The Cherokee Hiker. January 2011 Volume 27, Issue 1. Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN

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1 The Cherokee Hiker January 2011 Volume 27, Issue 1 Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN ~CHC Hike and Events Calendar~ January 9, 2011 Sunday. Annual Hike Planning Meeting/January Monthly Club Meeting January 16, 2011 Sunday. Athens Regional Park Trail Hike (3.1 miles, easy) JANUARY HIKES January 16, Sunday afternoon Athens Regional Park Trail Hike Leader: Jane Bohannon. Hike rating: easy. Length: 3.1 miles. This is a joint hike with the Hiwassee Hiking Club. This trail has its ups and downs, some scenic views in a woodland, an open field, and a paved area around the lake. It is a hike around the perimeter of the 165 acre park, and along North Mouse Creek where beavers are sometimes seen. I am leading this hike for both the Cherokee and Hiwassee Hiking Clubs. Children accompanied by an adult, and dogs on a leash are welcome. We will start at the area around the lake, then hike along North Mouse Creek, then through the wooded areas, and back to the trailhead. This is a nice gentle hike to get us out after the holidays and snow. Directions to Athens Regional Park: The park is located on Highway 30 West (also called Decatur Pike). From Cleveland, take I-75 North to the first Athens exit, then turn right onto Highway 30 toward Athens. The park is approximately 1 mile on the right. From Etowah, take Highway 30 through Athens all the way to the park. The park is approximately 1 mile on the left from the Highway 11 (Congress Parkway)/Highway 30 (Decatur Pike) intersection. Plan to meet at the trailhead at 2:00 p.m. for signing in. The mountain bike/hiking parking lot is the first turn to the left after entering the park. Please call Jane at (home) or (cell) by Saturday night if you plan to attend. Other hikes and events in January: be sure to check the club website at for more January 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. 1

2 OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST January 9 Sunday. Combined January Monthly Meeting/annual Hike Planning Meeting We will meet at 2 p.m. at the Family Resource Agency offices located at 3680 Michigan Avenue Road in Cleveland. This is just south of Antonio s Restaurant, where we have had several club meetings in the past. James Anderson will host the meeting. Hike leaders, please make plans to attend if possible. Club Dues Your 2011 Cherokee Hiking Club Membership Dues are due this month. If you have not yet paid your 2011 club dues, please submit $15 in cash or check form as soon as possible. Please include anyone in your immediate family that would like to be a part of our organization. Checks may be brought to the Hike Planning Meeting mentioned above, or they can be mailed to Ann Gray at the club s address 2349 Varnell Road, Cleveland, TN Please do not mail cash! Attention New Members: anyone who joined after October 1, 2010 will not have to renew until Building a History of the Cherokee Hiking Club Many of you have received via a request for old CHC newsletters, so for some, this will be a second notice: Rick Harris, the Cherokee Hiking Club webmaster, has just put up many of the old CHC newsletters on the club website. Nearly all the old newsletters from 1989 on to the present are now on the website. He is now trying to find the remaining newsletters to fill the gaps in. Those missing newsletters include the following months: Anything before : Jan, Feb, Dec 1990: Feb 1992: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug 1993: Jul, Nov, Dec 2000: Mar, Oct 2001: Aug 2002: Jan, May, Aug 2003: Jun If any of you have access to any of these, please call or Rick at , HarrisRi@aol.com. All of the club's newsletters, including the old ones recently loaded, can be seen at the club website at Click on the Newsletter drop-down menu, then select the years that you want to see, then the month. All the older newsletters have been scanned in from the hard copies, and are available on the website as electronic PDF files. You must have Acrobat reader on your computer to read PDF files. If you don't, you can download the reader for free from the Adobe website at Rick also suggested that it would be nice to have someone in the club serve as a historian, and write up a club history based on all the information in the old and new newsletters. Anyone interested? A farewell note from Randy Morris, our now past club president: 2

3 A Trip Down Memory Lane and a Big THANK YOU! I remember being a little apprehensive as I made my way to the Golden Corral restaurant back in February of 2005, to a meeting of the Cherokee Hiking Club. My wife Kalin had seen the notice in the Cleveland Daily Banner (thank you Debbie Flower!) and encouraged me to go and find some friends to hike with. She was concerned (and rightfully so) about my burgeoning interest in hiking being a solitary activity. And Boy, did I ever find some friends to hike with! Thanks to president Clayton Pannell and all involved for taking me under your wing and teaching me about the club, local trails and being my good friends! As now past President of the Cherokee Hiking Club, I want to express my appreciation to the club membership for making my three year reign so enjoyable! It has truly been my pleasure to serve a great group of folks. I want to especially thank the club officers who served with me during this 3-year period: Vice Presidents: James Anderson and Bill Kamm Treasurer: Ann Gray Secretary: Jane Bohannon Newsletter Editors: Evette Strickland, Verna Townsend and Rebecca Levings Publicist: Debbie Flower Webmaster: Rick Harris Again, thanks to all of you! I look forward to future hikes and meetings of the Cherokee Hiking Club! Randy Morris Join the rest of the Cherokee Hikers on Facebook! To connect, press the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click the image below to navigate to the CHC Facebook page. Recent Hike & Event Reports Big Frog Hike December 4, Saturday Although the weather in the area was cold and rainy down below, two intrepid hikers set out to conquer "The Frog." James Anderson, the hike leader, and that undaunted former club president known simply in some circles as El Presidente; whose friends and acquaintances call Randy Morris, set out for the top around 10 a.m. that fateful Saturday morning. Who could ever have guessed what adventures lay ahead for these two unsuspecting, yet undeterred souls? Yes, I'm sure many of you looked out your windows that morning and saw that it was cold and rainy. So no, you fair weather hikers couldn't get out of your warm cozy bed or put down that steaming hot mug of joe to go out and experience the wonders of nature. But I'm here to tell you that you missed it that day! Did you know that some mountains are big enough that they can even create their own weather? The Frog is big. Anyone who knows anything about big frogs knows that they can, and do, create their own weather. So without warning, as Randy and I were slogging and slushing through the cold and wind, we 3

