CMC E-News
December 7, 2005

Deer hunting Nov. 21 – Dec. 10, 2005
Bear and boar hunting - Dec 12 - Jan. 2
Don't put that orange away!

        Please send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Monday evening before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Monday evening Dec. 19 to Danny Bernstein danny@hikertohiker.org. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you.

What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks

ATC Holiday Hike, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005

Come on an Appalachian Trail Conservancy hike and holiday celebration. Here are the details.

Time: Meet in Hot Springs at 9:45 at the USFS office parking lot on Bridge Street, US25/70 (near the Red Caboose & across from the P.O.) Hike leaves the USFS office at 10 am sharp!

Hike: From Downtown Hot Springs, along the A.T. to the top of Lovers Leap, then back via the Silvermine Trail and A.T. About 5 miles, and about 400 feet of elevation gain.

ATC Holiday Reception will follow the hike at about 12:30. Light refreshments at the Bright Leaf Junction Hotel and Restaurant, ½ block south of Bridge Street at the railroad tracks.

Lunch on your own following reception. ATC recommends one of Hot Springs several restaurants.

Asheville Car Pool meeting location: Westgate Shopping Center, 8:30 AM. About 35 miles and 1 hour.

---------------------- Back to Top

Other Important News

Learn Terrain Navigator

For those of you who have either Maptech-Terrain Navigator or-Terrain Navigator Pro, we’re offering an in-depth survey of their features most useful to maintainers and hikers. The survey course will be held from 7:00 p.m. to about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 12^th, 2006. Preregistration required. To register, call Dave Wetmore at 884-7296. This is not a course on GPS use., that will come later.

Exciting Happenings on the Palmetto Trail, all over SC

To celebrate the ground breaking, Palmetto Conservation will host a holiday hike on the trail on Saturday, December 10th from 10 a.m. to Noon. The public is invited to venture on a 1.5 mile walk that will begin with a “ceremonial trail clearing” by Mayor Bill Barnet and other supporters. Along the walk, the public will learn about the trail’s design plans, hear community members explain their vision for the trail, and even enjoy some holiday caroling. (Submitted by Bruce Bente)

Parks Name New Parkway Chief

By Julie Ball of the Asheville Citizen-Times
STAFF WRITER
November 23, 2005 6:00 am

ASHEVILLE — The National Park Service has named longtime park service employee Phil Francis to head the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Francis spent 11 years as assistant superintendent at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since August, he served as acting superintendent at the parkway after the retirement of Dan Brown.

“I’m thrilled and I feel very fortunate to be selected to work at such a beautiful park,” Francis said.

Francis served two stints as acting superintendent for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from October 1999 to October 2000 and again from November 2002 to May 2004, said Smokies’ spokesman Bob Miller. He also has spent time as an acting superintendent at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

During his time with the Smokies, Francis kept park initiatives on track and helped build relationships “especially in North Carolina,” Miller said.

Francis’ former boss Dale Ditmanson called Francis’ selection as parkway superintendent a “great news-bad news situation.”

“Great news for Phil, great news for the Blue Ridge Parkway, great news for these resources that will be protected with his leadership, but bad news for us at the Smokies because we lose so much in what he has offered and the number of things he’s been involved with over the years,” Ditmanson said.

The 469-mile scenic Blue Ridge Parkway connects the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The parkway gets about 20 million visits a year and has an annual operating budget of around $14 million.

Francis said a major challenge for the parkway is preserving the views that draw so many people. “Those cultural viewsheds, that spectacular scenery is why we have so many visitors each year. It’s the reason why so many people love coming here,” he said.

A native of Cleveland County, Francis began his more than 30-year National Park Service career at Kings Mountain National Military Park. He worked at parks across the country before coming to the Smokies in 1994.

 ---------------------- Back to Top

Conservation Article

Look at the Asheville Citizen-Times article on the status of the North Shore Road. Click www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051203/NEWS01/51202038"> You may have to copy and paste this link into your browser.

 ---------------------- Back to Top

Interview with Piet Bodenhorst

      As a hiker following the blazes, I wonder “Why did they put the trail here? Why so many bends and undulations up these hills?” Who are these “they” and how do they decide exactly where to put the trail? Hikers often take this work for granted. I talked to Piet Bodenhorst, the CMC council member representing trail maintenance.

 ---------------------- Back to Top

Christmas gift ideas

Trust me! Your friends and relatives have enough socks, ties and video games. So why not show them why you love being in the woods? Get them a membership to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy , the organization dedicated to preserving the A.T.

Another organization near and dear to my heart is the Friends of the Smokies. They assist the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in protecting and preserving the most visited national park in the U.S., which is also the most underfunded. With your membership, you get many benefits including discounts on all items in the visitor center bookstore.

And if you are a subscribers to this newsletter who have not yet joined the Carolina Mountain Club, you know what you need to do. Go to www.carolinamtnclub.org and click on "How to join CMC". Danny Bernstein

 ---------------------- Back to Top

Heard on the trail

On Tommie Boston's Wednesday hike which went from Ridgecrest to Christmount, we passed a survey marker which said "cadastral survey". That was a new word to all of us. Cadastral refers to a map or survey which shows or includes boundaries or property lines.

Linda Beja reported on her Thanksgiving gathering.
We had a huge dinner at my Mom's in Cashiers with lots of extended family...some of whom hunt. Somehow or other we got into a conversation on what season it was, and I started talking about it, mentioning the dates, and quite a few guys were flabbergasted...looking at me....wondering why in the world I would know such things.  They all know I haven't held a gun in my life <g>!  When I finally realized they were perplexed, I explained that I hike, and when I am in the forest in hunting season I wear a blaze orange vest and hat.  They went on to praise me for wearing orange and proceeded to tell me stories of many close calls with people who didn't wear orange, and had no clue it was hunting season.  Scary to say the least!!!

 ---------------------- Back to Top