Carolina Mountain Club

Hike - Save trails - Make friends

March 6, 2009

From Your Editor

This week, the eNews passes along important information on the Fontana Lake crossing. This is at the core of what the eNews is all about - talking about the up-to date condition of trails and hiking in the Southern Appalachians because we have our boots on the ground. Danny

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What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks

Website Task Force Invitation

CMC is forming a task force with this charge: …” while keeping in mind the considerable value and power of our current website, the task force assess our website needs for the future and recommend ways to meet those needs.”

We are looking for a couple more members to join this group, which will have its first meeting the week of March 9. We need several folks who are 1) active in CMC and care about its future, 2) habitual internet users, and 3) good communicators. If you think you fill the bill and would be interested in helping us with this task, or just have questions, contact Becky Smucker at bjsmucker@gmail.com

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Other Important News

Crossing Fontana Lake? Read this!

Two CMC members found out that right now, it's not easy to cross Fontana Lake and pick up the boat shuttle. If you're planning to hike in the Smokies and use the Fontana Marina shuttle, this is important. After spending an extra night in the woods because they could not connect with the boat shuttle, Sharon McCarthy writes:

I talked to Ronnie at Fontana Marina and he informed me that there should have been a signed posted at the Hazel Creek/Lakeshore intersection. The bridge was washed out and the boat shuttle was accessed by the Ollie Cove Trail.

This trail is 0.7 mile going east on the Lakeshore Trail (opposite direction of Campsite 86 and the usual shuttle point) and then turning right onto Ollie Cove and going 0.3 miles to the lake.

Needless to say, Judy and I did not see such a sign, although we noticed that the new trail sign there had Ollie Cove Trail on it and we wondered what that was.

I suggested that he (Fontana Marina employee) should tell every person reserving the shuttle about precisely where the pickup is instead of relying on a sign out in the woods. I think he said the bridge is to be repaired in the spring. We saw it laying up on the mountainside. The thing to emphasize, I guess, is to always determine with the boat shuttle folks exactly where the pickup is. Don't assume, even if you've been there ten times before. Sharon McCarthy - Sharon alerted the Park Ranger responsible for the trails and here's what he said.. Read their story on Sharon's blog. The picture is of Judy Gross and Sharon McCarthy.

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CMC Photo Contest

Have you sent in your entries for the CMC Photo Contest. The theme is Defining the Carolina Mountain Experience. The winners will be chosen by us, the members at the Spring picnic. The deadline is March 31. Check out all the details.

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Spring Picnic

Save the date - Saturday April 25. Hikes, food, friendship and a great slide show are promised. Details coming very soon.

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Appalachian Trail Festival 2009

The Biennual meeting of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy will be held July 17 - 24, 2009 at Castleton State College, Castleton, Vermont. There will be hikes, workshops, excursions and entertainment. Several CMC members always go to these meetings. Registration is now open.

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CMC Archives Event at UNCA Ramsey Library

The archive party was a big success. Over 30 people attended.

Helen Wykle, Curator, and Pete Steurer, our CMC Club Historian talked about the CMC Archives. There are old hike reports, hike schedules and an large slide collection.

We met two students, one who is doing his senior history thesis on the Appalachian Trail in North Caroline and CMC.

Norma Forbes, who was very active in the 1950s, recollected "At that time, ladies didn't wear slacks except on Sundays where we went hiking."

Photo of Pete Steurer, taken by Stuart English.

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Extend the MST - March 21

Join us for the next chance this spring to extend the MST South on Saturday March 21.

When: March 21

This is your opportunity to give something back for all the fun and enjoyment you have had on the trails these past years. We hope to have a large group to help us extend the MST going south to Soco Gap.

Meeting Place: Moose Café at 9:00 A.M. for car pooling.
Or Soco Gap Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the intersection of Blue Ridge Parkway and Rt. 19 near Maggie Valley at 9:30 AM

Tools will be available, but if you have digging tools of your own, please bring them. Please call all your friends and acquaintances and invite them. The more hands the more fun! Let’s Go to the High Mountains.
Piet Bodenhorst

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Conservation

Help Preserve Funding for Conservation

Recently, North Carolina's Gov. Beverly Perdue said she is preparing to make decisions about which programs to cut in her proposed budget for next year. We need your help to urge her to preserve substantial funding for our state's highly successful conservation trust funds. Gov. Perdue is already fielding demands from every sector and trying to figure out where to allocate scarce dollars in a struggling economy. Current projections are that the state could face a $3 billion budget shortfall next year. But large cuts to conservation programs would jeopardize land trusts' ability to save the places you love, and would harm rather than help our state's economy. Go to Conservation Trust for North Carolina to send an email message or write to Gov. Perdue at:
Governor Bev Perdue
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

(This request comes from Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy and Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.) Danny

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Improving Access to Catawba Falls

Rep. Heath Shuler has introduced legislation to improve access to Catawba Falls and the Pisgah National Forest in McDowell County.

The bill, H.R. 1002, would adjust the boundaries of the Pisgah National Forest to include a total of 301 acres of additional land, 213 acres that the federal government has previously obtained, and an additional 88-acre tract of land now owned by a private landowner. Visitors must now pass through a steep and rugged wooded area to reach the falls and the difficulty of access often leads hikers to trespass across the privately held property. The bill requires that any federal acquisition of the smaller, privately-owned tract be based on willingness from both the seller and the buyer and the federal government would not use eminent domain. The legislation would allow the forest service to use existing Land and Water Conservation Funds for the acquisition of the 88-acre tract. The McDowell County Board of Commissioners unanimously supports efforts to ensure access to Catawba Falls by acquiring the additional tract, and sportsmen and conservation groups are also in favor of the legislation, according to a press release from Shuler's office. From the Asheville Citizen-Times – Feb. 24. Photo by Danny

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Heard on the Ground

Adopt a Section of the Appalachian Trail

Spring Mountain Shelter to Allen Gap, 3.7 miles

Adopt a Section of the MST

Devil’s Courthouse Jct. to FS Road 816, 2.4 miles

If you're interested in either the A.T. or MST, email Don Walton.

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Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton

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Heard on the Trail

Another Smokies 900 Finisher

I finished the Smokies 900 - that's walking all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My last trail was the Indian Creek Motor Trail, out of Deep Creek.

I arrived in Asheville almost eight years ago, having done 71.4 miles of the A.T. I've been keeping records on my Smokies miles ever since. After finishing the SB6K several years ago, this seemed to be the next obvious hiking challenge.

I will never know the park as well as I do now. Several other CMC members are actively working on their Smokies 900 goals and I'm helping them. Watch this space for more CMC members to complete the trail.

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The Small Print

Hiker leaders, please send all your eNews hike reports and photos to Dave Wetmore at dwetmore@citcom.net

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 March 17, 2009 to Danny Bernstein at 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
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. Do not resubscribe yourself to the eNews. That will be done automatically.

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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