4 both suddenly felt a warm breeze brush across our faces. Perplexed, we hiked on through the dense fog. Turn after turn, across slippery rocks and through the briars and brambles, till at last we saw a faint orange-ish glow. What could it be, we asked ourselves? Excitedly we pressed on, not knowing what situation lay ahead. And here we were, nearly at the top, just below the spring that many of you know lies near the summit, when we heard it. What in the world is that, I asked Randy? He didn't know either, but as we hiked closer and closer we could hear it a little more plainly. With puzzled grins we both looked at each other and simultaneously said, it sounds a bit like cheers. With just a few more steps we broke through the clouds. The sun was shining so brightly I had to quickly put my clip-on shades over my glasses. It was so warm that the thermometer on my pack was reading a balmy 82.3 degrees, and to our amazement, there was the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in the clearing practicing some of their cheering routines. Obviously we wanted to be social as all real hikers are supposed to be, so we offered to share our cheese sandwiches, gorp, and water, as those scrawny young ladies looked like they needed some nourishment. They, being Southern ladies and all, accepted our hospitality and told us they were working on some top secret new dance moves for their appearance next year on Dancing with the Stars. They needed a really top secret location to perfect their moves, so that was why they happened to be on the Big Frog that day. As you might imagine, Randy and I really agonized over whether we should share this Big Frog Adventure hike report or not. We considered that it might need to be in the spirit of Las Vegas, following the dictum of whatever happens on the Frog stays on the Frog. But in the spirit of trying to encourage people to get out, hike and experience the many wonders of nature, we decided that even considering the personal risk and possible damage to our reputations, we had to go ahead and share our story as it was. Just remember, we only are doing it for the club, even if it damages our credibility. Well, we couldn't stay at the summit in that rarified air for ever, so eventually we headed back down. And believe it or not, for you lady hikers, on the way down we passed a muscled up group of guys, kinda reminding us a lot of me and Randy. They called themselves something like the Chipmunk Dancers or Chippendale, or something like that. They too said they were on the way up to work on their new routine. What a day! Seems like Big Frog was a popular place that day. So that is OUR story and we are sticking to it. Don't you wish you had been there that day? Cherokee Hiking Club Minutes December 12, 2010 Black Bear Cove Resort The Cherokee Hiking Club met on December 12, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. at Black Bear Cove Resort for the monthly meeting and Christmas party. There were thirty-nine members and three guests present. We want to welcome new member Rhonda Morgan, who joined at the meeting. Prior to the large buffet meal, President Randy Morris called a brief business session to order at 1:35 p.m. Minutes of the last meeting and Treasurer s report were omitted. Old business: The club will pay the 15% gratuity for this meal. Membership dues may be paid now, at the Hike Planning meeting in January, or mailed to Ann Gray, Treasurer, at the club s address. New business: We want to congratulate Ken Jones for winning an award for Trail Construction and Trail Maintenance at the American Trails National Symposium in Chattanooga. 4

5 James Anderson will host the annual Hike Planning meeting on Sunday afternoon January 9, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at the Family Resource Agency Building, located at 3680 Michigan Avenue Road just south of Antonio s Restaurant in Cleveland. If you cannot attend the planning meeting, please submit the hikes you will be willing to lead to Jane Bohannon via to jane_bohannon@comcast.net. Also, if you can host a monthly meeting during 2011, but can t attend the planning meeting, please Jane your intentions. Gift cards were presented to Randy, Clayton Pannell, and Debbie Flower, honoring them for serving three years or more as club President. The club members in attendance also enjoyed the Dirty Santa gift exchange. Hikes completed: Since the last meeting, the following hikes have been completed: Possum Creek Segment of the Cumberland Trail, led by Randy Morris Turtletown Falls, led by Marc Bernatti Big Frog, led by James Anderson Upcoming hikes: No upcoming hikes are scheduled until the Hike Planning meeting. Installation of officers: Debbie Flower did a great installation of officers with tools used by Habitat for Humanity, to demonstrate how officers and club members work together. The following officers were installed: President - Sunni Campbell Vice-President - Bill Kamm Secretary - Jane Bohannon Treasurer - Ann Gray Newsletter Editor - Rebecca Levings Web Master - Rick Harris Publicist - Deborah Flower The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jane Bohannon, Secretary Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN

The Cherokee Hiker. December 2010 Volume 26, Issue 12. Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN

The Cherokee Hiker. December 2010 Volume 26, Issue 12. Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN The Cherokee Hiker December 2010 Volume 26, Issue 12 ~CHC Hike Calendar~ Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc. 2349 Varnell Road Cleveland, TN 37311 www.cherokeehikingclub.org December 4, 2010 Saturday. Big Frog