September 6, 2006

        Please send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Monday evening before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Monday evening September 25 to Danny Bernstein danny@hikertohiker.org. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you.

What's Happening the Next Three Weeks

NOC weekend

See the hiking page for the latest updates to the NOC weekend. Hiking information has been added. This is the last time the NOC information will be in the eNews.

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From your membership committee

Starting the last week of August the Membership Committee has begun its newly planned process of phoning new members about six months after they join. The purpose of the calls is to find out more about our new members, and to encourage and facilitate successful participation in the Club. We hope that our new members will welcome this opportunity to give us feedback and ideas, and to share their hopes for their future with CMC.

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Other Important News

Backpacking Survey Results

About a month ago, the eNews surveyed its readers to see how much interest there was in backpacking. Here are the results.

Location: Smokies - 7, AT - 3, Linville Gorge - 1, All - 29
Distance: <5 - 1, <10 - 15, <15 - 18, <20 - 6
Nights: 1 - 6, 2 - 16, 3 - 8, 4+ - 16
Experience: beginner - 7, some - 31, expert - 2
Member: yes - 30, no - 10

Probably the most important thing the survery revealed is that there are at least 40 people interested in backpacking including 10 potential new members.  Location didn't seem to be important with the vast majority expressing no specific location.  Preference for the number of nights was mixed with 2 nights and more than 4 nights tieing.  As for distance per day, most respondents preferred less than 15 miles.  A significant majority reported some experience with backpacking, but only 2 considered themselves experts.

The comments are interesting and range from: "I do not like to camp out", to "I prefer a challenge."

Please note that I have scheduled a backpack for the next Lets Go that is in the Smokies, for 2 nights, less than 15 miles per day, and requires some winter backpacking experience.  Right in line with the survey results, but more suitable for the person that prefers a challenge than the one that doesn't like to camp out. Paul Benson

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Slogan Contest - Entries due September 30

Write a slogan for our club that describes CMC and what our club is all about. We are a club that maintains trails, leads hikes and promotes conservation of the trails, National Forest and Parks in our area. A catchy one or two line phrase is what we are looking for. So get creative and submit your entry no later than September 30 !! Send your entry by e-mail to backpacker54nc@bellsouth.net or by mail to CMC, PO Box 68, Asheville, NC 28802, Attn: Chip Miller. The winning slogan writer will receive a $100 gift certificate to Diamond Brand.

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Submit Awards Nominations by October 15

Put your thinking cap on and come up with some names for the Awards committee to consider for the club's TWO annual awards,  the "Distinguished Service Award" and the "Award of Appreciation".
We need the name of your nominee,  & how long has this person been a member of CMC. Also, for the "Distinguished Service Award "please  list the contributions to the operation and goals of CMC. For the "Award of Appreciation" please state the record of exceptional service to the club during the past calendar year. Also list who else will be able to provide the committee with additional information about the nominee. You can e-mail your choices to backpacker54nc@bellsouth.net or mail your written nominations to: CMC , PO Box 68, Asheville, NC 28802. There will be a  nomination form in the next "Let's Go" newsletter too !  Deadline for nominations is October 15.

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From Don Gardner, the Challenge Committee Chair

The annual CMC banquet is October 28th. At the banquet the Club awards those hikers who have completed the SB6K, the 400mile challenge and/or the Western North Carolina Loop during the year. If you have achieved either one of these milestones during the year, it is necessary for you to submit your information to Don Gardner, Chair of the Challenge Committee. Contact information is gardog3@charter.net and the mailing address is 1003 Charlesmont Court, Lenoir, NC 28645. Information must be received as soon as possible.

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The Challenge Committee is responsible for overseeing the challenges sponsored by the CMC. Those Challenges include the South Beyond 6000' (SB6K), the 400 mile Pisgah National Forest challenge (400 mile), and the Western North Carolina Loop. (Information on each of these can be found on the website). The Committee is in need of two or three new members to replace members who have dropped off the Committee. Time involvement is not extensive. We would like any and all interested members who would like to get involved to consider this Committee. It is a great way to get involved with the Club, to learn more about and participate in the challenges of the Club and its hikes, and to have comraderie with fellow hikers. I would welcome your interest by contacting me at gardog3@charter.net or calling me at 828-754-4067 (evening) or 828-757-5221 (day). Thanks. Don Gardner, Chair of the Challenge Committee.

