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Carolina Mountain Club                        Since 1923
eNews | Hike . Save Trails . Make Friends
March 2016  
In This Issue
Spring Social - April 23 - Get Your Tickets Now
The eleventh annual Spring Barbecue will be held at the N.C. Arboretum on Saturday, April 23, from 2:30 until 8:30. This year Danny Bernstein will talk about the National Park Service Centennial. She recently published a book about the national parks in the south. (See the review of the book in this issue.) Six park superintendents from local national parks also have been invited to share information about their parks. 

The schedule is: 2:30 p.m. - Casual hike around Lake Powhatan. The hike will be about 5 miles and will leave from the front of the main building at the arboretum. At 3 p.m. a Wildflower hike on arboretum trails will be held. This hike will be about 3 to 4 miles long, and will leave from the front of the Education Center of the arboretum.
At 5 p.m. the social hour will start in the Education Center of the arboretum. Beer and wine will be available for purchase. At 6 p.m. Bubba Q will start serving dinner. The menu will include barbecue pork, chicken, sides and dessert. Vegetarian lasagna will also be available. The program will start at 7. 

Tickets for dinner cost $20 each. Buy your ticket by April 18, by either logging into the CMC website and paying by credit card or mailing a check to CMC PO Box 68 Asheville, NC 28802. If you have questions, call Les Love at 658 -1489 or email him at lesrlove55@gmail.com


Proposed National Recreation Areas For Western North Carolina
By Tish Desjardins
There are two proposed National Recreation Areas for western North Carolina. Theyare: Pisgah National Recreation Area and Grandfather National Recreation Area. The idea for these proposed NRAs began with discussions between the Wilderness Society and a few outdoor recreation enthusiasts who wished to bicycle on certain trails that happened to be in Wilderness Study Areas in the Grandfather Ranger District. Wilderness Study Areas are forest areas that have characteristics that allow them to be possibly nominated for future Wilderness Areas. Because actual designated Wilderness Areas are for only low impact recreation activities, such as, walking, part of the original Grandfather Wilderness Study Area is now proposed to be changed so that many types of recreation can be accommodated. To read more click here.
To read the Memorandum Of Understanding CMC Signed with about 43 outdoor organizations click here.
To see the map of the Proposed Grandfather National Recreation Area click here. 

The CMC and CMC partners frames of patches have been hung in the Special Collections room at UNCA Ramsey Library. (Rocko Smucker)
Little Cataloochee Chapel

Greak Smoky Mountains National Park In The Centennial Year
By Danny Bernstein
If you live in Western North Carolina, you are lucky enough to live close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited park in the U.S. The Smokies covers over half-a-million acres of wildness, not wilderness. I make a distinction between untouched wilderness, like certain parts of Alaska, and wildness, land that's returning to its natural state and feels wild.If you live in Western North Carolina, you are lucky enough to live close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited park in the U.S. The Smokies covers over half-a-million acres of wildness, not wilderness. I make a distinction between untouched wilderness, like certain parts of Alaska, and wildness, land that's returning to its natural state and feels wild. To read more click here. 


Great Smoky Mountains National Park Spring Opening Schedule
Alum Cave Trail  Closed May 2 to Nov. 17

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced the spring opening schedule for park facilities for the 2016 season. As part of the schedule, officials also announced the Alum Cave Trail Restoration schedule which includes a Monday through Thursday closure of Alum Cave Trail and the Mt. Le Conte Backcountry Shelter beginning May 2 through November 17. Due to the construction process on the narrow trail, a full closure is necessary for the safety of both the crew and visitors. The shelter will be closed during the week to accommodate youth crews involved in the restoration work. The trail and shelter will be fully open each week on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout the restoration process. To see the rest of the park schedule click here. 
Forests, Alligators Battlefields - National Parks Of The South
By Bobbi Powers
Danny Bernstein has been on the move with laptop in hand again.  This prolific author of three well-received hiking books - Hiking the Carolina Mountains, Hiking North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, The Mountains-to-Sea Trail Across North Carolina: Walking a Thousand Miles through Wildness, Culture and History - has penned a new travel narrative.  There is something for everyone within its 296 pages.  Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South is a travel book filled with fascinating history lessons, a personal diary of some of Danny's favorite places, the colorful characters she meets along her journey through 71 national park units in the Southeast, and a multitude of fascinating facts guaranteed to have you thinking, "Gee, I've been there, and I didn't know that!" Throughout the book we see Danny's impeccable eye for detailed, accurate research, as well as her gift for gab with those she meets along the way and her sense of humor.  To read more click here. 

CMC History: Prizes And Article
By Rocko Smucker
CMC History Brief:
Games played at November 8, 1952 CMC Board Meeting.  The club had 69 members at that time and a cash balance of $69.94.
Following the acceptance of slate of officers, "Three games were played.
  1. In 10 minutes write all the trips in 1952 that you can remember.  Winner-Bill Kirkman who was presented with a pair of red work gloves.
       2. Feeling objects in a bag. 
John Lindsley, Eleanne Bown, Zeffie Nichols, and Mrs. Lindsley got all 18 right, but Mrs. Lindsley guessed the lucky number and was presented a red bandana.

        3.Unscramble 10 mountain peaks in 10 minutes
Elizabeth Parker was successful with all 10 and was presented a can of Bean's Weatherproofing Grease. To see a 1970 article about CMC that appeared in The Charlotte Observer click here: http://rockocmchistory.blogspot.com/


Gaydish left legacy of friendship, love of wild places
By Peter Barr
I have never known an individual as sincere and genuine as Kayah. I think that may be because no one has ever been so personally fulfilled by the combination of the outdoors, friendships, and a devotion to others.
No singular story - and certainly not this column - could ever fully do justice in portraying the person that Kayah was. Its scope - her love for this region, the depth of the relationships she held, and her selflessness to her friends, her children, and her favorite wild places - is simply too vast. To read more: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20160228/ARTICLES/160229905?Title=Kayah-Gaydish-left-legacy-of-friendship-love-of-wild-places
Volunteers Sought For Camp
Laurel Ridge is looking for counselors for their 2nd annual Eco Mission Camp for middle school students, June 12-18, 2016.  Campers will  travel off-site during the morning and early afternoon to complete work projects and experience traditional camp activities in the late afternoon and evening. Laurel Ridge is a Christian camp in Laurel Springs, in northwestern NC. Information on volunteering:
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The next issue will come out on Friday, April 29, so send your news by Friday, April 22, to eNews@carolinamountainclub.org. 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.

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