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Volunteer Opportunities at the 2013 Appalachian Trail Biennial Conference

Joe DeLoach and Steve Perri, atchair@tehcc.org, reporting

In 2013 the five Deep-South Appalachian Trail-Maintaining clubs will host the biennial national meeting of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The meeting will be held July 19-26 on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, about a 2½ hour drive from Kingsport. We are one of the host clubs along with the Carolina Mountain Club, Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, Nantahala Hiking Club, and Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. More specifically, we are responsible for workshops at the conference. We’d welcome anyone who is interested in presenting a workshop, and we will need volunteers to moderate the workshop sessions which are currently scheduled for Saturday and Sunday July 20-21. Volunteers are also needed to lead hikes; around 170 hikes will be offered during the week, and a leader and a co-leader is needed for each hike. Bruce Bente from the Carolina Mountain Club is leading the hiking program. If you’d like to help with the hikes, please contact Bruce at bbente@bellsouth.net. Any volunteers with interests in artwork and/or photography are invited to help organize and judge digital photography and children’s artwork competitions. Finally, volunteers are needed to work at the registration, housing, hikes, excursion, and information desks. If you are willing to help in this fashion, please contact Peter Berntsen of Smoky Mountain Hiking Club (rennur99@bellsouth.net) who is in charge of volunteer recruitment. It takes hundreds of volunteers to make a meeting like this happen. We certainly need more than two TEHCC people to help with the conference and with the workshops, so please consider volunteering. For questions about the Biennial meeting, contact Joe or Steve.

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33rd Anniversary Bluestone River Trip Notice

The 33rd annual Bluestone River Trip is scheduled for May 25-26, 2012. A block of six rooms have been reserved at the Mountain Creek Lodge and space is limited this year. Room reservations can be made by calling 1-800-CALLWVA and asking to be connected to the Pipestem Lodge. The block of rooms is under the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club. Room rates are $87 per night plus tax.

Please call the trip leader, Terry Dougherty at 423-502-5177 to sign up for the river run. We normally paddle both days (Saturday and Sunday), but you can always tram your boat out to avoid paddling a second day. The river (Saturday paddle) is a very scenic 9 mile stretch that passes through a deep West Virginia gorge. It is mostly class II with a couple of borderline class III rapids. The first class III rapid can being easily portaged. The second day is mostly class I and suitable for families. Hope you can join for this great trip!

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Spring Wildflower Hike April 7 – Margarette Falls

Joe DeLoach hike notice
(Scheduled for Saturday, April 7, 2012)

The combination of wildflowers and waterfalls has led to some popular Club hikes, and we’re hoping for the same with this short hike to Margarette Falls.  One of our prettiest area waterfalls, Margarette Falls drops about 60 feet and descends through a rocky canyon adorned by many spring flowers.  The Unaka Ranger District of the Cherokee National Forest has improved the trail with some relocation and a bridge, and the trail makes a great family hike suitable for young children.  Round-trip distance is about 3 miles with an elevation gain of around 700 feet; see [[Margarette Falls|our listing in the Trail Wiki]] for more information.  The flowers are early this year with all the warm weather, but early April can be cold, wet, and fickle so bring layers of clothes and good raingear.  We’ll meet at 9:00 AM in the parking lot between McDonald’s and State of Franklin Bank in Colonial Heights.  A meeting point in Boones Creek can be arranged for people who live towards Johnson City.  We’ll plan on lunch at the falls and get you back in the early afternoon.  Please contact Joe if you’d like to go or for more information.

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Dismantling of Apple House Shelter

Apple House Shelter just north of 19E will be dismantled March 7, 2012. We have put warnings in the two primary books used by north bounders.  One is 2012 AT Guide to Hiking (North Bound edition) and the ALDHA Companion. 

There are also threads to that effect on White Blaze. Shuttlers and Hostel Owners in area are being notified: Mountain Harbor, Greasy Creek Friendly, Uncle Johnnie’s, Kincora.

We are posting notices in shelters south of Apple House shelter.

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From the Chair – March 2012

Vic Hasler, Steering Committee Chair – chair@tehcc.org  

In this column, I would like to highlight a few upcoming opportunities.  First is the Spring Dinner Meeting to hear the high moments and challenges of a thru-hiker – someone who used the national scenic trail that the club spends hours maintaining.  The second is a request for hike leaders to guide local Girl Scouts on easy sections of the AT during their centennial celebration in 2012.   Several hikes have been identified, so the need is for knowledgeable folks to explain the path to the girls.  Lastly (spouses, take note) is an alert to start cleaning those storage spaces where the equipment for outdoor activities is stashed.  TEHCC will again host a Gear Swap in April – with publicity forthcoming once the details are set.  Sell what is not being used to clear out the space, or swap for what you really want to try this year.  The club is active in several ways, so join in as you are available for your enjoyment.

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2012 Trail to Every Classroom Alumni Workshop Application

Steve Perri Reporting

Apply today for three great workshops we’re offering to Trail to Every Classroom alumni in 2012! 

Alumni workshops will provide an immersive experience where placed-based service learning content and pedagogy are explored in more depth, continuing to build upon the skills you learned in the original three workshops.  These new professional development sessions are being offered this year to serve as a space to revisit key curricular topics and further develop the capacity of teachers to provide quality instruction to students along the Appalachian Trail.   Continue reading “2012 Trail to Every Classroom Alumni Workshop Application”

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2011 AT Statistics

Jeff Siirola reporting

Statistics for 2011 AT maintenance has now been added to our year by year summary and charts. Data for 2011 is below. It’s been an amazing year setting all sorts of club records!

Year: 2011
TEHCC Total: 13,631
Adopt-A-Trail: 2,582

WRD Regular Maint.: 2,683
WRD Special Projects: 9,908
WRD Watauga Total: 12,591

NRD Regular Maint.: 701
NRD Special Projects: 339
NRD Nolichucky Total: 1,040

Totals Regular Maint.: 3,384
Totals Special Projects: 10,247
Totals Events: 317
Totals People-Events: 1,747
Totals People: 543

These are record numbers in every category (accounting for redefinition of Ranger District Boundaries in October 2010) except total number of individuals (Totals People) which is second-highest-ever.

CORRECTION: Because of several corrected worker identity errors, the total number of individuals in 2010 (Totals People) should be 457 (not 445). All other data for 2010 on the website are believed to be correct. Corrected 2010 and new 2011 data are highlighted on the attached spreadsheet.

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New Chestnut Trail at Bays Mountain Park

Vic Hasler reporting

A new single track trail for beginning mountain bikers at Bays Mountain Park has been designed and constructed by Northeast Tennessee Mountain Bike Association.  While no trail signage or blazes exist yet, the designated “Chestnut Trail” is an easy 1.1 mile path running straight through the hardwood forest along the 1900 foot contour from Bays Mountain Road at the gate by the maintenance shop over to the Azalea Trail.   For a longer (~5 mile) loop hike/ride, take Chestnut Trail from the gate, then head up Azalea Trail to Big Oak Trail, down to Chinquapin Trail, and finally back on Lake Road.  Details for the new Chestnut Trail can be found on the [[BMP Chestnut Trail|trail wiki]].

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The Week Ahead – October 17th

You may be thinking that with Fall quickly approaching (or is it here already?) the activities will be slowing down. Well they have according to our schedule, except for our Fall Dinner this Friday of course. Rehash your summer adventures with friends and good food from Firehouse Restaurant. Stick around for (or come just for) Toney Scales as he discusses the Southwest Virginia Trilogy: Natural Tunnel, the Breaks, and Cumberland Gap. Details in the newsletter.