Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club
Supporting hiking and canoeing in the North East Tennessee area
Wow! Do we have you covered this weekend! Take your pick. Whitewater or flatwater paddling, the infamous Damascus Hard Core, or the always reliable Collins Chew and his Friday Hikers. Check out the schedule for all of the details.
Scheduled for June 3-5, June 17-19, July 8-10, and July 29-31, 2011
Leaders: Joe DeLoach and Carl Fritz
Last year, we began one of our most ambitious Appalachian Trail relocations ever, from Hughes Gap to Cloudland atop Roan Mountain. This formerly 2.6-mile section of Trail ascends 2200′, with a 0.4-mile slight descent along the way, making it possibly the steepest section of the A. T. in the South. We don’t always relocate a Trail section just because it’s steep, but steep trails that run on a ridgeline are very prone to erosion, with only the rockiness of parts of this section retarding that erosion. It is also a treacherous descent, especially in the icy or rainy conditions that are prevalent at those elevations. We’ve flagged numerous relocations to climb the mountain at a sustainable 10-12% side-hill grade, and built the first four with Hard Core, student groups, and Club outings in 2010. This year, we’ll tackle some sections higher on the mountain with all our resources, including the Konnarock Crew which will work near the midpoint of the section. The Konnarock Crew, in its 29th year, is managed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and works with the 12 Southern clubs. We are fortunate to have them for five weeks this year, with plans to devote the first four weeks to these relocations and the final week of August 11-15 to putting more gravel on Round Bald. The Crew arrives on a Thursday afternoon, has three full days of work Friday-Sunday, and departs Monday afternoon. So the best days to work with them are Friday-Sunday. Volunteers who work at least 40 hours with the Crew receive a Konnarock T-shirt for their efforts. Please contact Joe DeLoach or Carl Fritz if you’re interested in helping.
Bob Harvey reporting
The hike of April 1 was on the Appalachian Trail from Chestoa to Curley Maple Gap Shelter and return, a total of 8.2 miles.
The temperature was a little brisk to begin with, but once we started the strenuous climb out of Jones Branch valley there was much shedding of outer layers. At the upper end of the hike, around elevation 2800 feet, we began finding a dusting of snow on the leaves and ground, but it didn’t last long after the sun came out.
Lunch was at the newly-rebuilt Curley Maple Gap Shelter, a vastly improved version of what used to be there. When we arrived, the shelter was filled almost to overflow by a jolly bunch of northbound through hikers, this being the time of the year that they pass through our territory. But, there was additional outside seating in the vicinity and we had a great lunch — until we started getting cold again. It was then time to go.
On the return trip we passed even more through hikers, some of whom didn’t mind stopping to chat for a minute or two. After the hike we tried to guess how many we’d seen, and the numbers varied widely, but maybe sixteen would be close enough.
Jones Branch may have been running full, but it was crystal clear, something that a number of us commented on. We had one ford to make of the creek and possibly a few of us got a foot in the water, one of the feet being mine; but we mainly made it across without incident.
The hikers were Olin Babb, Kathy Case, Anne Cosby, George Dickert, Judith Foster, Phil Gibson, Bob Harvey, Carol Idol, Chuck Mather, Larry Miller, Susie Seiler and Jerry Sluder.
Vic Hasler reporting
During this lunch and learn, a discussion was held on how to decide which of the club’s tents, backpacks, or sleeping pads to rent for an outing. Most rental items have a description on the website. Selection guides exist for the tents (for 1-3 or 4-6 people). The group was fairly familiar with the existing equipment, so the talk became an idea session of what new gear the club could purchase. Like HT-1, other styles of hammock tents could be offered. Even lighter than the 1.5 pound HT-12, a very lightweight hexagonal fly could provide backpacking shelter. A backpack, which combines the close fit of an internal frame with air flow across the back offered by external frame, would be desirable for hot summer treks. A German brand, Deuter, was suggested. A new item, a pair of trekking poles, from a quality supplier, such as Leki ($80/pr + shipping) found favor with the group to allow folks to try them out, thus likely to be pursued once agreement with Recreation is obtained. A very compact, air chamber (thus not self-inflating or foam) sleeping pad was discussed to help get the gear volume down. The downside is that repairs are needed in case of puncture. Big Agnes has Air Core pads for around $40 plus shipping. Since the current rental set is in great condition, we hope to purchase several of these items in order to give members a chance to try out new gear for themselves. If you have any suggestions on future purchases, please let me know at rental@tehcc.org. Finally, a show-n-tell session for these lunch gatherings was proposed to share what has been working for each of us.
Leader: Deb Reynolds
Kayak under a full moon in a local lake on either May 14 or Sept 10. Location will be South Holston or Watauga Lake. Reservations in advance are required or the trip may be cancelled. Contact Deb Reynolds or dlreynolds@eastman.com
Contact: John Odell, 828-254-3708
The Southern Appalachian Cooperative Weed Management Partnership (SACWMP) is seeking volunteers to participate in an invasive exotic plant workshop on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at the Roan Highlands. There is no charge for the event, and participants will receive free guidebooks for the identification and control of invasive exotic plants. The workshop will educate hikers and the general public about the threats of invasive exotic (IE) plants, how to identify and inventory IE species, and how to remove these plants, protecting native biodiversity along the Trail. Continue reading “SACWMP Invasive Exotic Plant Workshop, May 7”
Deb Reynolds Reporting
Saturday, March 26, TEHCC had their first gear swap on the grounds (parking lot) of the Eastman Recreation Building. We weren’t sure what to expect since this was a new event and not sure how the community would react, but my expectations were more than met. I think the event was a success and worth doing again next year. We had eight groups sign up in advance and had at least ten groups show. Continue reading “2011 Gear Swap Review”
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.
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.
