Though they can't join us at this year's festival, the producers of "Shenandoah Treasures" are donating some of their beautiful calendars to support our event. The calendars share the splendors of Shenandoah National Park—and more. Each month's calendar page reveals some of the wonders of the park's trails, encouraging us all to go discover them for ourselves.
 
Here's a few words from Tracy Foertsch with the story behind her calendar:

I have lived in Northern Virginia since finishing graduate school in 1997 and have been hiking in Shenandoah National Park for about as long. At this point, I have probably hiked all but a handful of trails in the park. 

Aside from hiking, I have always had an interest in landscape photography and early on started hiking with a camera. Over time, the hobby became more serious, and I started going out with the intent of capturing beautiful images that would encourage others to explore the park.
 
The pictures in the calendar were selected to represent what Shenandoah National Park typically looks like during each month. In 2022, the photo for January is a snowy mountain scene at sunrise and the photo for August is a lush green gorge with a small waterfall.

Many of the photographs were taken along popular hiking trails. I provide informative descriptions for each location on the page directly beneath each photograph. The text indicates the location where I took each photograph and gives a bit of background information about the area.
 
All of the photographs are original and have not been published anywhere else. Our objective with the "Shenandoah Treasures" calendar is to encourage visitors to venture away from the overlooks and their cars on Skyline Drive and to discover some of the beautiful places that can be just a mile or two down a trail.  

Take the pledge. It's easy. Pick up 30 pieces of trash this month. Think it won't make a difference? What if 100 people in your town took the same pledge? What if 1000 people in your county did the same? We could clean up our green spaces pretty darn quick.

Take the #LeaveNoTrash pledge here.

Even better, what if we all pledge to Leave No Trace? At the festival, we'll have reps from the Potomac Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club talking LNT at 4 p.m. Learn how to responsibly enjoy the beauty and the bounty our wild spaces.