HIKING & PADDLING NEWS

Contents

• Next Two Months at a Glance
• Hiking
• Paddling
• For The Record

HIKING

HUMP MOUNTAIN
(Scheduled: Sat, 1 April 95)
Leader: Collins Chew
Hike canceled because of conflict with Southern Regional Management Committee Meeting. Sorry.

MOUNTAIN BIKING ON THE CREEPER TRAIL- ABINGDON TO DAMASCUS AND BACK
(Scheduled: Sat, 8 April 95)
Leader: Liz West
Rating: 30 miles of ~7% grade
Participants must have a mountain bike or a properly outfitted cross-training bike and wear a helmet. Plan to carry plenty of water and a lunch. If we travel the itinerary at a good pace and stop for a brief picnic, we ought to be back in Kingsport by ~3pm. Contact trip leader if you are interested in attending. Meet in front of Eastman Employee Center at 8am.

HOLSTON MOUNTAIN HIKE
(Scheduled: Sat, 8 April 95)
Leader: Rick Lott
Rating: Moderate/Difficult
Distance: 8-9 Miles
This is a loop hike that will most likely start at the base of Holston Mountain on Forest Service Rd. 87 near S. Holston Lake. We will hike up the Short Spur Trail to Holston High Knob and Fire Tower (2000 ft. vertical climb in 2.5 miles). This is the difficult part of the hike. The fire tower offers some excellent views of S. Holston Lake and all of the Tri-Cities area. From the fire tower, we will hike along the ridge on the Holston Mountain Trail and then down the mountain on the Flint Mill Gap trail. We then will return to the trail head via the Flatwoods Horse trail. Bring a lunch, water, rain gear. It could be cold and windy up on the fire tower and ridge, so an extra layer of warm clothing might be in order. We will try to be hiking by 9:00 AM. Contact the hike leader for meeting times and places. 

A.T. - CROSS MOUNTAIN TO TURKEY PEN GAP
(Scheduled: Sat, 15 Apr 95)
Leader: S. Perri
Rating: Moderate
Contact trip leader for details.

(Webmaster's note: access to the A.T. at Turkey Pen Gap has been CLOSED)

WILSON CREEK (LINVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA)
(Scheduled: Sat, 22 Apr 95)
Leader: A. Batchelor
Rating: Moderate
Contact trip leader for details.

A.T. MAINTENANCE: IRON MOUNTAIN GAP - USFS 230
(Scheduled: Sat, 22 April 95)
Leader: Kevin Edgar
Rating: Moderate
If you're looking for a truly "moderate" maintenance trip, then this is the one for you. We will maintain the 6.4 mile section south of Iron Mountain Gap, above Unicoi. This section has an active Adopt-a-Trail group, and it's reasonable to expect that the trail will be in pretty good shape. The walk over Little Bald Knob, Unaka Mountain, and the evergreen woods atop Unaka, with such maintenance as is needed should make for an enjoyable and satisfying spring day in the woods. A side trip to Beauty Spot at the end of the day should be possible if there is interest and weather is good. Call Kevin Edgar for information; we need to know who's coming so as to be sure to have enough tools.

SPRING WILDFLOWER HIKE - GENTRY FALLS
(Scheduled: Sat, 29 April 95)
Leader: Joe DeLoach
Rating: Moderate; you might get your feet wet
Gentry Falls is a two-tiered waterfall with each drop being about 30 feet high. Gentry Creek is in the Rogers Ridge Scenic Area in Johnson County, near Laurel Bloomery. The trail is a five mile round-trip on a gentle grade but with numerous unbridged stream crossings. The creek is shallow and fairly small so a dry pair of socks and shoes for the ride home should be the only extra preparation needed. The lovely falls and abundant early spring wildflowers are well worth the hike. This is a good hike for school-age children. We'll depart from the parking lot between Burger King and McDonald's in Colonial Heights at 8:30 and plan to have lunch at the falls. Please call me if you wish to come so I can look for you in the parking lot.

DAMASCUS A.T. DAYS
(Scheduled: 12-14 May 95)
Leader: Joe DeLoach
Rating: FUN!
This year marks the ninth annual A.T. Days celebration in Damascus. A new twist for this year's festivities is the theme of honoring a previous A.T. thru-hiker. Who else could be the first such honoree than Grandma Gatewood, the first woman to thru-hike the A.T. and the hero of many subsequent hikers? Grandma Gatewood hiked the A.T. three times, carried only a blanket, and...well, you'll need to go to Damascus to learn more! Our Club will have a display in the Town Hall and take part in the Hikers' Parade at 1:30 PM on Saturday, May 13. We'd like a good turnout for the Hiker's Parade so please come by the Town Hall around 1:00 to assemble. If you find the chicken barbecue ( and you'll have a hard time not finding that), you'll have found Town Hall. Please call Joe DeLoach if you would like more information.

