official opening of the entire Appalachian Trail. The Town has been welcoming hikers ever since and was named an A.T. Community(TM) in 2012. The Town of Warwick is centrally located on the A.T. between High Point in New Jersey to the west and the Bear Mountain Bridge in New York to the east with easy road access to this entire 65 mile section.

The Village of Greenwood Lake in Warwick has many hiker amenities and can be accessed directly from the A.T. using the Village Vista Trail. The Pochuck, Wawayanda and Wildcat Shelters on the AT are easily accessed from Warwick and can be used in planning section hikes with no reservations or permits required.

Warwick Appalachian Trail Community Day Events

This year, the committee plans a short hike along the Pochuck Boardwalk in Vernon, NJ, and the Greenwood Lake Vista from 17A, before heading into Warwick for a stroll around town. Enjoy dinner at one of the many great restaurants or pubs. Then, head over to Love Life Tattoo & Art Studio to see the exhibition "Tales of the Trail." Meet the artist and speak with representatives from the NY-NJ Trail Conference. Hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be available to all attendees.

The Photography Exhibition

Tales of the Trail is a photo-documentary of portraits of Thru-Hikers, accompanied by stories of their life and from their long hike spanning 2,185 miles from Georgia to Maine. At the exhibit you can expect to see an array of portraits in various sizes mounted on natural wood in the huge studio space provided at Love Life. Each image will be accompanied by a short story, quote, or synopsis of the Thru-Hikers meeting with Heather Palecek, photographer. Heather writes about the Thru-Hikers and her photography project, "As many of them told me of hiking the trail, their faith in humanity has been restored, and I am finding that mine has been too. If you need yours restored as well, look no further."

The stories and portraits of the Thru-Hikers captured in Tales of the Trail can be incredibly inspirational, sometimes humorous, other times sad - but almost all of them will make you want to hike the trail in part or in whole. Memorable stories are those of a young man who is hiking with Bell's Palsy, which he got through a tick bite while on the trail, a 60 year old woman who states, "You have to push yourself to grow", and that of a man who is Thru-Hiking for the second time in his life and says, "The trail calls you back. You start thinking about it. You start missing it."

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