Meetings

Next Meeting Monday JUNE 2, 2008 at 7PM

Eric Wiese will give a Slide show presentation of hikes on the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail. He will also have recommendations for light weight hiking gear and information about Outdoor Chattanooga’s plans to build new mountain biking trails

Subsequent meeting Monday August 4, 2008 at 7 PM

Kurt Emmanuele will detail Smoky Mountain hiking experiences.

John Rowland, new President presided over the meeting and it began at 7:03 pm.
The 2008 officers that were nominated in were voted on at the meeting and the results were tallied for the following 2008 officers:
John Rowland, President
Tony Cook, Vice President
Michelle Anderson, Secretary
Nancy Robinson, Treasurer
Donald Box, Trail Maintenance
Sharon Hixon, Membership Information
Betty Petty agreed to continue serving as the Newsletter Editor and the Webmaster.

Betty Petty announced that there will be an Annual Walk Thru of the Benton Mackaye Trail on April 26, 2008. This event's purpose is to have someone walking every foot of the trail logging all maintenance needs as the thru-hiking season gets into full swing.
Nancy Robinson presented Treasurer’s report. Be sure to renew your membership now. According to Nancy there have been 34 renewals and there are 200 members.
Donald Box announced National Trails Day will be occurring on 1st Saturday in June 2008. This event will educate the trail maintenance volunteers on construction of new treadway. There will be free T-shirts for participants doing a day's work.He will put an article in the next newsletter regarding this event.
Kendra, Outings Chair, announced that for those that want to lead hikes in the next 6 months there will be a meeting on May 12, 2008 at 7:00 pm. the YMCA Shallowford. If you have an interest in doing certain trails call or e-mail hike leaders about trails and potential dates.
As a way to encourage people to do outdoor activities in the area, Susan announced the club is partnering with Outdoor Chattanooga to lead beginner hikes at Reflection riding starting May 4, 2008.
Several members discussed whether the club should contribute money to organizations such as the Cumberland Trail. Currently, the Club’s finances pay for the monthly newsletters and the Christmas Party. Some members recommended that the club officers have a separate financial meeting to plan the club’s budget, in which the budget would be presented to club members for a vote.
Kendra announced that at the next club meeting there will be T-shirts and patches.

Special Presentation: James Hill Craddock, Associate Professor of Biological & Environmental Sciences, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga presented information the American Chestnut Tree populations and on the Appalachian Trails Mega Transect All Taxia Biological Inventory. This inventory involves the entire ecological system of the train. Dr. Craddock requested volunteers from the hiking clue to participate in collecting inventory data for the Chestnut trees along the Appalachian Trail. He will be attending a training session at Hood College in Maryland in the Katada Mountains on May 9-10, 2008, which will assist him in training people in tree identification.
Those that are interested in participating in the Chestnut inventory contact James Craddock at (423) 425-4341 Hill-Craddock@utc.edu or Susan Faidley evergreen50@earthlink.net. Dr. Hill will have a workshop to train volunteers in early June 2008. Information will be announced on the club website and in the May newsletter.

Meeting adjourned: 9:00 pm. - Minutes taken by Michelle Anderson, Secretary

ANNOUCEMENT: Hiking Club meeting Refreshment Volunteers:
The following people are on the list to provide refreshments at the quarterly club meetings. If you want your name removed from the list please let Michelle Anderson know. If you want to remain on the list please let her know which meeting dates (January, April 4, June 2, August 4, October 6, December 1) you will bring refreshments. You can reach Michelle at (423) 505-7282 (cell) or ewfamlp@aol.com.

