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All-day hikes submitted by Bruce Bente 692-0116, bbente@cytechusa.com , with the assistance of Tom Sanders. 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 No. 8082 Sept. 28 Sams Gap to Streets Gap 1:30 PM Hike 5.3, Drive 65, Rated C-B Jane and Lew Blodgett - 274-8763 Pleasant in-and-out walk on the AT with excellent views from an old pasture just above Streets Gap.

Half Day hikes submitted by Elisabeth Feil, 684-8719. For the next schedule, please call Anita and Richard Walkey, 681-2967, with suggestions. Leaders: Mail sign-up sheets to this quarter's scheduler. Meet at Westgate unless otherwise noted.

ALL DAY No. 8070 October 1 Crabtree Bald 8:30 AM Hike 7, Drive 70, Rated B-AA Jay Bretz, 658-1220 Williambretz1220@msn.com This is a rescheduling of a favorite club hike. Few hikers were able to do it in February due to rain and cold. This trail takes us through pasture and woods to the 5,320 foot summit of Crabtree Bald. Views, in good weather, of all the 40 mountain peaks in Western North Carolina that are over 6,000 feet. Fairly strenuous but gradual 2,355 foot climb. First meeting place: Westgate. Second meeting place: Pilot Truck Stop on NC 209, Exit 24 off I-40. Topo: Fines Creek.

ALL DAY No. 8069 September 24 Bill Kimball Trail 8:00 A.M. Hike 6, Drive 45, Rated B-B Ned Stallard, 697-1579 Starting at Raven Cliff parking lot we hike down to and along the scenic Saluda River, and return with a strenuous climb around "El Lieutenant". First meeting place: Fresh Market, Hendersonville.Second meeting place: Raven Cliff parking lot at 8:30.

Wednesday Hikes are submitted by Kenneth & Carol Deal, 281-4530, KMCDeal@aol.com . Next schedule: Paula McNabb, 274-0057 gcmcnabb@charter.net. 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.

National Public Lands Day - Sept. 20th - Check the FMST website at www.ncmst.org for locations, call the contact person prior to attending due to the weather.

Blue Ridge Parkway - As many of you know the National Park Service is in the final stages of approving the MST from Blowing Rock (HW-321) to HW-18 - a total of about 55 miles. The flag line has been up and studied for quite some time now. The National Park Service is now conducting an archaeology study on this 55 miles and should be the final study before we move in and build the trail if approved. They have asked for volunteers to assist in this archaeology study from October 6-17. This is a great opportunity to learn and have a hands on experience working with these professionals. If you interested please contact Wendell Burton at (336) 765-5003 or at (336) 766-1895 ext. 112 for details. See you on the MST! Jeff Brewer

We currently have several sections on the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) that would love to have a caring individual who can adopt a section of their very own. As a trail maintainer, you would be the MST's most important advocate and protector. In this role, you would become familiar with trail maintenance techniques so that you understand the big picture as you perform the simple, recurring maintenance and repairs necessary to keep the trail in good repair. One your most important duties would be the "eyes" and "ears" of your section. The section supervisors are responsible for all of the "heavy duty" work and should be contacted to perform trail work you would not feel comfortable doing.

CMC HIKING WEEKEND

Sept. 25, 2003 FINAL UPDATE

NOTE: This description has been completely revised. Even if you have read an earlier revision, please read it again for new information.

For next weekend (Sept. 27-28), CMC has scheduled a weekend hiking trip to the Lake Fontana area.

We will stay in Fontana Village or nearby campgrounds on Friday and/or Saturday nights, and will hike some of the trails on the north shore of Fontana Lake in the Great Smoky Mtns. Natl. Park.

As of 9/25 51 people have made room/cabin reservations, or are planning to camp.

Details of the trip are:

Lodging:

Make your reservations directly with Fontana Village (1-800-849-2258), and ask for the CMC discounted rate.

CMC will have use of the swimming pools and other Fontana Village facilities. Mountain bikes and horses are available for rental. Fontana Village has an indoor swimming pool, free for people staying at the Village. Bring your swim suit!

Please look at their website www.fontanavillage.com for more information.