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Beginning Map Reading - Saturday October 21

On October 21st, the CMC again offer the beginning map reading course; a mixture of classroom and field work. It is designed to help you find out where you are on a trail. For information contact Dave Wetmore at dwetmore@citcom.net or 884-7296. Pre-registration is required, and there is a class limit of 10.

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Mount Leconte Weekend Hike May 19-20, 2007

Come and enjoy the outstanding sunrise and sunset views of Mt. Leconte. To do that, you need to stay up there overnight. Mt. Leconte Lodge, atop Mt. Leconte (6593ft), is accessible only by hiking 10-16 miles roundtrip. It is extremely luxurious with linens - no need to bring a sleeping bag.

Reservations are very difficult to get unless they are made a year in advance. We are planning to reserve some cabins for the night of Saturday, May 19. Plans are to hike on Saturday up to the lodge and do the return hike Sunday. Hike routes will be defined later.

Each cabin has 2 double bunk beds to accommodate 4 people. They have seven freestanding cabins for 4 people in each, one 2-cabin lodge for 8, two 3-cabin lodges for 12 each. Cost per person in 2006 is $97.50, based on 4 person occupancy per cabin , plus optional $8 for wine with dinner . I propose having 4 people of the same gender or 2 couples share each cabin. Coffee or hot chocolate at check-in, dinner at 6 PM , breakfast at 8 AM and drinking water to fill our containers for the return trek will be provided. They have outdoor flush toilets.

Reservations for the 2007 season (with new rates) open on October 2. LeConte Lodge will honor a confirmed reservation only if they receive a check before November 1.

If you want to go on this weekend hike, e-mail Ashok Kudva at ashok.kudva@mchsi.com ( call 828-698-7119 if you do not have an e-mail). On September 24 I will mail them our application with a total headcount. If we get the reservation, which I understand will be by lottery, I will send a group e-mail and request a check for the exact amount made out to me within a week.
Ashok Kudva,
ashok.kudva@mchsi.com
Tel: 828-698-7119, cell: 828-674-1374

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Conservation

Chimney Rock Park - more background information

 For years the Nature Conservancy, the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and the State of North Carolina have been working in partnership to secure and aggregate the many parcels of land that make up the Hickory Nut Gorge along the Broad River and the ridges above, especially those areas that have been designated by the state as Natural Heritage (ecologically critical) areas. These parcels have been secured using many methods, each agreement tailored to the needs of the particular acquisition. Many of these parcels have been in the news, and they include World’s Edge, the Bat Cave Preserve, Rumbling Bald Preserve and others.

Now the project is coming together as Hickory Nut Gorge State Park. Park planners have been spending lots of time analyzing the whole area, deciding which portions need to be preserved as wilderness, where good hiking, rock climbing and other activities should go, and how the park will fit into the local community. The new local park hires will be on site soon.

The Chimney Rock property (about 1000 acres), owned by the Morse family, is in a central position in the matrix of parcels that make up the project area. In July of this year the Morse family, owners of the Chimney Rock Park, listed the property for sale for $55 million. This followed a century of the family’s protection of the land and operation of the park as a tourist destination. In recent years the park has become unprofitable and the family was negotiating with the Nature Conservancy and the state for its sale. The state’s appraiser valued the property at just $12 million, and the Nature Conservancy’s appraisal came in at $20 million. Based on that, the state made an offer to the Morse family for $20 million which the family turned down. They then listed the property on the open market.

Many people are dismayed to think that this precious place may be sold and developed as residences, and therefore lost to the possibility of protecting it for public enjoyment and for the ecological health of the area. There seems to be almost no opposition to its being purchased by the state for the park. The only issue is the money. The Morse family has concerns about price and tax issues, and the financial condition of the park corporation is not known. Since the state is generally constrained in its ability to pay significantly more than appraised value, some people have hopes that the Morse family may be fishing for a higher offer which it will then take to the state to use as leverage in its bid for the better price along with provisions for dealing with its tax issues.