Kendra Cross
Suzanne Smith
Che Carico
Elizabeth O’Conner
Donald Box
Susan Faidley
Mae Kile
Sue Leachman
Lin-Fa Lee
Sharon Mease
Sharon Hixon

Ralph Van Pelt, President presided over the meeting and it began at 7:03 pm. New Business - The Betty Petty and Ralph Van Pelt wrote an article in the newsletter on the dog policy. If you want to take a dog on a hike let the hike leader know. Kendra Cross, Outings Coordinator, announced there is an opportunity for anyone to do a “Dog Friendly hike” from June – December 2008, just let her know.
Che Carico made a correction in the newsletter for the Wednesday Hikers Christmas Reunion Lunch and Dayhike outing. The speaker was Jim Brown, Tennessee River Gorge Trust, not Bill Brown.
Nancy Robinson was not present so the Treasurer’s report was not presented.
Shawn Reese, Cherokee National Law Enforcement Officer, spoke about personal safety in the forest and how to deal with illegal activity if you unexpectedly encounter it on a hike.
• Follow Situational Awareness – be aware of what is happening around you.
• Tell a friend where you are going, what you are wearing and the expected time you will be back.
• Carry the local sheriff’s phone number or the Law Enforcement Officer numbers with you.
• Find out the current information about trailhead ex. Road closures, fires, people hanging out at shelters or on trails.
• Take map, GPS unit and or compass with you on the hike
• Be prepared – bring extra clothes, blanket, food and water.
• Hike with others – stay together when you hike with a group and walk to the slowest person’s pace.
• Park with valuables hidden
• Do not flash money or wallet around in public places
• Carry your ID, emergency phone numbers, medical information (i.e. blood type, allergies, etc.)
• Keep eye on people that may look suspicious on the trail – i.e. city clothes and shoes on, wearing heavy coat during warm weather • Watch other hikers eyes and hand
• Squatters are homeless people that live in the National Forest. They live in shelters and campgrounds and are generally antisocial and territorial.
Kendra asked the question, “Should we carry weapons? If so, what type? Officer Reese’s response was:
- Guns are not allowed in the National Forest unless it is hunting season and you have a license for it.
- Suggested knowing shelf defense
- Be physically fit
- Look people in the eye when you pass them on a trail - Pepper spray is OK to carry - Get Tag numbers of vehicles – especially when you see them committing illegal activities.
- If you see illegal activities occurring contact the Law Enforcement Officer.
Ralph suggested reading the book The Gift of Fear by Galvin Debecker.
Meeting adjourned: 7:47 pm.
Minutes taken by Michelle Anderson, Secretary

Due to a meeting conflict, Ralph Van Pelt could not make the meeting. Vice President John Rawlings presided over the meeting and it began at 7:05 pm.

Announcements were made for the following:
The Club Christmas Party will be Friday night, December 7 at Greenway Farms Conference Center in Hixson off Hamill Road. If you want to bring a covered dish and door prizes contact Che Carico mtnhikerche@bellsouth.net or (423) 886-5135.
Caroline Woerner – Tennessee River Rescue for the North Chickamauga River will be held Saturday, October 6, 2007 from 9:00 am. – 1:00 pm.
Kendra Cross – She will have a hike leaders meeting next month and she will send out a meeting notice via e-mail. If you are interested in leading club hikes be sure to attend.
Wayne Chambers – He is leading the Len Foote Hike Inn on Saturday, March 1, 2008. This lodge is located on Springer Mountain near Amicalola Falls in North Georgia. The hike will involve an easy to moderate 5 mile hike to the Inn. He has collected 20 deposits so far and the club has reserved the inn for 40 people. The deposit is $35 per person and another $35 the day of the hike. The total costs of $70 per person covers 2 meals (dinner/breakfast) and board. Check out more information regarding the Len Foot Hike Inn at their website: http://hike-inn.com/default.asp
Nancy Robinson, Treasurer reported that the club has $4,124.52.

PROGRAM
Chris and Elizabeth O’Conner did a presentation of photos from their trips to Colorado and Glacier National Park.

Meeting adjourned: 7:40 pm.

Refreshment Volunteers: There is a list of refreshment volunteers for the Chattanooga Hiking Club meetings. The following members are on this list: Suzanne Smith, Che Carico, Elizabeth O’Conner, Donald Box, Susan Faidley, Mae Kile, Sue Leachman, Lin-Fa Lee, Sharon Mease. If you want your name to be removed from the list please contact Michelle Anderson at ewfalmp@aol.com. For other members that are interested in being a refreshment volunteer for our quarterly meetings please let Michelle know. Minutes taken by Michelle Anderson, Secretary

Minutes from Meeting Monday August 6, 2007.

