Leeanne Nagle
March 2024
Alpine Stewards educate hikers in the alpine zone on Franconia Ridge and Mt. Washington in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Stewards engage with hikers about Leave No Trace principles, alpine ecology, trail conditions, and backcountry safety, as well as monitor alpine plants at designated research plots so that Appalachian Mountain Club botanists can determine if humans or climate change is having an impact on them.
Leeanne Nagle commutes 3-hours to volunteer as an Alpine Steward in the Whites from her home in Massachusetts. Three to four weekends per year she hikes an average of 15-20 miles, depending on the weather, to protect and monitor sensitive plant life.
Prior to becoming an Alpine Steward in 2018, Leeanne volunteered as a Trailhead Steward with the USFS in the White Mountains. Now, she is a Lead Alpine Steward, which means that she helps to train and mentor incoming volunteers.
“Before leaving the hut Saturday morning, Leeanne made sure we knew the weather forecast, time of sunset, along with other information that may be useful to hikers we would encounter. [Her] approach was to educate hikers to make sure they were aware of conditions, prepared with the 10-essentials, had a bailout plan…and to share the benefits of staying on the trail to reduce erosion and protect fragile plant life in the alpine zone,” said Tracy Pixler who was mentored by Leeanne in 2023.
By being a resource for hikers’ frequently asked questions, Leeanne finds herself consistently helping visitors have an improved experience. She says that she’s often helping new hikers navigate their lack of experience and the environment. Into these conversations, she carries the humility of her own experiences as a new hiker 14 years ago. At that crossroad in her life, with a milestone birthday, suffering a layoff at work, and the conclusion of a relationship, she set out for a hike. She reflects now that she was unprepared for that first hike as well as the second one she took with her cousin shortly afterward. Yet with each successive hike, she learned more.
“Mountains and trails have really shown me who I am,” said Leeanne, who quickly launched from being a new hiker into someone who hikes and backpacks 4,000-foot mountains in New Hampshire and started running. “I became more active and more self-assured.”
Later she started volunteering on public lands simply because she had the time and started looking for opportunities.
In her mild-mannered way, Leeanne has found a way of connecting with visitors so that they can connect with the beautiful things around them.
“Professionally, I may never be remembered after I die, but my work outdoors will have a lasting legacy, even if they don’t say my name,” said Leeanne. “Maybe one of these plants I ask someone not to step on will be here for another hundred years.”
Leeanne believes that with a little bit of education, people can change actions that negatively impact the outdoors, things like littering or trampling, to a different trajectory for how they choose to interact with nature going forward. They might even someday help others by volunteering as a steward or doing trail maintenance; after all, training and tools are provided.
“More experienced hikers will ask me how I got the job and I say, ‘it’s not a job. I do it for fun, for free!’”
The Volunteer Alpine Steward Program is a partnership between the Appalachian Mountain Club, the White Mountain National Forest, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.