The Cherokee Hiker. October 2011 Volume 27, Issue 10. Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN

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1 The Cherokee Hiker October 2011 Volume 27, Issue 10 Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN ~CHC Hike and Events Calendar~ October 1, Saturday. Coker Creek (3 miles, easy) October 8, 2011 Saturday. John Muir Cleanup (3 6 miles, easy) October 22, 2011 Saturday. Fiery Gizzard (9.5 miles, strenuous), NOTE: Date change OCTOBER HIKES October 1, Saturday - Coker Creek Falls Trail Hike Hike leader: Marc Bernatti. Hike rating: easy. Length: approximately 3 miles, with a car shuttle. Kids and pets are welcome. The trail starts at the Coker Creek Falls parking lot, follows the creek and ends at the Benton MacKaye/John Muir trail junction near the Hiawassee River. At times, when hill hugging, the footing is difficult. A walking stick could be useful. Bring enough water and a snack. The Welcome Center/Gift Shop in Coker Creek will be open to get some stuff you forgot and for a potty break. We ll work out a shuttle arrangement and drop off a vehicle or vehicles at the bottom and bring those drivers back up to the trailhead parking lot. The dirt/gravel road down near the bottom can be rough, so we will need higher clearance vehicles with good traction to get down and come back out. Unless there will be rain this week, that road should be good. Directions to carpool: we ll meet at the Coker Creek Welcome Center/Gift Shop/Post Office on Highway 68 (Monroe County mile marker 34) at 10 a.m. From Ducktown, go north on Highway 68 - approximately 25 miles. From Tellico Plains, travel south on Highway 68 - approximately 10 miles. There is no cell service up in Tellico, so if you need to call the Gift Shop ( ), do so before leaving Ducktown or Tellico Plains. If interested, please call Marc Bernatti at October 8 th, Saturday - John Muir Clean-up Hike Hike leaders: Debbie Flower and Clayton Pannell. Hike rating: easy. Length: 3 or 6 miles. The hike is a beautiful, easy 3 mile trail along the Hiwassee River. It can be either a 3 mile or a 6 mile hike depending on time and car shuttle. Please bring gloves, clippers, water and a snack. Trash bags will be provided. 1

2 Directions to trailhead: we will meet at Childers Creek Trail Head at 9:00 a.m. If coming from Cleveland, go to and through Benton, then turn right onto Route. 30 towards Reliance, cross the bridge at Webb s Store, cross the railroad tracks, turn immediately right at Rosie s Restaurant and follow the road until you get to Childer s Creek; the sign will be on the right. If you plan on attending, please call the hike leaders by Friday evening, October 7th. Contact either Debbie Flower at , or Clayton Pannell at October 22, Saturday - Fiery Gizzard Hike Note: date changed from original date of October 29 Hike leader: Randy Morris. Hike rating: strenuous. Length: 9.5 miles. Please note the date change above!! This hike will utilize portions of three trails--the Grundy Day Loop, Dog Hole Trail and a portion of the Fiery Gizzard Trail. We will eat lunch at Raven Point with a beautiful view of Gizzard Cove (and hopefully great fall colors) after enjoying fantastic rapids, a small waterfall and interesting rock formations. We will avoid the rockiest portions of the Fiery Gizzard Trail by climbing up the Dog Hole Trail, but the terrain is still quite rocky in spots. We will also have several small wet weather creek crossings which are easily rock hopped in all but torrential downpours. We will then descend down into the gorge, climb back out for the views and descend again before our eventual climb out to view a 500 year old hemlock (that is still very much alive!) and a Rock House. Because of elevation gain/loss, distance and the terrain I would definitely rate this hike a strenuous one. Directions to carpool: we will leave from Home Depot in Cleveland for the drive over to Tracy City. To get to the Home Depot, take I-75 to Exit 27, then go east (toward Cleveland) on Paul Huff Parkway for a half mile or so. Home Depot is on the left. Call Randy Morris at no later than 8:30 p.m. Friday evening to get meeting time and/or further information. Other hikes and events in October: be sure to check the club website at or the Cherokee Hiking Club Facebook page (click on the Facebook graphic shown below) for more October hikes and other events that may be planned on short notice. *NOTE: As a courtesy, ALWAYS contact the hike leader in advance of the hike to facilitate planning. OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST October 13 - Thursday, October Club Meeting The meeting will be held at 6:30 at Al Rymer s home. Directions to the Al Rymer s home: Take Highway 411 going north from Highway 64. Come through the traffic light in Benton. Continue another 6+ miles, crossing the Hiwassee River. Turn right onto Savannah Shores Drive at the now defunct Cowboy's Restaurant. Al is at 380 Savannah Shores Drive on the right, 6/10 of a mile after you've turned onto Savannah Shores. Please park at the end of the driveway or in the field behind the caboose. Al has a wonderful outdoor fireplace and, if the weather cooperates, it will be a great time to enjoy the river on one side, and the view of the mountains on another side. If you have any questions, Al's number is John Muir Trail Maintenance Help Needed 2

