October 25, 2006

Hunting Season:

Bear and Boar Season
October 16 - November 18, 2006

        Please send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Monday evening before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Monday evening November 6 to Danny Bernstein danny@hikertohiker.org. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you.

       For CMC members only - Send all address and email changes to Jean Gard at jeangard@charter.net.

What's Happening the Next Two Weeks

Annual dinner on Friday, October 27

Have you sent in your reservation for the CMC dinner? It's this coming Friday. This is your chance to see old friends, meet new folks and learn what is happening with your club.

The CMC Annual Dinner and Meeting will be held on Friday, October 27 at The Chariot, 715 N. Church Street, Hendersonville. (See map). The evening will start with a social hour at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m., and the Club’s Annual Meeting at 8:00 p.m. Dale Ditmanson, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be our guest speaker.

See all the details on the dinner and annual meeting.

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Bear and Boar Hunting Season has started.

Hunting Season has started. Hunting is allowed from October 16 to November 18 and then December 11 to January 1, 2007. Wear that orange. There is no hunting on Sundays and no hunting in the National Parks (the Smokies) and State Parks. For all details, go to http://www.wildlife.state.nc.us/fs_index_04_hunting.htm

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Build another piece of the MST

Come and built another piece of the MST on November 4 See all the details.

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Slide show (free) at Diamond Brand on Nov. 7

Diamond Brand will host Jon Bowermaster on Tuesday Nov. 7. See the details.

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Generating Solutions - A Candidate Forum on Energy and the Environment

Hosted by Environment North Carolina Wednesday, October 25, 6-8pm at Pack Place, 2 South Pack Square in Asheville

Candidates for U.S. Congressional District 11, NC Senate District 49, and NC House Districts 114, 115, and 116 have been invited to attend
For Information Contact Margaret Hartzell at Environment North Carolina (919) 833-0015 margaret@environmentnorthcarolina.org

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Gateway Trail Town Festival

We would like to extend to you a special invitation for Sunday, November 5th, from 1pm to 5pm, to celebrate the beginning of the official partnership between the Town of Hot Springs and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) at the Gateway Trail Town Festival. This program is intended to be a means for the A.T. community to give something back to an important resource along the Trail: Hot Springs, and Madison County. Morgan Sommerville.

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Other Important News

CMC Volunteers Honored by Blue Ridge Parkway

CMC as an organization, and 19 long-time CMC volunteers, were honored at the annual Blue Ridge Parkway Fish Fry on October 20. See the pictures.

Phil Francis, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway, thanked all volunteers for the 61,000 hours they had contributed to the Parkway in the last year. He said that this was critical since because of lack of funding, 25% of all Parkway positions and 33% of maintenance positions were currently unfilled. The next time a politician promises to cut your taxes, ask him or her how they plan to fund the parks and forests, and whether they had any plans to eliminate the huge backlog of maintenance work that exists in these facilities.

In addition to lunch, all volunteers got Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway tee-shirts and National Park Service Volunteer baseball caps.

Jorge Muñoz then presented long-service awards to trail maintainers. See the list.
Lenny Bernstein lsberns@worldnet.att.net

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Wilderness First Aid Course offered again by CMC - Nov. 18-19.

Do you feel competent handling a crisis out in the wilderness? The CMC is offering a Wilderness First Aid Course on November 18 and 19 at Warren Wilson College. This 16 hour course will be taught by Landmark Learning.
The CMC is funding some of the cost for each person which includes a 2-year certification. To register: send a check for $75 made out to CMC, including your address, home phone # and e-mail address, also a business size
self-addressed stamped envelope to: Marlene Santa Maria, 49 Apple Tree Way, Asheville, N.C. 28805. Any questions, call 299-9095 or Marlena98@hotmail.com.

This announcement is also in the Let's Go. Over the years, people have joined CMC just to attend this course. If you want to take this valuable course, send in your registration to Marlene ASAP.

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Heard on the Trail

Jim Reel on a Sierra Club Training Trip

Jim Reel attended the Sierra Club’s National Outings Leadership Training program held at Mammoth Mountain Lodge, California in August 2006. This ten-day program consisted of three days of leadership/wilderness training and seven days of on the trail training, backpacking in the Ansel Adams and John Muir Wilderness Areas of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In 2007, Jim plans to fill the role of assistant leader for two Sierra Club National Outings Backpack Trips. Plans are tentatively set for one trip in the Rocky Mountain area and the other in the Southeast or California/Nevada area. After filling the requirements for assistant leadership, Jim plans to lead trips in the Rocky Mountains area in 2008.
The Sierra Club Outings mission is to maintain and enhance a diversified, superior, volunteer-run outings program that supports the Sierra Club’s conservation mission by connecting people with the natural world and with the club. Sierra Club Outings offers one to two week outings in as many as 30 states and 47 foreign countries each year. Trip types range from Backpack, Basecamp and Lodge trips to Ski & Snowshoe, Canoe & Kayak and Family Trips as well as Service and Activist trips, all led by volunteer members of the Sierra Club.

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