(Extracted from the published Newsletter *)
* The printed Newsletter sent to members and subscribers also contains reports of hikes done, info on new members, full names of leaders plus e-addresses, plus the Appalachian Trail Maintainers Newsletter. To subscribe: $10 to SMHC, Box 1454, Knoxville, TN 37901. (If start after August issue, subscription is good through next year.) After one signs in on 3 Club hikes an application for membership is provided.
Newsletter Editor: Charlie Klabunde (865) 483-8055
Area Code, unless otherwise noted, is 865.
4 - Sat AT Worktrip
8 - Wed Lumber Ridge - Spruce Flats Falls manway
10 - Fri Spring Slide Show (Oak Ridge)
11 - Sat Cades Cove Loop by Moonlight
19 - Sun Spruce Flats Falls
22 - Wed Turkey Pen Ridge-Schoolhouse Gap-Scott Mtn-White Oak Sinks
25 - Sat Shuckstack via Lewellyn Branch <off trail>
March 4 – Saturday
Two March Wednesdays
Mar 8 - Lumber Ridge - Spruce Flats Falls manway 8 miles
Mar 22 - Turkey Pen Ridge-Schoolhouse Gap-Scott Mtn-White Oak Sinks
Both: 9:00 AM at Alcoa Food City 3/22: 10.5 miles
Pat & Maureen, 671-8083, pbarbier200@yahoo.com
March 10 - Friday
Come out for the very special treat your SMHC Photography Committee has arranged for you. As our special guest speaker this year, we will be having Bobby Fulcher, Head Ranger for Tennessee’s Cumberland Trail State Park. We don’t have a title for his talk yet, but we have asked Bobby to address some early history of the Cumberland Trail project and the perhaps little-known-today Smoky Mountains Hiking Club role therein. Also, of course, on the program will be slides and digital images shared by members of the club who bring them; so bring some of your images, old or new, and share them with others. (Digital? Burn a CD, or call Charlie.) We will also share snacks of cookies, chips and dip, etc. which club members bring. All in all, whatever the weather, this promises to be a most enjoyable evening.
This event is to begin promptly at 7:00 PM and end about 9:30 PM so we can accommodate our speaker and club member slides, and also give those doing any SMHC hike the next day a chance to get home at a reasonable time. A Donation of $3.00/person is requested (but not required) to defray expenses.
First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge: at S.W. corner of Lafayette Drive and Oak Ridge Turnpike, but accessible only from Marquette Rd, off Lafayette. Coming from Knoxville: turn right onto Lafayette (at light at bottom of hill as you come in on Illinois Ave, TN-62) and continue past 3 lights. Marquette is the only left turn between that 3rd light and the Turnpike. Church parking lot entry is then the first drive on right side of Marquette, about 100’ in.
—the Photography Committee
March 11 - Saturday
Cades Cove “By the light of the silvery moon” is splendid. We’ll try to maximize the moonlight on this walk and plan to begin walking at sunset. By the time we get to Hyatt Lane, the cross-cove lane at the far end, the moon should be high and the sky full dark. We will then cross the Cove on Hyatt Lane allowing the moonlight to be our guide, thus skipping approximately three miles of walking the road under the trees, then following the Loop Road back to Sparks Lane and re-crossing the Cove by even more moonlight. Although we plan to stay in the moonlight as much as possible, we will still need flashlights. Please come prepared for the weather, too,
remembering that the Cove at night should be several degrees cooler than night in the city. We will stop for a short while along Hyatt Lane and enjoy some homemade goodies and hot cocoa provided by the hike leader.
Meet at Food City in Alcoa <see list> ready to leave promptly at 5:30 PM. We plan to start hiking from the Cades Cove camp store parking lot at 6:30; (we will park there so that we can use the restroom). Round trip mileages: drive- 60, hike- 8.7, rated moderately easy.
Leaders: Debbie, 368-7024, debbiegoddard@bellsouth.net
Keith, 982-7368, keithmertz@hotmail.com
(Robert, 983-1985, paulr@monroe.k12.tn.us)
March 19 - Sunday
Come join us for a short walk to one of the loveliest waterfalls in the Park. Starting at The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont we take the one mile walk to Spruce Flats Falls at a leisurely pace. We begin with a steep climb and there are a few rocky spots along the way (some caution or a helping hand may be needed). The trail takes us to the base of a 60’ falls where we will stop and sit a spell. The more adventurous can opt to cross and ascend to an old rail road bed where we’ll view three smaller falls. We can also walk down towards Middle Prong.
Meet at Food City in Alcoa <see list> at noon. Round trip mileages: drive- 48, hike- 2 to 4, rated easy.
Leaders: David, 984-4621, dcshiker@netzero.com
Mark, 659-0147, mpaulley451@wmconnect.com
March 25 – Saturday
Most of this off-trail ascent of Shuckstack is on old roadways, starting from the A.T. footpath trailhead north of Fontana Dam. After 0.7 mile on old NC-288 we reach Lewellyn Branch. From there it’s a 1.8 mile and 1900’ climb up the creek valley. About 2/3 of this is on an old roadway that is mostly discernable, but sometimes difficult to travel. Beyond this, it’s navigation by compass and altimeter (GPS isn’t reliable in this deep valley). With luck, we may find our way up the least-steep route to the trail at the saddle point between Shuckstack and Little Shuckstack. Wherever we hit the trail, there will be about ¾ mile and 400’ more elevation to gain on it to reach the tower at 4020’. It is one of only two climbable fire towers remaining in the park, and it provides for fabulous views, weather permitting; and only 2 flights of stairs need be climbed to enjoy most of the sights. After lunch here, we return down the A.T. to our cars.
Meet at Bi-Lo in Maryville <see list> to leave at 7:00 AM. Round trip mileages: drive- 100 (on car-sick US-129), hike- about 7, rated difficult — with no rock-hopping, little rhodo, but plenty of ducking, dodging, climbing over, and some steep spots; mostly nice under foot - even down the trail.
Leaders: Charlie, 483-8055, klabundece@aol.com
Bob, 693-6522, rehawthorne@comcast.net
"Food City in Alcoa"= on right between 3 rd & 4th stoplight (on Hall Rd., TN 35), just before Big Lots- where we are not wanted. Google Map
“Bi-Lo in Maryville” = just south of where US-129 & US-411 join, (SW corner at traffic light). Meet at front of lot, by Hwy.
Google Map
1 - Sat AT Work Trip
8-9 – S&S Backpack for Beginners: Campsite #20
9 - Sun Frozen Head SP: Flower Walk
15 - Sat Porters Creek –Flowers
23 - Sun Chestnut Top- Whiteoak Sink- Schoolhouse Gap Trail
29 - Sat Edens Garden & Hornet Tree Top <off trail>