Carolina Mountain Club
Hike - Save trails - Make friends
June 24, 2011
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Upcoming Hikes |Hike Reports - May | Hike Reports- June |
| What's Happening Now | The Big Dig on the MST |
| Other Important News | Sign up for the North Georgia weekend |
| Challenge | Running the MST |
| Book Review | Permanent Vacation |
| Heard on the Ground | CMC crew work |
| The Small Print | Deadlines, change of addresses and other details |
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From Your Editor Changes in the eNews After several years of working on the eNews hike and hike reports, Dave Wetmore retired from this responsibility. Thank you Dave for your CMC service on the eNews. For now, I will be receiving the hike reports. I am experimenting with putting them on the new website. Just click on "Hike Reports - June" above and you'll be taken to the new website. Please look at the hike reports and give me feedback. I know that lots of improvements are needed and they look different from the old reports. See what you think and let me know. Danny The Big Dig on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail - July 16 and July 17 The picture is of the Cascades, close to the work site.
North Georgia Weekend - Sept. 30-Oct. 2
Hike in three North Georgia State Parks and into Chattahoochee National Forest. We'll stay at Unicoi State Park where you can also swim or boat in a lake. The hikes are easy and fun. But fall is a very popular time in the Georgia State Parks. Look at the details and if you're interested, you need to make a reservation now. Danny Bernstein P.S. This is the last time this will be published. New Hike Cancellation Policy Hike Leaders will announce a hike cancellation or significant changes for a hike at least two hours before the hike meeting time. The change will be posted to the Breaking News section of the home page. Hikers that do not have internet access or live hours away from the meeting place should call the hike leader ahead of time and let them know that you need to be informed about hike changes. Leaders who use Facebook are also encouraged to post the changes on the CMC Facebook page, in addition to posting it on the CMC website. Although CMC hike leaders don't like to cancel hikes, sometimes it is necessary, due to weather problems or road closings. Until recently, our hike cancellation policy included the hike leader having to drive to the meeting places to inform hikers of the cancellation. The CMC hiking committee has implemented a new policy where hike cancellations will be announced on the home page of our website in the "Breaking News Box". Hiking Committee members and Council members have the authority to edit the Breaking News at a moment's notice. Most people now have internet access and are comfortable going to our website to check for news. New Website Ready It's still a work in progress, but most of the content will move from the old site to the new one. The new website allows people to join and renew online as well as update your own profile and preferences. Trail maintenance recording and reporting now use a new database which should make these tasks easier for everyone. Our long term plan is to make the website more interactive, allowing members to contribute content and comment on each other's content. One step in this direction is that each committee in the club has the responsibility to manage the content for their area of the website. You may notice that some areas may have missing content for awhile. Each committee is actively working on building their part of the website. You may also notice that some of the content, particularly the hikes data, is embedded in frames in new website pages. The new website should be easy to use, but we are open to comments for improvement - send them to Charlie Ferguson - ccf108@gmail.com. MST work day a great success We had a great work day for National Trails Day - 31 people worked on the new area on the Smokies side of Soco Gap. Thanks to everyone that came and worked through the heat. REI sent 3 of their best, Diamond Brand was represented by their finest, Gary Eblen, and Mast General Store donated $250 worth of trailside prizes through the American Hiking Sociey that we gave out before heading home. Please save the dates for our next 2 Saturday trail-building work days - September 10 and October 22. Les Love and Piet
He completed the 360 miles of the mountain section in 10 days. The picture is of him at Falls Lake State Recreation Area south of Raleigh. Matt is the holder of the South Beyond 6,000 speed hike record, which he set last summer. Follow along Matt's latest adventure here: http://runthemst.wikispaces.com/
Permanent Vacation
Permanent Vacations, published by Bona Fide Books, is a group of twenty essays by writers who've experienced the western national parks from the inside. The stories are not all about beautiful scenery or amazing animals but they all read authentic. There are many ways to read a collection of essays. I started in the middle, reading about Denali National Park, the most recent vacation park I've been to. I loved Christine Byl's description of Healy, Alaska, a gateway town to the park. She came to work as a seasonal on a trail crew, came to understand Denali but eventually left the Park Service. Still Byl stayed in Healy and now runs a construction company with her husband. If you stay in Healy in the winter, you become a local. Her essay goes through the four seasons but winter takes up half the year. Tom Walker, in his essay about living just outside of Denali, describes the challenge of taking a short walk when it's -42 degrees outside. Bearwallow Mountain Trail - by Skip Shelton
The CMC Asheville Friday crew spent the winter working with Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy to build a new trail up Bearwallow Mountain in Henderson County near Gurton. Bearwallow is the highest mountain in Henderson County and the view from the top is spectacular. As you hike the trail, there are also great views to the South over Gurtin, Bat Cave, and the Broad River valley. The REI store from Asheville helped with this project by sponsoring "Trails Day" crews in both 2010 and 2011. The trail was completed in June, and is now open to the public. The hike is a gentle up-hill walk of about 1 1/4 miles on a great new trail, making it an excellent choice for families or out of town guests who may not be in shape for some of the tougher mountain trails. Here are the directions to the trail. Waynesville West Crew Wilderness Crew Invitation If you like challenging hiking, challenging trail work with hand tools, and outdoor fun with a group in beautiful places, consider coming out with the Wilderness Crew on Saturdays as your sche Picture caption: Joanne, Alan and Paul crosscutting on Big East Fork Trail. Photo by Becky Smucker
MST sections for adoption 1. Doubletop to Old Bald access - Length is 1.1 miles 3. Bear Pen Gap Access to Haywood Gap - 2 miles If you're interested, contact Larry Sobil at lsobil@bellsouth.net A.T. sections for adoption - none right now Contact: Tim Carrigan, (828) 398-4211 before 6:00 PM
The eNews comes out on the last Friday of the month - except for this coming month. So ... The next issue will come out on Friday, July 22. Wednesday hike reports for the hike just before the eNews comes out will be published in the next eNews. Hiker leaders, please send all your eNews hike reports and photos to Danny Bernstein.So send me your news, maintenance and hike reports by Tuesday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Tuesday evening July 19 to Danny Bernstein at danny@hikertohiker.com. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you. The CMC Calendar is meant to answer the perennial question "When is this happening again?" It is also meant to prevent conflicts between competing CMC events. Please check it often. Westgate parking - Park in the northernmost part of the lot - past EarthFare, in the last row of parking spaces. How to join the Carolina Mountain Club If you are a non-member subscriber, you need to go back to the | |
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Danny Bernstein
danny@hikertohiker.com
Tired of the heat and humidity? Ready for cooler temperatures and low humidity along with mountain air and the vistas of the Blue Ridge? Want to be a part of completing the northern Blue Ridge Mountains portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail? Meet your fellow Friends from around the state? Enjoy camping at Price Lake campgrounds?
I'm leading a weekend Sept. 30-Oct. 2
in North Georgia. You can camp, stay in a cabin or lodge.
Best of luck to Matt Kirk, who is attempting to establish a speed hike record of the Mountains-To-Sea Trail.
What is it like to work or live in a national park?
dule allows. We generally go out two Saturdays a month to work in the Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wilderness Areas. We provide tools and training, and could use a few more willing workers. Trail work is rewarding because it's a way of giving back, and seeing the results is just plain fun. If you've never done trail work before, we can promise you that one day of doing so will forever change how you look at hiking. Contact Becky Smucker at