Summit's Virtual Hike Across The Appalachian Trail

A.T. Night

2008-03-19T10:23:00.003-04:00

Thursday, March 20th is A.T. Night here a Summit. We will be sharing what we have learned with the community and eatting great food. Hope you can join us there!

Kindergarten Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:23:00.001-04:00

Yea! We made it over the suggested 75 miles in Georgia. Most of the time we talked about the animals and habitats along the way. We have also shared pictures of the mountains and talked about how the trail has changed over the years. People have been the biggest culprit!

1st Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:22:00.000-04:00

We have completed the 88 miles there and 88 back. The children are currently working on researching facts about North Carolina in anticipation of our info board for A.T. Night.

2nd Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:21:00.004-04:00

2nd grade has completed our 293 mile journey through Tennessee. We learned the State wildflower is the Iris, Bull Cave is the Deepest cave @ 924 feet, the State animal is the Raccoon, and the Appalachian Mountains boarder the eastern part of Tennessee.

3rd Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:21:00.003-04:00

The third grade has walk/run 1,463 miles of the AT. We started at Springer Mountain, Georgia and have persevered through North Carolina, Tenneessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New york. We are currently in Connecticut. Our goal is to reach the end in Maine before the school year ends. We are about three-fourths of the way there! Since we have travel so fast and so far, we are currently gathering facts about native plants and animals, as well as landforms in Virginia. Over one-fourth of the AT trail is located in Virginia. We are linking up with the Appalachian Bluebird society and building some bluebird houses to be placed at our new school site. We hope to help connect the Bluebird trail from Virginia into North Carolina. More details later, we have miles to go and things to see and learn.

4th Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:21:00.001-04:00

To come

5th Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:20:00.003-04:00

5th has learned that the Penn. section has a wide array of large mammals such as a large black bear pop., deer, fox, coyote. We also know that the trail is rocky and hard on boots and feet. The elevation gains are from 320- 2080 feet.

6th Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:20:00.001-04:00

Since last hiking through Connecticut and New York and back again, the Summit sixth grade have since trekked an additional 340 miles on the Appalachian Trail. This puts their total AT hiking mileage at 620 miles! Speeches are currently being prepared on copperheads, red-tailed hawks, moose, bald eagles, black bears, cardinals, bluejays, bog turtles, black rat snakes, Mountain dusky salamanders, red wolves, and peregrine falcons. Benton MacKaye, the founder of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, is also being presented. The sixth grade is excited about AT night, and preparing a skit about hikers, animals and signs. We're excited and working hard!

7th Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:19:00.001-04:00

As you know we have already traveled through massachusetts and Vermont and are finishing New Hampshire.

New Hampsire: 161 miles of the A.T. goes through New Hampshire. The elevation is 400-6288ft. There are 35 peaks ove 3,000 feet.The best time to go is in July or August. White Mountains are the highlights of New Hampshire. There are very steep areas in this portion of the trail. Don't plan to hike more than 5-8 miles a day. Tempurature varies and snow is possible at any time of the year. Snow falls on Mt. Washington every month of the year. High winds and dense fog are the norm for the climate. Trail enters NH at the college town of Hanover along the Vermont state line. The trail heads northeast into the White Mountains National Forest and exists at Grafton Notch near Bethel, Maine.Some of the recreational activities include trout fishing and camping. I hope you look foward to hiking this portion of the AT when visiting New England.

Lindsey and Morgan -- 7th grade

8th Grade Journal - March

2008-03-19T10:17:00.005-04:00

8th grade has hiked 249 miles. We have been working hard on our A.T. Night presentation as well. We have been studying the interesting facts about Maine because it is so different than any other part of the AT.

Kindergarten Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:14:00.001-05:00

We had walked 47 miles and we will have no problem reaching the goal. We have learned about the animals on our portion of the AT and have done fun projects for the class.

1st Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:13:00.002-05:00

1st grade has hiked 70 miles on the AT. We learned about Wayah Gap. It's elevation is 4300 feet. We are hiking through North Carolina.

2nd Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:13:00.001-05:00

We have traveled through Tennessee on the AT. Our class has walked over 90 miles. We are continuing through the spectacular state of North Carolina. We found out that Clingmans Dome is the highest point on the AT.

3rd Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:10:00.002-05:00

Third grade has walked from Georgia, through North Carolina and Tennessee. We have entered our part of the trail, Virginia and have walked 572.4 miles. We are learning about our portion of the trail through discussions, books, and also pictures and stories from Barry Campbellbecause he and his dad have spent two days hiking on the trail. Zack Ross reported that the largest known tulip tree is in the Great Smokey Mountains. It is about 180 feet tall. We are excited to learn more and still have more of miles to log but we are hiking our way.

4th Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:10:00.001-05:00

5th Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:09:00.004-05:00

We have hiked our total mileage of 229 and then some. We have begun to gather some facts about the AT in general during a computer lab session. We just returned from the Smokies and we hiked collectively 40 miles by 20 of us hiking one mile north of Newfound Gap and back to the gap. One interesting fact that we discovered is that their are 260 shelters along the length of the AT.

6th Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:09:00.003-05:00

The sixth grade has run 280 miles through New York and Connecticut and back again. There are 5,000 volunteers who maintain the A.T. every year.

7th Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:09:00.001-05:00

The 7th grades have been hiking through Vermont on the Appalachian Trail. We hiked 150 miles through Vermont and now we are moving on to New Hampshire. Vermont is between the Connecticut River and the Green Mountains. The trail approches treeline at Killington and Stratton mountians. Vermont hiking covers a lot of different terain. Such as: rocky, and many others.

