Trail Maintenance Projects for 2009

Tellico Ranger District Worktrips
Benton MacKaye Trail Worktrips
Other Worktrips

Monday, Jan. 5^th – Continue clearing blowdowns on the South Fork Citico Trail with the crosscut saw. We will be going in from Cold Springs Gap and coming out on the Jeffery Hell Trail to West Rattlesnake Rock. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Wednesday, Jan. 7^th – Continue maintenance work on the Flats Mountain Trail going in from Beehouse Gap. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am. Cancelled due to heavy rains.

Friday, Jan 9th - Log and brush out the Benton MacKaye Trail Section 15c from Sandy Gap to Six Mile Gap. Contact Rick Harris

Monday, Jan. 12^th – We will be working on the Kirkland Creek Trail. Rick Harris and some other workers worked on the BMT from Sandy Gap to Six Mile Gap last week. We will use crosscut saw to clear logs on Kirkland Creek. This trail is totally within the Upper Bald River Wilderness Study Area Meet at the Coker Creek Post Office/Visitor Center at 8:15 am. That will put us into Sandy Gap at around 9 am. Contact Ken Jones.

Wednesday, Jan. 14^th – We will begin work on the McNabb Creek Trail re-alignment to the old Railroad Grade, located about 1.5 miles down from the Cherohala Skyway Trailhead at Grassy Gap. We will be sawing out a number of blowdowns with the chainsaw, and brushing out with weedeaters. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am for this trip. Contact Ken Jones.

Saturday, Jan 17th - Bill Lundin did work on his section of trail BMT section 12d and reported back to us the results.

Monday, Jan 19th - Plans are to log out the Bald River Trail. Ed and Tazz are planning to go. If you plan to go, contact Tazz Reid.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Saturday, January 24, 2009

BMT Section 12d - McFarland Road (FS 23) to White Oak Flats Road (FS 103) at Lost Creek Campground (Distance 3.9 miles). We will go in from the McFarland Road trail crossing and log out and cut brush to standards with chain saws and gas-powered brush cutters as far down the trail as possible, hopefully all the way to White Oak Flats Road. Much of this section is on an old gated forest service road which will probably need little work, so we should be able to make it all the way through. We will also hope to put in a sign post at a frequently missed right turn in a clearing about half way down this trail.

MEETING LOCATION: We will meet at the entrance to the Lost Creek Campground on White Oak Flats Road at 8AM but will park our shuttle cars where the trail leaves the road about a half mile west of the campground. We will then carpool to the McFarland Road trail crossing. We may be able to have some people meet us at McFarland Road trail crossing at 9AM without first going to Lost Creek. We will work this out once we know who is coming.

LEADER: Rick Harris, 423-253-6358 (home); 513-260-1184 (cell), HarrisRi@aol.com. Please notify Rick in advance of the work trip of your plans to come and what tools you will be bringing. The section maintainer is Bill Lundin.
BRING: Chain saw if chain saw certified. We need gas powered brush cutters as well. Also, loppers and swing blades can be used. Bring gloves and safety glasses and a helmet if you have one. We have a few helmets to loan out. Bring lunch and water.

Wednesday, Jan. 28^th – Plans are to work on brushing out McNabb Creek Trail from the upper end at Grassy Gap. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, Jan. 30^th – We will travel to Farr Gap and work on logging out Stiffknee or Fodderstack/ Big Stack Gap Branch Trails. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am. These are both wilderness trails so we will be using crosscut saws.

Sunday, February 1, 2009: Butch Horn and Liz Carter will be cutting brush on section 15c of the BMT near Six Mile Gap.

Mondary, February 2, 2009: I plan to work with Tazz and Jim on the Chestnut Mountain Trail on Monday. Here is our other work day for the week:

Thursday, Feb. 5^th – We will be working on the Unicoi Turnpike Trail, logging out blowdowns, brushing out, and a little re-grading of the road bed transition sections. The monthly Tellico Safety Meeting is Thursday morning, so plan to meet at the Ranger Station at 9 am instead of our usual time.

Monday, Feb. 9^th – Continue work on brushing out the Flats Mountain Trail from the Beehouse Gap end. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Thursday, Feb. 12^th – SABCH work day continuing to log out the Fodderstack Trail. We plan to go up Crowder Branch Trail, clear blowdowns on Fodderstack, and then come down and out the Pine Ridge Trail. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am. This trip will be a probably be 10 mile hike with crosscut saw work thrown in for good measure!