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM. Those in attendance voted to renew the clubs membership with the American Hiking Society and to order more shirts with the club logo. Michelle Anderson was elected secretary to replace Melissa Moreau, who has moved to Nashville. Kurt Emmanuele reported that he had taken a group to work on the club's section of the Pot Point trail - Thanks Kurt and group! The program for the evening was presented by Kurt Emmanuele. He gave a slide show of photos he took while on vacation in Chile. Snacks were provided by Kendra Cross.

Minutes from Meeting Monday June 4, 2007

The June meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Plans for a possible club trip to Len Foote Inn in Amnicalola State Park were discussed. Potential Christmas party locations were discussed. Betty Petty shared her experiences at the Southeast Foottrails Conference in Montreat, North Carolina. Eric and Michelle Anderson gave a wonderful presentation on their recent trip to Arizona - we viewed breathtaking photographs of Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Reported by Melissa Moreau.

Minutes from Meeting Monday April 4, 2007

Doug Cooper called the meeting to order at 7:10. He made a motion for the club to start using the new "forever" stamps issued by the post office. The price of these stamps is not supposed to go up. The motion was approved. New officers were elected, President - Ralph Van Pelt, Vice President - John Rowland, Secretary - Melissa Moreau, Tresurer - Nancy Robinson. Lucas George, from Rock Creek Outfitters, gave a presentation on back packing equipment. Afterward, many of us took the opportunity to ask questions and take a closer look at the gear he brought for display. Kendra Cross provided snacks. The meeting adjourned about 8:00. Reported by Kendra Cross.

Minutes from Meeting Monday February 7, 2007

Our February meeting was held at the Jones Observatory and there was a pretty large crowd as members of the astronomy club attended the meeting also. Doug Cooper called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM. He went over a few items in the newsletter such as upcoming hikes, officer elections, and membership renewal. Shirts were available for sale and several attendees took the opportunity to buy one or two. Jack Pitkin, Senior Teaching Laboratory Specialist spoke about the history of the observatory, how it came about and the recent renovations on the building. Then he gave a short program on finding constellations. Next, John Mannone gave a presentation on wilderness astronomy. Sharon Hogan, Gary Caldwell and Ernest Simmons each won an issue of Back Packer magazine as a door prize. The meeting adjourned at 9:10. Reported by Kendra Cross.

Minutes from Meeting Monday October 2, 2006

7:10 PM. Doug reported that he still has a couple of meeting locations to check out and that he is also still researching a shirt order. More information to come on those two items. There will be no "official" December meeting as it is the same week as our Christmas Party. Thanks to Lin-Fa Lee for providing snacks for this meeting. Brian Walker was the door prize winner. Susan Faidley gave any one who wanted one a copy of American Hiker magazing. Our speakers were Richard Parks and myself. Richard gave a very entertaining report on his backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail this past summer. I reported on my recent trip to Ireland. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 PM. Kendra Cross reporting.

Minutes from Meeting Monday August 7, 2006

Doug Cooper called the meeting to order at 7:13. The new meeting location is still being discussed and updates will be given in future newsletters. There is discussion about ordering t-shirts with the club logo on the front. Doug is going to do more research into order variations, quantities, etc. A purchase will be voted on at the next club meeting. Thanks to Rosalyn Vogel for bringing the snacks! John Rowland and Lin Fa Lee won the door prizes - two issues of BackPacker magazine. The program was provided by Steve Biatowas from the U.S. Forestry Service. He brought a video about what to do when you encounter a bear and bear behavior. A very brief summary follows: Basically, do the things we have all been told before. The safest thing to do is avoid encounters! If you encounter a bear; stop, remain calm, if possible move away slowly and quietly, do not run from a bear, nor approach one. If you are attacked by a bear, fall and remain face down with you fingers laced behind you neck. If it is a defensive attack, play dead, the bear should leave. If it is a predatory attack (it thinks you're dinner, you get the idea) fight back! This is only if you encounter a black bear. Carry deterrents such as bear spray or noise makers. When possible, travel in groups and do not camp in bear travel areas. Carry out your trash, do not bury it. The meeting was adjourned at 8:34. Kendra Cross reporting.

