Carolina Mountain Club

Hike - Save trails - Make friends

February 28, 2007

Hiking News | CMC Calendar

        Please send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Monday evening before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Monday evening March 12, 2007 to Danny Bernstein danny@hikertohiker.org. 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.

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

What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks

The Perfection of Traveling: A History of the Canoe from Birchbark to ABS - a slide show.

If you don't know what ABS is, neither do I. Renowned local guide and wilderness canoeing expert Burt Kornegay - founder of Slickrock Expeditions - will explain it all when he speaks at Diamond Brand Outdoors in Arden on Tuesday, Feb 27th at 7 p.m. For more information call 828.684.6262.

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Other Important News

Survey results on the annual dinner.

Thanks to the thirty people who took time to respond to the survey about our annual members’ meeting. We heard from 10 folks who attended our last meeting in October, and 20 folks who did not. Here is some response information.

From the 10 who did attend, all said they’d attend again with the current format. Five folks added positive comments including “great program”, “close to home”, “it was fun”, “everything was excellent”, “outstanding speaker”, “good food”. One person said that the meeting has become “dull, often disorganized and without a feeling of enjoyment.” Suggestions included better planning for the carpool from Westgate, and a more central location.

Of the twenty who did not attend the last annual dinner and meeting, reasons given for not attending included (some folks gave multiple reasons):

Too far to drive (7)
Friday night is not good for me (5)
Joined after meeting (3)
Health problems (3)
Did not know about the meeting (3)
Living outside the area (2)
Too expensive (1)
Do not like large social gatherings (1)
Do not like business meetings (1)

Comments from those who didn’t attend explained about limitations of a very restricted diet, weekend jobs, tiring weekday jobs, schedule conflicts, health problems, preference for meeting in Asheville, wanting nicer setting, more casual setting, and a request for more vegetarian food. Two brand new members said they’d be sure to attend next year. There was a suggestion to have speakers that were AT through hikers or our own members relating hiking or overseas trail experiences.

I will be responsible again for planning our annual dinner (or whatever we do to accompany our annual business meeting) again next year. Since comments were so positive from those who did attend, it’s tempting to continue with a similar format. However, I am very aware that since we’ve done basically this same format for a lot of years now, those who come are mostly those who like this format, and those who stay away are to some extent those who don’t like it. I will carefully take all this, and any further input you want to make, into consideration as I proceed with making decisions for next fall. Obviously, we can’t please everyone every year, but maybe with some variety we could please most members some of the time. Thanks again! Becky Smucker

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Saturday Work Day - March 24

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Needed:  Members With SmilesJ

The Membership Committee is looking for some friendly members to help at our booth at the Black Mountain Street Fair on Saturday, May 5.  The street fair will be a part of the Great Southeastern Festival which we are helping to sponsor that weekend.  We will be scheduling folks for two-hour shifts, and you will wear your hiking duds and have some fun meeting folks and answering their questions about our wonderful club.  Contact Ashok Kudva at Ashok.Kudva@mchsi.com or 828- 698-7119.

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Conservation

Building houses on inholding in Pisgah.

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In Memoriam

Long-time CMC member, John I. Hillyer, 81, died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007. He had been a member for 35 years and was co-author with Donald Dossey of The Mountains to Sea Trail, Western North Carolina’s Majestic Rival to the Appalachian Trail, published in 1998.

John was on the North Carolina Trails Committee for a number of years as advisor to the NC Trails Program, part of the NC Division of Parks and Recreation. Along with Arch Nichols, Dwayne Stutzman, George Odom and others, he was heavily involved in locating, building, and maintaining the MST from the French Broad River to Mt. Mitchell. Don Dossey says much of the material for the book they published about the MST came from John. Dossey calls him a giant. Gerry Mcnabb

Memorial Services will be at Groce Methodist Church on Sat., Mar. 3rd at 2:00 with visitation from 1:00 to 2:00.

John,
One of the "sure things" in this world is that every trail has an end. We know that as we walk, but sometimes forget because of the pleasure we are having along the way. In the final analysis, however, what's important isn't how long or short the trail is, but how well we have walked it. I think everyone who knows you would agree that you have walked your trail as well as it can be done. We will all miss you terribly when you come to the end of your hike, but will recall with great pleasure the time we spent walking with you. My personal wish is that I might be able to complete my trail with anywhere near the grace and dignity that you have shown. I will miss very much walking with you and look forward to meeting up again some time on another trail in another place. I hope the sunset is as beautiful as you deserve. Skip Sheldon

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Heard on the Ground

Trail Work is Fun

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Adopt an MST Section

The following sections of the Mountains to Sea Trail are available for adoption:
FS Road 816 to Dark Prong Gap(1.6 miles),
Graveyard Fields Jct. 358B to BRP 417 ( Bridges Camp Gap) (2 miles)

These are all beautiful sections that provide great personal satisfaction in caring for them. Contact Don Walton at donwalton@bellsouth.net or 654-9904.

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Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton

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Heard on the Trail

Looking for Love in all the right places

Do not miss the Wednesday Feb. 21 hike report. Go to the hike page.

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