Carolina Mountain Club
Hike - Save trails - Make friends
May 9, 2007
|
|
|
| Happenings in the two weeks | Things you should know now! |
| Other News | Plan ahead |
| Conservation | Rocky Fork Tract |
| Heard on the Ground | Maintenance News and Views |
| Heard on the Trail | Thank you horse folks |
|
Please send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Monday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Monday evening May 21, 2007 to Danny Bernstein danny@hikertohiker.com. 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. If you are a non-member subscriber, you need to go back into "subscribe" and change it there yourself. What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks Keep on extending the MST! Did you save the date, May 12?? Join Us !!! This is your best chance this year to extend the MST south. This is your best opportunity to give something back for all the fun and enjoyment you will have this year hiking. We hope to have a large group to help us complete another piece of the MST going south of the Cascade/Woodfin overlook, south of Balsam Gap. Tools will be available but if you have digging tools of your own, please bring them. Call all your friends and acquaintances and invite them. The larger the group, the more fun!! If you are joining the group for breakfast, meet earlier and be ready to leave at 9:00 AM. Piet Bodenhorst pietboden@bellsouth.net ---------------------- Back to Top Great Southeastern Hiking Festival a success! The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival, held in Montreat, was a great success. Here is a fan letter from Jim in Raleigh: I just attended the Southeastern Hiking Festival. I hiked all 4 days, and each hike was led by a member of the Carolina Mountain Club. You all did a fantastic job. Thank you Ruth H., Danny B., Barth B., and Bruce B. I will try to join your club on a hike the next time I am in the area. Happy trails! See the full report. ---------------------- Back to Top Hike scheduler needed CMC has an immediate opening for someone to schedule the Sunday afternoon hikes, obtain leaders, and write the descriptions for the four quarterly issues of Let’s Go. Computer skills and ability to work with Word are required. The scheduler also is responsible for providing leaders with sign-up sheets and filing the completed ones. The scheduling task is vital to the Club and gives the scheduler a chance to expand his/her friendships and learn about the many hikes in our area. We ask anyone interested in this project to contact either Paula Robbins (paularww@bellsouth.net, 281-3253) or Bruce Bente (bbente@bellsouth.net, 692-0116). ---------------------- Back to Top CMC Discussion Groups
[Aren't you guys supposed to be hiking? - Danny]
The start of the
message thread is on the CMC website at :http://www.carolinamtnclub.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18&posts=2&start=1 ---------------------- Back to Top Save the Rocky Fork tract for the A.T. The 10,000 acre Rocky Fork tract is on the Carolina Mountain Club’s Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) section A.T. south of the Flint Mountain Shelter, near Erwin, TN. Managed by TimberVest, of Atlanta, GA, for New Forestry, LLC, this investment provides income from logging and sale of the property. Over a mile of the A.T is on Rocky Fork, more than 17% of the A.T. right-of-way without protection. Rocky Fork contains some sixteen miles of pure, blue-ribbon trout streams, with numerous cascades and waterfalls, including Rocky Fork and Lower Higgins Creeks. Sensitive species on the tract include the star-nosed mole, woodland jumping mouse, smoky shrew, a new salamander (a sub-species of Yonahlossee salamander?), peregrine falcon and rare bats. Rocky Fork includes high elevation heath and grass balds and the upper watershed of streams draining the Sampson Mountain Wilderness, adjoining the property to the north. Partners working on Rocky Fork’s conservation include the Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund (THCTF), an anonymous donor, the USDA Forest Service, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, the Conservation Fund and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Developers are standing in line if our offer fails. Your help will be a huge asset as we seek federal Land and Water Conservation Funds ($7MM in both FY’08 & FY’09) to match funds from the THCTF! Help by e-mailing or faxing a letter requesting this funding to Rep. Shuler, Senators Dole & Burr in NC and Rep.’s Davis & Wamp and Senators Alexander & Corker in TN. (www.congress.org for contact info.) Thank you! ---------------------- Back to Top Adopt a piece of the A.T. It is not often that a piece of the A.T. comes up for adoption. Maintaining a piece of the A.T. is an honor which any hiker in the world can appreciate. So don't delay if you want this one. The Hurricane Gap to Spring Mountain Shelter section of the AT needs a new Section Maintainer. It is 1.7 miles long with about 570 feet elevation difference. All down hill going back to your car! Contact Howard McDonald if you are interested at hamcdonald@cytechcis.net or 828-693-8258. ---------------------- Back to Top Adopt an MST Section The following sections of the Mountains to Sea Trail are available for adoption: These are all beautiful sections that provide great personal satisfaction in caring for them. Contact Don Walton at donwalton@bellsouth.net or 654-9904. ---------------------- Back to Top Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton
---------------------- Back to Top If you can hike this trail, thank a horse
---------------------- Back to Top |
Danny Bernstein
danny@hikertohiker.com
As you may know, 5 CMC members are going to Spain to hike the "el Camino de
Santiago" for about two weeks starting May 6. We would like to keep people
informed as we hike. We don't know how available internet connections are
along the route. As connections become available, we will post
descriptions of the hike and hopefully photos as well.
I scouted my June 2 hike in the Smokies soon after a bad windstorm. I was particularly concerned about the Long Bunk Trail which is not used much. To my pleasant surprise, blowdowns had been cut and the trail was cleared. I sent an email of thanks to George Minnigh, the head of the trail system in the park, who informed me that the horse riding group had cleared the trail. Danny.