Minutes from Meeting Monday June 5, 2006

Doug Cooper called the meeting to order at 7:15. He reported that Steve Biatowas, Ocoee Ranger Station on Hwy 64, had sent him an e:mail asking for volunteers to build a trail detour near the Whitewater Center. Doug also reviewed upcoming hikes with us.
Our speaker was Dan Murray who is director of the ER at Parkridge Hospital. He gave pointers on several types of potential trail hazards. A few examples are: Keep a snake bite clean and below the heart, do not use a tourniquet. Get to an ER as soon as possible, but please do not bring the snake! Insect bites, keep them clean and put ice or a cool pack on it and take an anti-inflammatory. Sprains, cool them down and elevate. Do not walk on them, and take an anti-inflammatory.
Che Carico and Laura Rose won the door prizes, which were two issues of Backpacker magazine. Thank you Jane Seal for the snacks! The meeting adjourned at 8:20.

Minutes from Meeting Monday April 3, 2006

Our April meeting was called to order at 7:20pm. Our first order of business was to finalize our officer elections for next year. All existing officers were re-elected. Doug Cooper handed out brochures that had been sent from the Coastwalk hiking/camping group of Sebastopol, CA and the winter 2005 issure of American Hiker. Che Carico reported that the Wednesday group has FINALLY made it to the Walls of Jerico. She reported that the group was well pleased with trail conditions. Caroline Woerner reported that a couple more miles of the Cumberland trail have been completed. The continuing need for trail volunteers was mentioned. Kurt Emmanuele won the door prize, which was an issure of Back Packer magazine. Tony Cook provided snacks for everyone. Thanks Tony!! Our speaker was Jeffery Hunter of the Southeastern Fool Trails Coalition. He provided a slide show of trails ranging from Florida to North Carolina as he gave a update about the Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition and their long term goal for a 5000 mile interconnected foot trail system throughout the eastern United States. The meeting ended at 8:10pm.
reported by:Kendra Cross, Secretary

NEWS

GSMNP 800 Milers

On Saturday, May 27, and Sunday, May 28, Spears McAllester and Susan Faidley become the first two CHC members to complete hiking all 800 of the trail miles in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On June 15, Wayne Chambers also completed his final section to reach 800 miles. A special patch has been designed to celebrate this goal; look for it on the packs of those who have earned it!

Bear Attacks in the Woods

There have been a number of bear attacks on hikers and hunters in the woods recently including the especially bad attack at nearby Benton Falls where a mother and her two children were mauled resulting in the death of a six year old girl and serious injuries to the mother and two year old brother. Although this particular incident appeared to be a clear case of bear predation on small children, the bear was noted watching the people in daylight for several minutes preceding the attack. The following is a short memo from the Tennessee Wildlife Agency on avoiding bear incidents.

Black bears in the forest are wild and their behavior is sometimes unpredictable. Although extremely rare, attacks on humans have occurred, inflicting serious injuries and death. Treat bear encounters with extreme caution and follow these guidelines.
If you see a bear, remain watchful. Do not approach it. If your presence causes the bear to change its behavior (stops feeding, changes its travel direction, watches you, etc.), YOU ARE TOO CLOSE. Don’t run, but slowly back away, watching the bear. Try to increase the distance between you and the bear. The bear will probably do the same.
If a bear persistently follows or approaches you without vocalizing or paw swatting, try changing your direction. If the bear continues to follow you, stand your ground. If the bear gets closer, talk loudly or shout at it. Act aggressively and try to intimidate the bear. Act together as a group if you have companions. Make yourselves look as large as possible (for example move to higher ground). Throw non-food objects such as rocks at the bear. Use a deterrent such as a stout stick. Don’t run and don’t turn away from the bear. Don’t leave food for the bear; this encourages further problems.
Most injuries from black bear attacks are minor and result from a bear attempting to get at people’s food. If the bear’s behavior indicates that it is after your food and you’re physically attacked, separate yourself from the food and slowly back away.
If the bear shows no interest in your food and you’re physically attacked, fight back aggressively with any available object – the bear might consider you prey!
Help protect others. Report the following incidents to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) Region III Office in Crossville, TN at 1-800-262-6704 or TWRA Region IV Office in Morristown, TN at 1-800-332-0900:
Bear lingers in area where people are present
Bear active during the day, near people
Bear feeding on human food or trash
Bear enters dwelling or occupied tent; or causes property damage
Bear that touches or chases humans
Bear that is injured
Bear that is clearly an orphaned cub

