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bearbait2k4
11-01-2004, 12:58
On my 2003 long distance hike, I left a register at one of the shelters within the PATC territory.

Luckily, I received this register in the mail, but noticed that the 2003 entries were removed, and the PATC "claimed" the register as their own, by crossing out all of my mailing information. I had put my mailing information in an additional page toward the end of the register, and am guessing that this is how it was mailed to me when full.

I don't really understand the reason behind the PATC claiming registers left by hikers, but noticed (after dropping mine off) that this seems to be the norm for this section of the trail.

Is there an official reason behind the PATC trying to keep all registers? I understand that most trail clubs will drop off a register if the current shelter register is full, but what gives the club the authority to try to claim registers that are dropped off by hikers on the trail?

DebW
11-02-2004, 15:20
It is also the policy of the Massachusetts AT Committee to claim and keep all registers. We use them to assess usage at the shelter sites.

Blue Jay
11-02-2004, 15:47
It is also the policy of the Massachusetts AT Committee to claim and keep all registers. We use them to assess usage at the shelter sites.

Why wouldn't you just count the entries. In a few minutes, even with a full register you could quickly note any multiples under a single entry. Clearly they are collected for the amusement of club members who don't feel like going out to that particular shelter. It is felt that since the maintainers do all the work they should get some small pay back and there is certainly much validity in doing so.

veteran
11-02-2004, 16:11
Is there an official reason behind the PATC trying to keep all registers? I understand that most trail clubs will drop off a register if the current shelter register is full, but what gives the club the authority to try to claim registers that are dropped off by hikers on the trail?

Try asking the question on there forum:


http://www.hypernews.org/HyperNews/get/trails/PATC.html

Rain Man
11-02-2004, 18:39
It is also the policy of the Massachusetts AT Committee to claim and keep all registers. We use them to assess usage at the shelter sites.

Sounds pretty arrogant to me, given that the trail is a Federal trail, and does not belong to any local club.

Am I off-base to think local clubs don't somehow gain personal ownership of anything at all on the trail? I don't think I would want to be on their side in a court of law.
:-?
Rain Man

.

WalkinHome
11-02-2004, 19:28
In Maine, the MATC places the registers and expects to collect them. We take away comments, grievances, suggestions and look for any alerts about the trail. We keep them for historical reasons also. I was amazed on my thru as to how the registers were handled in the south. Can't speak for the PATC. Ask them.

rickb
11-02-2004, 21:28
Where do you keep them, Walking Home?

WalkinHome
11-02-2004, 22:33
I don't know but they show up at annual meetings from time to time. MATC does not have any facilities but much of our "stuff" (includes just about anything) is spread out over active members' homes, i.e. I have old map films and such in my storage. Overseers would have some tools etc.

weary
11-02-2004, 22:53
The policy has always been that nothing should be left in the shelters that hasn't been placed there by the maintainers, or the maintaining clubs. Everything else is considered trash.

MATC, in recognition of this policy and in recognition that shelter registers can occasionally provide valuable information, places its own registers in the shelters and collects them when they are full.

We have a trail historian who is supposed to keep these historical documents, when the trail overseers no longer find the information current enough to be useful.

However, it is not a perfect system. Periodically registers are stolen or vandalized.

Weary

Skyline
11-03-2004, 15:05
I responded to this post on the PATC Trails Forum (URL noted above), tho the question was asked by someone with an entirely different name. I'm pasting it here for the convenience of whiteblaze users:

This post has appeared almost verbatim on whiteblaze and trailforums in the past and was recently resurrected. It has been asked and answered there within the past year, and of course it has brought out some animosity against the 32 A.T. maintaining clubs including PATC.

Once upon a time, there was a "tradition" of individuals leaving behind some kind of notebook to be used as a register, that they expected to have returned to them when finished. Those days, on many parts of the A.T., are over. For the reasons mentioned here by others (and other reasons not mentioned) trail clubs provide the registers via volunteer shelter maintainers, and they are the property of the club. When filled, they become a part of the club's archives.

One of the other reasons not mentioned here yet that trail clubs want to provide the register is so it can include pertinent, well-thought information about the shelter, environs, backcountry regs, LNT, etc. If that is left up to individuals to do, it may not get done or it may be done in a way that imparts innacurate/incomplete/confusing verbage.

It may be a kind gesture for a hiker to leave behind something that can be temporarily used as a register if the old one is filled. But it should and likely will be replaced with an official register in due time, and the temporary register will become a part of the club's archive to maintain continuity. If you leave such a temporary register, it might be appropriate to receive thanks for doing so but it is inappropriate for you to expect to receive it back as a souvenir. It will serve a much greater good as part of the archive.

It is important to note that because a trail club maintains these archives, anyone can view past registers by simply going to the club's headquarters. PATC in particular includes information on how to access old registers at their Vienna, VA office (near DC, not far from a public transit hub) on the front inside cover of its officially-supplied shelter registers. If a register resides in your home, collecting dust as a souvenir, how are you going to provide the same level of access?

bearbait2k4
11-03-2004, 15:54
Thanks for the info., skyline.