January 2016 – Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club

January 24, 2016

Trip Report – Margarette Falls

Trip Date: January 17th
Schaefer Family Reporting

Our timing is off in planning these hikes. Another missed chance to see frozen falls as it’s surely bedecked with ice now. Alas the problem with planning one to two months ahead. I just have to put it on the calendar and hope for the best. It is not to say that it wasn’t worth it. Despite no ice, the trail scenery was beautiful with freshly fallen snow and frosted top mountains. The hike was fairly straight forward, well worn, and well marked. We made our way to the falls, enjoyed the view and a quick snack and got moving again before the cold got to us. The return home included a stop at the Greeneville Pizza Inn. No takers on this hike, just the Schaefer family including dogs Zoinks! and Beetle.

We saw the profile of a face.

One day I'll see you covered in ice — One day I’ll see you covered in ice

It's cold - where's the ice? — It’s cold – where’s the ice?

January 10, 2016

Hike Report – Laurel Fork Gorge and Falls 1/9/2016

Tim Schaefer Reporting
Frozen waterfall hikes in this area can be fickle. Although the beginning of the New Year was cold, we finished the week with some warm days. This apparently melted away whatever ice may have formed. It didn’t matter, as often, the destination is a motivator, but it’s the journey that is enjoyed best. The hike began at US321 to the AT and on to the falls. After enjoying a cool (but not frozen) stop at the falls for lunch, we decided to hike up out of the gorge to see the Koonford Bridge redone in 2014. The hike was more steps than I remembered the last time I visited here five years ago. We made it to the bridge and returned except staying on High Water Trail to see more trail (but really to avoid the descent back into the gorge). Joining us today was the Schaefer Family (Tim, Carrie, Jamie, Bob, Josie), the Zimmerman Family (Yuyan and Frankie), Jeffery and Amy Bryan, Gabrielle Ashley with dog Lucy, and Andrew.

January 8, 2016

From the Chair – January 2016

William Werner, Steering Committee Chair Reporting
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s going to be a great year for hiking, paddling, and maintaining, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve. I want to sincerely thank all of our members for the time and effort they invested in the club in 2015, and I encourage everyone to make 2016 even better. Serving on the steering committee for the past year has shown me that the officers and committee are only a small part of the club—it’s the contributions of the members that make this club great.

This coming year we have three members who are rotating off the committee: Fred Mullner, Michael Watts, and Brien Lewis. Steve Ankabrandt will continue as past-chair, Yancey Appling as treasurer, and Vic Hasler as a non-voting representative of the A.T. Committee. We also welcome our new Committee members: Mark Cox, Lane Daley, Kay Parker, and Tim Schaefer. With such an experienced and talented team, I’m confident the club can overcome any challenge it faces.

See you on the trail!

January 2, 2016December 22, 2015

2016 Membership Drive

2016 is here and for that means reminding everyone to renew membership to the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club. Most of everyone should fall into one of the three categories.

Eastman employees – Dues are automatically deducted from your first paycheck, no further action needed
Retirees – email me at tim@tehcc.org to confirm your contact information
Affiliates – Complete the form, include the required payment, and mail to the provided address

That’s it! Still debating? My easy response is that your membership fee is a cheap trail head fee. That’s 7.5¢/mi for the miles of trail our club maintains on the AT. I just ran the preliminary numbers for 2015 AT maintenance. People volunteered over 10,000 hours over 347 outings to maintain our 134 miles of trail. Large portions of our club revenue, well over half if not close to 80% goes to trail maintenance activities. This is mostly tools and materials needed to maintain one of the most popular sections of the AT. Your little bit of dues does help.

The bulk of the remainder of our dues revenue is for our web hosting. Our Trail Wiki continues to grow. 2015 has some renewed focus along with exploring new capabilities that have been added. Early next year I hope to have a customized searchable list so you can find the trails near you that match your desires.

Membership in 2016 is looking to be a good year. We have commitment to continued focus on our event calendar. I personally hope to lead at least one hike a month. With five to ten more people with that level of commitment, we would have a really full calendar. That would be 1% of our membership leading hikes, not that many. I also have some ideas of weekend camping and hiking trips that I may explore if there is enough interest.

So please renew today! Still not convinced, contact us at chair@tehcc.org or tim@tehcc.org and let us know what you think.