John Smartt Trail Concerns

Most CHC hikers are familiar with the very popular John Smartt Trail on Lookout Mountain. This trail was maintained for many years by John Smartt, a deceased resident of Lookout Mountain who also planted a great many native wildflowers along the trail.
The thing is, this trail is also a connector between the Upper Truck Trail and the Lower TRuck Trail. Because of its construction as a foottrail it is off limits to mountain bikes which are permitted on the other two trails. Mountain bikers would, of course, like to be able to make a loop between these two trails.
It is exceedingly difficult to get approval to construct new trail in a National Park as the Benton MacKaye people found out in the Smokies where they were not allowed to construct even a single foot of new trail but had to string together existing trails instead. Therefore discussion around providing this link on Lookout has centered around using the John Smartt Trail and rebuilding or rerouting portions of it to make it suitable for mountain bike use. It would be better if the Park Service could somehow find a way to allow the building of a new connector which could serve for both mountain bikes and emergency vehicles and leave the John Smartt Trail intact.

Cherokee National Forest Lands for Sale

In the Cherokee National Forest, the Bush budget has identified 38 parcels totaling about 3000 acres to be sold as part of about a million acres of public land to be sold nationwide to fund rural roads and schools in communitites that host national forests. These monies would run out in about 5 years. Rep.Mark Udall (D-CO) says, 'its like selling your homestead to pay your credit card bills'. Gov. Phil Bredesen says, 'it is like trying to pay off your car by selling the cigarette lighter'.This will require a special piece of legislation for the Forest Service to be allowed to sell land.
While the CNF management has managed to identify parcels comprising 3000 acres that will not sigificantly inpact forest use at this point, the money generated by this sale will not all stay in Tennessee. If these lands need to be sold to make forest management easier, then the funds generated should go into a trust fund for the acquisition of some of those parcels that the Forest Service has identified as 'need to acquire' parcels as they become available. Frequently when these needed pieces of land which should be a natural part of the forest become available, the Forest Service is lacking the funds necessary to acquire them. (The Forest Service does not have the right of eminent domain and must wait for these lands to come on the market for sale.)
Our legislators should oppose both the budget item provision and the "National Forest Land Conveyance for Rural Communities Act."

HOLIDAY PARTY!

Around 40 club members gathered on December 10th to celebrate the holiday season with their hiking friend. Che Carico did an excellent job again this year in organizing the event. Many Thanks to Boodie and Carol Fox for securing the use of Hixson Church of Christ and to Spears McAllester for entertaining us with slides from his Mt Kilimanjaro hike and safari.
We recognized several hike leaders at the meeting: Jerry Wright has lead over 10 hikes for the club; Boodie Fox has lead 20 hikes, Doug Cooper has lead 30 and Betty Petty has lead 50. We also expressed our appreciation to Betty Petty for all the work she does for the club in editing the newsletter and maintaining the web site. The club had 67 scheduled hikes in 2005: 15 easy, 22 moderate, and 30 strenuous or higher. Twenty-three hike leaders lead hikes. It has been a very good year for the Chattanooga Hiking Club..

