HIKING & PADDLING NEWS

Contents

• Hiking
• Paddling
• For The Record

HIKING

HIKE NOTICE - FUN FEST MOONLIGHT HIKE
(Scheduled: Thurs, 3 Aug 95)
Leader: Steve Falling (615.239.5502)
Rating: Easy
Again this year the club will be helping the Bays Mountain Park staff with the Moonlight Hike around the lake (about 2 miles).  Over 300 hikers turned out last year for this event so it gives the club some good publicity.  Volunteers are needed to walk with the crowd and to keep the hikers on the correct trail.  The hike begins at 8:00 PM and finishes up about 10:00 PM.  If you are willing to help out with this event, please contact Steve Falling at 239-5502 for more information.

KONNAROCK CREW - CLIFF RIDGE RELOCATION
(Scheduled: 3-7 and 17-21 Aug 95)
Leader: Joe DeLoach (615.753.7903)
Rating: Satisfying
We have two final weeks with the Konnarock Crew in August this year.  With the Crew we have made good progress thus far on the Cliff Ridge Relocation, but we can use all the help we can get.  There are many different jobs in a Trail relocation, from clipping brush and spreading leaves to moving rocks and digging.  In other words, there's something for everyone.  The Crew will start working on the Thursday afternoons and work until around noon on the Mondays.  While Club members are encouraged to help any day, we will have organized trips on the Saturdays and Sundays.   We will meet at the parking lot between Burger King and McDonald's in Colonial Heights at 8:00 AM on August 5, 6, 19, and 20.  Bring lunch, work gloves, and plenty to drink.  PLEASE let Joe know that you're coming so we'll have all the tools we need.

TEHCC SUMMER PICNIC
(Scheduled: Sat, 19 Aug 95)
Leader: Joe DeLoach (615.753.7903)
Rating: FUN
Once again this year our annual Club picnic will be held in conjunction with the Konnarock Crew.  The Crew is staying at Rock Creek Park which is a good place for a picnic as well as a refreshing dip in the pool.  We'll plan to get together around 5:00 PM near the pool where there are several picnic spaces.  Meats for the grill, buns, fixings, and drinks will be provided (donations accepted).  Please bring a side dish for some hungry people.  Also, there will be a special presentation made at the picnic.  You'll have to show up to find out what it is!  For more information please contact Joe.

CARVERS GAP TO HUGHES GAP
(Scheduled: Sat, 26 Aug 95)
Leader: Cris Moorehouse (615.246.7283)
Rating: Easy-Moderate
We will meet at B-215 parking lot at 8:15 for a 8:30 AM departure.  After dropping a car off at Hughes Gap we will then go to Carvers Gap and begin our hike.   The length is about 5 miles and should be easy to moderate.  The high point of this section, both in elevation and scenic splendor, is the Cloudland rhododendron gardens.  While they will be past their fullest point we may still se some blooms.   Bring lunch, water, and raingear (if you think necessary) and join us.  For more information call Cris Moorehouse at 246-7283.

TEHCC MULTI-CLUB MEET
(Scheduled: 1-4 Sept 95)
Steve Perri reporting
TEHCC is hosting the 1995 A.T. Multi-Club Meet Sept. 1-4, 1995 at Buffalo Mountain Camp in Johnson City.  The Multi-Club is a weekend long activity where the Southern A.T. Maintaining Clubs get together for a series of recreational hikes, excursions, eating, and socializing.  We currently still need hike leaders as we would like to schedule about 6 hikes on Sat., 6 hikes on Sun. and maybe 2 on Mon.  For those not interested in leading hikes, we need volunteers to help with registration and information tables.

I would like to encourage any Club member or Trail Adopter to take advantage of this opportunity to meet people with various backgrounds as it really is a fun weekend.   We have a registration form available for those who would like to stay either in cabins or camping areas.  Camping is $9.00/person for the weekend or $18.00/person for the weekend staying in the cabins.  Meals are also available if you register before the Aug. 20th deadline.  Breakfast meals are available for $4.00/person on Sat. - Mon. and a BBQ meal will be available for $9.00/person for Sun. night.  Late registration for accommodations will be available up to Sept. 2nd.  For more information or a registration form contact any Steering Committee member or Steve Perri at 615-349-5091.