Wednesday, Feb. 18^th – We will clear 2 large trees from the Pine Ridge Trail with crosscut and axe. Both of these trees are located within the first 100 yards in from Warden Fields campground. After finishing these trees, we will continue work on the Little Citico Horse Trails. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, Feb. 20^th – This will be the SABCH Work Trip for the week. We plan to finish clearing blowdowns from the southern end of Fodderstack Trail. We will be going in from Beech Gap and driving to the wilderness boundary at Cold Springs Gap. We will then hike 5 miles to Harrison Gap and turn around and start clearing blowdowns. This will be another 10 mile hike, but without the elevation gains that we had this past Thursday. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Thursday, Feb. 26^th – This will be the SABCH workday for the week. We will go up the North Fork Citico Trail a short distance and take apart the old cable car at the flow measuring dam. Once we get it apart, we will use a large Spring Breakaway Group scheduled for March to remove the pieces. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, Feb. 27^th – This will be a Spring Breakaway Group working at Indian Boundary Recreation Area, primarily on trash pickup. If you would like to help, meet us at the IBRA overflow camping area at 10 am.

Monday, March 2^nd – Spring Breakaway Group from Lehigh University work day. We will be starting work on brushing out the Bald River Trail. We will be meeting the group at the Ranger Station at 9:30 am.

Tuesday, March 3^rd – Rick Harris and I plan to log out the non-wilderness portions of the Flats Mountain Trail. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am, or I can meet Rick at Beehouse Gap at 8:30 am.

Thursday, March 5^th – SABCH work day for the week. We plan to go up the South Fork Citico Trail to what is currently the first ford (about 1.5 miles in) and work on brushing out the original trail segment. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday and Saturday, March 6^th and 7^th – Crosscut Saw Certification Class.

Thursday, March 12^th – SABCH work day for the week. We plan to go to the Little Citico Creek Horse Trail System to log out the trails with chain saws as much as we can. We will meet at the Horse Parking Lot just downstream from the intersection of Buck Highway with Citico Creek Road at 8:30 AM. Contact Tazz for further information.

Friday, Mar. 13^th – We will be picking up trash along Citico Creek and Indian Boundary Campground with a large Spring Breakaway Group (40 students). Meet at the Ranger Station at 9:30 am.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Saturday, February 28, 2009 -- RESCHEDULED TO FRIDAY, MARCH 13

BMT Section 12e - White Oak Flats Road (FS 103) near Lost Creek Campground to near Reliance (Total distance about 4.0 miles, but only about 2.7 miles will require maintanence). We will go in from the White Oak Flats Road trail crossing near Lost Creek Campground and log out and cut brush to standards with chain saws and gas-powered brush cutters as far down the trail as possible, hopefully all the way to the point where we meet the forest service road near Reliance, a distance of about 2.7 miles. The first 0.3 miles along White Oak Flats Road and the last mile along FS 173 will not require any work since it follows a roadbed which is kept clear for vehicles. Much of this section is on an old unmaintained roadbed along the banks of Lost Creek which horse riders often help clear out for their use, so we should be able to make it all the way through. We will end our day at the maintained forest service road 173 near Reliance where we will have shuttle cars parked.

MEETING LOCATION: We will meet at the public parking lot just to the west of the railroad trestle by the canoe livery in Reliance at 9AM and park some cars as far up FS 173 as we can go, then shuttle to the Lost Creek Campground on White Oak Flats Road, arriving there about 10AM. We should be able to have some people meet us at the Lost Creek Campground at 10AM without first going to Reliance. We will work this out once we know who is coming for sure.

LEADER: Rick Harris, 423-253-6358 (home); 513-260-1184 (cell), HarrisRi@aol.com. Please notify Rick in advance of the work trip of your plans to come and what tools you will be bringing. This section does not have a maintainer. Once this section is cleaned up, it would be great is someone volunteered to take responsibility for this section.
BRING: Chain saw if chain saw certified. We need gas powered brush cutters as well. Also, loppers and swing blades can be used. Bring gloves and safety glasses and a helmet if you have one. We have a few helmets to loan out. Bring lunch and water.

Saturday, Mar. 14^th – Tellico River Cleanup – Check in at the Ranger Station after 8 am. The first 100 participants will receive T-shirts.

Saturday, Mar. 14^th – SABCH Cleanup of Little Citico Trails – Meet at the Young Branch Horse Camp at 9 am.

March 15-20 - 2009 Professional Trail Builders Association Trail Builders' Conference, Ashville, NC. This has everything for a reasonable price.

Thursday, Mar. 26^th – SABCH Work Trip – Continue work on clearing blowdowns from wilderness trails by working on the Cold Springs Gap Trail. This will involve a hike of 3.2 miles each way from Cold Springs Gap with very little climbing involved. The first 1.25 miles has already been cleared as a part of previous work on Fodderstack Trail. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29, 2009

BMT Section 16a - Sandy Gap to Roundtop. We will remark sections of the 3.5 mile long section of trail in the Heart of Darkness and then log and brush out the trail over this two day worktrip which is a combined worktrip of the TN/NC and the GA work crews. This is an area on a ridgeline mostly on the TN/NC state line which is desperately in need of maintenance. We will spend the night at Liz Carter and Butch Horn's home on Appalachia Lake, just a few miles from Sandy Gap. Supper and breakfast will be provided. When we run out of beds, we will use sleeping bags on their floor. So bring a sleeping bag and pad, just in case.