SEFTC Strategic Planning Session Dec 9-11

Twenty-three representatives from the various hiking/trail-building clubs which form the SouthEastern Foot Trails Coalition(SEFTC) met at the Cohutta Lodge Dec 9-11 for a strategic planning session. Chattanooga Hiking Club was represented by Betty Petty.
A great deal has been acomplished in the two and one-half years that the coalition has been in existence. Awareness and networking between the various clubs has greatly increased with those trail-building clubs involved having gotten a great deal more trail on the ground and the concept of the SE trial network having become more visible to the public.There are now other Coalitions being formed in other regions based on the SEFTC model.
SEFTC was envisioned as a 5-year project by American Hiking Society (AHS) and the National Park Service, and we are currently at the mid-point. While AHS does not have plans to walk away at year 5, the AHS Board of Directors will look at the project in year 4, and determine if the Coalition needs additional assistance. One benchmark that AHS is looking at is whether or not individual memberships in AHS are increasing in the southeast.The more members AHS has, the greater the capability to provide assistance to the Coalition.
After dinner a number of Stakeholders for the Great Eastern Trail (formerly known as Western Appalachian Alternative) held a meeting in the Cochise Lodge, which served as our Dining Hall & Meeting Space throughout the weekend. The Great Eastern Trail is comprised of the Florida Trail, Alabama Pinhoti, Georgia Pinhoti, Cumberland Trail, Pine Mountain Trail, and the Mid-Atlantic Foot Trails Coalition (MAFTC) recently formed to push this trail system up into NY State.
Several working groups were formed on Saturday which presented plans at the Sunday session. These groups all have action items and will continue with meetings to develop plans to bring back to the council at the next session. These are:
Great Eastern Trail (GET) Working Group
Gaps Working Group
Broader Connections Working Group
Outreach & Education Working Group
Coalition Sustainability Working Group
Advocacy Working Group

SEFTC Members Honored at Special USFS Meeting

The Ocoee/Hiwassee District of the Cherokee National Forest was recognized by the regional office in Atlanta for the highest level of volunteer efforts in fiscal 2005. More than 4,000 hours of volunteer work on trails, valued at over $70,000, was cited, much of it having been done on the BMT. Region 8 includes the 13 southeastern states, from Florida to Texas to Virginia and in-between, and Puerto Rico. Steve Biatowas, the trails specialist in the winning Ocoee/Hiwassee Ranger District was also honored.

In appreciation of the recently-won regional award for volunteer work, the Cherokee National Forest held a special Volunteer Appreciation reception on December 6 at the Ocoee Whitewater Center to honor volunteer trail workers and organizations. Many groups and individuals, including the BMTA, Cherokee Hiking Club, Hiwassee Hiking Club, and Chattanooga Hiking Club (all SEFTC members) received a Certificate of Appreciation which was presented by Cherokee National Forest Supervisor, Tom Speaks, for their contributions to the Volunteer Program.

NEW MAP
Trails Illustrated Map - Tellico & Ocoee Rivers (#781)

Ken Jones reports that he has reviewed the draft revised map. This revision will be on the street next March (2006). First, the Benton MacKaye Trail will be shown on the map from the APD 515 (4 lane crossing) in the south, to Twenty Mile Ranger Station in the north as a highlighted trail. On the Georgia side of the map, there is an information inset that describes the BMT, and even refers people to the BMTA web site. Also a multitude of corrections have been made that will greatly enhance the accuracy and usefulness of this map.

NEW BOOK

Those of you who attended the August 2004 club meeting will remember J. R. Tate's wonderful presentation and amusing stories of his thru-hiking the AT 3 times. JR is also the author of "Walking on the Happy Side of Misery: A Slice of Life on the Appalachian Trail." - - (A recent reader of it reports, "An awesome book. A wonderful writer. Can't wait to read his next one!")
He will have another book out after Thanksgiving, "Walkin' with the Ghost Whisperers: Lore and Legends of the Appalachian Trail." - - The release date will be posted on JR's web site, www.modelt.net , where you can find information about obtaining either or both books.

BENTON MACKAYE

Benton MacKaye, born in 1879 in Stamford, Conn., was an american forester and regional planner. Educated at Harvard (B.A., 1900; M.A. School of Forestry, 1905), he was a research forester of the U.S. Forest Service. He planned and helped in the construction of the Appalachian Trail (1921), served on the regional planning staff of the Tennessee Valley Authority (1934-36) and on the staff of the Rural Electrification Administration (1942-45). MacKaye's philosophy of regional planning is given in his book, The New Exploration (1928). He died in 1975.

Edward Abbey
As quoted in The Earth Speaks - Van Matre & Weiler 1983

It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there an hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breather deep of that yet sweet warm lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this, you will outlive the b----rds.