Carolina Mountain Club
Hike - Save trails - Make friends
January 4, 2008
Happy Hiking New Year!
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| Happenings in the next two weeks | Things you should know now! |
| The Best of the Rest | The Best CMC happenings in 2007 |
| Other News | Lots going on |
| Conservation | Catawba Falls, North Shore Road |
| Heard on the Ground | Maintenance News and Views |
| Heard on the Trail | Hatches and Matches! |
| The small print | Deadlines, change of addresses and other details |
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What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks Wilderness First Aid offered by Red Cross The Hendersonville Red Cross is offering a course in Wilderness First Aid on Thur and Fri Jan 17 and 18 from 9-4. The comprehensive course includes topics such as Management of an Accident, Planning, Patient Care, Injuries, Wounds and Skills for handling these emergencies in remote locations. The cost for the training and certification is $125 and it is a three year certification. Any members interested can call the HC Red Cross to sign up at 693-5605. The Carolina Mt. Club members are the ones who might benefit most from this important class. We will have more classes in the future so I hope you will pass this along to all your members. Our web site is www.hcredcross.org and the class schedule is listed in the Health and Safety Section. Andee McGuire ---------------------- Back to Top CMC gave out two major awards at the annual meeting and dinner in November. But I'd like to look back at other "Bests" of 2007. These are your editor's opinion but maybe next year, I'll ask for nominations. Best Conservation accomplishment - The North Shore Road Environmental Impact Statement, which recommended a financial settlement for Swain County and ensured that the road issue was finally put to rest. Best Human Interest Story - Michael Cornn and Kathy Kyle, active CMC hikers, were married. See below. Best Hike - Catawba Falls led by Don Walton with permission of the Foothills Conservancy. See below. Best Maintenance Accomplishment - CMC was named Volunteer of the Year by Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway for all our maintenance work. Best Hike Report - Ashok Kudva's Big Creek report, March 21 Best New CMC activity - a tie between the photo contest and the CMC forum ---------------------- Back to Top Ridgerunners and Caretakers for the A.T. Want to spend your summer on the A.T. and get paid for it? Check out the job description and application for ridgerunner and caretaker on the A.T.C. website. ---------------------- Back to Top Organize Charlotte Area CMC Hikers' Carpool If you want to carpool from Charlotte area to Asheville for CMC all day Saturday and Sunday hikes, contact me at vtncfeet@yahoo.com. Debbie Green ---------------------- Back to Top Glasses Found A pair of glasses with brown frame was found at the Mill Pond trail head on the Hot Springs to Tanyard Gap sect. of the AT. If they're yours, call Jack (II) Albright, Asheville Friday crew at 828-275 8331. ---------------------- Back to Top Catawba Falls is now accessible! When the heirs put the 23 acre property on the market, the Foothills Conservancy acted very quickly to buy it with loan funds to secure public access to the trail. The Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, a regional land trust, is dedicated to working cooperatively with landowners and public and private conservation partners to preserve and protect important natural areas and open spaces of the Blue Ridge Foothills region, including watersheds, environmentally significant habitats, forests and farmland, for this and future generations. FCNC now owns more than 1,000 acres in the Catawba Headwaters and has allowed access to Catawba Falls. The Conservancy has taken out a loan to buy this access to Catawba Falls and obviously needs to repay it. Please put your money where your feet are and make a contribution and support where you hike. See http://www.foothillsconservancy.org/news.htm ---------------------- Back to Top North Shore Road - Record of Decision On December 28, 2007 Paul Anderson, the Acting Southeast Regional Director of the National Park Service, signed a Record of Decision (ROD) that officially calls for a monetary settlement to Swain County as the conclusion to the Environmental Impact Statement process at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The decision clears the way for a new agreement to be crafted between the U.S. Department of Interior and the other three parties to a 1943 Agreement which called for the construction of a 34-mile long road on the North Shore of Fontana Lake as a replacement for an earlier road that was flooded by the Lake during WWII. In anticipation of negotiations towards a new agreement and a monetary settlement, Representative Heath Shuler (NC) and Senator Lamar Alexander (TN) were successful in including $6 million in the 2008 DOI budget which was signed on December 26 to be available as an initial payment to Swain County. This is a major step forward that ensures that Swain County will be compensated for the road that was flooded in 1943. It also shows the power of collective, organized action to protect our environment and our hiking experience. We've learned a lot! ---------------------- Back to Top CMC Crew Rebuilds Trail in the Pink Beds
With the concurrence of the U.S. Forest Service, the Pisgah Friday trail maintenance crew began work to make the trail passable again. The solution will be construction of a 250 to 300 foot long elevated walkway across the beaver pond using the pre-existing bridge as a base. The walkway will be five feet wide and sit about a foot above the water of the pond. To match the rest of the walkway, the existing bridge will be widened to five feet. The route of the new walkway will approximate the original route of the Barnett Branch trail. Construction of the walkway is expected to take a couple of months. It is expected to be ready for use by the Spring of 2008. Pete Petersen Leader of Friday Pisgah crew. Photo by Danny Bernstein. ---------------------- Back to Top Adopt a Section of the Appalachian Trail Lemon Gap to Bluff Mtn. including Walnut Mtn. Shelter, 3.9 miles ---------------------- Back to Top Adopt a Section of the MST Doubletop to Old Bald Access, 1.1 miles Old Bald Access to Balsam Gap Access, 4.4 miles Chestnut Cove Overlook to Sleepy Gap Parking Area, .9 miles NC 128 to Buncombe Horse Trail Head at Camp Alice, 3.0 miles If you're interested, email Don Walton. ---------------------- Back to Top Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton
---------------------- Back to Top Michael and Kathy get married! Michael writes, "We were married at the Melange Bed and Breakfast in Hendersonville by a non-denominational female minister on Saturday, Dec. 15 with family. Music was provided by a classical guitarist, and then a friend of Michael's aunt from Israel surprised us with an a cappella rendition of a piece by Handel. We were able to take some relatives on two hikes during their visit. Now we're off to Hawaii for the honeymoon for less eating and more hiking." Kathy and Michael Ashok Kudva and his Two New Grandchildren
Ashok Kudva and his new two grandchildren, Grace and Dylan. ---------------------- Back to Top
CMC Policy for publishing obituaries With the increasing size of the club and the limited space we have available,
obituaries will not be published unless the deceased is extremely well known among most of the active club members.
An obituary will be considered only if someone submits the obituary to the eNews editor ready to print; content should be limited to the deceased individual's CMC activities. It will not be repeated in Let's Go because of space considerations and the timeliness of publication, appearing only once a quarter.
The Council may override this policy. – CMC Communications Committee So send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Wednesday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Wednesday evening January 16, 2008 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. How to join the Carolina Mountain Club ---------------------- Back to Top |
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Danny Bernstein
danny@hikertohiker.com
The Catawba River is a major river in the Carolinas which provides water for the city of Charlotte and beyond. But, at the headwaters, the river flows wild, though it is creek size. Catawba Falls have always had a mystique. Where are they? Who owns them? Catawba Falls was always private; hikers could only to the falls with permission of the landowners. Catawba Falls, itself, were acquired by Pisgah National Forest in the late 1980s from the Adams family of Old Fort. But a short access trail to the falls stayed in private hands and the falls became landlocked.
Over the past year or so, some busy beaver have constructed several dams across the stream that runs through the Pink Beds in Pisgah Forest. The ponds that have formed behind the dams initially made the Barnett Branch trail muddy through the area, but grew to the point where the trail was impassable.