Carolina Mountain Club                                                                       September  2013
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From The Editor   

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved. Details are in this issue. Here are a few of the choices:
  • Hike leaders are needed for a Team Red White and Blue event in October.  
  • The annual CMC dinner is set for Nov. 1. Sign up now. 
  • Voice your opinion about the National Forest Land Management Plan. Attend the Oct. 3 Council meeting.
  • Read and respond to HR1526. It would more than double timbering in national forests.
If anyone has any articles for the newsletter, send them to [email protected] The intention is to include all articles in the eNews, but sometimes that is not possible. 

The newsletter will go out the last Friday of every month. The deadline to submit news is the Friday before it goes out.

 

Sincerely,
Kathy Kyle
Carolina Mountain Club

 

CMC Members Urged To Attend Oct. 3 Council Meeting To Discuss Club's Role In Planning
By Marcia Bromberg
null Make your voice heard in the National Forest Land Management Plan. This important plan will impact trails and hiking in the the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests for the next 15 years. Come to the October 3rd Council meeting (6pm, West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Rd) to participate in a discussion about the CMC's role in the planning process. 

 

nealsmiling  
Big Smokey 
CMC Member Big Smokey Has 
Been Maintaining AT For Over 25 Years 

Neal (Big Smokey) Andreae has been a hiker all his life and a hike leader & trail worker much of it.  New Jersey as a youth, then Florida, Colorado, Virginia and since 1990 - North Carolina!  The seven years in Virginia he maintained an AT section at Black Horse Gap as a member of the Natural Bridge AT Club.  He accepted responsibility for an AT section south of Sams Gap and one on the old Mountains to Sea trail.  Currently, trail maintenance is going out now and then with the guys and also checking the trails around Jump Off Rock in Laurel Park that CMC resurrected.  With his wife, Nancy Mitchell, he does a two mile "walk" about 3 or 4 times a week in the Laurel Park area. To read more click here.

CMC Chair Asks Members To Contact Representatives 
Bill Would More Than Double Timber 
Harvest Levels In National Forests 
The US House of Representatives approved a bill that will promote logging and industrialized development across vast swaths of public lands.   H.R. 1526 is inaccurately named "Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act).  This bill would create legally enforceable obligations that would require the cutting of a mandated amount of commercial timber in every national forest.  It would make logging the top-priority use of forests, superseding multiple-use management that gives equal standing to wildlife, water, and wilderness.

Tish Desjardins, chair of the CMC Conservation Committee urged CMC members to contact their representatives to vote against this bill. To read more click here.

Ashok Kudva Develops Love 
Of Hiking And CMC Reaps Benefits Of His Talents 
By Stuart English
Ashok Kudva has been an active member of CMC since 2004, and has shared his talents to improve the club. Here is his story.

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Tell us about your life before CMC, growing up in India, education at Purdue, and working at Dupont.


I was born in India, a British colony, at the end of WW II and learned at a young age that the only thing that is constant in this world is change.  My earliest memories are chanting "hail to the revolution" to support Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent independence revolution and a year later singing, " Let's go  forward with developing a national constitution". While growing up in rural India with no running water or electricity, I learned the only way to progress in life is through education. My family moved to Mumbai to a home with running water and electricity, and the chance for my dream of a university education. After graduation and marriage, my wife and I were fortunate to get scholarships at Purdue University for graduate work. To read more click here.

Trials And Tribulations 
Of An ATC Conference Sweep
By Jack Fitzgerald

Chuck Rosen volunteered to be my Co-Leader and Sweep on three hikes I was leading for the ATC Conference in Cullowhee.  He commuted from Asheville each day, 80 miles.

 

The first day's hike to Wayah Bald, 8 miles round trip, started off well, with 18 hikers.  After about 45 minutes I stopped to make contact with my sweep.