MEETING LOCATION: We will meet at Sandy Gap about 9AM on both Saturday and Sunday.

LEADER: Rick Harris, 423-253-6358 (home); 513-260-1184 (cell), HarrisRi@aol.com. Please notify Rick in advance of the work trip of your plans to come, what days you plan to work, and what tools you will be bringing. Also let Rick know if you plan to spend the night at Liz and Butch's house. The section maintainer is Eric Eades.
BRING: Chain saw if chain saw certified. We need gas powered brush cutters as well. Loppers and swing blades can be used if you so choose. Bring gloves and safety glasses and a helmet if you have one. We have a few helmets to loan out. Bring lunch and water.

April

Wednesday, April 1st - BMTA Worktrip Section 16a - We plan to search out the shortcut to Round Top in the Heart of Darkness which can be used to worktrips into this otherwise difficult to access section of the BMT. Contact Rick Harris.

Thursday, April 2^nd – SABCH Work Trip – We will be re-decking the foot bridge for the North Fork Citico Trail. The new lumber was hauled in near the bridge this past Friday. Anyone working on removing old boards will need to be belted off for safety. Tazz and I both have safety belts, but if anyone else has one they can bring with them it would be a help. We also have plenty of work for others in hauling lumber or nailing down new boards. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, April 3^rd – We will be working on re-painting the blazes on the Warriors Passage Trail. This work will complete maintaining the trail to Forest Service standards. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Saturday, April 4th - John Muir Clean-up Hike – 3 or 6 miles, easy, Hike Leader: Debbie Flower: 476-3907 or dndflower@bellsouth.net

Sunday, April 5th - Warrior's Passage Trail. We will be logging out the remaining section from Wildcat Creek Road to Old Furnace Road. Contact Rick Harris, 423-253-6358

Wednesday, April 8th - Warrior's Passage Trail. We will be going in from Old Furnace Road down the trail about a mile to replant an old trail post and to pick up a tent, sleeping bag, and coat which had been dumped by the side of the trail. We will pack this trash out. Contact Rick Harris, 423-253-6358.

Wednesday, April 8th - Ken Jones will be wheeling the John Muir Trail from the powerhouse to the east end of the JMT reroute for updating the BMT Databook.

Thursday, April 9^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will work on logging out the lower end of the Kirkland Creek Trail, going in from the Bald River Road. Please take note that there will be a wet foot ford of the Bald River at the beginning and end of this trip. There are also another dozen crossings of Kirkland Creek and Waucheesi Creek to reach the point that we have previously cleared from Sandy Gap. This will be crosscut saw work as this trail is in the Upper Bald River Wilderness Study Area. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, April 10^th – BMTA Work Trip – We will be working on the BMT/State Line Trail Section 16a (#82, Nantahala NF) continuing to log out blowdowns and brush out the trail from Hazelnut Knob to Round Top. We will probably be going in from Unaka on a new shortcut to Round Top. Meet at Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am. I will be meeting Eric Eades at 7:30 am at the Hardees in Etowah. CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Thursday, April 16^th – SABCH Work Trip - Finish remaining work on the footbridge on the North Fork Citico Trail. We need to haul in 5 more boards and use them to replace the remaining old decking. We also need to replace the 4” x 4” handrail supports on each end of the bridge. Robert Thomas will be the point of contact since I will be gone. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Monday, April 20^th – Spring Breakaway Group with Ed and Arleen Decker – We will be working to repair water damage to a 100’ section of the Indian Boundary Lake Loop Trail. Most of the work will involve hauling and spreading chat to repair a spot where water ran down the middle of the trail due to a blocked culvert. Meet at the Indian Boundary gate at 9:30 am.

Thursday, April 23^rd – SABCH Work Trip – We will be starting work on clearing blowdowns from the Brush Mountain Trail in Citico Wilderness. This will be slow going since the trail has not been maintained in over a decade, and we will have to spend extra time locating the original trail route. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, April 24^th – Benton MacKaye work trip on the State Line Trail Section BMT 16a (This is a trail that belongs to the Nantahala National Forest). This is a make up trip for the one originally planned for last Friday and cancelled due to bad weather. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am, or arrange an alternate meeting point for your direction of travel to Unaka.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Tuesday, April 28th - Warrior's Passage Trail. We will be repainting the blazes on the Warriors Passage National Recreation Trail. This is the last step in returning this trail to Forest Service Trail Maintenance Standards. We will be meeting at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am. Please let me know if you plan to help so that I will have enough painting supplies for everyone.