A.T. - RANGELEY TO MONSON, MAINE
(Scheduled: Sat, 9 Sept thru Sat, 16 Sept 95)
Leader: Kevin Edgar (615.239.5742)
Rating: Difficult
This will be a combination of day hikes and backpacking through the varied terrain of north-central Maine.  We will backpack the high and beautiful Saddlebacks, then day-hike to and across the mighty Kennebec River, ending up in the beloved trail town of Monson.  Portions of our hiking will be fairly flat, while the Saddlebacks have a rather sawtooth character with much climbing and descending.  From our previous trips, we know that this part of Maine is a lovely place.  It is chock-full of high mountains, pristine lakes, moose, loons, and quaint New England towns.  For more details on the trip and/or to sign up, call Kevin Edgar at 615-239-5742.

PADDLING

NOLICHUCKY GORGE
(Scheduled: Sat, 19 August 95)
Leader: Dewey Fuller (615.764.7340)
Rating: III-IV
The Nolichucky Gorge is a class III-IV run that features some of the most spectacular scenery in the eastern United States.  This is intended as a first timers trip for those who have been paddling for a while and feel they are ready to take on "the gorge."   Of course, those who are familiar with the run and have made it many times before are also welcome on the trip.  If the water level is too high for a first timers run on the gorge we will find something of comparable difficulty to run such as Big Laurel Creek in North Carolina.  Contact Dewey Fuller (615.764.7340) for details.

FOR THE RECORD

GRAYSON HIGHLANDS STATE PARK
17 June 95
(Steve Wilson reporting)
A group of nine cheerful hikers drove two hours north into Virginia to see the flowers in bloom at Rhododendron Gap.  This spot on the A.T. which is near Mt. Rogers has a large field of rhododendron with several rock outcroppings on which to sit on and admire the views.  We hiked the roughly three miles to the gap from Massey Gap, enjoyed the good view while hiking a ridge, and ate lunch on the rocks.  The weather was great for hiking with the temperature in the 60's and a partly cloudy sky.  Trip highlights were the good views, wild ponies, and the flowers at near peak.  Enjoying this hike were: Charlotte Floyd, Bill Nash, Bob & Jenny Scott, Tessa Simon, Jean & Amy Stout, Jill & Steve Wilson

PIGEON RIVER
3 June 95
(Steve Gubser reporting)
As summer nears you can always count on the Pigeon River providing some class III+ whitewater fun.  The Pigeon is dam released and releases are scheduled for 1pm to 6pm Wednesday and Thursday, and Noon-6pm on Saturday throughout the summer.  You can obtain release information for the week by dialing 1-800-899-4435.

On June 3rd after a quick 1hr 15min drive, myself, Mike Morrow, Steve Ernst, Carmen Howell, and Ken Porter-Shirley, arrived at the put in.  We met Tom Kuczek, a friend of Mike, from Indiana, and were ready to put on our noseplugs and head down the polluted and noxious smelling Pigeon.  Don't get me wrong, although the river does receive a lot of wastewater from Champion Paper in North Carolina, the water is supposedly a lot cleaner than years past.  Steve Ernst expressed his glee as he saw the "Warning Do Not Eat The Fish" sign at the put in - "At least fish can live in the water".  And since this river can have many play spots, it is well worth any risk of future and uncertain dioxin poisoning.

We hitched up with two Canadians down for a week of vacation and were on our way-"aye".  After surfing many play spots and trying to get enders at a new found endo hole we arrived at the most difficult rapid on this section - Lost Guide Rapid.   Lost Guide is pretty straightforward and is classified by many as IV, but those used to the Nolichucky or similar rivers would rate this as class III+.  All negotiated Lost Guide well and we surfed a large hole at the bottom for some time.   As I got blown off of the surf hole I saw an innocent looking eddy that would allow me to paddle upstream and access the surf hole from river left.  This eddy turned out to be a Screaming Runaway Freight Train into a hole very hard to see such as "Double Suck" on the Ocoee.  I believe everyone in our party fell for this "trap", but all got out of the hole one way or another.  As Dave, one of the Canadians got stuck in the hole, Mike and Carmen tried the "tie your boats to a tree and scream 'GET OUT OF THAT HOLE'" rescue technique.  It proved fruitless and the Canadian had to swim out-"aye".