3 Clayton Pannell is requesting assistance from any club members who would like help with the re-grading of a part of the John Muir Trail. He and Robert Owenby have been doing regular maintenance on Thursdays, but for those who cannot work on a Thursday, Clayton can schedule a Saturday work day. The part of the Trail that he and Robert are charged with maintaining is from Childers Creek to Bee Bend. If interested please call or Clayton at Cherokee National Forest Trail Maintenance Sign-Up Members of the Cherokee Hiking Club are invited to assist with trail maintenance for the CNF. A great way to find out what work trips are available for sign-up is through the Tellico Ranger District, CNF Trail Maintenance Trips group page on Facebook. CHC members are invited to join this Facebook group at Work trips will be scheduled in the TN/NC BMTA sections, and the CNF Southern section. Currently this group has 56 members, including your newsletter editor, the club webmaster and allaround forest guru Rick Harris and his wife Brenda Harris, Esther Nunley (also of the Hiawassee Hiking Club), club secretary Jane Bohannon, long time club member Al Rymer and others. In addition, participation in this group would be a great way to meet people in other hiking and outdoor-oriented clubs in the area. November 12 Saturday, Unicoi Turnpike Day This announcement was sent from Carey Waldrip Sr. of the Towns County (Georgia) Historical Society: The Towns County Historical Society has set Saturday, November 12, 2011, as Unicoi Turnpike Day, in Towns County, GA. Please keep this date open, for this is a great opportunity for you to see the longest remnant of the old turnpike in Towns County. Meet at Unicoi Gap, GA on US 17/75 (Hiawassee to Helen Highway) from 9 AM until Noon for information and directions. This remnant of the old Unicoy Road is a steep, sunken road starting at the gap and stretching over two miles north into Towns County. The trek is rather strenuous, so wear hiking clothes and boots. Brightly colored (hot pink or orange) hat and/or vest are recommended for safety since hunting season will be open. In addition, Mr. Waldrip sent this thank you to the Cherokee Hiking Club for its maintenance activities on the Unicoi Turnpike Trail: I have read with great interest of the important maintenance work that the Cherokee Hiking Club has done on the north end (TN/NC) of Unicoi Turnpike (UTp). Thank you for taking action to help preserve this national treasure. I want you to know that we, on the southern end in Georgia, are now trying to promote interest in UTp maintenance and preservation, also. We hope that the entire length of the UTp will, in the not-to-distant future, be protected and hike-able. The Unicoi Turnpike Committee of the Towns County Historical Society (TCHS) is presently planning "Unicoi Turnpike Day" in an effort to direct attention to the need for identification and preservation of UTp in our area. Introductory hikes will be encouraged this November from Unicoi Gap, Georgia on US Highway 17/75 to the finest remnant of UTp in Towns County. If you are interested in details please let me know by return . Please contact Carey Waldrip, Sr. at for more information November 12-13, Saturday-Sunday - SEFTC Leave No Trace Trainer Course Location: Vogel State Park in Blairsville, Georgia. The course will start at 9:00 a.m. Saturday and will continue to 4:00 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $75.00, including food and materials. 3

4 The following was sent in an from Jay Dement, Master Educator of Leave No Trace: Greetings Hikers and fellow Trail Maintainers; As you are aware one of the biggest problems the wilderness and wildlife face today is the disregard most people have for the wonderful resources we enjoy. More often than not this comes from their ignorance of how to behave in the wilderness and not from malicious intent. The Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition has a solution for this problem with a series of Leave No Trace Trainer Courses and your help is requested to spread the word throughout your community. You and your fellow club members are invited to attend the next scheduled Trainer Course at the Vogel State Park in Blairsville, GA on November 11-12, This is an excellent opportunity to get members of your club trained in a recognized manner to spread the wilderness ethics of Leave No Trace. The animals will appreciate visitors who are more considerate, better organized and pack out trash. Please circulate the attached through your club along with your recommendation to attend. I appreciate your help and so does the wildlife. Regards, Jay Jay M. Dement Master Educator of Leave No Trace Fax PO Box 2432 Kennesaw GA More information on this course, including the registration form, flyers and maps to Vogel State Park, can be found at the SEFTC website at New Club Members We welcome Buddy Arnold to the club! New Pam Mathews book Rick Harris has sent out the following information on a new book written by club member Pam Mathews: I want to make you all aware of a new great picture book published by one of our very own members, Pam Mathews (daughter of Charles Hall). Her book is entitled "A Pictorial History of the Tellico Plains, Tennessee Area ( ) including the Tellico Ranger District of the Cherokee National Forest". Whew, what a mouthful. However, the book is great. 8.5x11 inch format soft cover, 224 pages. Full of great pictures and lots of discussion of the history of the area. My wife (Brenda) has spent the last two nights reading it and has gotten about half way through. She has been staying up way past normal sleeping hours. She is enthralled. You can get it at the Charles Hall Museum or the Cherohala Visitor Center. I think the price is $26 including the tax. Well worth the price. Editor s note: this book is described, and can be ordered online from the Charles Hall Museum s website at Click on the Books link at the top. 4