Wednesday, April 29th - Benton MacKaye Trail section 12e. We will brush out the lower 1.3 miles along Lost Creek. Contact Rick Harris. Meet at Reliance at 9AM.

Monday, May 4, 2009: Extra finish up work is planned for the Warrior's Passage Trail, including replacing some carsonite signs.

Wednesday, May 6^th – Flats Mountain Work Trip - We have previously done some logout and brush out work on this trail and plan to continue this work until we finish. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am. Brush Mountain Trail

Thursday, May 7^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will be continuing our work on logging out the Brush Mountain Trail. Please plan on a 7 mile round trip hike, as we hope to complete work to the gap before Ike’s Peak. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am. You should also have a chance to meet Tellico’s new District Ranger, Katherine Foster, before the trip.

Monday, May 11th - Ken Jones worked on trail signs for Brush Mtn Trail and Cold Springs Trail.

Tuesday, May 12^th – Flats Mountain Trail – We will try again to work on completing the log out of the trail portions outside of the wilderness. This trip is a re-schedule of the trip last Wednesday that was cancelled due to bad weather. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Wednesday, May 13th - Flats Mountain Trail - Rick plans to return to brush out the lower section of the trail up toward the wilderness boundary, then finish off on Friday what he does not get done on Wednesday.

Thursday, May 14^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will be continuing to log out the Brush Mountain Trail with crosscut saw and axe. We hope to complete the upper half of the trail to a point near Ike’s Peak, which is the exact half way point on the trail. That means that we will be walking 3.6 miles each way, with some tricky footing and climbs in both directions. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am for the drive to Cold Springs Gap.

Friday, May 15th - Flats Mountain Trail - Rick plans to finish brushing out the lower section of the trail up to the wilderness boundary. If you want to help, give him a call

Monday, May 18th - BMT Section 14b-c Walkthrough as part of Cherokee Hiking Club hike led by Al Rymer.

Wednesday, May 20^th – I plan to work on hauling and installing some routed posts at two wilderness trail intersections. One will be hauled over Cowcamp Trail to the intersection with Bald River. The other will be hauled up the South Fork Citico Trail to the Brush Mountain intersection. This will also give me a chance to scout the water crossing for the Friday trip. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, May 22^nd – SABCH Work Trip – We will be continuing our work on the Brush Mountain Trail, but going in from the lower end by crossing the South Fork Citico. This will be a wet ford at best and a dangerous ford if the water level is high. If the crossing looks unsafe, we will work on Rocky Flats Trail as an alternate. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Saturday - Sunday, May 23-24, 2009: BMT Sections 12c-e Walkthrough by Bill Hodge and George Wilhite.

Thursday, June 4th - BMTA Work Trip - Smokies Section - We will go on a boat to the BMT campsites along Fontana Lake on the Lakeshore Trail to clean the campsites of litter and clean out the fire pits. Contact Dick Evans. Meet at Cable Cove boat launch at 8AM

Saturday, June 6^th – We will be working on the Mill Branch Trail which runs from Doublecamp Creek up to connect with the Fodderstack Trail. We plan to have several work crews so that there will be some different types of work that should fit everyone capabilities. One crew will start brushing out the trail beginning where we park, working up the trail. Another crew will go to Fodderstack and work downhill brushing out. We also want to improve a washed out stream crossing and install water diversions, so we will need a crew that enjoys digging in the dirt. There will be hamburgers after the work trip compliments of Bobby and Joanne Mitchell. Meet at the Cherohala Visitor Center at 9 am.

I will be going to hike the Mill Branch Trail tomorrow to flag and scope out the work required. I will be out of town from Tuesday through Friday, but if you have any questions or need to reach me, please call my cell phone number at 423-506-8128. Ken Jones.

Saturday, June 6th - BMTA Walkthrough from Bald River Road to Tellico River, BMT sections 16d and 16e. Contact Rick Harris

Sunday, June 7th - BMTA Walkthrough from Beech Gap to Mud Gap, BMT sections 17d. Contact Rick Harris

Monday, June 8th - BMTA Walkthrough BMT Sections 13c-d from Big Bend to Wildcat Creek. Betty Petty.

Thursday, June 11^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will be continuing to brush out and wilderness blaze the lower half of the Brush Mountain Trail. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8am for the trip.

Sunday, June 14, 2009: BMTA Walkthrough BMT Section 11d from Rough Creek Trail to FS 221. James Anderson and Randy Morris.

Tuesday, June 16^th – BMT Section 16e (Tellico Fish Hatchery to Sugar Mountain) – Betty Petty and Ralph VanPelt, the section maintainers for this portion of the Benton MacKaye Trail, plan to work on brushing out the trail. I plan to help by logging out the blowdowns. If you can help on this trip, contact me on Monday night for a meeting time at the Ranger Station.

