Carolina Mountain Club

Hike - Save trails - Make friends

September 26, 2008

From Your Editor

This may be the most chock-full eNews yet, but that's because there's so much going on in the outdoor world. The A.T.C. is celebrating its 40th birthday at Pack Place. Tish is organizing a weekend at Mt. Rogers, VA. The Trails Forever program in the Smokies is asking us for help on a new trail initiative. And that's not even the half of it. I am delighted that so many of you are sending me good and relevant material for the Enews. So please take some time to read this, ask questions and discuss these issues on the trail. Danny

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What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks

CMC Council Meeting

The next CMC Council meeting will be on Thursday October 9 at the Botanical Gardens meeting room from 6:00 - 9:00. Please disregard the old information in the Let's Go. All members are welcome to attend. If you'd like to attend, please email our president, Becky Smucker.

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“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.

When: Friday October 3rd, 2008 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm

Where: Pack Place, downtown Asheville

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

CMC is leading a hike on Oct. 5 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the National Scenic Trails Act. Look at the hike schedule.

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CMC Pilgrims to Speak at Diamond Brand Outdoors - Oct. 7

The French speak of la France profonde, the real France of woods, fields, vineyards, villages, and small towns away from cities like Paris. How better to encounter this France than to walk 400 miles across it!

Five local hikers did this in May, walking from the city of LePuy to the Pyrenees Mountains on the Way of St. James, a French section of the thousand year old pilgrimage route that connects into the better known Camino de Santiago in Spain. From left to right, the pilgrims in the photo are: Don Walton, Tom Sanders, Chris Slater, Carroll Koepplinger and Jay Bretz with ages from 58 to 78. These are experienced hikers in the mountains of our region and members of the Carolina Mountain Club. They planned the French adventure after walking parts of the Spanish Camino in 2007, choosing to begin at LePuy because it is the most frequented of four French routes that cross the Pyrenees into Spain.

Being a pilgrim is different from an ordinary hiker. The route reflects the religious zeal of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims during the centuries who made their way past churches, chapels, shrines, monasteries,
and centers of hospitality. On any given day one encounters dozens of other pilgrims, some quite religious, others enjoying the historical culture, most from France, but others from everywhere. Americans are rare; we became well-known as the five Americans from North Carolina. (The first question on meeting is usually, where are you from? And which state? Then we had to explain where North Carolina was.)

We averaged 15 miles a day with a range of 11 to 20 miles. The terrain was diverse, often hilly, a lot of woods and fields on trails, charming and historic villages and towns on country roads. Most days we finished walking
before 2:30 pm, and then came the fun of sharing experiences with wonderfully interesting pilgrims, enjoying the town or place where we were staying, sitting at a sidewalk café with beer or local wine.

We stayed in a variety of accommodations: municipal and private hostels, bed and breakfasts, nunneries and other Catholic institutions. At least two of the places were quite luxurious, former grand estates converted into
hostels for pilgrims. Most served breakfast and dinner, but we often chose to eat at local restaurants. Worried about high costs in France with the decline of the dollar? A typical accommodation was for a bed about 12
euros, with breakfast and dinner was about $50.

Our fellow pilgrims, the hosts where we stayed, shopkeepers, and the countless French we encountered were invariably friendly and helpful. Two of us spoke French, but the others had no trouble because most people know some English. Anyone in good shape and seeking an exceptional cultural experience should try the French Way of St. James. Voila!

There will be a presentation of this trip at Diamond Brand Outdoors on Tuesday, October 7 at 7 pm. The public is invited. Tom Sanders.  

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Other Important News

Contributions For Special Conservation Projects

Many conservation projects undertaken by local conservation organizations provide important direct benefits to CMC and its members. CMC regularly schedules hikes on land purchased by local land conservancies. Other organizations work to protect trails and the hiking experience in CMC’s hiking region.

Currently, CMC supports conservation projects and organizations by providing information in the eNews and by activities of the Conservation Committee. We propose that CMC increase its support of specific, important conservation projects that are approved by Council and undertaken by local non-profit conservation organizations. Projects would be aligned with CMC’s mission, such as purchase of a specific tract of land that will eventually be public and where CMC schedules hikes, or protection of a specific trail.

The question that needs to be decided is the nature of the support:
A. CMC contributes financially from an amount that is budgeted annually.
B. CMC recommends that members contribute financially.
C. Both A and B.

Highlights of our discussion

1. Although members can contribute without a recommendation from CMC, they often don’t have the information to determine what is important.
2. Are there funds in CMC’s budget for conservation funding, especially with the new mileage reimbursement for trail crews?
3. A precedent was set when CMC’s participated in the George Masa film.
4. Other options for CMC support include supplying a contribution form with the membership renewal; matching contributions, etc.
5. Although projects would be limited to one or two per year, a mechanism for recommending projects to ouncil would need to be developed.

