MARCH, 1997

Contents


• Next Two Months at a Glance
• TEHCC to Display Rental Equipment
• Corrected TEHCC 1996 Activity Statistics
• Reminder - Winter Dinner Meeting Reservations
• TEHCC Celebrates 50 Years of AT Maintenance
• Scheduled Hikes/Activities
• Books....Books....Books and Maps...Maps...Maps
• Activity Reports
• A Country Divided Over Wilderness Management Practices

TEHCC to Display Rental Equipment at B-310 Feb 24-March 8th
G. S. Luttrell Reporting

One of the benefits of being a TEHCC member is that the club offers lots of nice tents, backpacks, and sleeping pads for rent at a reasonable price.  Renting and trying out equipment gives a beginner an opportunity to see how rewarding backpacking can be and get an idea of what type of equipment to purchase.  The more veteran backpackers, who only make occasional trips, can utilize the rental items rather than invest money in equipment that would sit idle most of the time.  The new equipment purchased in '96 will be on display, as well as many of the more popular rental items, in Eastman Employee Center Lobby, from February 24 through March 8.  For a complete listing of Rental Equipment, Rental Rates, How to Reserve, and Conditions, refer to the rental information page on club's web site; or, contact B-89 Recreation Store, where the rental equipment is kept.  Take a Hike!  Better yet: Take a backpack trip and use some of the Club's equipment.

TEHCC Celebrates 50 Years of AT Maintenance
Ted Malone: reporting
1996 was the 50th anniversary of the Eastman Hiking Club. 1997 is the 50th anniversary of the Club as an Appalachian Trail Maintaining Club. The Eastman Club is one of the top 10 oldest clubs maintaining the Appalachian Trail. Special 125 mile anniversary t-shirts will be awarded at the upcoming Winter Dinner Meeting to 15 Club members who hiked all 125 miles of our section in 1996. In keeping with this tradition, we will be offering a special commemorative t-shirt to Club members who log 75 hours of maintenance in 1997. The end result of maintenance is keeping the trail open, making sure hikers don't get lost, keep the shelters in good repair and to have fun while doing all this. Trail maintenance can take on many forms and doesn't require a lot of skill. One of the best ways to get involved is to join a Trail Maintenance Team or come out on some of our special project trips. Parts of trail maintenance can actually be a family outing. Call me for more information and let me know what shirt size to order.

Hike: Beyond 6000: March 8
Leader: Emmett Dougherty, moderate.
This is a Beyond 6000 Hike of Mt. Kephart in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on Saturday March 8 1997.  The round-trip distance is 8 miles.  We will start at Newfound Gap on the A.T.  Then we will hike up to Mt. Kephart.  Bring lunch, and clothes for possible severe weather at higher elevations.  Contact Emmett Dougherty for more information on time and arrangements.

Third Saturday Maintenance: Special Projects, March 15
Leader: Ed Oliver.
The project that we work on will depend on the weather. We will cut blowdowns or work on the bridge either at Shook Branch, Laurel Fork, or Jones Branch. If you are interested in helping on these projects, please contact Ed Oliver at 349-6668. If the weather is too bad, we will either cancel the trip or reschedule it for the following Saturday. Plans are to meet at the parking area between McDonalds and Burger King in Colonial Heights at 8:00 a.m. Please contact the trip leader if you are interested so that you can be notified of any changes in plans.

Hike: Hot Spring to Devil Fork Gap, March 26-29
Leader: Emmett Dougherty, Difficult
This trip will start at Hot Spring and continue 35 miles to Devil Fork Gap. Call me for more information on time and arrangements.

Hike: Joyce Kilmer Backpack, March 22 - 23
Leader: G. S. Luttrell, Rating: Difficult
The 3,800 acres of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest has survived at least two threats: The Belton Lumber Co. went bankrupt in 1890 before it could be logged; and, more recently, the route of the Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains, Tennessee to Robbinsville, NC was diverted further south rather than encroach the forest. On Saturday morning, we'll drive to Tapoco and spot a car at the end of the Slickrock Creek Trail, #42; then drive on to the Joyce Kilmer entrance to the trail systems West of Santeetlah Lake. We'll hike up Santeetlah Creek, on Naked Ground Trail, #55, for 4 1/2 mi. with an elevation gain of 2400 ft. to a campsite at Naked Ground. That afternoon we'll check out the views from the nearby 5000 ft. + peaks including: Bob Bald, Stratton Bald, Haoe, and Hangover Mtn. On Sunday, it's downhill all day following the Slickrock Creek Trail, #42, 11 mi. back to the car spotted at Tapoco. This trip will offer views of the preserved virgin timber: yellow poplar, hemlock, beech, sycamore, basswood, and oak; streams and waterfalls; and, views from balds and rocky outcrops. If we are real lucky, we will see some rare animals such as the star nosed mole, woodland jumping mouse, masked shrew, or the seepage salamander. Contact the hike leader for further details and logistics. One other thing; bring extra socks and shoes such as aqua socks for the stream crossings.

Hike: Whitetop-Laurel Circuit, March 29
Leader, Kathy McDavid, Rating: Moderate
This 10-mile hike will begin at the Creek Junction Parking Lot near Damascus, VA. We will hike almost 6 miles on the Appalachian Trail, passing Straight Mountain. The rest of the circuit hike is on the Virginia Creeper Trail along the Whitetop-Laurel Creek. We'll have some really nice views of Taylors' Valley along the way. Bring appropriate clothing, lunch, and water. We will meet at the parking area between McDonalds and Burger King in Colonial Heights at 8:00 a.m. Alternate meeting places can be arranged. Please contact the trip leader if you are interested so that you can be notified of any changes in plans.

