(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

3 - Wed Slickrock Wilderness trails

7&13 – S&S AT Worktrips

13 - Sat Cheoah Dam to Deals Gap on BMT

20 - Sat Pickett SP: Hidden Passage Loop & Double Falls

20 - Sat EZ: Andrews Bald

24 - Wed AT: Fontana Dam to Doe Knob

29 - Mon AT: Brown Gap to Snowbird Mtn & I-40

MEETING PLACES

See ATMNews for details

We begin our 5-mile sample of the Benton MacKaye Trail at the top of Cheoah Dam on US-129. The trailhead starts us out on an old roadbed directly across from the dam. The trail soon leaves the roadbed to slither steeply up the mountain using switchbacks and steep trails. We encountered abundant poison ivy and blackberry briars, so come prepared. After climbing about 1,300 feet, the trail joins another old roadbed to wind around the mountains without much elevation change back to US-129 at the TN-NC state line. The hike plan calls for the return trip on the same trail back to the cars. We may leave a car or two at the state line on US-129 for a shuttle.

Meet at Alcoa Food City <see list> to leave at 8 AM. Round trip drive (via Foothills Parkway)- 88 miles. Hike- 5 miles one way, rated easy to moderate.

We begin our hike a couple of miles past the entrance to Pickett State Park. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and National Park Service aided the state in developing the facilities to make it Tennessee’s first state park. The Hidden Passage Trail is named for a sandstone tunnel through a bluff with the hike being a comfortable, twelve-mile stroll in a forest of hardwoods, hemlocks, and rhodo on a piece of sandstone that is separated from the rest of the plateau by deep stream gorges. The hike consists of an abundance of small arches, waterfalls (Crystal & Double Falls), rock houses, and of course, the hidden passage. The trail traverses the edge of the plateau with a spectacular view from Thompson Overlook. Our lunch spot will be at a rock outcrop with a 270 degree view. A multitude of flower displays should await us. Bring water shoes for possible wet crossing to Double Falls.

Meet at Oak Ridge Food City on Illinois Ave <see list> to leave at 7:00 AM. Round trip mileages: drive- 200, hike-12, rated moderate.

Come join us for our annual hike with the Carolina Mountain Club. The hike begins at Brown Gap on the A.T., elevation 3500 feet, and ends at the I-40 Waterville exit, elevation 1975 feet. We will meet the CMC hikers and leave cars at the Waterville exit and do a shuttle to Brown Gap. The hike will then take us along 11 up and down miles of the A.T. At 5.4 miles we reach our maximum altitude of 4263 feet on Snowbird summit. We should have good views much of the way, wildflower displays at the higher elevations and a great panoramic view of the Smokies and all the way to Max Patch from the top of Snowbird.

Meet at Asheville Hwy Food Lion <see list> ready to leave promptly at 8:00 AM. Round trip mileages: drive- 140 including shuttle, hike- 11, rated moderate.

May 3 -  Slickrock Wilderness: Hangover Lead North-

Yellowhammer Gap- Nichols Cove- Big Fat Gap Trails  7.1 mi.
May 24 -  AT: Fontana Dam to Doe Knob  13.6 mi. RT
Both leave Maryville Bi-Lo (now closed) <see list> at 8 AM.

"Food City in Alcoa"= on right between 3rd & 4th stoplight (on Hall Rd., TN 35), (just before Big Lots).

"Bi-Lo in Maryville (now closed)" = just south of where US-129 & US-411 join, (SW corner at traffic light). Meet at front of lot, by Hwy.

"Food City in Oak Ridge" on NE side of Illinois Ave. (TN-62), just SE of Oak Ridge Turnpike, (TN-95). Meet in front edge near street, to right as you enter.