8th Grade Journal - October

2007-11-13T11:08:00.000-05:00

Don't Forget!

2007-10-02T14:50:00.000-04:00

All of our Journals are archived so you can go back and see what we have done. Check out the archive links to the right!

Kindergarten Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:46:00.000-04:00

Every student chose an animal (to research) that they might find on the AT. It has been interesting. While they have learned a lot, the parents have done a great job helping the children get and learn the info.

1st Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:45:00.002-04:00

We've gone 68 miles on the AT through NC. The kids have enjoyed learning about the different elevations on the NC portion of the AT thanks to a wonderful display Terry Beye made for us to use. We will soon be starting projects about the animals we've seen along the way!

2nd Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:44:00.002-04:00

Second Grade is enjoying their virtual tour thought the beautiful state of Tennessee. We have traveled 55 miles. We have seen rattlesnakes, gray squirrels, chipmunks, possums, deer, turkey, bear, and many other interesting critters.

3rd Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:43:00.001-04:00

The third grade has logged a total of 264.3 miles on the trail. Our goal is to walk through Virginia but we have challenged ourselves to walk from GA all the way to VA. Then we will start our trek through VA where we will explore the trail more closely and look at animals, plants, and climate.

4th Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:42:00.003-04:00

5th Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:41:00.000-04:00

5th Grade Teacher Eric Sink's personal experience:

On Sunday September 3oth I had to opportunity to go for a run on the AT close to Hot Springs, NC. Hot Springs is one of those interesting towns along the AT that is used by many thru-hikers for a rest stop. The trail actually runs through the town and on the sidewalks there are AT symbols that show you where to travel through town to make it back into the wilderness. This town has neat little restaurants, hotels, and, of course, hot springs to soak those sore muscles.

Sunday afternoon I put on my running shoes and shorts, filled my water bottle with some sports drink, and headed out the door. I walked through town on the concrete trail, crossed the bridge the leads out of town towards Asheville, and turned left at the end of the bridge. The trail leads down a steep bank and then parallels upstream the French Broad River. As I ran, I felt the breeze on my face and watched the leaves flickering in the wind. The sun was shining just at the right angle to make the water shimmer with a golden color. It was picture perfect. Soon the AT took a sharp left-hand turn which left the river and begin to climb up and up to a rocky outcropping called Lover's Leap. The view on top was beautiful as I looked down over Hot Springs. As I stood and caught my breath you could hear a train rolling into Hot Springs. The sun was hot and it was time to keep moving along the trail. I headed down the other side of the mountain where it was shady and cool with a sense of thanksgiving for a trail that gives so much back to those that tread across its back.

6th Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:40:00.000-04:00

The 6th grade has hiked 238 milies! They accrued many miles at Earthshine, with lots of outdoor hiking. Connecticut and New York are conquered!

7th Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:39:00.000-04:00

7th grade was designated to hike Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. The have hiked through Massachusetts, which was 90 miles. Hayden Bates and Janelle Johnson did some research and brought someinteresting facts to share with the class and middle school atrium. Hayden explained that the trail through Massachusetts ran along ridges and traversed the valleys of Bershire County. The AT was designed to provide a continous green corridor along the ridge of the Appalchian chain ofmoutains and hills. The At travles over Mount Everett in the south, Mount Greylock( highest pint in the state 3491'), in the north and the Housatonic and Hossac Valley's small towns. Mrs. G got married on top of Mt. Greylock and Mr. G. went to Hoosac Valley Highschool - little trivia

After entering Massachusetts near Williamstown, the Trail winds through the Bershires before going on to cross the Hoosic and Housatonic Rivers. There are sveral summits and ledges that provide views and there is plenty of water along the trail.

Janelle found out through her research that you can find bog turtles, on the AT. They are endangered. They are 6-10 cm long. Their upper shell is dull brown with faint yellowish or reddish starbust shaped patterns centered in each scute. We will all see Fragile Rock-Brake, on the trail. It is a plant that has leaves like a fern. Its about 1-8' tall, and is brown toward the base and green towards the top. It is mostly found on rock and limestone.

8th Grade Journal - September

2007-10-02T14:38:00.000-04:00

Kindergarten's Journal

2007-08-21T14:38:00.000-04:00

Information about Kindergarten's Section of the A.T.:

Hiking Georgia
Mileage goal = 75 miles

1st Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:35:00.000-04:00

Information about !st Grade's Section of the A.T.:

Hiking North Carolina
Mileage goal = 88 miles

2nd Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

Information about 2nd Grade's Section of the A.T.:

Hiking Tennessee
Mileage goal = 293 miles

3rd Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:25:00.001-04:00

Information about 3rd Grade's Section of the A.T.:

Hiking Virginia
Mileage goal = 550 miles

4th Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:20:00.001-04:00

Information about 4th Grade's Sections of the A.T.:

Hiking West Virginia and Maryland
Mileage goal = 45 miles

5th Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:15:00.000-04:00

Information about 5th Grade's Sections of the A.T.:

Hiking Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Mileage goal = 301 miles

6th Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:10:00.000-04:00

Information about 6th Grade's Sections of the A.T.:

Hiking New York and Connecticut
Mileage goal = 75 miles

7th Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

Information about 7th Grade's Sections of the A.T.:

Hiking Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire
Mileage goal = 401 miles

8th Grade's Journal

2007-08-21T13:55:00.000-04:00

Information about 8th Grade's Section of the A.T.:

Hiking Maine
Mileage goal = 281 miles