ATC GENERAL MEETING
(Scheduled: 1-7 July 95)
Contact: Collins Chew
The ATC is looking for volunteers to help with the ATC BiAnnual meeting; excursion leader, hike leaders, youth leaders and help with registration. Registration Forms for the Appalachian Trail Conference Meeting, 7/1-7/95, in Harrisonburg, VA are included in the March/April 1995, Appalachian Trailway News. If you need copies of them and the schedule of events, call Collins Chew. This is a great opportunity to meet with other Trail enthusiasts, learn about ATC, hike in Virginia, see Virginia sights on excursions, and learn interesting skills and information at a host of workshops. It is about five hours up I-81 from Kingsport. Contact Collins Chew for registration info and/or to volunteer.

PADDLING

SOUTH TOE RIVER TRIP
(Scheduled: Sat, 8 April 95)
Leader: Ed Montgomery
Rating: II/III
The South Toe River is located in North Carolina and it's headwaters are on Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Rocks (elevation 6,684 ft.). We will paddle Section 2 and it is a very fine stretch of scenic water. It has class A scenery, excellent water quality, a rating of 2-3, and runs for about 7 miles. We will meet at the Burger King in Colonial Heights at 8:00am and combine boats. This is not a dam controlled river and we may have to alter our choice of rivers based on water flows. Please preregister. Plan to bring standard safety equipment, cold weather gear and lunch.

LOWER NOLICHUCKY
(Scheduled: Sat, 22 March 95)
Leader: Mike Morrow
Rating: II
Contact trip leader for details.

FOR THE RECORD

TEHCC BENEFITS
(Bob Tonnies reporting)
I would like to encourage our club membership to take advantage of all the opportunities and the benefits the club has to offer. As an A.T. maintaining club, we have the benefit of special considerations by several sporting goods/outdoor supply merchants that help provide cost savings to Club members. The Club is grateful for these benefits and in return encourages its membership to do business with these merchants as well. The following merchants provide discounts to Club members with Club identification (these discounts do not apply to items already on sale):

FOOTSLOGGER GREAT OUTDOORS: 221 E. King St., Boone North Carolina (828.262. 5111) Discount (15%) off camping, backpacking and hiking equipment and supplies

HIGHLANDS SKI & OUTDOOR CENTER: I-81, Exit 19, Abingdon, VA (540.628.1329) Discount (10%) off backpacking, hiking, skiing and biking equipment and supplies

MAHONEY'S SPORTMAN'S PARADISE INC: Peerless Center, Johnson City, Tennessee (423.282.8889) Discount (10%) off camping, hiking, backpacking, climbing gear and boots

MAST GENERAL STORE: Hwy 194, Valle Crucis, North Carolina (828.963.6511) Also on King St. in Boone, North Carolina and N. Maine St. in Waynesville, North Carolina Discount (5%) off all camping, hiking, backpacking items, hiking boots and all technical outerwear

MOUNTAIN SPORTS LTD: 1021 Commonwealth Ave., Bristol, VA (540. 466.8988) Discount (10%) off tents, sleeping bags, boots, packs, backpacking stoves, canoes, kayaks, paddles, life jackets, bikes, bike trailers, and car rack systems

NANTAHALA OUTDOOR CENTER: Hwy 19W, near Bryson City, North Carolina (828.488.2175) Discount (10%) off canoes, kayaks, boat related items, gear, all backpacking & hiking items, clothing and boots on in-store sales only

TRAIL SPORTS LTD: 3803 Ft. Henry Dr., Kingsport, Tennessee (423.239. 7787) (Mike's Shoe Repair) Discount on (10%) off boots, camping, hiking and backpacking items

DOE RIVER GORGE
28 January 95
(Steve Perri reporting)
The Doe River Gorge hike had been rescheduled from Jan. 14 since severe rain had caused major flooding near Elizabethton. We met Rick Lott along with a customer from CAMAC (Brendon) and a visiting coworker from Oxford in the United Kingdom (David) near Hampton. We started out about 9:00AM in the very light form of rain. We had the entire 2.5 miles of trail to ourselves. Just past the first tunnel we encountered icicles and the right hand side of the gorge along the trail. This was a rather beautiful spectacle formed by water draining down the gorge wall and freezing as it reached the surface. Many places we were careful as to avoid walking directly beneath these formations since they appeared to be slowly thawing and could easily cause some injury from those that were at much higher elevations than the trail. At the second tunnel we followed the side trail down to the river. It was quite obvious that the water level was drastically higher from the storm two weeks ago. There was a good collection of hub caps as a result of flowing from upstream. We continued through the second tunnel which offered some excellent views of the river and rock formations in the gorge walls. We reached the bridge about 11:15AM and did not cross as this was part of the liability agreement. On our way back, the rain picked up slightly for about 5 minutes. As we came out of the last tunnel, the sun was shinning with clouds hovering along the ridge lines opposite 19-E. The sun could have been out much longer for all we knew since the gorge is so deep that the sun does not reach very far into the bottom. We parted ways shortly after 1:15 and headed back home only damp and not soaked. This hike is about 5 miles round trip and is quite scenic. A good time to hike is late in the spring since the onset of the foliage growth is much slower due to the limited exposure to the sun.