Friday, June 19^th – We will be taking care of some finish up items for this work day. We plan to re-install the post at the Brush Mountain/ South Fork intersection, fix the rock problem on the Mill Branch Trail, and walk out and map a couple of old railroad grades also intersecting the Mill Branch Trail. We need to check these railroad grades to make sure that they do not provide a good alternate route to the existing trail. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, June 19th - BMTA Walkthrough BMT Section 14a from Towee Creek to Coker Creek. Carol & Carroll Guhne.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009: BMT Section 17d. Plans are to brush out and log the BMT from Mud Gap to North River Road. Contact Rick Harris

Wednesday, June 24th - BMTA Work Trip - Smokies Section - We will go on a boat to the BMT campsites along Fontana Lake on the Lakeshore Trail to clean the campsites of litter and clean out the fire pits. Contact Dick Evans. Meet at Cable Cove boat launch at 8AM. Looks like we have a full boat for the trip on Wednesday. Jim Mize and his wife, Donna, Rick Harris and his wife, Brenda, Eric Eades and his son Spencer, and myself and Margaret. Margaret will bring Fried Chicken and Potato Salad for lunch for everyone, so just bring your drinks and rain gear. We will depart at 8 AM from Cable Cove, as before, and head up Hazel Creek. We'll cleanup that site, then Eric, Spencer and I will hike to Possum Hollow (or Flats, I can never remember the name) Camp, then continue on to Lost Cove. The rest will have plenty of time to explore the remains of the town of Proctor, the boat up Eagle Creek to meet us. Whoever gets to Lost Cove first cleans up that site, and a couple will head up to get Upper Lost Cove site, the last of the sites. If weather and time permit, we might explore the old copper mine site on Eagle Creek before returning.

Wed-Thu, June 24-25, 2009: BMT Walkthrough Section 17d, 18a and 18b (Mud Gap to Farr Gap), by Dick Evans, as part of his backpack trip.

Thursday, June 25^th - North Fork Citico Trail – We will be hiking in 4 miles to start work on about 0.7 miles of old railroad grade. The work will involve logging out with crosscut saw and brushing out the original route of this trail. Over the years the trail has ended up in an undesirable location due to people short cutting the two switchbacks on the railroad grade. The good news is that it will be all downhill walking out at the end of the day. The bad news is that there are 6 stream crossings in each direction. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, June 26th - BMT Section 17d. Plans are to finish off this section.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - Flats Mountain Trail - Rick & Brenda Harris plan to log out the lower 1.2 miles of this trail up to the wilderness boundary. Contact Rick Harris

Thursday, July 2, 2009 - North Fork Citico Trail – We will be hiking in 4 miles to finish up work on about 0.7 miles of old railroad grade. The work will involve logging out with crosscut saw the original route of this trail. Contact Tazz Reid. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Monday, July 6, 2009 - Panther Branch Trail. This trail has not been maintained in several years. Rick & Brenda Harris plan to do this on their own over several trips.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 - Panther Branch Trail. Will continue brushing out the lower end.

Wed-Thu, July 8-9, 2009 - Benton MacKaye Trail Section 11 Walkthrough - Double Springs Gap to US64. Jeff Hunter and Rick Harris backpacked from Dally Gap to US64, camping overnight at Big Frog.

Thursday, July 9, 2009: McNabb Creek Trail - SABCH Work Trip – We will be working to complete a reroute on this trail with chainsaws, weedeaters, and slingblades. We will park at the North River end of the trail and hike in for 2 ¼ miles to the lower end of the reroute. The reroute is all on old railroad grade and is about ½ mile long. We have previously logged out the lower 0.3 miles of the reroute. The good news is that the walk back out at the end of the day is all downhill. There are six crossings of McNabb Creek each way, but they should hopefully all be a dry rock hop for the trip. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 9 am for the trip. Note the later time due to a safety meeting that starts at 8 am.

Saturday, July 11th - Tennessee Wild Work Trip - Jeff Hunter is planning a work trip to the Kirkland Creek Trail to brush out the lower portion of the trail. Contact Jeff Hunter. Meet at Tellico Plains Hardee's at 9AM.

Tuesday, July 14^th – McNabb Creek Trail - I plan to continue working on the reroute by digging in a short washed out segment (~50’) and clearing small trees on the remainder of the upper segment of the reroute. This will save a lot of time when we bring the chainsaw back through the entire trail to get the large trees. We may also paint some blazes on the reroute. This will be a short day as I have to drive to Atlanta that evening.

Monday, July 20, 2009: BMT Sections 16c/16d. Log out from Sledrunner Gap to the top of Sugar Mtn. Contact Tazz Reid.

Tuesday, July 21^st – Panther Branch Trail. Will continue brushing out the lower end.