 

Ten minutes later Chuck arrived, with one gentleman and two ladies.  Checking out the lagging hikers, they assured us they were just off to a slow start.  After another 45 minutes, even though we were not even half way to the top, I decided to call for an early lunch to let Chuck and company catch up.  Thirty minutes later, after lunch, still no sign of Chuck and his charges.  I went back down the trial and shortly ran into the party of 4.  I told the man and three women that they were keeping the entire group from being able to reach our destination and return in a reasonable time, and that Chuck would have to lead them back to the cars.  The two ladies refused, signed off the hike, and took off toward the summit.  To read more click here.

Nominations For Annual Awards Needed
Annual CMC Dinner To Be Held Friday, Nov. 1
By Marcia Bromberg
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The CMC annual meeting and dinner will be held Friday, Nov. 1. at Pack's Tavern Century Room in Asheville. The social hour starts at 5:30 and the dinner starts at 6:30, and the annual meeting starts at 7:30. 
 
It is a time to visit with CMC friends, find out who completed challenges and have a piece of the Club's 90th Anniversary cake. Use the form in the Let's Go to register for the meeting or log into the website and click on Annual Dinner on the drop down menu. 

Don't forget to nominate candidates for the Club's Service Awards. Go to http://www.carolinamountainclub.org/index.cfm/do/pages.view/id/42/page/Service-Awards to find out more.

 

Map And Compass Course Set For November 16
Dave Wetmore will teach a map and compass course on Nov. 16, at 10 a.m. at Diamond Brand.null CMC will purchase 3 Topographic Map Reading Kits for $37.75 each.  The course will cost $20 per person. The class will be limited to 12. To register or for more information contact Kay Shurtleff at kshurtleff@msn.com
Guides Needed For Vet Full-Day Hikes In October
By Jennifer Pharr Davis
I have been contacted by Team Red, White and Blue, a non-profit designed to support veterans. They want to provide three full-day hikes on October 26th to veterans. There would be about ten vets in each of the three groups. There is no fee for the hike and no payment for the guides. The purpose is to provide recreation and fellowship for the vets. I have volunteered to help, but we still need two more "guides". I was hoping there might be interest from a couple of folks in the CMC!?!?
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First CMC Family-Friendly Hike 
To Be Held Saturday, September 28 

By Jan Onan

CMC Family-friendly hikes begin on Saturday, September 28th, Family Hiking Day! Join CMC members Kate Fisher and Jan Onan as we celebrate National Public Lands Day on the Appalachian Trail near Hot Springs, NC.  Max Patch bald is one of the most beautiful places on the AT and offers a moderate 4 mile loop hike including open meadow, shaded forest, and 360 degree views (weather permitting).  Bring a lunch or snack to enjoy at the top.

The first meeting place is at 9:00am in the Upward Elementary gym parking lot (45 Education Drive, off Upward Road across from the Cracker Barrell on I -26). The second meeting place is at 9:30 am at West Gate shopping center in Asheville just off I-240. We will meet in the back of the lot away from the interstate and form carpools to drive west on I-40 to exit 7 at Harmon Den, then 9 miles on gravel road to Max Patch. This hike is considered easy by the CMC, however, it is a 500 feet elevation gain all at once to get to the bald. To read ore click here.

Superintendent Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park To Retire
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 Dale Ditmanson, Superintendent of the 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, recently announced that he will retire effective 3 January 2014.

Patty Wissinger, the new Deputy Superintendent, will be the acting Superintendent after Dale retires until a replacement is named. Patty arrived at the Park and assumed her duties as Deputy Superintendent on Monday, September 10th.

Incomplete "Let's Go" Newsletters????

By Stuart English

Last quarter, I was told that several people received incomplete newsletters. Theyreceived the outside pages, 1,2,7,8; but did not get the interior pages, 3,4,5,6:the hike schedules. I sent replacement copies to the ones who told me about this. As time passed, I heard about more instances of this. PLEASE NOTIFY ME if this happens or if you don't get the newsletter or if there is anything wrong with it. The newsletter is our largest expense and if I have a solid number that I can take to Mail Management, our publisher/mailer, it would carry more weight with them.

 

Stuart English

[email protected]

828-883-2447

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Silencers Are Now Legal 
For Hunting In North Carolina

Courtesy of the News and Observer

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Thomasi McDonald - [email protected] [email protected]

For decades, the closest most people got to a gun suppressor - those metal cylinders that reduce a gun's bang - was seeing one on a movie screen in the hands of an assassin or gangster.

