Cherokee Hiking Club
1295 Crown Street NW, Cleveland, TN 37312
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
“A walk in nature walks the soul back home.” - Mary Davis
What a great presentation by Jennifer Schroll, Jack Callahan, and Rick Harris on their Colorado visit to Mesa Verde and their backpacking hike in Wemenuche. All five hikers displayed true grit as they battled cold weather and steep climbs over long distances. Their perseverance paid off with absolutely breathtaking views. Of course, hiking at over 12,000 feet the views were not the only thing that took their breath away.
Why do we hike? I suppose there are as many answers to this question as there are people who hike. Certainly, common themes would include thoughts on increased physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. There is an abundance of information that validate this is true. I believe the reason we feel better when we hike is hiking provides the absolutely best setting to experience the feeling of awe. Awe is a powerful emotion often described as a feeling of being connected to something greater than ourselves. Feeling awe can lead to increased feelings of well-being, humility, connections to others, connection to the world in which we live, and even to a greater connection to the universe we have yet to fully understand. Our feelings of awe increase our sense of wonder and amazement that often are overlooked in the ordinary experiences of everyday life. Taking the time to get away from the ordinary affords so many opportunities to experience awe. Awe surrounds and encapsulates us in breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, views from a mountain top, running streams in a valley, the fragrances of flowers in the early spring, the sounds of leaves beneath our boots in the fall, the chill of the winter air while fixing breakfast outside a tent.
During the April10 club business meeting we reviewed how to use the Lead a Hike Request Form that is now available in a fillable form format on our website. You can access the form by clicking on the “Forms” tab and then select the Lead a Hike Request Form. Type the information in the required fields and then rename and save the completed form and send to me either by text (423-400-8008) or email (drrcoombs@aol.com). I will review the form and then send the hike information to our Publicist, Phyllis Anderson and our Webmaster, Rick Harris. If you would rather phone me to communicate the needed information, please feel free to do so. Also, if you wish, you can print the form with your hike information and send it to me through the postal service. My home address is P.O. Box 246, McDonald, TN 37353.
See you at the May club meeting at the Etowah Senior Center on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Our presentation will be Belize and Panama Birding presented by Kelly Ducham.
Rob Coombs, Club President
Welcome to the website for the Cherokee Hiking
Club. Our club sponsors frequent hikes and occasional backpacking trips into the
areas of southeast Tennessee, northern Georgia, and southwestern North Carolina
--
the former homeland of the Cherokee Indian Nation. If you are an avid hiker and
live in this area, consider joining us on our hikes. You may join for $15 by
filling out the application and mailing it to the address above. You may want to
attend a hike or two before deciding to join, but once you start coming, you
almost certainly will continue and will want to join. Below is a list of
upcoming hikes. We ask that you contact the person in charge of the hike by email
or phone a few days in advance to allow us to appropriately plan shuttles and to
give you the most up-to-date plans for the hike. When deciding on a hike to take, please
refer to our
trail difficulty rating system.
Direct Link to Cherokee
Hiking Club events for this year
Printable Hike Schedule for 2025
This trail from Waucheesi Bald to Old Furnace Road, was build by Boy Scouts from Knoxville back in the 60s. The trail was popular for hikes and backpacks in the couple of decades afterwards as Scouts hiked and backpacked the trail and earned patches. Then wild fires destroyed much of the route of the trail and the trail fell into disuse. The trail was rehabed and reopened about 8 years ago, in part by members of our club, and now the Scouts are interested in reopening the trail to Scout Troops for hiking and backpacking. We are supporting the Scouts in this endeavor. Soon Scout Troops will be able to again hike and backback this trail and earn a patch while learning the extensive history of the region. The Scout Troops will register for their adventures through our help. We will be working with Scout Troops in repairing the tread in some areas along the trail and possibly building some much needed reroutes in the future years. Follow the link and read the history of the trail as written by Jim Wright, one of the original organizers of the trail back in the 60s. He is now in his 70s and still helping in this endeavor.
For more information on the Warriors Passage Trail or to sign up your Scout Unit or other Youth Organization to hike or backpack the trail, or to order patches, go to www.warriorspassage.org
Cherokee Hiking Club Continuous Loop Presentation
Warning -- huge 18 MB PowerPoint file
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