Category: News

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Trail wiki is coming along great

If you haven’t checked out our trail wiki yet, you are definitely missing out on a great way to both help out the club and more importantly find great information on the trails in our area. With only about half of the trail pages even created (and many of those without detailed information, pictures, or GPS logs), one very fair complaint right now is that we don’t have a lot of useful information on the site. I take that as a shining example of the lack of collated information available out there that we are trying to solve. If you would like to see where we hope to ultimately get the entire site, check out our [[Warriors Path State Park]] page and its trails.

Most importantly I can’t stress enough that help from others in our club will make this site more informative and on the wiki faster. If you’re wondering how you can help, one place that we occasionally try to list things that we need is our [[ClubWiki:Trails Wanted|Help Wanted]] list. Mostly if you don’t see a picture, GPS log, or description of a trail not on the site and you think it’s relevant, we would love it if you share. Either edit directly or send things to me at webmaster@tehcc.org.

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Help Support the Appalachian Trail Trails to Every Classroom Program

Joe DeLoach reporting
Since 2006, the Trails to Every Classroom (TTEC) program has successfully engaged 230 teachers from all 14 states through which the Appalachian Trail passes.  These include two teachers in Kingsport city schools, one in Unicoi County, and two in Bristol, Virginia.  Other area teachers have expressed interest in the program.  As a result of the high quality professional development opportunities that TTEC provides, this program has the potential to get young people along the AT corridor excited about learning and about the AT.  These TTEC teachers and their students could potentially be the future members and leaders of Trail clubs like ours.

One of the goals of this initiative is to ensure that teachers have both the appropriate amount and type of support required to help them integrate the AT into the classroom experience they are attempting to provide their students.  Much of that support can come from members of Trail clubs who would be willing to serve as a liaison or point of contact for TTEC teachers who are seeking assistance in connecting their students to the AT.  Ideal volunteers include people with an education background or simply anyone interested in helping area schools get more involved with the Trail.

Another initiative seeking to build on the successes of TTEC is the formation of a TTEC Advisory Council.  This council will serve as a working group whose focus is to provide relevant, useful feedback that ATC and National Park Service staff can use to enhance and build on the success of the Trail to Every Classroom program.

If you have interest in learning more about or supporting the Trails to Every Classroom program, please contact Joe DeLoach at joedelo@eastman.com or telephone 423-753-7263, or Appalachian Trail Conservancy Southern Region Community Programs Manager Julie Judkins at jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org or 828-254-3708.

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Gathering Old Photos for a Book on the Appalachian Trail in TN, NC & GA

Steve Wilson reporting
On Saturday, January 29th, I hosted Leonard Adkins (www.habitualhiker.com) who is writing a book for Arcadia Publishing on the early days of the Appalachian Trail in TN, NC & GA.  He has already authored a book on the Virginia section which shows pictures and detailed captions of the AT during 1960 and earlier (Images of America: Along Virginia’s Appalachian Trail).  We spent the afternoon reviewing the files in the club’s work room in the basement of B-310.  Although we found some newspaper clipping photos that were relevant, we didn’t find any old prints from the 40’s to 60’s.

Leonard and I also visited with Collins Chew at his house, but unfortunately Collins had just purged some files which might have been relevant.

If anyone is aware of old club photos from the 1940s – 1960s where club members are shown on the AT, then Leonard would consider including them in the book.  It’s a good opportunity to record our club’s history.  His contact information is in the web site above.

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The week ahead – April 18th

We hope everyone had a great weekend. Just one extra thing this week other than the routine Tuesday maintenance outing and Collin’s Friday hikers. The last weekend of the local mountain bike association’s trail building exercise at [[Bays Mountain Park]]. If you want to help build the trails that you enjoy on your mountain bike, here’s your chance. Check out the schedule for details.

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TEHCC Newsletters Again Searchable

Vic Hasler reporting
Want to find newsletter plans and reports for a specific hike?  The settings have now been restored to allow search engines to index the club newsletters in PDF format, which exist on the TEHCC.org website back to 1993.  For example, if you  type the key words “Chimney Top” along with “site:tehcc.org” you will see that Collins Chew has led this hike eight times since 1994 with his hike plans and subsequent reports about the trail.  This is great starting information for hike leaders to help plan their next outing.

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Events Coordinator Position Opening

Ian Powell reporting
There is currently a position opening for an Events Coordinator.   The position entails the upkeep of the TEHCC calendar as well as soliciting hike and trip leaders to lead outings each month.  The coordinator works hand in hand with the Steering Committee on the clubs bigger events as well.  If you are interested in learning more about the position, please feel free to contact Ian Powell at ipowell@eastman.com.  If you’ve been looking for some way to be more active in the club and see how things work, this is your opportunity.

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The week ahead – April 11th

We have something for everyone this week, hiking, paddling, and maintenance. I hope you can find something that suits you. If not, plan a trip yourself and get it on the schedule.

  • A wildflower hike at [[Rock Creek Falls]]
  • A paddling competition in Bryson City, NC
  • The second of three mountain bike trail building outings at [[Bays Mountain Park]]

Check out our schedule for the details and have a great week!