This event has reached capacity and registration is now closed. Thank you for your interest in PVAS’s New Year’s Hike.

This January 1st event was rescheduled and moved to January 2nd due to forecasted rain. 

New Year’s Day Hike Leader: Jim Cummins

Everyone is welcome to join this New Year’s Day Hike, however, registration is required and limited to 9 participants; please register below.

PVAS is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all of our community. In order to do this, we are implementing the following WV State Guidelines for this gathering. Please read them carefully and contact Krista Hawley at AdultPrograms@PotomacAudubon.org if you have any questions:

• Registration is limited to 9 participants.
• Masks must be worn when physical distancing is not possible.
• Respect the 6 feet apart/physical distancing guidelines.

Looking forward to celebrating the new year? We sure are! PVAS President, Jim Cummins, is here to help start your 2021 off on the right foot with a New Year’s Day Hike. Join him as he heads downstream along the C&O Canal observing and discussing interesting natural features and history around the Pack Horse Ford section.

Participants will meet at 10:00 a.m. at the large parking area on Canal Road across from Shepherdstown. Coming from Shepherdstown, cross the bridge (Route 34) from Shepherdstown heading towards Sharpsburg, take the first right turn onto Canal Road. Follow the road down the hill and past the first small parking area, under the railroad bridge to the large parking lot on your left. From Sharpsburg, it will be your last left turn off of Route 34 before going over the bridge into Shepherdstown.

Trip leader, Jim Cummins, is a retired freshwater ecologist. Jim and his wife Nancy, a retired Jefferson County teacher, live in Bakerton. He has a Masters of Science (1985) in Biology from George Washington University. Jim co-started the District of Columbia’s fisheries program where he worked from 1985 to 1988. From 1988 until his retirement in 2016, he was the Director of the Living Resources for the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. His projects included biological assessments of streams and rivers in WV, MD, PA and DC, environmental flow studies, habitat restoration and fish passage, especially in regard to the Little Falls Dam near Washington, D.C. and a linked American shad stocking program with integrated student and volunteer involvement. Jim enjoys woodworking, gardening, fishing, canoeing, playing music, working at various scales to improve the community, reading, and trying to keep a beagle named “Abe” from causing trouble.

Those who participate should be sure to dress warmly, wear sturdy footwear and bring along a mask that covers both your mouth and nose.

The walk will start at the large parking area off Canal Road. The group will walk the C&O Canal downriver and back, covering approximately 2 miles in total. The C&O Canal path is relatively level ground, making the walk accessible for most everyone.

If you have questions, please contact Krista Hawley at adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org or call the Cool Spring Preserve Nature Center at 681-252-1387.

If we need to cancel this hike due to poor weather conditions, we will post a decision on the event and send an email to all registrants by noon the day prior.