Danny Bernstein, Charlie Ferguson, Ruth Hartzler, Jim Reel

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Review These Proposed By-laws Changes

Having an effective, dynamic club sometimes requires attention to nitty-gritty business matters. The Council has approved three by-laws changes for members to vote on at the Annual Meeting Saturday, Nov. 1. Please review these proposals and think them over.

1. Change our statement of objectives back to match the statement of purpose in our Articles of Incorporation. When this part of the by-laws was revised several years ago, we did not take the Articles into consideration, and we should have the two documents in sync. Details.

2. Allow the Treasurer to hold an unlimited number of terms (reelected, of course), and institute an annual process of review of the financial records and accounts by the President and Vice-President. Details.

3. Add a Councilor for Communications. We currently have a Communications Committee with a chairperson, but no person on Council to specifically represent them. This proposal would add a seat to Council for that purpose. Details.

For a full copy of the by-laws, go to http://www.carolinamtnclub.com/data/CMC-Bylaws.pdf. Contact Becky Smucker at bsmucker@charter.net or any Council person for further information or to give feedback.

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Weekend in the Damascus Area - Oct. 17 and 18

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

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CMC Annual Dinner & Meeting - NOV. 1, 2008

We are looking forward to a great turnout for the annual dinner. The last day of daylight savings was selected to give you a bit of extra daylight for youe trip to The Chariot in Hendersonville. Westgate will be used as a meeting place for those who may not wish to drive to Hendersonville.

Our guest speaker will be Adrienne Wallace, superintendent of the Chimney Rock State Park. She will be able to provide us with a glimpse into the future of the Park and the Hickory Nut Gorge area.

There will be a social hour with refreshments from 5 to 6 during which we will have a slide show running to acquaint you with the two new club challenges, the waterfall challenge and the fire tower challenge.

At 6 o'clock (dinner time) everyone will find something to eat from the buffet which will include a prime ribs carving board, chicken Marsala, and vegetarian lasagna. That will be followed by a short annual meeting
and Superintendent Adrienne Wallace.

Don't forget to send in your form for CMC membership renewal and annual dinner reservation. Barth Brooker.

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Heard on the Ground

Trail Maintenance Opportunity for Volunteers to Give Back and Participate in the GSMNP!

I wanted to let you know that Trails Forever is beginning work on the Forney Ridge trail on October 6. I hope that some of your members might be interested in getting involved. The trail crew is based out of Cherokee, NC and will be working Mon-Sat. until mid-November. The Forney Ridge trail is also located in Swain County, NC. We do have free camping with showers and cooking facilities available if anyone would want to stay for a few days and cut down on the driving.Please call or write if you have any questions or would like more information. Thanks and take care.

Jeremy Sweat, 75th Anniversary VIP Coordinator
(865) 436-1711 - Jeremy_Sweat@nps.gov

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Hunting Dogs on the Trail

Got out today with Mr. Roberts to do some scouting of Hickey Fork on the trail up to the falls. About one third of the way up, a bear dog (hound) with collar, radio transmitter etc. came "creeping" down from above. When the hound spotted us, he lay down and then proceeded to follow us back up the steep part of the trail. After our scout work, we led the much-bear-runned dog back to the parking lot and tried a number of times to call David Franklin of Marshall, NC (phone number being on the collar.) As we were preparing to "mount up" to Madison County, several hunters pulled up in pick-up trucks looking for two dogs that were in training all night Friday. We found Rosco, as the second dog was not on the section of woods we covered Saturday.

We will inform Bill Newton to make a comment to the CMC Council with regard to some concerns of David Franklin and all the citizens of the deep mountains who train, maintain and keep hounds for bear hunting. Mr. Franklin's concern is that often times (surely not CMC hikers) have found the dogs along the trail and removed the collars....this is tantamount to abandoning the animal in the forest....where the dog is most vulnerable...i.e. exhausted, sore, hungry. Owners of these hounds are always looking for them and will find them with the transmitting receivers. These dogs, despite some who may think bear hunting is cruel and unusual, are greatly prized by the owners. The radio collars cost more than $160 each and during most seasons, hikers have removed the collars, leaving the dogs to die in the woods with no hope of being recovered by their owners. Mr. Roberts and I suggest that Bill mention this to the CMC leaders to have the Council inform the club's hikers.
Trail crew maintenance volunteers are very much aware of how to treat these animals.

Record the location of the dog; record the phone number (on the collar); as soon as the hiker is in cell phone range of a tower, make the call and disclose the location. Usually, the dog will follow hikers to the parking areas. These animals belong to someone and if and when hikers may need assistance in the woods, these same owners will always be willing to assists them as well. Rosco is home in Marshall. Good day Saturday.John Soldati

An addendum from another trail maintainer - Don't remove the collar or you could face jail time. John Whitehouse

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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

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Heard on the Trail

A Short Cut to Mt. Mitchell

Lee Silver offers this short cut to Mt. Mitchell. See what you think. Here are the details.

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The Small Print

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 October 7, 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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