Carolina Mountain Club
Hike - Save trails - Make friends
May 1, 2009
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| Upcoming Hikes | Hike Reports | CMC Calendar |
| Happenings in the next two weeks | Book signing on NC towers |
| Other News | Smokies Proclamation Event |
| Challenge Program | Every high point of every county |
| Heard on the Ground | Join a maintenance crew |
| Heard on the Trail | And they're off (to Switzerland) |
| The small print | Deadlines, change of addresses and other details |
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From Your Editor If you've been wondering how to join a trail maintenance crew, wonder no more. Look below to see the maintenance opportunities and contact the crew leader. Danny What's Happening in the Next Two Weeks Hiking North Carolina's Historic Lookout Towers On Tuesday, May 5 at 7 p.m., author and hiker Peter Barr will present images of old fire lookout towers still standing in many North Carolina forests.
The slide presentation is sponsored by the Friends of Leicester Library. The library is located at 1561 Alexander Road in Leicester. For directions or further information, please call the library at 828-250-6480. ---------------------- Back to Top
Council Meeting, May 7 All CMC members are most welcome to the quarterly CMC meetings. The next one is on Thursday May 7 at 6 P.M. Let our president, Becky Smucker, know that you want to attend. ---------------------- Back to Top CMC Social 2009 a Great Success Over 100 CMCers attended this year’s Social at the Arboretum on April 25. It was an unusually warm spring day and some of the hikers that came earlier returned from their hikes to the cool of the Education Center as the day warmed. After the BBQ dinner, the program began. Read Gerry's remarks. In addition to a 20-minute talk on the MST, the audience was asked to do more than look and listen when the showing of the Photo Contest began. As had been announced, they were asked to evaluate the 37 images submitted and to select the single best picture that would receive first place. A show of hands was counted with the presentation of each photo and the one receiving the most votes won the top prize. The picture with the next most votes received 2nd place. That process continued until 3rd place and two Honorable Mentions were awarded. The winners are: (click on the link to see each photo.) First Place: Martha K. Mason for a dramatic silhouette of a group of hikers at sunset 2nd Place: Ted Conners for a foggy scene of two hikers near a barren tree 3rd Place: Ashok Kudva for a dramatic shot of Looking Glass Rock as dusk 1st Hon. Mention: Beth Ann Cushman for a moody storm sky near Shining Rock 2nd Hon. Mention: Stuart English for a fine sunset shot from Mt. Leconte Prizes were gear cards from Diamond Brand for $30, $20, and $15. There were no prizes for the Honorable Mentions but the approbation of the membership was graciously noted.
---------------------- Back to Top Great Smoky Mountains National Park Governors' Proclamation
On Friday April 24, three CMC members, Danny Bernstein, Gerry McNabb and Janet Martin, attended the 75th Anniversary Governors' Proclamation Ceremony on Clingmans Dome. It was an invitation only affair and CMC was invited to present a proclamation honoring the park for its 75th anniversary. The rangers were in their dress uniforms - now I know what they mean by the top brass. Speech after speech recounted the history of the Smokies and the sacrifice that were made by those who had to leave their homes to make way for the park. Yet, Principal Chief Michell Hicks of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians pointed out that the park provides protection for the Cherokee lands from development.Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee said it is more difficult now to preserve land now than 75 years ago. Superintendent Dale Ditmanson, pictured above with CMC members, mused that in 200 years, he would like to see healthy hemlocks healthy, restored spruce and fir trees and the return of the American chestnuts. See a picture by Gerry McNabb which encapsulates the beauty of the park. North Carolina Gov. Bev. Perdue did not attend which caused great dismay among North Carolina residents. See the CMC proclamation which will be stored in the park archives. Danny Bernstein ---------------------- Back to Top May 19-20 (Tuesday-Wednesday) hike to Mt. LeConte
Reservations are very difficult to get. Due to cancellations, I have openings for 3 people to join 14 confirmed All Day CMC hikers. The tentative plan is to go up on Alum Cave Trail (5.5 miles, 3000ft ascent) on Tuesday and return via Boulevard Trail ( 8 miles, 2400 ft descent) on Wednesday with a 20 minute car shuttle. If you are interested, contact Ashok Kudva, Ashok.Kudva@mchsi.com Photo of sunset from Mt. LeConte by Stuart English. ---------------------- Back to Top Completing the 100 County High Points in North Carolina Brian Bockhahn, CMC member from Wake Forest, NC, completed the 100
county high points of North Carolina last month. Brian is top left in photo. He is the first person to accomplish this feat, a quest that took him over 13 years. Brian is a state park ranger at Falls Lake State Park, and also completed South Beyond 6,000 last year. North Carolina's county high points include many of the state's tallest peaks including CMC favorite hikes like Mt. Mitchell (Yancey County), Standing Indian Mountain (Macon & Clay Counties), Clingmans Dome (Swain County), Richland Balsam (Jackson County), and the Blue Ridge Pinnacle (McDowell County). However, to complete this quest, Brian also had to evade livestock in farm fields in the NC Piedmont, scour to the top of sand dunes on the Outer Banks, and trudge through miles of Great Dismal Swamp in eastern NC. A variety of hiking and terrain, for sure! Brian finished atop a prominent summit known as "The Peak", 5,200 ft., in Ashe County. "County high pointing" stemmed from the popular hobby of "state high pointing". For hikers who cannot readily venture all over the country, high points still await you in your surrounding counties! For more information on county high pointing, visit http://www.cohp.org. Peter Barr ---------------------- Back to Top Trail Maintenance Schedule All members are encouraged to participate in our trail maintenance activities. Non-members are invited to try it a few times before deciding if they want to join the Club and be a regular part of the crew. We train and provide tools. Below is a general schedule of work days. Exact plans often cannot be made until the last minute, so contact crew leaders for details. Crews marked with an * are currently seeking new members. MST and AT section maintainers work on their own schedule. Monday Barth Brooker barthb@bellsouth.net ---------------------- Back to Top Adopt a Section of the Appalachian Trail None. Get on the waiting list. 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. ---------------------- Back to Top Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton
---------------------- Back to Top And They're Off!
If you want to follow their adventures, go to the CMC forum.
---------------------- Back to Top The eNews comes out on Fridays. So ... The next issue will come out on Friday, May 15. Wednesday hike reports for the hike just before the eNews comes out will be published in the next eNews. 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 May 12, 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 If you are a non-member subscriber, you need to go back to the CMC home page > News >Subscribe and change it there yourself. ---------------------- Back to Top |
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Danny Bernstein
danny@hikertohiker.com
During his slide show, Barr will discuss efforts to preserve these historic treasures and his new trail guidebook, Hiking North Carolina's Lookout Towers. The program is free and open to the public. Further information on his book and hiking information updates can be found at 
Hike to Mt. LeConte and stay overnight stay at Leconte Lodge. Views of sunrise and sunset from Mt. Leconte are available to only those who stay overnight on top of this 6,593 ft mountain. Amenities at the Leconte Lodge on top of Mt. Leconte, which can be reached only by hiking, include an overnight stay in cabins with linen and blankets on double bunk beds, propane heaters, breakfast and dinner in a dining room, and outdoor flush toilets. 
Four CMC members, Jay Bretz, Don Walton, Tom Sanders and Carroll Koeplinger, have started another walk- the "Geneva Road" from Geneva to LePuy, France. Le Puy is where they started last year. 