There are also campgrounds as follows:

•Fontana Village Campground next to Little Tennessee River

•Cable Cove Campground five miles north of Fontana Village ($8/night/campsite)

Check-in at Fontana Village:

We will have a CMC table set up in back of the Fontana Village registration counter.

Please sign in and make your selections after you register.

This table will have:

• Sign-in sheets for each of the planned hikes (We’ll hike ones that people sign up for)

• A sign-in sheet for Saturday breakfast (We need to know how many people will eat earlier than 7:30am. They will open earlier than 7:30am if 15 or more people will eat early.)

• A sign-in sheet for trail lunches ($4.95) (we must turn in requests for Saturday lunches by 6 pm Friday)

• A sign-in sheet for Saturday 7 pm supper (The restaurant needs a headcount for food preparation)

• Color topo maps of Fontana Village hiking trails.

Our central “Information Center” will be Bruce Bente’s cabin. The cabin number will be posted at the CMC table by the registration counter.

Meals:

Friday:

A number of people are going over earlier on Friday to do some early hiking and to explore the area. We will get together for supper Friday at the Super Chinatown Buffet restaurant in Robbinsville. Their address is 400 Bypass, Robbinsville, and they have a seafood buffet on Fridays. CMC invites anyone who will be at Fontana by 6 pm to join us.

Our meeting place will be 6 pm Friday in front of the Fontana Village Recreation Center.

If anyone wants to drive directly to the restaurant, turn south onto NC 143 from NC 28 and drive 10 miles to Robbinsville.

Meals are available at the Fontana Village restaurant in the Lodge (breakfast approx. $7.50; supper $9.50/person buffet). BYOB—Graham County is dry.

The Fontana Village restaurant will prepare trail lunches for $4.95 if requests are turned in by 6 pm of the night before.

Saturday:

We have made supper reservations at the restaurant in the Lodge for 7 pm Saturday night, so CMCers can eat together and exchange stories about the day’s hikes. (See note above about Friday night supper.)

For a nice Sunday night supper on the way home, we recommend the Jarrett House in Dillsboro. Take US 74 north to the US 23 South exit, go one mile, then turn left at the first traffic light.

Hiking:

NOTE: We’re still fine-tuning this hike list. Check at the CMC table on Friday to learn of any additional changes.

Saturday 9/27 7:30 am Fontana Lake/Little Fork Copper Mines

Dave Wetmore will lead this moderate hike that will meet at 7:30 am at the Marina. It will take the ferry across Lake Fontana, and hike up the Hazel Creek and Little Fork trails, then a 20-minute bushwhack up to the Adams-Westerveldt copper mine and site of Horace Kephart’s cabin. It will hike alongside beautiful Hazel Creek and include the townsites of the abandoned towns of Proctor and Medlin. Although 13 miles long, the even grade of the old roads makes this hike moderate. Return by ferry is planned for 5:30pm.

Saturday 9/27 9:00 am Lakeshore Trail

Diane Hankins will lead a hike that will depart from the front of the Recreation Center. We’ll either walk across the dam or drive across it to the Lakeshore Trail trailhead, and continue on the Lakeshore Trail. This section is well above the lake and is a nice walk through the woods, past homesteaders’ artifacts including abandoned 1930s cars, to a nice overlook down to the lakeshore.

Saturday 9/27 10:00 am Historic tour of Proctor

Meeting at the Marina, Lance Holland, a well-known historian of the Fontana area, will lead a boat trip over to the head of Hazel Creek and tour the abandoned townsite of Proctor. This is a regularly-scheduled trip not affiliated with CMC and is open to the general public. $10. Note that Lance will lead another trip on Sunday for CMC that will tour Proctor AND the abandoned Ecoah copper mine at the head of Eagle Creek.

Saturday 9/27 Bruce Bente or another volunteer hike leader will lead one of the potential short hikes listed below. The hike to be hiked will be the one that people sign up for on the sign-in sheets. The potential hikes are as follows:

Saturday 9/27 8:30 am Shuckstack Fire Tower

This hike goes 3.5 miles north on the AT from the trailhead just over Fontana Dam, to the magnificent view of Lake Fontana and the surrounding mountains from the summit of Shuckstack. About a 2300 foot climb, but we’ll hike at a slow pace. Best on a clear day; may be cancelled if the weather does not cooperate.