FODDERSTACK MOUNTAIN HIKE
4 March 95
(Ray Hunt reporting)
The weather forecast was bad, and so was the weather. So we should have stayed home, but six of us did not: Tessa Simon, Bob Miller, Amy Hunt, Neil Dotson, Tim Dawsey and Jared White. Actually the weather was not so bad; snow and mud underfoot, melting snow dripping off the trees and bushes and clouds limiting views to 100 feet. But we enjoyed it anyway. And the only trouble we had was waiting for the leader on the long uphill starting climb.

So we made the two mile climb to the top, the next two miles along the ridge top, and the last two miles down at the other end. There at Ray Hunt's cabin we were revived by hot gingerbread, hot cider, hot chocolate and a hot stove. We enjoyed the trip so much that we may go again next year, in the hopes that clear weather will allow us to see where we went this year.

A.T. MAINTENANCE - HAMPTON TO DENNIS COVE
4 March 95
(Collins Chew reporting)
After three mornings of snow covered ground and before two days of rain, we slipped into a very nice Saturday to do our annual trail maintenance in Laurel Fork Gorge. It was really nice: John Kiefer said that we found the trail in better shape than we usually left it. Cadet Girl Scout Troop 313 has adopted half the section and they accompanied us. They thought it great fun to paint blazes and took turns. We painted blazes on the A.T. and the two extensive blue blaze sections. The regular crew took out the few blowdowns and all helped clean litter which was mostly concentrated at the parking areas at the ends. Also, encroaching rhododendron was clipped. Workers included Cadet Girl Scout Troop 313, Leaders Terry Oldfield and Deanna Powell with scouts Becky Frey, Tiffany Begley, Heather Powell, and Laura Greer, and A.T. Maintenance Team Members John Kiefer, Mary Ellen Ress, Rodney Umberger, and Collins Chew.

SOUTH BEYOND 6000 HIKE - MOUNT CELO, GIBBS MOUNTAIN, AND WINTERSTAR MOUNTAIN
11 March 95
(G. S. Luttrell reporting)
I'll take full credit for planning this hike on a gorgeous day - blue sky, warm, and no wind. We parked our car at the entrance to National Forest Service Land at Bowlin's Creek just about 3 miles from Burnsville If you have a vehicle with high ground clearance, you can drive on for a few hundred yards to a parking area within NFS Land. The trail follows Bowlin Creek for about a mile, then switches back onto the ridgeline and continues for 4.5 miles to Celo. The trail is an easy climb up a wide roadbed and no bushwhacking is required. At the top, just below Celo, we found a grassy spot to have lunch and enjoy the outstanding views. After lunch, we had a short bushwhack up to Gibbs Mountain, then hiked the trail to the top of Celo, another great spot with terrific views. At this point, Don Baker and Emmett Dougherty hiked on over to Winterstar Mountain and down the Colbert Ridge Trail. Gether Irick and Garry Luttrell returned to the car, since we had ascended Winterstar on a previous trip. It's only an hour and a half drive to the trailhead, so we were back in Kingsport before sundown, which is unusual for a South Beyond 6000 hike.

NORTH TOE GORGE
11 March 95
(Bob Tonnies reporting)
The weather cooperated perfectly for this trip. Snow melt from a storm earlier in the week provided the necessary water to bring the Toe Gorge up; the Embreeville reading for the Nolichucky was 4000 cfs. And paddling in the 60 degree weather on Saturday provided a taste of warm weather river running, although the water temperature was chill enough to remind you that it was still early March.

We got a reasonable start out of Johnson City and Jamie Gaither managed to make the connection with us while we were running the shuttle (not an inconsiderable achievement considering the back roads that the shuttle covers). Our shuttle went a lot smoother since we had Steve Ernst along and he had run shuttle through the confusing roads at Red Hill recently.

The first run was made more interesting by Randy Vanderaa's chance encounter with a rock in the largest rapid. There had been some previous discussion about how warm the weather was and how nice a swim might feel. Randy volunteered to find out for the good of the group. The verdict was that the water was still too cold. The second run was made without incident after a leisurely shuttle (made more so by the wait at the railroad crossings), getting us off the river around 3. Paddling on this trip were Steve Ernst, Jamie Gaither, Steve Gubser, Glenn Shoaf, Randy Vanderaa and myself.