Thursday, July 23^rd – SABCH Work Trip – We will be logging out the middle 2.5 miles of the South Fork Citico Trail with crosscut saw and axe. We will hike in on the Jeffery Hell Trail (2.2 miles), and then walk downstream on the South Fork for about a mile to reach the work site. From this point it is 4.9 miles to Warden Fields, where we will have vehicles to shuttle back to Rattlesnake Rock West parking area. The total hike for the day should be 8.1 miles of mostly downhill, with two crossings of the South Fork Citico along the way. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am for this work trip.

July 14, 2009: Star Mountain Trail #190. Contact Clayton Pannell

July 14, 2009: Unicoi Turnpike Trail. Marc Bernatti, leader.

July 20-Aug 4, 2009: Several work days on the Unicoi Turnpike and other closeby trails. Marc Bernatti, leader.

Friday, July 24, 2009 - BMT Section 16a. Eric Eades and Rick Harris will brush out this section from Sandy Gap toward Round Top. There was a recent hiker report that the brush had really grown up since we cleared this section in April.

Thursday, July 30 - BMT Section 16a-16b - Beaverdam Bald to Sandy Gap - We will go in from Beaverdam Bald and go mostly downhill 6.5 miles to Sandy Gap (The Heart of Darkness) to do the following: brush out the center third of the trail, log out the few remaining logs along this section, fix two water holes and paint blue blazes to the water holes, and redo all the white diamond BMT blazes. Meet at the Cherohala Skyway Visitor Center in Tellico Plains at 8AM. We will be shuttled at the end of the day from Sandy Gap back to our cars at Beaverdam Bald by Butch Horn and Liz Carter. Extra specials: Breakfast at the Prospector's Dining Company at 7AM in Tellico Plains. Dinner at the Harris home off the Skyway after the trip (hamburgers, etc). Contact Rick Harris at 423-253-6358 or HarrisRi@aol.com.

Monday, Aug. 3^rd – Greg and I will be hiking the southern end of Fodderstack Trail to look at some problem spots and determine trail condition.

Monday, Aug 3rd - BMT Section 16a - Sandy Gap to Round Top. We will return via Sandy Gap to complete the brushing out and repaint the blazes and clean out the two springs. We will hike out via the shortcut off Round Top. Contact Rick Harris.

Tuesday, Aug 4th - BMT Section 16b - Round Top to Sled Runner Gap. Rick Harris will go out alone with his dog Jake to refresh the blazes on this section. This will finish off the "Heart of Darkness"

Wednesday, Aug. 5^th – Greg, Bobby Mitchell, and I will be looking at a problem spot on Little Citico Horse Trail #4 on Bear Branch.

Thursday, Aug 6th - Rick Harris will repaint blazes on the Panther Branch Trail. Contact Rick Harris.

Aug 6, 2009: Star Mountain Trail #190. Contact Clayton Pannell

Friday, Aug. 7^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will be logging out some new blowdowns on the Bald River Trail and the Cowcamp Trail. This work is inside the wilderness, so we will be using crosscut saw and axe. The total distance walked will be about 5 miles. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Saturday, August 29-?30, 2009

BMT Section 15b-c - Six Mile Gap to Tate Gap. If we don't finish off this section in July, we will return in August to do so. If we have finished off this section, we will work on Big Frog. If we do Big Frog, we will need to do this as an overnight backpack, hiking into Double Springs Gap on Saturday and clearing logs and brushing out up to the top of Big Frog that afternoon. We would camp out on Big Frog, then hike out to FS 221 and on the way catch the few logs which need to be sawed out and brush out about a mile of the trail. See the walk-through report on what needs to be done at www.cherokeehikingclub.org on the BMTA Walk-Through Page. Meet at the Tellico Plains Hardee's at 9AM. Contact Rick Harris, 423-253-6358 (home); 513-260-1184 (cell), HarrisRi@aol.com.

Saturday, Aug 8th - BMT Section 17c - Whigg Meadow to Mud Gap - Rick Harris will be refreshing the blazes along this section of the Benton MacKaye Trail.

Aug 10, 2009: Star Mountain Trail #190. Contact Clayton Pannell

Monday, Aug. 10^th – We will be working on Fodderstack Trail, BMT Section 18a, clearing a blowdown about 2 ¼ miles in from Cold Springs Gap. The rest of the day we will be brushing out this portion of the trail. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Monday, Aug. 10^th – Rick Harris and Tom Waters will refresh the blazes on the Benton MacKaye trail from Mud Gap to Beech Gap, BMT Section 17d

Wednesday, Aug. 12^th – We will be working on Little Citico Horse Trail #4 along Bear Branch. Plans are to haul in some 6 x 6 timbers for cribbing, and then begin work on a re-alignment of the trail around a dangerous slanted rock. This work will involve hauling in the timbers and digging the new route in place. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Wednesday, Aug. 12^th – We will be brushing out the upper portion of the Sycamore Creek Trail (BMT Sections 17a/17b) with gas powered brush cutters. Meet at Tellico Grains at 8AM.