But sweeping gun legislation has made suppressors, also known as silencers, legal for hunting in North Carolina. Law enforcement authorities are now trying to figure out how to shape policies to implement the new law.

Last week, the legislature passed a far-reaching bill that expands the places where permit holders can legally carry concealed weapons, including bars, restaurants and parks. The legislation also deleted a provision that prohibited hunters from using suppressors. To read more click  here: 

 
Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC)'s Membership Drive Is Coming To Area

Not a member of ATC? Here's your chance to get a one-year membership for $30, $10 less than the regular price, enjoy a movie and program about the A.T., and have a chance to win an ATC ENO Hammock or a Gregory backpack. If you are a member, come anyway and get a one-year gift membership for one of your family or friends. You'll also get an ATC patch and deal, and a year's subscription to AT Journeys, ATC's bi-monthly magazine. Kids under 13 will be admitted free.   

 

ATC will hold three events in our area:

  • Franklin, NC on October 18,
  • Erwin, TN on Oct. 20, and
  • Hot Springs, NC on Oct. 26. 

 To read more click here. 

Maintainers Socialize For Annual Picnic
By Pete R. Peterson
Over 50 CMC Trail Maintainers and spouses attended the annual Trail Maintainer's picnic this past Saturday at Lake Julian.  Because of the heavy rain, activity was concentrated in the pavilion being used, but the attendees got in some good gab time.  There was some serious food consumption as the attendees treated their friends to some of their special recipes.  The Bill Jones band provided background with good down-home music.
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Lenny Bernstein Elected To ATC 
Board Of Directors At ATC Conference 

CMC former president and chair of the Steering Committee for the 2013 ATC Conference Lenny Bernstein has been named to serve on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's board of directors. The board is made up of 15 elected volunteers who are elected to serve two-year terms.

Those members offer "a diverse set of skills and expertise," says ATC Executive Director David N. Startzell "They play a vital role in shaping both the organization and the Appalachian Trail project by adopting policies governing the Trail and by providing oversight of ATC programs, operations, and procedures to aid in achieving our organizational mission."  To read more click here. 

Membership Chair Thanks Members 
For Going Green With 'Let's Go!'  PDF Version
By Barbara Morgan
As membership chair I want to thank all the new and current members who have chosen to receive their quarterly Let's Go by PDF.  Every new member since it's implementation has chosen this, and current members are often making this choice when they renew.  You don't have to wait till renewal time - you can do it at any time by logging in and changing it in your member profile.  We're going greener!

Hike 

Save Trails

Make Friends

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In This Issue
Members Urged To Attend Council Meeting
Big Smokey
Bill Would Double Timber Harvests
Interview- Ashok Kudva
Story Of A Sweep
Annual Dinner - Nov. 1
Map and Compass Course
Guides Needed
First CMC Family-Friendly Hike Set
Park Superintendent To Retire
Incomplete Newsletters
Silencers Now Allowed
Maintainer's Picnic
Maintainers Gather
Bernstein Elected To ATC Board
Going Green

  

 

Quick Links




The Small Print

The next issue will come out on Friday, October 25. Wednesday hike reports for the hike just before the eNews comes out will be published in the next eNews.

Hiker leaders, please send all your eNews hike reports and photos to [email protected]

So send your news by Friday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Friday evening October 18 to Kathy Kyle at [email protected]. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you.

The CMC Calendar is meant to answer the perennial question "When is this happening again?" It is also meant to prevent conflicts between competing CMC events. Please check it often.

Westgate parking - Park in the northernmost part of the lot - past EarthFare, in the last row of parking spaces.

How to join the Carolina Mountain Club
1. Go to www.carolinamountainclub.org
2. Click on "Join CMC" on the right side and follow the instructions

For CMC members only - Send all address and email changes to Gale O'Neal at [email protected]. Do not resubscribe yourself to the eNews. That will be done automatically.

If you are a non-member subscriber, you need to go back to the eNews and make the change yourself.