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The Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club

The Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club (ODATC) is an organization of individuals and trail-related organizations who meet to recreate in the outdoors in various ways as well as act as stewards of a portion of the Appalachian Trail and the public lands it runs through.  Our recreational  endeavors focus on hiking in Virginia but includes biking, paddling and touring as well.   While the majority of our events occur in Virginia our only true limits are what members wish to limit themselves to. Learn more              

News Flash:   

*Member Meetings - Link to meeting details

* 2026 General Meetings

     Tuesday, March 10, Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road, Henrico, VA 23229 

This month’s speaker will be Brenda Gentry from Chickahominy Animal rescue. She will tell us about things we can do when we are out and about and come across an injured animal.  She will share stories and talk about their interaction with the Chickahominy Wildlife Management area as well.

The meeting starts at 6:30 with social time, followed by our business meeting at 7 o’clock. Please bring finger food to share if you like.  Hope to see you there!

Please park behind the church and come in on the lower level.

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      Upcoming meetings: May 12, September 8, and November 10

          Membership Link

* Board Meeting: Tuesday, April 14, 2026 Member Link

 

*Website Update: We are excited to announce our new web and email address is functional, ODATC.org.  And the Trail Club has begun to set up a new Google Workspace.  We expect better email for Club correspondence, electronic document storage, public calendars, electronic video meetings, collaboration on written document drafts and more visibility for our club webpage.  A schedule to change over all  the club emails has not been defined.  Please reach out with questions or ideas to support@odatc.org


Upcoming events

THE ODATC EXPERIENCE - CURRENT ISSUES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS



Spotted Lanternfly Egg Mass Scouting – DIY!

If you are in search of a fun winter activity, look no further! The spotted lanternfly (or SLF, for short), an invasive insect that was discovered in Virginia in 2018, continues to spread, and we need your help finding egg masses. Spotted lanternfly egg masses are laid in the fall, survive through the winter, and then hatch in the spring. Each egg mass contains 30-50 eggs, so finding and destroying these egg masses can make a difference. Learn how to identify them and what to do when you find them.


How to identify SLF egg masses:
Spotted lanternfly females lay eggs in rows and then cover the eggs with a protective substance. The covering is white and glossy at first, turns grey/brown when dried, and cracks and fades over time. Sometimes the covering wears off completely, exposing the individual eggs. If nymphs have already emerged, there will be a perfect oval at the top of each egg. The entire egg mass is about 1.5 inches long, and looks similar to a smudge of clay.  

Taken from Virginia Department of Forestry, By Lori Chamberlin, VDOF Forest Health Manager
See original article at  https://dof.virginia.gov/spotted-lanternfly-egg-mass-scouting-diy

FALL LINE TRAIL UPDATE

The Fall Line trail is a 43 mile biking and walking trail between Ashland and Petersburg.

The big news on the trail is that the bid request for building the first section is going out in December 2022.  The first section is a 4.8 mile section starting in Ashland, crossing the Chickahominy river on a bridge to be built for the trail and ending at Woodman Road in Henrico County.  Construction should start in mid 2023 and finish a year after the starting date.  The total trail is estimated to take 5 years to build.   Jim Hunt
Overall information on the Fall Line Trail is available at https://www.falllineva.org/

Leonard Adkins Receives Award for His Latest Book

ODATC member Leonard Adkins's book All About the Appalachian Trail was recently named a Silver Award Winner in the 33rd annual Independent Book Publishers
Association Benjamin Franklin Award category of Young Reader Nonfiction.

Please click here if you would like to read the full article.

If you're interested in procuring a copy of Leonard's book, please click here for the information that originally appeared on our site.






ATC Trailway News Now Available

If you would like to look at the Conservancy's latest Trailway Newsletter, please click here.


Student Conservation Association Summer Trail Crew Opportunity

The National Park Service's Blue Ridge Parkway is supporting a summer work opportunity for young people to work for 12 weeks on a roving trail crew working in West Virginia, Virginia, and New Hampshire. The Virginia work will be primarily on the Humpback Rocks Trail, leading from Humpback Gap to the rocks. This trail is very popular, and connects to our club's section of the Appalachian Trail.

A stipend will be paid to support each crew member; training, meals, and campsites are provided. The minimum age is 18, and work dates are       6/12/23-9/1/23. 

Learn more at: https://www.thesca.org/position/2023-east-roving-trail-resource-corps-po-00734614/


Change in Payment of Membership Dues


For members who have been making their annual membership fee payment using PayPal, please note that there has been a change in the way payments will be handled on the ODATC website.

Prior to this change, members would elect to pay with PayPal and be redirected to a PayPal site. 

We will no longer be using PayPal to make payments.  Instead, we will be using the website’s hosting company’s automated payment system. 

At our last board meeting it was decided to make this change so that we could save the club an additional two hundred dollars a year.  This is the amount Wild Apricot charges us for not using their system.   

Treasurer Bill Beck made the necessary changes, and has tested it out. 

What you will notice when your pay your dues is that you will be asked to enter your credit card information - just like any other online purchase.   There will be no option for PayPal. 

If you are accustomed to making your payments by sending a personal check to ODATC, please continue doing so.  This change only relates to those members who have been making their payments via PayPal.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.




Elected Board Members for 2026

President:  Mark Heede


Vice-President: Ashish Roy


Secretary: Scott Herbert

Treasurer:  Bill Beck


Programs: Doug Morgan


Land Management:  Karl Huber  

    
Membership:  John Spindler     


Trail Maintenance:  Dave Wilcox and Craig Hardy will be co - Trail Maintenance supervisors


Outreach:  Pat Doyle   

                   
Webmaster:  Bob Ramos 

         
Activities:  Art Ritter

 


The ODATC Mission

Constructing and maintaining foot trails for hikers on the Appalachian Trail between Reeds Gap and Rockfish Gap. 

Monitoring and maintaining the borders of National Park Service lands.

Providing excursions on these trails and other areas. 

Offering educational activities related to the need for preserving the great outdoors. 

Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club (c). 
P.O. Box 25283 
Richmond, VA 23260-5283
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