CMC Enewsletter -September 12, 2008

Lenny and I are back from Europe - great hiking, friendly people, a good experience all around. If you're interested in more details, come to my Diamond Brand presentation on Oct. 21. I want to thank Dave Wetmore for publishing the eNews while I was gone. He did a great job and (I think) even enjoyed it. Please send all news, hike reports and other tidbits to me, now. Thank you. Danny

Our next Saturday work day will be Sept 13, and as always, meeting at the Moose Cafe at 8:00 for breakfast, leaving promptly at 9:00. We will be working near milepost 449, Scott Creek Overlook south of Waynesville. We are making a lot of progress this year, so please come and be an important part of it. Piet Bodenhorst.

We extend an invitation to the CMC leadership and to our Forest Service friends (who provided all the materials and who delivered most of the materials to the site) to join us. We will meet in the parking lot at the Pisgah Ranger Station at 8:30 that day and convoy to the Yellow Gap/Barnett Branch trail head. Pete Petersen

I've checked out this wonderful piece of boardwalk. Read the whole story. Pictures by Bill Newton.

There will be a weekend trip to Damascus, VA for hiking to Mt. Rogers and biking on the Virginia Creeper Trail -- stay Oct. 17th. and Oct 18th. evenings at a local B&B -- contact Tish Desjardins at 828-656-2191 or by email. Check out the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area - http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/mr/index.shtml

“KICK YOUR BOOTS OFF” - Friday Oct. 3
Appalachian Trail Conservancy Announces 40th Birthday Bash

What: The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and Asheville Affiliates host the region’s first fundraising event for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Expect live music from One Leg Up, raffle and auction items including multi-sport adventure getaways to Damascus, Hot Springs and Bryson City, a boat, fully loaded backpacks, food from Roots Catering, and beverages from Catawba Valley Brewing Company as well as fun A.T. activities.

Why: The signing of the National Trails System Act in 1968 named the Appalachian Trail one of the first National Scenic Trails in the country. Although work began on the Trail over 86 years ago, the signing of the Act gave protection to the A.T. as a unit of the National Park System, along with other National Scenic and National Historic trails. This October marks 40 years since the Acts signing, giving the Appalachian National Scenic Trail something to celebrate.

Cost: RSVP before October 3rd, and get $5.00 off the $25.00 ticket price. RSVP@appalachiantrail.org

** We are currently looking for volunteers to help prior to and day of the event – contact jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org if interested**

We have another club photo contest under way. The theme this year is "Defining the CMC experience". That means almost anything goes as long as it says who we are, what we do, or what we see. Members will judge the winners at our Annual Social next spring at the Arboretum on April 25, 2009. Here are the simple rules again:

Rules:

1. Only digital entries will be accepted, and for pictures taken in 2008 or 2009. If you shoot film, have it converted to digital first.

2. To qualify for entry you must be a current paid-up member of the club at the contest closing.

3. Members may enter up to three pictures.

4. Photos may be modestly edited… nothing wild or unnatural.

5. Entries should be as large as your camera can take to assure a quality image for presentation. Check your camera's menu to make sure you are taking the highest resolution pictures. I will resize them for projection.

6. Prizes will be awarded at the Social… first, second and third.

7. Photos received after the closing date will not be considered as entries.

8. It would be helpful if you could rename your entries to include your name in the filename of the photo… to better identify the photos as yours. If you can't do it, I will rename them for you.