Ghost Highway (time to be selected)

This will be a short 3-mile in-and-out hike along old NC 288, but south in the opposite direction from the Lakeshore Trail. See homesites abandoned when Fontana Dam was built in the 1940s.

Sunday 9/28 8:30 am Lakeshore Trail from Hazel Creek to Fontana Dam

Dave Wetmore will lead this hike that will meet at 8:30 am at the Marina. It will take the ferry over Lake Fontana to Hazel Creek, then hike out to the Fontana Dam trailhead on the Lakeshore Trail, past Proctor Cemetery, a footbridge over Eagle Creek and numerous abandoned home sites and 1930s automobiles. Parts of the trail are on the old NC 288 highway. The hike will be 9.5 miles long with frequent climbs and descents as the trail climbs over the ridges.

Sunday 9/28 10 am at Marina, returning about 3-4 pm

Lance Holland will lead a boat excursion to the head of Hazel Creek and a hike around the abandoned townsite of Proctor and the Proctor Cemetery. Afterwards, the boat will travel to the head of Eagle Creek and will hike around the abandoned Ecoah Branch copper mine. Cost is $10.

In addition, Fontana Village has 20 miles of trails around the village for those who want to hike nearby on their own. A trail map will be available at the CMC table next to the registration counter.

Entertainment:

The Mountain Memories group will conduct a square dance Saturday night in the Fontana Village Recreation Hall from 7:30 – 11:00 PM. We will have the option of dancing for $8, or watching for free.

Transportation:

The driving time to Fontana Village from Asheville is about 2 hours via I 40 - US 23/74 - US 19/74 - NC 28. It’s all 4-lane divided highway except the last 18 miles of NC 28.

Ferry service across Lake Fontana is available from the Marina, near Fontana Dam. The 20-minute ride across to the hike trailhead will cost about $10-12 per person (round trip), depending on the number of passengers and the time of return.

The Marina opens at 8:00 am, and the last scheduled pickup for return is 3:30pm. However, they will pickup as late as 5:30pm, for an extra charge of $40/boat for overtime. (for example, if the Saturday Hazel Creek hike has 15 people, the round trip, returning at 5:30pm, will cost

$12/person.)

The Saturday all-day hike is scheduled to return by boat at 5:30pm, and the Sunday all-day hike will hike back to the trailhead at the end of the road on the north side of the dam.

Misc :

For anyone wishing to learn more about the history of the Fontana area, you are invited to look at the following websites:

www.worldisround.com/articles/9485

http://aam.wcu.edu/hogue/index.html

http://aam.wcu.edu/livingston

www.ncroads.com/nc200+/nc288.htm

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/austin_brooks/default.htm

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/austin_brooks/pages/ab639b.htm

www.appalachianhistory.com

ALL DAY No. A0303-233 Sept. 21 Linville Gorge: Sandy Flats 8:00 AM to Brushy Ridge Hike 7.3, Drive 100, 3500 ft. ascent Rated B-AA+ Don Walton 298-5084 walt7258@bellsouth.net We'll descend on the Sandy Flats trail to the river, then hike up steam 2 miles on a rocky, up-and-down trail in the depths of the gorge. One of the great streams of WNC. Then we'll cross the river and ascend the steep Brushy Ridge trail. If the river level is too high, we'll climb out of the gorge via the Pine Gap trail. Map: Linville Gorge Wilderness; Topos: Ashford and Linville Falls

Post Hike Report: 13 hardy hikers ventured into the Linville Wilderness on a hike the CMC has never done before. We first went down Sandy Flats trail on the west side of the Gorge dropping 1200 feet in .75 mile to the river. We slowly made our way 3 miles upstream to our lunch spot on top of Babel Tower. This yields spectacular views going south for miles down the gorge and north up the gorge. While going over some rocks (all day) someone heard a growl coming from under the rocks. Only your imagination will tell what was under there. We reached our river crossing about 3:00 and proceeded to cross the river and rest before making our 1,000 ascent on the Brushy Ridge Trail 2.5 miles to our cars. We got back to Asheville around 7:00 making it a rewarding and tiresome day.

