cmclogo
Carolina Mountain Club                        Since 1923
eNews | Hike . Save Trails . Make Friends
May 2015  
In This Issue
Valuable Hiking Resource
Mapmakers Needed, Training Offered
By Charlie Ferguson

For many years a few CMC members have been making maps and elevation profiles that accompany the hike descriptions in our hike database.  Our detailed hike database helps make CMC's website one of the best hiking resources on the internet. These maps and profiles, and the GPS data that they were made from, are free for anyone to download and use.  We would like to train a few more people to make the maps and profiles in an attempt to keep the database up to date, especially for new hikes.  Making the maps is not particularly technical - no computer science or programming skills are required.  There are four Windows based programs, that are reasonably user friendly, used in the process.  This is a brief description of the process:
1. Someone will have hiked with their GPS on, and will have submitted the track file to the hiking committee.
2. A GPS mapping program is used to clean up the GPS track file, which is usually just deleting some track points at the beginning and end of the hike and lunch breaks.
3. The file from step 2 is loaded into another GPS mapping program that has access to USGS topo map scans.  A PDF file is made of the hike track data overlaid on the topo map.
4. A table from step 2 is copied and pasted into an Excel or LibreOffice spreadsheet. A PDF file is made of the elevation data to make the profile file.
5. These three files are uploaded to the website.
Once one gains proficiency, this process can take 10-20 minutes for each hike.  An example of these files can be found in the description for hike 763 . To read more click here.  

Mortimer Campground
Camporee Scheduled For October 
Save the dates for the fall camporee set for October 2, 3, 4,  2015. Ted Snyder, who is coordinating the event, will be taking reservations after June 15.  For more information, contact him at [email protected]

Below is a revised list of hikes: 

Saturday, October 3rd 

1.  South Fork Harper Creek Loop. Two waterfalls.  Twelve wet crossings. 9.76 miles. Inside Wilderness Study Area. Trailhead close to campground. Leader: Jill Gottesman.

 

2. Upper Wilson Creek from FS 45 up Wilson Creek, then up Stackrock Creek and Andrews Creek to FS 192. Many wet stream crossings. 6.6 miles. Extremely scenic streamside walk. Shuttle.  Leader: TBA

 

3. Lost Cove Creek Loop. Hike goes down Gragg Prong, up Lost Cove Creek, passing Hunt-Fish Falls. There will be a side trip to Little Lost Cove Creek Falls. Then up the zig-zag trail, and over Bee Mountain to Timber Ridge and down its trail to the starting point. Eight Miles. Ten wet crossings. Inside Wilderness Study Area. Leader: Paul Benson. To read more click here. 


  

CMC Debuts New Youth Challenge

By Jan Onan and Kay Shurtleff

CMC is introducing a new, unique challenge to encourage CMC members and youth to share hiking experiences. The youth Partner Challenge (YPC) has an educational component, which showcases different land management areas and will include a patch for those who complete the challenge.

 

The Youth Partner Challenge offers 10 hikes for the challenge; 8 of which are required to complete the challenge. With education being a priority, each hike has been selected to showcase 8 different land managements:  Wilderness Area, Blue Ridge Parkway, Land Conservancy, Cradle of Forestry, Mountains to Sea Trail, Appalachian Trail, State Forest, and State Park. (Many of these hikes are in the National Forest). 

 

The YPC debut hike will be September 26 on the A.T. at Max Patch in partnership with the ATC on National Public Lands Day. There will be 2 YPC hikes scheduled each quarter beginning in the 4th quarter of 2015. This will allow each participant to earn his or her patch within a year's time. Kay Shurtleff and I plan to lead the first 8 hikes, which will be scheduled on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 1p.m.  We encourage other hike leaders to join us as future YPC hike leaders.  As with our other CMC challenges, you may chose to complete any of the hikes on your own or on a club sponsored hike. Both the Youth and the Partner are encouraged to read and discuss the information provided on the website. There will be links to historical and other educational information. Each youth will be required to write an interesting fact about the area hiked on the log.  To read more click here.  

Prizes By Diamond Brand Outdoors
Carolina Mountain Club Photo Contest

By Ann Hendrickson

Attention all shutterbugs! Get out your cameras, GoPros or cellphones with cameras. The CMC wants your best shots from the trail! Winning photographs of the new photo contest will be featured on the website and the photographers (and their photos) will be recognized at the Annual Meeting. Categories for the contest include:

 1) Landscape, 2) People on the Trail, and 3) Plants, and/or animals. Entries will be accepted until Sept 30, 2015. Please click here to see the rules.