After lunch break, all were stoked for the next rapid as I had proclaimed that it had an el-primo ender wave.  However, as we all know, rivers are schizophrenic and today with three generators running the Pigeon had a different personality than the last run I had made.  In other words, no enders today and all were sadly disappointed.   With few play spots left at the last two major rapids, Accelerator and Curly, we arrived at the takeout for the drive home.

All in all a good day on the river, no ones skin was peeling off, losing hair in large clumps or suffering bleeding noses.  See, I told you the water wasn't that bad.

WILSONS CREEK
1 July 95
(Michael Bullard reporting)
Bob Tonnies, Michael Bullard, Jim McDarmont, Jamie Gaither, Scott Sparks, Steve Gubser, Jannine Salvaasen, and Dave ? congregated to run Wilsons Creek  (A motley crew -- prior Wilsons experience consisted of my first and only trip in April 1991 (over 4-yrs ago), Jim's trip more than 5 yrs ago and Jannine and Dave's first trip the weekend before.)  We drew lots for trip leader designation and I was selected for this dubious honor.

We successfully negotiated a run on Wilsons Creek at +3-inches on the Adako Road gauge.  10-FT FALLS was impressive, after navigating through a very constricted three drop entrance one of our group found himself too far to the right and demonstrated why the desired line is not off the pillowed rock on river right of the falls -- all the other runs here were good (in varying degrees of goodness).  Stonehenge (AKA BOATBUSTER) provided ample opportunity for demonstration of portage skills on the first of the three drops -- several in the group ran the whole thing, while about half walked the first drop and put in at the moving pool prior to the constricted slot and ran the last two pitches with ease.

Stairsteps (the third major drop) gave the group another chance to practice scouting and portaging skills.  Again, about half the group was toting and another half running.  Most of the runs were without incident, but one came very close to having an intimate date with the bottom hole.  Several judiciously placed paddle strokes where required to dig out of this spot.

All ran the "Unrunnable Jumble" through a very tiny slot on the far river right.  This drop had been considered Class VI for the last several years when the only navigable slot in the congested entrance thrusts the paddler into a boulder sieve (a new meaning to the term "terminal velocity") (boy that would be a good name for the drop).     With the narrow slot on the right this run becomes a solid III-IV drop.

Several drops later we arrive at Razorback, the last of the major drops, and are in the pool above the drop and remembered that scouting would be a wise move on this Class V drop (with Class VI consequences).  The run down the right was challenging and the run off the left was suicidal.  Several in the party completed the portage with moderate difficulty and the remainder ran the drop on the right with different degrees of style and finesse -- i.e., scores for technical merit were high, but artistic style and interpretation were across the board.

CF Junior was the last of the named drops and was negotiated by all with ease and we were in cruise control mode to Brown Mountain Beach.  A great day -- where else can you find 2.5 miles of continuous white water at 120-ft/mile gradient with constant class III-IV action with four distinct doses of IV-V creek white water less than 2-hours from home?  I know you are all thinking about the Watauga -- but it is twice as long and offers twice the fun to the experienced whitewater boater.

ATC BIENNIAL MEETING
1-7 July 95
(Ray Hunt and Steve Perri reporting)
The thirteenth biennial meeting of the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) hosted by PATH was held over Independence Day Weekend at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Of the 24,000 members of ATC, close to 1,300 attended this meeting, making it probably the largest general meeting of any conservation organization in the country.   Representing TEHCC were Steve and Tisha Perri, Ray and Martha Hunt, Frank and Betsy Oglesby, Collins and Charlotte Chew, and Darrol Nickels.

