ATC in the Maple Syrup Business?????????

[joedannajr]

Saw this tree on my AT thru of Hanover NH today.IMG_1475.jpg

[buff_jeff]

Probably the Dartmouth Outing Club, or some other club from Dartmouth, I'm guessing.

[Wise Old Owl]

it doesn't matter to mee....what's your point?

[ALLEGHENY]

it doesn't matter to mee....what's your point?

I think IT'S A ????????? not a point.

[quilteresq]

Syrup bucket - very early this year for them.

[Lone Wolf]

looks to me like the land owner allows the AT to go through his/her property

[SwitchbackVT]

Vermont Maple syrup is way better

VT greeting: "Hoyt! How's the sap runnin?!"

[dshideler]

I was going to try making some maple syrup this year, but trying to figure this crazy weather out I decided to wait till next year. The red maple buds are already swelling up here in southern Ohio. Crazy.

[Cookerhiker]

Vermont Maple syrup is way better ...

Just like Fall colors in New England are somehow better that the rest of the deciduous belt in Eastern US.

Actually, I like VT maple syrup very much and always procure some when I'm up there, usually from a farm with a sign out front.

I realize that your context is humorous. Real maple syrup is also available in the high-elevation portions of the mid-Atlantic, not the AT corridor as much but futher west in the Alleghenies. I lived in Western MD for 2 1/2 years where it was plentiful. It's also made in SW PA and the highlands of Western Virginia and West Virginia. I brought a gallon to the '08 Southern Ruck and sure enough, I heard "I didn't think you had real maple syrup in Maryland.." Like those places in New England, I bought it straight from a farm i.e. no middle man.

For years now, I've been hooked (spoiled?) - Real maple syrup is all I'll use.



Referring to the photo, if you cycle the Great Allegheny Passage outside Cumberland, MD, you'll see trees with the hosing and taps.

[Old Hillwalker]

Speaking as the former AT Corridor Monitor Coordinator for the section between Woodstock, VT and Glen Cliff, NH I can assure you that there is quite a bit of sap gathering (sugaring) that takes place in VT. Both legally and on occasion, not-legally. The landowners from whom lands were acquired quite often retain agricultural rights for the property. Both grazing, hay cultivation, orghard maintenance, and sugaring. It is also possible to obtain a agricultural permit for sugaring on NPS and USFS lands which of course includes the AT Corridor. There are a few sections in Vermont where the plastic sap lines run parallel to the trail for hundreds of yards. One landowner retains nearly full rights to his farm until his death at which time the farm will be the full property of the NPS, and the farm buildings will likely be demolished.

[WingedMonkey]

There are a few sections in Vermont where the plastic sap lines run parallel to the trail for hundreds of yards.

Coming from the land of sugar cane and sorghum syrup, I had a idealized vision of trees hanging with buckets and sap dripping of New England.
I was quite surprised when I came upon my first "sugaring", and saw the lines running across acres and acres of woods and back to the collection point.
Another Rockwell moment busted.

[keepinitsimple]

Wow, I have learned a lot about syrup and the law today, and I love it. I will take real maple syrup from anywhere. I am alos glad to hear about the support of local farms. At this time of the year it is great to remember how good we have it in PA, and how good our neighbors are doing. No farms- no food. I work in a boro surrounded by farmland, yet there is not one grocery store in the boro. the people on foot have no access to freash produce. With the exception of a poorly run seasonal farme market that brings in no urban cusomers.

[Kerosene]

For years now, I've been hooked (spoiled?) - Real maple syrup is all I'll use.

Same here. I'm definitely spoiled, to the point that I appreciate the difference between Vermont, central New York, northern Minnesota, and Michigan maple syrup (ordered in declining preference). Never tried anything from the Allegheny's as I don't pass through there very often.

[Old Hiker]

Wow, I have learned a lot about syrup and the law today, and I love it. I will take real maple syrup from anywhere. I am alos glad to hear about the support of local farms. At this time of the year it is great to remember how good we have it in PA, and how good our neighbors are doing. No farms- no food. I work in a boro surrounded by farmland, yet there is not one grocery store in the boro. the people on foot have no access to freash produce. With the exception of a poorly run seasonal farme market that brings in no urban cusomers.

Sounds like an opportunity for a capitalist entrepreneur. Go, Free Enterprise!

[jakedatc]

Coming from the land of sugar cane and sorghum syrup, I had a idealized vision of trees hanging with buckets and sap dripping of New England.
I was quite surprised when I came upon my first "sugaring", and saw the lines running across acres and acres of woods and back to the collection point.
Another Rockwell moment busted.

Plenty of small or private places do it the old way. But i'm sure if you were in a decent sized operation you wouldn't want to haul buckets all day either

[peakbagger]

Hihg volume maple sugar operations are hihg tech these days. The use "microtaps" with internal check valves hooked into plastic tubing that is connected to a vacuum pump to get a higher volume of syrup. Once the sap is collected they run it through a reverse osmosis filter to remove a large amount of the water. The thickened sap is then typically run through oil fired evaporators with several stages of heat recovery. The microtaps are somewhere around 3/8" in diamter and cause less stress to the trees.

Of course a couple hungry squirrrels or a moose walking through the woods breaking tubing can really screw things up.

I beleive Canada is the major producer of maple syrup and there are various subsidies that make it less expensive to produce than the US. The government stockpiles syrup so that the price doesnt drop in good years due to too much supply. Reportedly there have been years when they had a couple of years worth of syrup stockpiled.

[Cookerhiker]

High volume maple sugar operations are high tech these days. The use "microtaps" with internal check valves hooked into plastic tubing that is connected to a vacuum pump to get a higher volume of syrup. Once the sap is collected they run it through a reverse osmosis filter to remove a large amount of the water. The thickened sap is then typically run through oil fired evaporators with several stages of heat recovery. The microtaps are somewhere around 3/8" in diamter and cause less stress to the trees.

Of course a couple hungry squirrrels or a moose walking through the woods breaking tubing can really screw things up...

Very interesting - so they don't have to boil it for hours any more?

[Jeff]

In 2012 at our hostel you cook the pancakes, we provide real Vermont maple syrup !!!

[jakedatc]

Very interesting - so they don't have to boil it for hours any more?

thats the multistage evaporator bit.. probably doesn't take as long if they reduce some water, which saves fuel costs.

[Tinker]

I've seen the blue plastic sap lines criss-crossing the trail before (either AT or Long Trail - most likely the LT). I was wondering who owned the property that the trail was going through at the time, too.