Alum Cave Trail Closed Until November 19

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that a 2-year trail restoration project has begun on Alum Cave Trail. The trail and associated parking areas are closed May 4 through November 19, excluding federal holidays, on Monday mornings at 7:00 a.m. through Thursday evenings at 5:30 p.m. weekly. Due to the construction process on the narrow trail, a full closure is necessary for the safety of both the crew and visitors. The trail will be fully open each week on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 
 
The Trails Forever crew will focus restoration efforts on several targeted locations along the 5-mile trail to improve visitor safety and stabilize eroding trail sections. Alum Cave Trail is one of the most popular trails in the park, leading hikers to iconic areas including Arch Rock, Inspiration Point, Alum Cave Bluffs, Mt. Le Conte, and LeConte Lodge. Park rangers respond to numerous accidents along the trail each year, especially along the upper, narrow corridors. The planned work will improve overall trail safety and protect natural resources by repairing historic cable and handrail systems, reinforcing hanging trail sections, reducing trail braiding, and improving drainage to prevent further erosion. There are also several narrow areas where erosion and small landslides have damaged significant sections of the trail, making it difficult to safely travel through the areas during inclement weather or to pass hikers coming from the opposite direction. By restoring these fragile trail sections, the park can best ensure long-term sustainability and protect trailside natural communities from degradation. To read more click here. 
This is a cropped picture from the front of the first CMC pamphlet (a small tri-fold), published in 1924. The picture may be one of the CMC cabins in the Pink Beds.
Smucker Appointed CMC Archivist
 Rocko Smucker was appointed CMC's new archivist during the May Council Meeting. He replaces Peter Steurer, the former historian/archivist.  Rocko said he has had an interest in history from a very young age. "I became interested in CMC history after researching the creation of the my MST trail section."

He has some ideas on what he would like to do as archivist. "I'd like to set a standard of how reports, documentation, pictures, videos, etc. are compiled and accessed.  I've come to realize that names, bios, locations, dates, and intentions are important in documenting and archiving even for simple CMC postings on Facebook.  And, since hardcopies are becoming less and less common, how does one preserve history without losing it in a digital blur?"

Rocko shared some CMC history that most members are unaware of. Below is the early vision of what CMC was to be. To the right is a picture from a CMC pamphlet. Rocko hopes to continue to share club treasures such as these with the members.
CMC Collections, Box 16, Folder 1

THE CALL OF THE PIONEER BLOOD

      There is a reverential regard in most of us for our
      hardy forebears who hewed their way through the wilderness.  
      In early youth this shows itself in the instinctive
      desire to emulate the example of these doughty path-
      finders.  In response to this call of the blood it is the
      endeavor of the Club to offer modest opportunity to keep
     alive the desire, not only during, but particularly beyond
      the period of youth.

     Carolina Mountain Club, 1924

CMC Honored By Conservancy For "Selfless" Devotion To Trail Work

North Carolina's 24 local land trusts bestowed their annual awards on deserving winners during a lunch celebration at the land trusts' annual meeting at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville on May 15th. The NC Land Trust awards are given annually to businesses, nonprofits, governments, and individuals who lead efforts to protect the state's streams and lakes, forests, farms, parkland and wildlife habitat, thereby protecting clean drinking water and air quality, local food, and outdoor recreation. To read more click here. 

Supreme Court Justice Completes South Beyond 6000 Challenge
Congratulations to NC Supreme Court Justice Sam Ervin IV on becoming the most recent completer of Carolina Mountain Club's South Beyond 6000 (SB6K) challenge! Judge Ervin, who started the challenge in 2003, finished his 40th "sixer" last month atop 6,155 ft. Big Cataloochee Mountain with his son, Jamie.
Blue Ridge Hiking Company donated $1,000 to the CMC. Jennifer Pharr presented the money to the club at the Spring Social in April.
This Thursday
CMC Members Invited To Art Opening
"Begin Again" an art exhibition at Jubilee! Gallery during the month of June features Valarie Macklin and CMC members Maureen Simon and Kathy Kyle who collectively celebrate and commemorate their individual transformative journeys as artist.

Come celebrate with these three talented women at their Opening Reception on Thursday, June 4, from 5 - 8 pm. at 46 Wall Street, Asheville, N.C.

Maureen Simon's photography represents images of cities, the people and culture. Capturing nature is also one of Maureen's specialties.Begin Again is Maureen's life theme over the past 5 years as she has transformed into a thriving artist and woman.

Kathy Kyle is a potter and her hand-built pieces reflect in form and texture her love of the forests, the fertile plant life and the meandering shapes of the mountains. Her pottery is mostly organic and functional pieces. Kathy is excited to exhibit for the first time.

Valarie Macklin is a literary artist and draws upon photography as inspiration in her work. She captures in photography what she "hears" with her eyes in flowers and nature. In the exhibit, Valarie conveys her deep connection with nature through photography inspired cards.
cmclogo Send eNews articles to [email protected]
  
The newsletter will go out the last Friday of every month. The deadline to submit news is the Friday before it goes out.

The next issue will come out on Friday, June 26, so send your news by Friday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Friday evening, June 19, to Kathy Kyle at [email protected]. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you.
 
Westgate parking - Park in the northernmost part of the lot - past EarthFare, in the last row of parking spaces.

To join Carolina Mountain Club go to:  www.carolinamountainclub.org. Click on "Join CMC" on the right side. Follow the instructions. 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.

  

Kathy Kyle
Carolina Mountain Club | P.O. Box 68
Asheville, NC 28802