Photo provided BCSC School Board member Dale Nowlin is shown on the Appalachian Trail as part of his fundraising effort for the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board member Dale Nowlin is on the final stretch of his fundraising trek this summer, hiking the Appalachian Trail to benefit the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation.
He’s now on what is considered the most remote section of the Trail, 100 miles through the wilderness of Maine.
On the day of the next BCSC school board meeting on July 21, Nowlin, a retired math teacher, expects to be reaching the summit of the 5,269-foot Mount Katahdin and “Dale on the Trail” will be officially complete.
Donations to “Dale on the Trail” will go to a fund at each BCSC high school for students with special finanial needs, Nowlin said. That could be dual credit tuition, supplies needed for C4 classes, uniform or costume fees for students in choir or band, among other things.
If he’s able to raise enough, donations will also go towards grants for teachers,
“I’m excited to finish it, but it’s also a little bittersweet,” Nowlin said. “I’m starting in the 100-mile wilderness. I’m actually heading to New Hampshire right now to do 20 miles that I had to skip a couple years ago because of snow on the trail.”
When Nowlin started out on part of the 2,190 mile path, he wasn’t sure whether it would be a one-time endeavor. In his first year, it rained 17 of the 21 days he hiked. At one point, the former math teacher was in Irwin, Tennessee enduring pouring rain.
“I had blisters from hiking and wet shoes and socks. I called my wife and I said, ‘I’m done. Come and pick me up.’ And she said, ‘Oh, no I won’t pick you up yet. If you stop now, you’ll always regret it.’”
Two days later the sun came out, Nowlin said, noting his wife Isabel’s wisdom.
“I fell in love with it,” he said of the annual summer hikes.
With the exception of 2020, when the pandemic made it difficult to reach the trail, Dale has been on the trail every summer.
He raised $5,000 for BCSF during last year’s trek, hiking parts of New Hampshire and Maine with Brian Pierson and Richard Liu, two of his former students. It was the first time the two former students had back-packed.
“It was the hardest part of the trail,” Nowlin said. “It was so hard. I mean, we were climbing huge boulders and passing our packs to each other.”
Pierson and Liu were with Nowlin for about five days before it was time for them to return to their jobs.
“I don’t think I can keep doing this part by myself,” Nowlin told himself, but he knew he had committed to doing the fundraiser so he ventured on, although with a slight twist and a little help.
“I said, ‘I can’t just quit hiking because I’m doing this fundraiser, so what if you guys just drive me back to New York?’ I’ve already done the trail in New York, but at least I’m hiking.”
His former students dropped him off near the Connecticut-New York line and Nowlin went south when his wife called, wondering what he was doing back in New York.
“I told her, ‘The trail wins. I can’t do it. It’s too hard.’”
After doing an additional 50 miles in New York, Isabel offered to pick her husband up and took him back to Maine, dropping him off early in the morning and picking him up later in the day so Nowlin didn’t have to carry around his large backpack.
This time around, Nowlin will be doing about 140 miles of hiking, including the 100-mile wilderness— a name that earns its title.
“There are no public road crossings for 100 miles,” Nowlin said. “There are some forest roads and lumber company roads, but no actual state or federal highways or local roads.”
Nowlin said he will be posting about his hike on social media as he progresses.
To donate to the foundation in honor of the hike, visit BCSFstars.org and select “donate now” on the top right. Before submitting payment, those donating are asked to click on “special instructions” and type in “Dale on the Trail.”
Checks can also be sent to BCSF at 1200 Central Ave., Columbus, IN 47201, with “Dale on the Trail” on the memo line.
