CMC Weekly News
08/18/04
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Note From The President
At the CMC Council meeting last week the Dues Committee reported back to the council. The committee's recommendation was to increase the CMC annual dues from $12 for an individual or family to $20 for an Individual and $30 for families. The council voted 6-2 to submit for vote to the general membership at the November Annual Banquet to raise the dues to $20/$30. We will try to communicate completely to you before the vote the details of this requested change. Don Walton
Les Love Saturday Work Day, This Saturday at Little SnowBall Tower Site
This Saturday is the quarterly works day for the Les Love Crew. Anyone interested we are going to the Little Snow Ball Tower Site to finish clearing the trees on the top of the old tower site. This will bring the historical 360 degree view back and make a beautiful 9 mile hike close to Asheville. We will divide into two crews, one will start from Bee Tree Gap and clear the weeds and trees out to SnowBall Gap. The large crew will go up and help clear the tress from the site. Meet at the McDonalds off 23/70 in Weaverville at 8am. Les Love, 658-1489, lesrlove@aol.com
IRS Mileage Deduction
Many people probably do not know that miles driven in your personal car while on official un-reimbursed CMC business is tax deductible. Of course non of the miles are reimbursed by the club so all of the official miles are deductible. What are official miles driven? Anyone who uses their car to do Trail Maintenance, Hike Leaders scouting hikes and probably Hike Leaders leading hikes. The allowed deduction is $.14 cents per mile.
Trail Maintenance Logging System Created
The Carolina Mountain Club (CMC) and associated trail maintenance organizations are creating a single location for hikers, bikers, horseback riders and other trail users to report trail problems encountered while in the local mountains. It is hoped that centralizing the reporting, storage and distribution of this information will help the volunteer trail maintenance teams prioritize and deal efficiently with problems found within our trail system.
The data collection system uses a site created on Yahoo Groups. Trail maintenance people (and other interested parties) may subscribe to the group and have access to all the data stored on the web site. People who don't want to join the group but want to report a problem may just email a description of the problem to cmctrailmaintenance@yahoogroups.com . The description should include the following information: • location of the problem-with as much accuracy as possible • description of the problem-e.g. blowdowns, logs or railings missing on bridge, trail washed out • date the problem was encountered • name, email address, phone number of the person reporting the problem (in case we need more information) • any other relevant information (e.g.: if the problem is a blowdown, let us know if it is fully blocking the trail or if you can just step over it)
There are multiple volunteer trail maintenance teams working within Western North Carolina, and the various trails have been assigned to specific teams for maintenance. Once the data is received at the web site it will automatically be distributed to the trail maintenance people who are members of the site. They will review the reports to cull out those which affect trails for which they are responsible. This information will be reported back to the moderator for storage in the trail status database. When the problem is corrected, this will also be added tot the data base.
CMC Wilderness First Aid Course
The CMC Education and Training committee is organizing a Wilderness First Aid Course on Nov. 13 and 14, 2004. This is a 16 hour course, led by professional trainers and held at Warren Wilson College. CMC offered it two years ago and it was a great success. To stay certified, you should take the course every two years. (Hopefully, you don't need to use the information too much. So they feel that the course needs to be taken every two years. This will be my 5th time taking it and I learn something new each time.) The cost to the participant is $75, which is not the full cost of the course. CMC is also contributing to the costs. **This is the last year, CMC will contribute to the costs.** All participants must be members, We only have room for 30 people. I know that the course is a long time from now. However I encourage you to sign up now with all your details (name, address, telephone number, email) *and* a self-addressed stamped envelope and a check for $75 made out to Carolina Mountain Club. Send it to me Danny Bernstein 36 Sunset Summit Asheville, NC 28804
Help Build the New Shelter
Are you interested in helping build the new Roaring Fork log shelter? We need people (6 to 8) that will be the main group for doing the major construction and guide others that help on a less frequent timetable. This work can be done during the week or on week-ends, depending on what is best for this central crew. We will soon finish peeling the bark from the logs and will then move all the material down to the shelter site. I do not expect the regular maintenance crews to be able to devote the time for this, they have much to do on all of the trails CMC maintains. If you are interested or just want more information, call me at 828-693-8258, e-mail at hamcdonald@cytechcis.net , or 1007 Park Place Trl., Hendersonville, NC 28792. Thank you. Howard McDonald
Multiclub Meet 2004 Camp Wesley Woods; Walland, Tennessee September 3-6, 2004
Hello southern region Appalachian Trail friends! We hope to see you at the Multi-Club meeting September 3-6, 2004. The website for Smoky Mountains Hiking club has changed to http://www.smhclub.org/ Information about the multi-club meeting and a downloadable registration form are on that site. We really need to get the registrations in so we can give our hosts, Wesley Woods, a head count. Please let anyone interested know about this Dianne Gruber grub9382@bellsouth.net
The Smoky Mountains Hiking Club is hosting the annual Multiclub Meet in 2004 at Camp Wesley Woods. The weekend consists of hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and surrounding areas, as well as excursions, slide shows and a dance. There will be plenty of time to spend with friends both old and new.
Located about 30 miles south of Knoxville, Tennessee, Camp Wesley Woods is a beautiful 710-acre retreat 20 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Streams, cliffs, mountain forest and river frontage provide stimulating settings for outdoor recreation. Many trails diverge in the woods, leading the inquisitive from valley to ridge tops abundant with wildflowers and wildlife. The camp is owned and operated by The United Methodist Church and has been serving campers since 1960. Camp Wesley Woods is a non-alcoholic facility. Look around their website at www.campwesleywoods.com to learn more about Camp Wesley Woods and the outdoor experience that they enjoy offering to you.
There will be accommodations in cabins or in your own tents. Two cabins at Wesley Woods have been reserved with a capacity of 12 people each. Spaces in the cabin rent for $11 per person per night. Tent camping is available at various sites around the Wesley Woods compound. Tent sites cost $5/person/night. Meals are served by the camp staff at Tipton Lodge. Wesley Woods does not provide supper on Fridays, but there are several restaurants within easy driving distance. Wesley Woods provides only cold meals on Sundays.
To download a registration form, visit the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club website at www.esper.com/smhc . For more information about Multiclub 2004, contact Dianne Gruber or Pete James at 865-977 0807 or grub9832@bellsouth.net .