HALF DAY No. 8081 Sept. 21 John Rock 1:30 PM Hike 4, Drive 65, Rated C-C Laura and Ned Stallard - 697-1579 This in-and-out hike goes up the Old Horse Cove Trail to the top of John Rock. At the top there is a great view of Looking Glass Rock and the Fish Hatchery. Second meeting place: Fish Hatchery parking lot.

HALF DAY No. 8080 Sept. 14 Rocky Point from Hickory 1:30 PM Nut Gap (other name: Ferguson Peak) Hike 4, Drive 30, Rated C-B Pete Steurer - 891-9802 Ridge walking with open meadows and fine views are part of this moderate in-and-out hike. Second meeting place: parking area at Hickory Nut Gap, US 74-A, 5 miles north of Bat Cave.

Post Hike Report: We had 17 folks on the hike to Rocky Face from Hickory Nut Gap. The weather was perfect; in the 70s with lots of sun. After we rested and took in the view from Rocky Face, the group took an extra 30 minute excursion up to a grassy meadow for a view of Bearwallow and Hickory Nut Gorge/ Lake Lure. The meadow is no longer mowed so the grass was a few feet tall. Also, the trail to the meadow was overgrown in places. There was also a tremendous amount of poison ivy in places along the trail. It was an excellent hike on an excellent day. This is normally a wintertime hike and we should probably continue that tradition since the views would be better and we would not have the poison ivy problem. Pete

ALL DAY No. 8068 September 17 Pisgah Ridge Loop 9:00 A.M. Hike 7.5, Drive 15, Rated B-B Kathie Giddings, 696-9808 kmgiddings@juno.com This is a rescheduling of a recent hike that was re-routed because of a Parkway closing. Starting at the Graveyard Fields parking lot, we will follow the Pisgah Ridge Trail to the MST, and lunch at a beautiful overlook. Then we’ll proceed on the Graveyard Ridge Trail to the parking lot. This hike has nice views along the way. Meeting place: Cold Mountain Overlook at Wagon Road Gap parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Hwy. 276. Topo: Sam Knob/Shining Rock.

Post Hike Report: The hike I led on Wednesday September 17th was really nice, and the weather was beautiful. We started at Graveyards Fields, hiked the Pisagh Ridge Loop, about 7.5 miles, lunched on the shoulder of Black Balsam Knob, and returned to the parking area via one of the trails that led right through Graveyard Fields. A little different change for the folks who know the area well. We had 20 hikers, and I think everyone had a nice day. Kathie Giddings

Post Hike Report: Twenty hikers enjoyed perfect cool sunny weather on a beautiful 7-8 mile hike. We started at Graveyard Fields Overlook, crossed the BRP and followed the ridgeline trail, with great views into the foggy valleys. We then crossed the BRP two more times, the last time next to the intersection with FS 816, and followed the trail to its intersection with the MST. We crossed FS 816 and followed the MST to our lunch spot on a rocky outcrop with more great views. We followed the old rail road grade and the connector trail down to the middle and lower Yellowstone falls, then returned to our cars. Lots of flowering asters, goldenrod, two kinds of Purple Gentian and many other late summer flowers, plus bunches of bright red berries on the Mountain Ash trees. We had a number of hikers new to CMC, and passed out copies of Let's Go and CMC membership applications. This hike will be put on the schedule for a Sunday next Spring or summer, so that Sunday hikers can enjoy its beauty too.

ALL DAY No. 8067 September 10 MST-Forest Service 9:00 A.M. Road 316, Black Balsam to Skinny Dip Falls Hike 6-7, Drive 7, Rated B-B Siro A. DelFavero, 277-2546 Starting at Black Balsam, we’ll hike to the lower falls at Graveyard Fields for lunch. Then we’ll go on to Skinny Dip Falls and end at the Looking Glass Rock Overlook. Car shuttle. Meeting place: Looking Glass Rock Overlook at Milepost 417.

Post Hike Report: Over hill, over dale, over the Mountains to Sea Trail, we hiked for about 7 miles beginning at Black Balsam Knob (FS 816) to the Blur Ridge Parkway-Looking Glass Overlook (MP 417) viewing Dark Prong Lower Graveyard Fields and Skinny Dip Falls with 18 hardy hikers trekking the awesome North Carolina mountain ridges on a beautiful sunny day. Siro A Del Favero