9. No entries will be accepted after March 31, 2009.

10. All entries submitted may be used by the club for publicity purposes.

Entries should be emailed to contestmcnabb@charter.net

Tell me in your email how your picture relates to the theme, and on what occasion it was taken. Happy shooting. - Gerry McNabb

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Heard on the Ground

Americorps and the Friday CMC Crew

On Friday September 5th. twenty young folks who had just completed their orientation training for Americorps assignments spent a "public service" day working with 13 members of the CMC Asheville Friday crew. Part of this group extended the new section of the MTS trail at Scott Creek overlook another 250 yards toward the Smokies. The others cut trees and pulled stumps on the next section to be built, which is located at the Hornsbuckle overlook. The energy and enthusiasm of these young people was a sight to behold. There were smiles and great comradeship all around, with the only negative being several encounters with unfriendly Yellow Jackets. For most of these folks this was their first experience with trail building / maintaining, and several of them expressed interest in coming back for more. Based on the hugs, hand shakes, and thank-you's going around at the end of the day, I think it is safe to say that this was a very pleasant experience for everyone involved. Skip Sheldon

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Adopt a Section of the Appalachian Trail

Tanyard Gap to Hurricane Gap, 3.4 miles

Adopt a Section of the MST

Licklock Gap to Doubletop 0.9 miles
Walnut Cove Overlook to Hardtimes Road 1.2 miles
Orchard Overlook to Balsam Gap, 2.5 miles
BRP Headquarters-Spur Access to I-40, 1 mile

If you're interested, email Don Walton.

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Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton

Closed maintenance items.

Maintenance Hours Reporting System

Event summary

Executive summary

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Heard on the Trail

Hello from California! From Jude Wood

I thought that a few people might be interested to hear how camp went over the summer and what I have been up to since leaving NC in May. As you will guess from the top line I have somehow managed to make it all the way across to the West coast and it looks like I will be residing here for at least the next few months.

From NC, I took a 3 day road trip to WI, taking in Nashville (saw K T Tunstell in concert and Elvis' car), the St Louis Arch and Museum and Lincoln's home in Springfield. It was then straight into 12 weeks of very hard but rewarding work at camp. I averaged 6 hours sleep a night and only had 3 afternoons off the entire summer. I don't think I have ever done anything so difficult. However, I was blessed with an amazing staff and some super kids and all the hard work paid off with a very successful summer. Some of our kids lost over 40lbs at camp and all achieved good weight-loss and personal successes. It took me a while to be able to stop stressing and see what we achieved but I am now very proud of my first year as a Director, and know that we did change lives.

Wisconsin has its charms but it is not NC (in fact it is pretty much flat!) so I was out the door as soon as possible once I had tidied up post camp. I decided that a road trip was in order and with a friend loaded the car and headed West. I spent 3 weeks checking out the Badlands, Black Hills, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and finally rolled back into CA a year after I had left. A friend needs a roommate for a few months and I am gladly helping her out. Since being back in CA I've climbed Half Dome, spent the weekend at the beach and been surfing in Monterey. Sadly I am now back to working Mon-Fri but will be in NC briefly next week and no doubt for other meetings in the future.

I have enjoyed keeping up with the CMC news and hope that I might get back out on the trail again with you soon. Best wishes to all, Jude.

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The Small Print

The eNews comes out on Fridays. So ... The next issue will come out on Friday, September 26. This will allow the Sunday and Saturday hike leaders a little more time to send in their report; Wednesday hike reports for the hike just before the eNews comes out will be published in the next eNews.

So send me your news and maintenance reports by Tuesday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Tuesday evening September 23, 2008 to Danny Bernstein at danny@hikertohiker.com. Include your email address at the end of your story. I can only accept the Wednesday hike report by Wednesday evening. 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
1. Go to www.carolinamtnclub.org
2. Click on “How to Join” (upper-left on web page)
3. Print out the “CMC Application Form”
4. Fill it Out, write a check for your dues and ...5. Mail to CMC, PO Box 68, Asheville NC 28802

For CMC members only - Send all address and email changes to Marcia Bromberg at mwbromberg@yahoo.com.
If you are a non-member subscriber, you need to go back to the CMC home page > News >Subscribe and change it there yourself.

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Happenings in the next two weeks	Pink Beds Dedication
Other News	Damascus Weekend
Heard on the Ground	A.T. and MST sections for adoption
Heard on the Trail	A note from Jude Wood
The small print	Deadlines, change of addresses and other details