The Cherokee Hiker. October 2010 Volume 26, Issue 10. Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN

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1 The Cherokee Hiker October 2010 Volume 26, Issue 10 ~CHC Hike Calendar~ Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN October 2, 2010 Saturday. Coker Creek Falls Trail Hike (3 miles, moderate) October 9, 2010 Saturday. John Muir Clean-up Hike (3 or 6 miles, easy) October 17, 2010 Sunday. Scenic Spur Trail Hike (3.5 miles, easy) October 24, 2010 Sunday. Bluff Trail Hike (4-5 miles, moderate) October 31, 2010 Sunday. Benton Falls Hike (4.5 miles, easy) OCTOBER HIKES October 2, Saturday - Coker Creek Falls Trail Hike at Coker Creek Hike leader: Marc Bernatti. Hike rating: moderate. This hike is around 3 miles with a car shuttle, but it has a few steep segments with tricky footing in a few places. 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 trails near the Hiawassee River. At times, when hill hugging, the footing is difficult, so a walking stick could be useful. Please also bring enough water and a snack. The Welcome Center in Coker Creek will be open to get what you forgot. The trail has had some serious maintenance and improvements done by maintainers and the USFS. With Mother Nature smiling on us, we should have a pleasant hike. We ll work out a shuttle arrangement and drop off a vehicle or vehicles at the bottom and take those drives back up to the parking lot to start our hike. The road near the bottom is very rough, so we need high clearance vehicles with good traction to get down and come back out. Directions: meet at the Cocker Creek Welcome Center/Post Office on Hwy 68 (mile marker 34) at 10 AM. From Ducktown, go North on Hwy 68 for approximately 25 miles. From Tellico Plains, travel South on Hwy 68 for approximately 10 miles. If interested, please contact Marc Bernatti at October 9, Saturday - John Muir Clean-up Hike Hike Leaders: Debbie Flower and Clayton Pannell. Hike rating: easy. Length is 3 or 6 miles. We will meet at Childers' Creek Trailhead at 9:00 a.m. 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 upon time and car shuttle. Please bring gloves, clippers, water, and a snack/lunch. Trash bags will be provided. Directions: If coming from Cleveland, go to and through Benton, turn right onto Rt. 30 towards Reliance, cross the bridge at Webb's Store, cross the railroad tracks, turn immediately right at Rosie's 1

2 Restaurant and follow the road until you see the Childers' Creek Trailhead sign which is on the right. If interested, please contact the hike leaders by Friday evening, October 8 th. Contact Debbie Flower at , or Clayton Pannell at October 17, Sunday afternoon Scenic Spur Trail Hike Hike leader: Randy Morris. Hike rating: easy. Length is 3.5 miles. This trail, located near the Hwy 30/64 intersection, goes to a nice waterfall in the Rock Creek Gorge Scenic Area. Although the hike is easy, please be aware there are two stream crossings which could require wading if there has been recent heavy rainfall. When dry, these are easy rock-hops. Directions: the trail head is on Hwy. 30 about 100 yards from US 64. Please call Randy at if you are planning on attending, for a meeting time and exact location, or if you have any questions. Just leave a message if necessary and he will return your call. Note: The hike will be cancelled if the weather is bad. October 24, Sunday - Bluff Trail Hike Hike leader: Gail Gray. Hike rating: moderate. (This hike was rescheduled from its original October 17 th date). This 4.5-mile trail is very scenic, and the leaves should be reaching their peak about this time. The hike itself is mostly downhill and easy until the very end when we will reach the stairs ascending up to Point Park, which makes the rating of moderate seem most accurate. These are metal stairs, and there are a lot of them. This makes it a great hike for humans, but not pets. There are also a few spots where we would not want an animal running by and tipping anyone over the edge, so if you intend to go, we ask you to please leave your pets at home. This trail is a must do for those who have not been on it previously. You can be in two states on one trail, from Lookout Mountain, Georgia, to Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Directions: we will meet on 25 th Street, west of the interstate overpass at the Commuters Lot, past the Shell Service Station at 1:00 p.m. We will carpool to Lookout Mountain and shuttle from Point Park to the trailhead behind Covenant College. The drive from Point Park to the trailhead is beautiful with many large estates in evidence along the way. If interested, please contact Gail Gray at October 31, Sunday afternoon - Benton Falls Hike Hike leaders: Effaleda & Bob Lee. Hike rating: easy. (This hike was rescheduled from its original October 24 date). The hike is 4 1/2 miles with about feet of elevation change. Please bring water and rain gear. Using four trails around the Chilhowee Campground, we will make a loop trip to Benton Falls. The final 1/2 mile to the Falls will be in and out but the remainder will be on the loop. Leaves should still be in color and the Falls will be a good place to rest before returning to our cars. This will be a joint hike of the Hiwassee and Cherokee Hiking Clubs. Directions: from Athens meet at Comcast in time to leave at 1:15 p.m. Cleveland hikers can meet us at the Lake McKamy parking lot (fee area) at 2:15 p.m. Parking is $3 per vehicle ($1.50 for Golden Passport holders). Call the hike leaders if additional information is needed: Effaleda & Bob Lee at (home), or (cell). 2

