Newly Completed Wildcat Rock Trail in  

Hickory Nut Gorge Celebrated by Conserving Carolina & CMC

by Peter Barr  

 

Conserving Carolina and project partners including CMC recently celebrated the completion and opening of the Wildcat Rock Trail. The new trail is located in Gerton-about 30 minutes southeast of Asheville. It is a segment in the budding Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Trail loop, a soon-to-be 20-mile permanently-public hiking route. Prior to its completion in 2017, the trail had been known as the Little Bearwallow Trail.

 

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For trail map, click here:

Does anybody remember the 1952 classic movie The Quiet Man?  CMC has its own Quiet Man in the form of Dennis Bass, a real Western NC native.  This distinguished-looking, reticent member speaks softly but gets a lot done for the club and has led an interesting life.

The Award of Appreciation is generally given to a member who has done something outstanding for the club in a given year.  But since Dennis quietly accomplishes many behind-the-scenes tasks for the club each year, he was given the award in 2017.  Initially, Dennis handled the membership data base.  This primarily involves collecting the club's mail from the post office, logging member payments and creating new membership records in the club's on-line database.  Unfortunately, sometimes things don't work as desired and the CMC Treasurer, the Councilor for Membership, the Councilor for Technology, and the website support/programmer have to be consulted to resolve issues.  As if there weren't already enough on his plate, the Communications Committee asks him to coordinate the submissions for each photo sharing program.  Adding each individual's name to each photo and then getting the show on the road for the event is a time-intensive project.   Thank you, Dennis!

Meet Paul Curtin

CMC's New AT Maintenance Supervisor

One of the key positions for CMC's maintenance program is the supervisor of all 32 sections of the AT that CMC is responsible for maintaining. Recently, after a decade of volunteering in this capacity, Tim Carrigan has retired. Fortunately for CMC, Paul Curtin has agreed to serve. 

Here is an interview with Paul and Ann Hendrickson:

Paul, welcome to WNC, CMC, and the CMC Trail Crew! As a newcomer to the area and CMC, I am sure that people are curious as to what brought you to our mountains and to CMC. Can you give us some insight? "I discovered this area when I came through as part of my thru hike of the AT in 2015.  My old friend Tom Weaver showed us around and we were really impressed.  Nothing in Ohio looks like this!"

Donations

by Gregory Bechtel

Have an extra backpack or some outdoor clothing that's not being fully utilized? On behalf of Homeward Bound/Room at the Inn ( www.homewardboundwnc.org) CMC is collecting such items for the homeless in Western North Carolina.

Technology -  Hike Scheduling for Hike Leaders

by Jim and Judy Magura

In the second quarter, CMC will be in the process of testing and implementing a new hike scheduling procedure.  As a Hike Leader, after you have selected or negotiated a time and a hike with your scheduler for the second quarter use the following procedure to complete registration.

To read more, click here.

Everyone talks about the weather but.....

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Holiday in Ice

by Mike Knies

Extremes of weather provides rare opportunities for outdoor types at times.  I am fascinated by big weather and the force of nature.  There isn't anything you can do to stop it so you might as well make the most of it.  The massive flooding in Deep Creek and Oconaluftee in the Smokies a few years ago provided such an opportunity.  The area rivers and waterfalls were at an almost unprecedented level for recent times and I had to get over there to see them.  The horrible tragedy of the Chimneys fires was another such event.  My friends and I made numerous expeditions into the burned areas to inspect the startling impact of the damage and the unique sculptures that the conflagration created.  Every 4-5 years we have a prolonged period of extreme cold with temperatures in the single digits.  Rather than stay at home in front of a cozy fire dreaming of an outing in milder weather, we had to get out and experience the impact on the waterfalls.  So what follows is a video that fellow member Cindy McJunkin composed of our trip on January 7 of this year.

Senior Hiker Magazine - A review

by Danny Bernstein

About ten years ago, I volunteered to lead hikes for College for Seniors, now OLLI, at UNC-Asheville (www.olliasheville.com). I wanted to introduce the over-50 crowd to hiking in Western North Carolina, and not so subtly, encourage them to join CMC after the course.

I carefully chose six- to eight-mile walks with moderate ascent, all the while reminding the students that we were in the mountains. Even downtown Asheville isn't flat.

A few terms later, after a rocky six-mile walk, a student - a man over fifty, by definition - complained to the director that I had chosen hikes that weren't appropriate for seniors. I wasn't asked to lead for College for Seniors again. If you can fire a volunteer, I was fired!

So, it was with curiosity and a little trepidation that I opened the first issue of Senior Hiker (www.seniorhikermagazine.com), a glossy magazine published by Deer Isle Press, a small publishing house on the coast of Maine. The magazine focuses on hikers over fifty years old, maybe taking the cue from AARP, which also starts at this age.

 

To read more, click here.