Hike: Kimberling Creek to Pearisburg Backpack - April 4-6
Leader: Collins Chew, Rating: Moderate
This trip will not work as I had hoped. The section is 23.6 miles long but the 2 shelters are not in the middle and there is apparently no water for camping in the middle. So! This can be a three day hike - leaving Friday morning, spending Friday Night at Wapati Shelter and Saturday night at Doc's Knob Shelter for three relatively easy days of backpacking (7 miles, 8.5 miles, and 8.5 miles) with only one significant climb of 1500 feet on Saturday morning up Sugar Run Mountain. We start up the uninhabited valley of Dismal Creek (on "Poor Valley" type rock), then follow a "Zee-shaped" ridge of Clinch Mountain type sandstone to Angels Rest where we drop down to Pearisburg and the oldest valley in Eastern America, that of the New River. If you would like to do this or if you want to go backpacking but only for two days, let me know and we will see if we should make a shorter trip. Some want to stash water near the middle by access with a dirt road. That should make it possible to have a two day hike after driving to Pearisburg on Friday night. We should have nice wildflowers and be ahead of the most of the throughhikers.
Call Collins Chew for planning and details.

Hike: Sand Cave, Jan. 25
G. S. Luttrell Reporting.
Midnight thunderstorms passed through the Tri-cities area, and by the time we left ECU parking lot, the early morning clouds had disappeared, and the cold, clear day was perfect for a 6 mile hike. The toughest part of the hike from Ewing was the first mile ascent to the ridgetop, & once on top, we were more exposed to the wind and cold; therefore, we decided to go on to the Cave for lunch, to get out of the wind. We did get out of the wind, but it sure seemed as though it was much more cold in the cave. As near as we could tell, there was one spot inside the cave where water was dripping, very slowly, from the ceiling; and, guess where Kathy chose to sit and eat her lunch? Yep, right under the drip. The water flow over the falls was high, and many interesting ice formations were around the mouth of the cave. We spent quite a while exploring and taking photos; but, we chilled quickly, and had to move out to warm-up. Enjoying the hike were: Steve Woody, Fred Cleveland, Whit Parham, Kathy Hall, Lisa Haynes, Mark Haynes, and Garry Luttrell.

AT Work Trip, Trail Rehab, Between Indian Grave Gap and Culey Maple Gap, Jan. 25
Ed Oliver Reporting
We continued the trail rehab between Indian Grave Gap and Curley Maple Gap. We were able to repair several bad sections of trail and several marginal sections of trail. We have not gotten to the shelter yet. It will take at least a couple of more trips to complete this work. Those present for this wrok trip: Bill and Derrick Stowell, Joe Deloach, Frank Williams and Ed Oliver.

AT Work Trip, Maintain Adopted Section, Jan. 25
Ed Oliver Reporting
Bill Berry worked on repairing the bridge between Devil's Creek Gap and No Business Knob Shelter. After replacing several of the logs on the deck, he discovered that the two log stringers were decayed. The decayed stringers made the bridge unsafe. He removed the bridge so that hikers would not use it and break through. The stream is small enough that we don't need a bridge at this location. Hikers can easily rock hop or wade this small stream.

AT Work Trip, Hughes Gap to Iron Mountain Gap, Feb. 1
Collins Chew Reporting
We took advantage of a beautiful winter day to get in an early maintenance trip. The views were spectacular: from Big Bald to Holston Mountain and from Chimney Top and Colonial Heights to Mt. Mitchell and the ski runs of Beech Mountain. We blazed the trail, clipped rhododendron, removed limb debris, cut many of the many, many blowdowns, and picked up litter at the Clyde Smith Shelter. Ray Hunt made a detailed listing of the remaining blowdowns. Workers included Brian Gregory, an eager new Co-op from Auburn, Frank Williams, Ray Hunt and Collins Chew. A bit of nostalgia: My first work trip for TEHCC was on this section, also in February, and 43 years ago as Stan Murray led a group preparing the trail for the great relocation from Unaka to Holston Mountains and which put Roan Mountain on the AT.

TEHCC Members Attend Workshop Jan. 31
Steve Wilson and Ted Malone Reporting
Three club members, Joe DeLoach, Ted Malone, and Steve Wilson, attended a workshop on volunteer motivation in Wytheville, VA. The National Park Service and the Appalachian Trial Conference sponsored the workshop. Over thirty ATC members attended the workshop, which was lead by Ed Clark of theWildlife Center of Virginia. Topics for the three day event were Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, leadership, volunteer motivation, planning successful activities, breaking objectives into tasks, problem solving, and organizational issues. We found the topics very relevant to our club's organization and goals. Some of the key learnings were why people join volunteer organizations, why they stay involved, and the value of shared understandings. Ed Clark was a wonderful instructor with a wealth of experience. Ed used humor extensively to emphasis points during the course and lead the Saturday night's entertainment event of a joke feast at which our members showed exceptional skill.

Hike: AT from Groseclose, VA to Louise Chatfield Shelter, Feb. 8
Collins Chew Reporting
The prediction of snow all day caused us to change plans. We drove up I-81 to Groseclose, VA with the roads slushy about the last 20 miles. We then hiked through the beautiful snow 4 1/2 miles to the Chatfield Shelter where we had lunch and then returned to the car, by which time the roads were clear. High points: 4 inches of beautiful wet snow which decorated everything along the way, the mid-1800s, one-room school house at the Settler's Museum, right on the AT about 2 miles in, the shelter roof under which to eat lunch, and sparkling conversation along the way. Phyllis had apparently bicycled through Stefan's home town of Andrnach in the Eifel Region of Germany and I had been close by there. Hikers: Phyllis Cairnes, Stefan Setz, and Collins Chew.