3 Other hikes and events in October: be sure to check the club website at 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 Monthly Club Meeting: October 14, Thursday at the Baptist Student Center at Cleveland State Community College (CSCC). The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the large multipurpose area, visible as you enter the building. Please bring a potluck dish.. Directions: The address is 1475 Norman Chapel Road. N.W., and is off Peerless Road. Turn onto Norman Chapel Road at the Wesley Methodist Church on Peerless Road. A large sign in front says Baptist Student Center. It is a large rustic dark brown building on the immediate left as you face the fork on the campus entrance to CSCC. Park in front, or in the extra parking in the CSCC parking lot across from the BSC. Note from Club President Randy Morris on the October meeting: If the weather is nice, I would like to encourage everyone to arrive early for the October 14 meeting at Cleveland State Community College (CSCC) to take advantage of the CSCC Nature Trail. The Cherokee Hiking Club has adopted maintenance on this trail, and several of our members were instrumental in a re-design of the trail once some of the previous land was sold for development. The trail, about 1 mile in length, is located in the woods behind the tennis courts off Adkisson Drive. It is a good trail with some ups and downs. October 24 November 4, BMTA Backpack Trip: Deals Gap to the Ocoee River - 98 miles. Though this trip is 98 miles over 12 days, backpackers can join the trip at any point along the way. So figure out when you are available and join us as we hike nearly all the TN/NC Section of the Benton MacKaye Trail. Much of this trip will be above 3000 feet, up to 5000 feet in elevation. This will be the peak fall leaf season at this elevation. The weather should be crisp and cool with a low likelihood for rain, perfect for a fall backpack trip. Because this backpack goes through several wilderness and wilderness study areas, at any point along the trail, we will be limited to a maximum of 12 backpackers. We will have several rendezvous points along the backpack to resupply with food and to pick up/drop off backpackers. Two major resupply points will be arranged, one at the Tellico River Crossing, and one at Unicoi Gap. Thus those backpacking the entire distance can get resupplied about every 4 days easily. Each person is responsible for all his/her own gear, food and cooking equipment. You may want to make arrangements with other backpackers to share tent, food, cooking gear, etc. The leaders will keep those signed up informed of who is going for which segments with phone numbers and addresses to facilitate this sharing of resources to minimize backpack weight. Those who want to drive up the day before the start of the backpack can spend the night with Rick & Brenda Harris at their house near Tellico Plains, TN off the Cherohala Skyway. If interested, fill out the registration form at NC_section_2010.pdf, or go to the BMTA web site ( click on the Activities Calendar link at the left, scroll down to October 24 on the calendar and click on the link there. Fill out the form electronically or by hand, and send it via or snail mail to Rick Harris at HarrisRi@aol.com or Rick 3

4 Harris, 533 Shaw Mountain Road, Tellico Plains, TN This document also has all the information about the hike, including the various rendezvous points along with dates and directions, supply information, etc. For more information, contact Rick or Brenda Harris at , or Regina Reiter at , or Ernie Engman at Tennessee Appalachian Trail License Plates: This will be of interest to all who ordered this plate through the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I just received this from the Conservancy, and I have also received the snail mail letter from the State Department of Revenue, mentioned below: Thanks to each of you who are receiving this note, we surpassed the necessary 1000 plate threshold to establish an Appalachian Trail license plate in Tennessee! Many of you were early applicants after the legislation passed in 2008 and may have some questions about the plate status. Following are some of the questions we ve received and that you may have. 1) When am I going to get my plate? The State Department of Revenue received the applications and funds at the end of June From that time it will take up to four months to approve the plate design and produce the new plates. Therefore, we expect the new plates to be available by early November. 2) How do I get my plate? You will receive a letter from the State Department of Revenue notifying you that your plate is ready to be picked up at your county clerk s office. 3) What do I need to do once I m notified? You have two choices. You can pick up your plate upon notification, and your annual vehicle registration fee will be prorated and reset to expire a year from that date. For example, if your annual vehicle registration fee is $24 and has six months remaining when your plate is ready, you can pay $12 and renew for another 6 months. The other option, after you are notified, is to wait until your next annual vehicle registration is due. Your new plate will be held at the county clerk s office until that time. In either case you must pick up your plate in person, it will not be mailed to you. 4) My vehicle registration will be due before early November. How do I handle that? You must renew your annual vehicle registration when it is due. After you have received your Appalachian Trail license plate, the annual fee for it and the vehicle registration will be due at the same time and can be paid together. Thank you, once again, for your patience and support! If you have further questions, please call 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. 4