The park location is a remarkably central spot just southeast of the junction of Highways 74, 9 and 64 on this side of Lake Lure in Rutherford County at the corner it shares with Buncombe and Henderson Counties. It’s at the hub between Asheville, Hendersonville, Black Mountain, and the Rutherfordton/Forest City area with Charlotte beyond. This park will be a wonderful asset to all of us in Western North Carolina and the Chimney Rock Park addition would be a hugely significant enhancement.

Talks are ongoing among the parties, and to our knowledge no higher offer has yet been received. It is the position of the Conservation Committee that we need to write letters to our governor, the appropriate state agencies, and to our state representatives strongly encouraging them to go the extra mile to acquire this property for posterity. Becky Smucker.

You can write to your North Carolina representatives, including Governor Michael F. Easley at:

Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

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Heard on the Trail

Hi everyone - From Linda Beja in Alaska

I'm back in Fairbanks for a quick two days to retool for the trip to the headwaters of the Itkillik river to backpack and then on to Wild Lake and a cabin to relax, but have been thinking about you all, and missing you a lot and wanted to send on a quick trip report. I kept a journal which I'll eventually type up and publish on a web page when I return from everything in the middle of October.

Arrived in Fairbanks today after a 1 1/2 hour flight from Kotzebue (large Eskimo Village of 3000 or so...would remind you of a third world location) on Frontier Airlines. No TSA. No security. No limit on # of bags...you get a weight allowance instead (bush method), which really saved us because we had a bunch of little bags. One of our kayak bags is coming tomorrow as it was too heavy to make this flight. When the pilot was ready, he came into the building and said, "Everyone for Fairbanks." And we followed him down the hall where he counted us and then told us to go ahead and get on the plane and stay forward. No ID check, baggage check, etc...at all. It was GREAT!!! Especially after readiing about all the traveling delays.

We had a fabulous 25 days on the river (backpacking and kayaking 464 miles), with a mixture of everything imaginable in Alaska. Big mountains, hundreds of miles of tundra, rapids as big as class 3 (one almost capsized us), big river, Eskimos and Eskimo village, snow, cold, warm, rain that had us moving at 1:00 in the morning so as not to get flooded and stranded or washed away, lots of wildlife including grizzlies (5), muskox (2), caribou (12), wolverine, red fox, dall sheep....also saw lots of moose tracks and wolf tracks, not to mention griz tracks at every single landing. Two close encounters with grizzlies...my very first was when we were hiking and came out of the willows onto a gravel bar and I glanced over my shoulder and there was a griz not 100 feet away coming toward me. Everett was in front of me and I took a couple of fast steps to get behind him while telling him there was a bear, and he dropped our pack and got the shotgun ready. The bear kept approaching while Everett yelled and threw rocks at it. After hitting the bear with a rock a couple of times, it finally went back up into the willows. Scary first experience!!! Had another close one a couple of days later where the bear got on his hind legs and moved toward us, but not nearly as threatening...he just couldn't tell what we were. When Everett shouted at him, he moved off.

Oh...shot a gun for the first time in my life. A 12 gauge Benelli (sp?). Kicked the you know what out of me!!!!!!!!!!! Didn't like it at all, but we slept with it every night.

Camped every night on beautiful beaches. Sun only set for 3 hours or so each night. And the sunsets were absolutely gorgeous. Salmon were swimming upstream, jumping and flopping toward the mouth of the Noatak.

And most unbelievable to me was the quiet. Despite the river. It's the quietest place I have ever been in my life. Very Arctic. Very remote. Serene. Harsh. Spectacular. The tundra was already turning bright red with fall. I loved it all and am thrilled to be going north again to the Itkillik River headwaters in two days.

Thanks to all for the GPS and especially to Dave for showing me how to use it. It was invaluable!!! Very accurate, and fun. It was most helpful in crossing the Hotham Inlet (very tough crossing!) and avoiding all the mudflats on the way to Kotzebue Sound. There ended up being more info on the GPS maps than on the topos we brought.

Love to all! Linda

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