Loudoun Appalachian Trail Festival, June 6
By Jody Brady
We hope you’ll join us at the seventh annual Loudoun Appalachian Trail Festival in Hillsboro, Va., on June 6. You can expect a day of live music, trail talks, bites and brews, nature crafts, hiking displays and a climbing wall. Plus, many of your fellow PATC volunteers take part in this family-friendly event.
President Jim “Sisu” Fetig joins our thru-hiker panel at 12:30, alongside thru-hiker/authors Heather “Anish” Anderson and Ben “Nephew” Montgomery. Also on the panel, former PATC Ridgerunner Ray “Bones” Stinson. PATC member and thru-hiker Charlie “Popeye” Billingsley moderates the conversation.
It’s a full day of all-things AT.
Anderson, Montgomery, and hiker/historian Jeff Ryan will be selling and signing their AT-themed books all day. Ryan offers a “Beyond Ramen: Trail Gourmet” talk at 2:30, and PATC archivist/author Mills Kelly speaks before Ryan at 1:30. PATC’s Jim Fetig will say a few words about the club from the main music stage before introducing one of the bands. And, of course, we’ll have a PATC tent and display. Stop by and meet up with other members.
The festival is presented by the Loudoun Appalachian Trail Association (LATA), a nonprofit consortium of three of ATC’s AT Communities: the towns of Round Hill, Hillsboro, and Bluemont. LATA’s used gear sale and auction at the festival support year-round stewardship programming, such as the recent Bears Den lodge renovations.
For more information, please visit www.loudounat.org.