5 Recent Hike & Event Reports Unicoi Turnpike Trail - September 12, 2010, Saturday Seven hikers, including four ladies, two men and one dog met at the Coker Creek Welcome Center this pleasant Sunday afternoon for this mostly down hill 2+ mile hike. This hike, for the most part, is on or alongside the old Unicoi Turnpike, an age-old route across these Appalachian Mountains. The trail starts up at the Unicoi Gap on the TN and NC state line at the Benton MacKaye trail. We used a car shuttle; leaving one at the lower take-out point, and then drove up to park for the hike down. The trail crosses Joe Brown Highway a couple of times. The 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. And so it went until this Turnpike segment was resurveyed and established as a trail by hikers and the folks from Coker Creek a few years ago. At times the trail goes right down the middle of the old Turnpike with the wagon ruts still clearly visible and bordered by rock walls that were piled up from road maintenance. The trail passes through the old CCC Camp (Camp Rolling Stone), where remnants of rock walls and building foundations remain visible. A short side trail from the CCC Campsite goes up to a Civil War era gravesite of a bushwhacked man, and what is believed to be the general location of the Turnpike s toll booth. Further along, three of the ladies, drawn by the gold designation< had to check out an abandoned gold mine which extends under the trail. None were brave enough to crawl in for a closer check. While the first part of the hike had been cleared of blow downs and dead falls earlier in the week, the last segment gave everyone an opportunity to knee crawl or limbo under a couple of trees across the trail. No limbo demonstrations were made. A patch of cedar something seemed to delight a couple of the hikers; seems the plant produces a very useful contribution to some ritual. At take out we all piled into the bed of the pick up for a ride back to retrieve the other cars left up at the Gap. Enjoying this pleasant Sunday afternoon hike in the woods and the history along the way were: Bob and Effaleda Lee, Sheri Stewart, Jane Bohannon, Joanne Jackson, Marc Bernatti (hike leader), and Essie. Shown below is the picture entitled Shuttle Service (not shown: Sheri Stewart). 5

6 Cherokee Hiking Club Minutes September 9, 2010 Tinsley Park in Cleveland The monthly meeting of the Cherokee Hiking Club was held at 6:30 p.m. on September 9, 2010, at Tinsley Park in Cleveland. Nineteen members and one guest attended. Our guest, Mitzi Ownby, joined after the meeting. Following a potluck picnic, Vice President Bill Kamm called the business meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Minutes of the previous meeting were read by Secretary Jane Bohannon, and were accepted as read. Treasurer Ann Gray reported the current balance. Ann read a Thank You card from Shelton Goldblatt, husband of the late Susan Rymer Goldblatt, former club member Al Rymer s daughter.. Old business: There was no old business. New business: A committee will be selected at the October meeting for the purpose of nominating club officers for the upcoming year of The club will vote on officer recommendations presented by the committee. New officers will assume responsibilities starting in January Bill presented information on a Wilderness and Primitive Skills School located in southeast Florida. Their nearest training location is in Rogersville TN. If interested, go to or Although the club has been averaging two to five short hikes (3-5 miles in length) monthly, there was a 6

7 request for more short hikes. Bill presented information from a pamphlet entitled Fontana Village Hikes. These hikes are available to us. Also, we may refer to or for hikes of varying lengths which are available to us. There was discussion on hiking the CSCC Nature Trail prior to the Oct. 14 meeting. Suzanne Bennett would need to be contacted regarding the hike. No one was designated to contact Suzanne. Information on the Autumn Gold Festival at Coker Creek Village was presented by Marc Bernatti. The dates are October 9 th and 10 th. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. Clayton Pannell had explored the Two Rivers Campground and found a good canoe take-out point there. He also brought information on the Hiwassee Canoe Company. Their website is Hikes completed: The following hikes have been completed since the last meeting: the Donley Cabin Tour/Lower Sycamore Creek hike, the Hooper Bald/Huckleberry Knob hike, and the Lower Hiwassee Canoe trip. Upcoming hikes: the Hangover/Bob Bald, the Unicoi Turnpike, Coker Creek, the John Muir Clean-up, and the Panther Creek Falls are on. The Indian Boundary camping trip and the Towee-Creek through the new section of John Muir Trail were cancelled. Next Meeting: The October 14 meeting will be at the Baptist Student Center across from the main CSCC Campus at 6:30 P.M. Bring a potluck dish as usual. The address is 1475 Norman Chapel Rd. N.W. (see directions in the newsletter). Respectfully submitted, Jane Bohannon, Secretary Cherokee Hiking Club, Inc Varnell Road Cleveland, TN