The meeting was filled with meetings, workshops, hikes, excursions, good meals, and evening entertainment.  The meeting was sponsored by 11 corporate sponsors.   Major speeches highlighted serious threats to the Appalachian Trail (ATC) from proposed cutbacks in funding for the National Park Service (including A.T. land acquisitions) and closing many National Park Service Units (again including the A.T.).

Outgoing ATC Chair Margaret Drummond received a letter of commendation from President Clinton.  A highlight among the awards was Collins Chew being named Honorary Member of ATC.  Ray Hunt, representing the ATC Selection Committee, made that presentation.   Collins Chew and Steve Perri also conducted workshops for the meeting.   Collins presented two workshops on The Geologic History of the Appalachian Trail and Steve Perri presented a workshop on Fire Towers.  Steve and Tisha Perri also set up the TEHCC display in the exhibition Hall with the club's brochures and Registration forms for the 1995 Multi-Club Meet.  There were a total of 38 commercial, ATC Clubs, and non-commercial exhibitors.

Other important issues relative to maintaining trail clubs were two decisions on Roughest blazings and the length of term for board of managers.  The Roughest blazes was amended to allow the use to be an option for trail clubs rather than mandatory.   The a motion was made to limit the term of board members to six years, but was voted down.  One serious motion to selectively decide what business contributions could be made to ATC and what ones could not was also voted down.  The next biennial meeting will be held in Maine in 1997.

MOUNT LECONTE CREEK TRIP (AKA FIRST ANNUAL DEWEY FULLER APPRECIATION HIKE - FADFAH)
8 July 95
(Liz West reporting)
What a beautiful day was in store for the annual Creek Hike held Saturday July 8th!   This year the infamous hike took 10.5 hours (including lunch) so EVERYONE got their money's worth.  The first 6 hours of the hike was in the creek; after parking at the gate on Greenbrier Cove Road we hiked a mile to the crossing of Porter's Creek and descended into the chilly waters clad with our felt-soled shoes.  At Lowes Creek we started our ascent up the mountain in the creek bed to about 5200 ft.  One participant brought an altimeter which proved very useful in our plight/trek.  At 5200 feet the creek became a v-necked gorge and the hike leader requested everyone to depart the creek and head up the side of the northern ridge (for future creek hike participants, this is a good place to stage a mutiny).  The following 4-plus hours of the hike was a bushwhack that one participant denoted as the death march.  On the bright side of things we can all say that we have seen places on Mt. LeConte that most people have not AND we all know how to identify nettles, rhododendron, and mountain laurel.  Our heading took us towards the Myrtle Point ridge which is perhaps one of the most difficult ways to ascend Mt. Leconte in terms of elevation gain in underbrush.   In terms of underbrush, this particular area of Mt. LeConte should be designated as Class VII (whereby the underbrush took up 70% of the air space from ground level to 7 ft.).  While we missed the LeConte Lodge dinner bell by 2.5 hours, the staff was ready and willing to re-heat our meal. We ate in virtual silence, broken only by the laughter in the kitchen as the staff pored over the route we had chosen on our highlighted topo map. After supper, everyone's spirits rose dramatically and after a long night's rest in excellent accommodations, everyone had regained their sense of humor. As one participant noted, they will now have quite a story to tell for YEARS to come. The leader expects that there will be quite a turnover in next year's attendees. Surviving this year's hike were: Peter Iorio (priest-a very good person to have along), Sador Black, Dale Blakely, Judy Connerly, Jon Mather, Tim Dawsey, Rick Lott, Brian and Kathy Stubblefield, and Liz West.

INTERNET ACCESS TO OUTDOOR NEWSGROUPS
(Bob Tonnies reporting)
Eastman has recently established access to two Internet newsgroups that might be of interest to TEHCC members.  You may have seen some of the whitewater accident reports pulled from the paddling newsgroup.  The newsgroups are rec.backcountry and rec.boats.paddle.

Accessing these newsgroups is relatively easy if you have an account on the EMNGW1 machine.  (It's my understanding that a business purpose must be provided in order to be have an account established.)  They can be reviewed using the "rn" newsreader or Netscape.  If you'd like information on how to access these newsgroups, you can contact me at 477.8126.