5 Mailed Newsletters to be Discontinued in 2012/New Membership Form This is a friendly reminder that mailed newsletters will be discontinued starting January Newsletters will be ed only at that point. Our membership form, available at the Club website at no longer gives the option of receiving the newsletter by mail. Anyone handing out membership forms at hikes or club meetings needs to discard any copies of the old form, and download and copy the new forms for distribution. Those members currently receiving the newsletter by mail will continue to receive it that way until the end of The following are some helpful hints for those who currently cannot receive the ed newsletter, for whatever reason: 1. If you don t have an address: Free addresses are available from several sources. One of the best ones is Gmail, available at Another is Yahoo at These have web-based clients, so that you do not have to have your own computer with its own client installed in order to get your If you don t have a computer or your computer is not working: You can go to a library and logon for free, accessing your online client that you have created, as discussed above. You may be able to print it out from the library as well, if you pay a small fee. 3. If you don t have broadband available in your area, via a wired source such as ATT (DSL) or Comcast cable or Charter cable: a broadband connection allows you to receive your and other internet connections more rapidly than dialup. Dialup (using just a phone line) is the old way, but it takes forever to load a web page or receive or send an , especially one with pictures. If you only have dialup, you can do one of several things. I cannot get broadband via a wired source in my area either, so I use a MiFi router that can provide wireless connectivity to up to 4 computers at one time. I get my MiFi from Sprint, although there are also other companies that provide them, including Verizon and ATT. Mine costs me about $55 per month, and it uses a cellular network to get the signal, like a cell phone. Another option is to use a satellite network, such as Hughes Net or Wild Blue, which have various plans; the higher the bandwidth, the higher the monthly fee. These are usually a little more expensive than a MiFi or air card. 4. If you don t want to bother with a MiFi or air card for home use, you can go to a hot spot. This option would only be available if you have a portable computer such as a laptop or tablet (like an IPad). When I first moved here, I did not have a broadband connection, and only used a dialup connection at home. Until I found a good MiFi/air card, if I needed to use broadband, I took my laptop to the local Panera s, which has a WiFi network available for all its customers. Several other places, such as some McDonalds & large gas stations with food courts, also have WiFi networks. They will have a sign up stating that they have such a network available for customers. Just be sure to buy a sandwich or cup of coffee while using it. 5. If you can t get out of the house, or just don t want to: just get your using dialup, using your home phone land line. I will be glad to send you a text-only version that is fairly quick to transmit. You will just not be receiving the pictures. Join the rest of the Cherokee Hikers on Facebook! Click the image below to navigate to the CHC Facebook page. We now have over 100 members! 5

