Rob Lamar
August 2024
Rob Lamar’s Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2015 inspired him to become more involved with his local A.T. maintaining club, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC). He now wears several volunteer hats within PATC, serving as the club’s Natural Resource Advisor and the co-district manager of the section of A.T. from Ashby Gap (VA) to Harper’s Ferry (WV).
But his connection with the A.T. started decades before he hiked the entire Trail or joined PATC.
“My uncles actually owned part of the A.T.,” Rob remembers. “They had woodlots on South Mountain in Maryland. Eventually their land was acquired for the A.T.”
Additionally, his family went to church with Ruth Blackburn, former president of PATC and the first female chair of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and he remembers having conversations with Ruth about the A.T.
Rob’s work in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park early in his career further cemented his love for the Appalachian Mountains, especially the unique flora of the area. He spent the first part of his career as a Resource Management Specialist with the National Park Service until he switched to academia with West Virginia University and Ferrum College. He retired early to thru-hike the A.T., then section hiked the Trail with his wife over two years.
“I wanted to make it survivable for our 40+ year relationship,” he lightheartedly explained.
Volunteering on the A.T. allows Rob to fulfill his desire to make the Trail better for the next generation of hikers, to preserve the Trail’s natural flora by managing invasive species, and to enjoy the pleasure of working with other passionate volunteers who elevate the A.T. hiking experience from Georgia to Maine.
“It’s not just PATC,” Rob explains. “When I was thru-hiking, I ran into volunteers from different clubs that had a common enthusiasm and passion for the resource.”
Marian Orlousky, ATC Director of Science and Stewardship, shares that Rob has a positive and lighthearted attitude, and yet he takes his work as the Natural Resource Advisor very seriously.
“Rob is both passionate and knowledgeable about resource protection; dare I say he almost makes invasive species work fun,” Marian quips. “He has single-handedly recruited and trained a cadre of volunteers within PATC that are now mapping AND treating invasive species in northern Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia, both on and off the A.T. This has been a momentous accomplishment for PATC and the cooperative management partnership.”
In addition to his invaluable role in resource protection, Rob works with Chris Bunton, another PATC volunteer, to recruit and train several dozen trail maintainers, and oversees group projects that need more labor than an individual maintainer can provide, such as severe vegetation encroachment or erosion.
Rob’s appreciation of the variety in his volunteer work undoubtedly inspires him to remind others that there are many ways to volunteer on the A.T.
“Everyone has different interests. Some people interested in engineering might be really interested in the technical aspects of trail work. People really into nature might be into rare plant monitoring and resource protection,” he explains.
Rob’s advice on how to find out if a volunteer role is a good fit is short and simple.
“Jump into the shallow end of the pool and try it out.”