Thursday, Aug. 13^th – This will be the second day of work on Little Citico Trail #4 on the re-alignment. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Thursday, Aug. 20^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will be finishing the logout of the Brookshire Creek Trail / BMT Section 16c. We have about a half dozen trees to clear with crosscut saw requiring a hike of about 3 miles each way. We want to dig in an improved trail segment where the trail leaves the Bald River and up a steep bank to turn up Brookshire Creek. We also need to try and fill in a rusted culvert where at least 2 horses have broken through. We will try and create a bigger opening that we can fill in with rock and fix this hazard.

Wednesday, Aug 26th - Little Citico Creek Horse Trails - Ken Jones plans to work on trail #2 to clear some downed trees

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Saturday, August 29, 2009

BMT Section 17a/17b - Sycamore Creek Trail. We will log out the entire 6 miles of the trail, refresh the blazes, and brush out the lower 3 miles of the trail. Meet at Tellico Grains for breakfast at 8AM in Tellico Plains. We plan to eat at Nut'n Fancy in Tellico Plains for supper afterwards. Contact Rick Harris, 423-253-6358 (home); 513-260-1184 (cell), HarrisRi@aol.com.

Tuesday, Aug. 29^th – Kirkland Creek Trail - Plans are to use crosscut saw to clear logs on the upper stretches of the trail from Sandy Gap and also to brush out the trail to standards. Contact Rick Harris 423-253-6358. This should finish off the maintenance of this trail in the Upper Bald River Wilderness Study Area for this year.

Sunday, Aug 30th - BMT Section 11e - FS 45 to Thunder Rock Campground - Plans are to log and brush out this section and also to log out part of section 11d about a half mile down the trail from FS 221. Contact Rick Harris.

Monday, Aug. 31^st – SABCH Work Trip – We will be clearing a large oak tree (36”) with the 7’ crosscut saw. The tree is located about 1/3 mile in on the Cowcamp Trail from Tellico River Road. There are also two smaller trees to clear on the way to the big tree. If we get done with the big tree soon enough, we may walk on another 3/4 mile (one way) to clear a hemlock on the Bald River Trail near Papaw Branch. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Wednesday, Sept. 2^nd – I plan to hike about 2 ¼ miles in from the North River Trailhead for McNabb Creek Trail to the spot where we have recently completed a reroute. The ½ mile long reroute needs to be blazed. Any extra help can work on brushing out other portions of this trail. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Tuesday, Sept 8, 2009: BMT Section 15a - Unicoi Gap to Tate Gap. Refresh blazes. Contact Rick Harris.

Tuesday, Sept 8, 2009: Little Citico Creek Horse Trails and Sycamore Creek Trail. Ken Jones & Greg Kirkland.

Wednesday, Sept. 23^rd – Kirkland Creek Trail Maintenance – There have been some recent hiker reports of loosing the trail in certain spots. We will hike in and work on delineating the path with wilderness blazes and other subtle ways of showing the way. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am. There will be at least one wet foot crossing (each way) of the Bald River and possibly some others on Kirkland Creek. We should not have to hike over 2.5 miles in to fix the problem spots.

Thursday, Sept. 24^th – SABCH Work Trip – We will plan on clearing the large hemlock on the Bald River Trail. We plan to pack in a come-along and rigging to secure the tree as we cut, mostly with axes. We will go in the Cowcamp Trail and also rig up to pull the large Chestnut Oak log out of the trail on our way into the other tree. Tazz – please bring your “log dogs” to rig to the logs and tree. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Sunday, September 27, 2009

BMT Section 15a - Unicoi Gap to Tate Gap and possibly BMT 14b-c TN68 to Unicoi Gap. In preparation for the Annual Meeting to be held in November at Coker Creek, we will get the BMT in the area all spiffied up. Everything is recently done from Tate Gap north. So we will meet at Tellico Grains for breakfast at 8AM or at Unicoi Gap on Joe Brown Highway at 9AM. We will go north on the trail toward Tate Gap and log out about 7 trees and brush out the trail to Tate Gap with gas powered brush cutters, loppers, etc. Also we will refresh blazes from the gap north of Peels Top to Tate Gap along the old horse trail (about a mile of trail). The blazes have already been refreshed on the three miles south of here to Unicoi Gap. If we have enough workers, we will log out the BMT from Unicoi Gap to TN68 and will brush this section out as well and refresh blazes. We plan to eat at Nut'n Fancy in Tellico Plains for supper afterwards. Contact Rick Harris, 423-253-6358 (home); 513-260-1184 (cell), HarrisRi@aol.com. In October, we plan to continue on down the trail from where we stop toward Coker Creek.