6 Recent Hike & Event Reports Hangover/Bob Bald Hike - September 10, Saturday Eleven members and friends of the Cherokee Hiking Club took this fabulous hike today in great cool sunny weather. We hiked up the Stratton Ridge Trail from the Wolf-Laurel Trailhead to the ridgeline, then turned north on the Haoe Lead Trail past Naked Ground, and out to the Hangover, where we ate lunch. We then returned the way we came with a detour to Bob Bald for a late afternoon sun break, then we went back to our cars. We returned to the Harris home for Cincinnati Chili and our monthly club meeting. When we got back to the Harris home right at 6 p.m., there were many others waiting for us to let them in the door for the chili fiesta. A great day of hiking was followed by great food and socialization. Participants included Rick Harris (hike leader), Brenda Harris, Jake Harris (the Harris golden retriever), Richard Sullivan, Pam Sullivan, Clayton Pannell, Buddy Arnold, Rick Foster, Jennifer Schroll, Randy Morris, Tom Smith, and Connie Fulmer. Unicoi Turnpike Trail - September 11, Sunday Three hikers and one dog, all guys, met at the Coker Creek Welcome Center this beautiful Sunday afternoon for the pleasant, downhill, 2+ mile hike. The hiking trail is mostly on the actual Turnpike, in original wagon ruts, or deviating from it for short segments where the Joe Brown Highway development cuts it up. The Unicoi Gap is on an ages old crossing point of these Appalachian Mountains. The Trail starts up at the Unicoi Gap on the TN and NC state line, which the Benton MacKaye trail follows. We used a car shuttle, leaving one at the lower take out point and then we drove up to park for the hike down. The Trail crosses Joe Brown Highway a couple of times. Modern highway builders had the equipment and different ideas on how to reach the Gap, so the historic Turnpike route was given back to Nature. A few years ago, this Turnpike segment was resurveyed and established as a trail by members of local hiking clubs and the local folks from Coker Creek. At times the trail goes right down the middle of that old Turnpike, with the wagon ruts still clearly visible and lined by rock walls that were piled up from road maintenance. The trail passes through the old CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp, Camp Rolling Stone. There, remnants of rock walls and building foundations remain visible. 6

7 A short side trail from the CCC Campsite goes up to a Civil War era gravesite of a bushwhacked man and the general location believed where the Turnpike s toll booth stood. Continuing on from the CCC Camp, the Trail crosses an old gold mine dug into the hillside. No one felt a need to crawl into that dark tunnel to check it out closer. With the recent harsh weather here in Eastern TN, the Trail was blocked by a number of small trees, but except for about three larger ones, we had no problem getting over or around them. A few hours of trail maintenance would clear these off for autumn hiking. Having left a car at the lower take out point, we rode back up to the Gap and retrieved the other vehicle. Enjoying this pleasant Sunday afternoon hike in the woods and the history along the way were Butch Gregg, Edmond Gray, Marc Bernatti (hike leader), and our canine hiker, Percy, as pictured below. Cherokee Hiking Club Meeting Minutes September 10, 2011 Brenda and Rick Harris s Home The Cherokee Hiking Club met September 10, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. at the home of Brenda and Rick Harris, for the August/September meeting following the Hangover/Bob Bald Hike. Thanks to Brenda and Rick for inviting the club to their house. There were sixteen members and six guests present. Guest Buddy Arnold joined after the meeting. President Sonya Campbell called the business session to order at 6:30 p.m. prior to the meal. Minutes of the previous meeting were read by Secretary Jane Bohannon and were approved as read. Treasurer Ann Gray reported the balance. Old business: There was no old business. New business: Two books were discussed. Rick recommended A Pictorial History of Tellico Plains by Pam Matthews. It can be purchased for $26.00 at the Charles Hall Museum in Tellico. Ann Gray brought a book entitled Waterfall Hikes of North Georgia. This book was donated to the club by the author, Jim Parham. Members are welcome to share the book, although hike leaders will have first 7

8 priority. It was brought to our attention that we will need to seek a new site for the Christmas party since the Black Bear Cove Restaurant has closed. A nominating committee will be appointed at the October meeting and the names of upcoming new officers will be presented at the November meeting. Slots to be filled are President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Webmaster and Publicist. There was discussion on decreasing the number of meetings to either every other month or quarterly in order to make it more convenient for members to serve as officers. Previously Debbie Flower has either functioned alone or with someone to recruit new officers. There was also discussion on how to increase club membership. President Sonya Campbell and Secretary Jane Bohannon will be unable to attend the November meeting. Rick introduced Pam and Richard Sullivan from the Mountain High Hiking Club of North Ga. We also had Kathy Smith and her husband who are active in trail maintenance as guests. Hikes completed: Reports were given on the two canoe/kayaking trips, the Scenic Spur Trail hike, the Donley Cabin Tour/Brookshire Creek hike, the Hooper Bald and Huckleberry Knob hike, and the Hangover/Bob Bald hike. Upcoming hikes: The Unicoi Turnpike Trail will be led Sun. Sept. 11 by Marc Bernatti, The Rock Creek Trail hike has been cancelled for Sept 24, unless someone will volunteer to lead it. Marc will lead the Coker Creek Trail Saturday Oct. 1. There will be an sent out on this hike since the October newsletter will not be mailed out before Oct. 1. Next meeting: The October 13 meeting will be at Al Rymer s home at 6:30 p.m. Bring a lawn chair and food you would like to share. See directions in the October newsletter to Al s house on the Hiwassee River. (Editor s note: these directions are found above). Respectfully submitted, Jane Bohannon, Secretary Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN