All Day  Saturday & Sunday

WEEKEND NO. A0902-tbd Apr. 17-19
Three-State Park Weekend
Danny Bernstein, 828-236-0192, danny@hikertohiker.com
LTC Come and hike in North Carolina’s Stone Mountain, Hanging Rock, and Pilot Mountain State Parks. A variety of hikes will be offered. You’ll walk on Stone Mountain’s 700-foot granite rock dome and see an amazing field of moonshine equipment. Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain State Parks, in the ancient Sauratown Mountains, have high quartzite cliffs, moderate woodland trails, and isolation from other mountain ranges. Stay in great campsites. For details, go to the CMC website and look under “hiking” for “state park weekend”. Contact the leader to register and for info about meeting location and time.

SATURDAY. No.A0902-327 Apr. 18
Ridgecrest Ramble *10:00 AM
Hike 6.5, Drive 40, 1400 ft. ascent, Rated B-B
Lee Silver, 828-668-7147, leehsilver@aol.com
*Note later start time. Meet at Westgate at 10:00 AM to form carpools, and meet leader in Ingles parking lot adjacent to McDonald’s at Exit 64 of I-40 at 10:20 AM. This moderate hike in the Ridgecrest area follows the Rattlesnake, Rhododendron and Adventure Trails, and offers a number of great scenic overlooks as it meanders along the ridgelines, and includes Rattlesnake, Copperhead and Lookout Mtns. Topo: Montreat

ALL DAY NO. A0902-642 Apr. 26
Smokemont Loop 8:30 AM*
(moderate)
Hike 6.2, Drive 108, 1300 ft. ascent, Rated B-B
Ashok Kudva, 828-698-7119, ashok.kudva@mchsi.com
900M, Smokies 75th Anniversary hike *Note later start time. This hike goes up Bradley Fork Trail, paralleling the beautiful stream. We’ll turn left onto Smokemont Loop Trail, crossing Bradley Fork on a long and narrow split log bridge with a steel cable hand rail, to complete the loop over Richland Mountain, with a stop at Bradley Cemetery on the way back. Second Meeting Place: Maggie Valley Post Office at 9:00 AM, but contact leader first. Topo: Smokemont; also Nat’l. Geo. GSMNP map #229

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Half Day Sunday Hikes

HALF-DAY NO. H0902-064 Apr. 19
Fletcher Creek via Spencer Branch Trail *1:00 PM
Hike 6, Drive 50, Rated B-C
Nonmembers, please call leader, Jim Ariail, 828-505-0433, jimariail@yahoo.com
P400 *Note early start time. From the Trace Ridge Trailhead, we will hike in a moderate loop along the Big Creek Trail, past the Hendersonville Reservoir, and along the Spencer Branch, Middle Fork and Fletcher Creek Trails. There will be a few stream crossings.

HALF-DAY NO. H0902-347 Apr. 26
Twin Falls *12:30 PM
Hike 6, Drive 80, 1000 ft. ascent, Rated B-B
Nonmembers, call leader, Chris Allen, 828-645-0357, crispallen@mac.com
P400 *Note early start time. Meet at Westgate at 12:30 PM to form carpools, and meet leader at Pisgah Ranger Station at 1:05 PM. This is a moderate hike in the Pisgah National Forest, starting on the Buckhorn Gap Trail, taking the Twin Falls Bypass to view two nice waterfalls and completing a loop on a Forest Service Road and the Clawhammer Cove Trail with its large but abandoned beaver dam. Bring your camera!

All Day Wednesday

WEDNESDAY NO. W0902-089 Apr. 22
Max Patch to Lemon Gap 8:30 AM
Hike 11, Drive 75, 1800 ft. ascent, Rated A-A
Mary Beth Gywnn, 828-545-6487 mbgcmc@gmail.com
We’ll start at the Max Patch summit to take in the panoramic views at that bald, then hike to Lemon Gap to see the trilliums which should be spectacular along this section of the AT. We’ll hike back along the same route and stop to see the new AT shelter that CMC built a couple of years ago. If it hasn’t clouded over in the afternoon, we will go back up to Max Patch for one last knock-out 360° view at hike’s end. Second meeting place: 9:00 am. Pilot Truck Stop, I-40 at Exit 24. Topo: Hot Springs

WEDNESDAY NO. W0902-643 Apr. 29
Woods Mtn. Natural History hike *10:00 AM
Hike 6, Drive 80, 1400 ft. ascent, Rated B-B
William Grow, 828-756-4070, waxwing4@verizon.net
Theme hike *Note later start time. Meet at Westgate at 10:00 AM to form carpools, and meet leader at McDonald’s at Exit 73 (Old Fort) at 10:30 AM. Starting at the Woodlawn USFS Work Center on US 221 north of Marion, we will hike on the MST going west. We first will go along an old logging road but soon the trail turns off and slants down to Tom's Creek and then starts up toward the summit of Wood's Mountain along Betsy's Ridge. We will go part way up and then return by the same route. Since this is a natural history hike, how far we get depends upon how many wildflowers/birds/whatever we stop to look at. Anyone having them should bring magnifying glasses and/or binoculars. The number of hikers is limited to 15. Please contact the leader to reserve your space. Topos: Marion West, Little Switzerland

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Hike Reports should be emailed to Dave Wetmore, dwetmore@citcom.net before the Wednesday preceeding an eNews issue. Reports for Wednesday hikes during the eNews publication week will appear in the following eNews

All-day hikes submitted by Bruce Bente 692-0116, bbente@bellsouth.net . Driving distance is round-trip from Asheville. All Saturday and Sunday hikes assemble at Westgate Shopping Center near I-240 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Half Day hikes submitted by Lucy Prim 828-693-6580 lucette32@mchsi.com. Wednesday Hikes are submitted by Charlie Ferguson, 828-398-0213 ccf108@gmail.com and Ann Gleason, 828-859-9387, gleason.ann@gmail.com .

The meeting place for each hike will be designated by the hike leader and will appear in the hike description. Driving mileage will be listed, round trip, from the first designated meeting place.
Leaders: Mail please mail your sign-up sheets. Meet at Westgate unless otherwise noted.