Monday, Sept. 28^th – Warriors Passage Trail – This trail was in good shape when we refreshed the blazes on April 28^th, but now has had a full summer of growth. There are some areas on the segment from the Bald River Road to the Wildcat Road that receive a lot of sunlight and need to be brushed out again. I am sure that the portion of the trail just above Mule Pen Gap also needs brushing out by now. We will also try and make a trip all the way through (5.2 miles) with the chainsaw to clear any recent blowdowns. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009: BMT Section 13d-13e - Coker Creek to Towee Creek. Steve Biatowas and Rick Harris plan to log out this section, hopefully all in one day.

Wednesday, Oct. 14^th – We will finish the brush out work Warriors Passage Trail. The portion remaining is about 2 miles in length and runs from the Wildcat Road to the Old Furnace Road, crossing Wildcat Creek in the middle. This may very well be a wet foot crossing with the amount of rain that we have been having. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Thursday, Oct 15th - Little Citico Creek Horse Trails. Ken and Greg plan to meet and look over recent repairs on this trail.

Friday, Oct. 16^th – SABCH Work Trip - We will continue digging a short repair to fix a problem spot where the Fodderstack Trail (BMT Section 18a) has ended up dropping steeply over tree roots. There is a 4 ¼ mile hike each way with some ups and downs; however it should be a beautiful hike with the high elevation fall colors. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am for the trip.Tuesday,

Monday, Oct 19th - BMT Section 15a - Unicoi Gap to Tate Gap. Plans are to return to this area and finish off the brushing out we did not get done last month. Contact Rick Harris, HarrisRi@aol.com

Oct 20 - Coker Creek Falls Trail - Plans are to log out the Coker Creek Falls Trail and if enough workers to also brush out the trail. Meet at the Coker Creek Falls parking lot at 8AM. Contact Rick Harris for further information, 423-253-6358, HarrisRi@aol.com

Tuesday, Oct. 20^th – Warriors Passage Trail – We plan to hike the entire length of the Warriors Passage Trail, starting at the upper trailhead on the Waucheesi Tower Road. We will saw out the remaining 8 trees that are down between the Wildcat Road and the Old Furnace Road along the way. This should return this entire trail to Forest Service Standards. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Wednesday, Oct. 21^st – Grassy Branch Trail – We will be working with the trail maintainers, Pam and Kent Mathews, to brush out this wilderness trail. We will leave a vehicle at Warden Fields and start work at the Cherohala Trailhead for Grassy Branch. When we finish the work, we will come back out the South Fork Citico Trail. We will use a short bushwhack to eliminate two fords of the South Fork. The total hike will be 6 miles and all downhill. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am. We will meet Pam and Kent at Indian Boundary at 8:30 am.

Thursday, Oct 22^nd – SABCH Work Trip – Brush Mountain Trail – We will be picking back up on our brush out work for this trail. We have previously logged out the entire trail. There remains about 1.5 miles to brush out in the middle of the trail. There will be a hike uphill of 3.5 miles to begin work. The hike back out at the end of the day will be all downhill. There will be a wet foot ford of the South Fork Citico going in and coming out. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am.

Thursday, Oct 22nd - BMT Section 14a-14c - Unicoi Gap to Coker Creek. We plan to reblaze this entire stretch and also brush out about two miles of the trail nearest Coker Creek. Contact Rick Harris or George Owen.

Friday, Oct 23rd - BMT Section 14a-14b - Signs on TN68. George Owen and Steve Biatowas plan to work on putting up signs for the BMT crossing of TN68.

Monday, Nov 2nd - BMT Section 14a-14b - Signs on TN68. George Owen and Steve Biatowas plan to work on putting up signs for the BMT crossing of TN68.

Tuesday, Nov 3rd - Coker Creek Falls Trail. Plans are to log out this three mile trail from the Coker Creek Falls parking area to its intersection with the BMT near the Hiwassee River. Meet at the FR 228 parking area near the Hiwassee River/Coker Creek confluence at 10 AM. Contact Rick Harris, HarrisRi@aol.com

Wednesday, Nov 4th - BMT Section 16a-b - Sledrunner Gap to Hazelnut - Plans are to hike out from Beaverdam Bald first to Round Top to modify the blazes to the spring and then to hike to the campsite/water source in the gap NE of Hazelnut and also modify the blazes there as well. We are going to mark the trails to these sites with light blue diamonds. Contact Rick Harris, HarrisRi@aol.com

Thursday, Nov 5th - BMT Section 14a-14b - Signs on TN68. George Owen and Steve Biatowas plan to work on putting up signs for the BMT crossing of TN68.

Tuesday, Nov 10 - BMT Section 12b - Dry Pond Lead Trail Intersection to Kimsey Highway. We plan to log and brush out this section, especially the section near the intersection with the Dry Pond Lead Trail. Also we will repaint blazes. This area has become very overgrown and the blazes are not very obvious. Meet at Deep Gap where the power lines cross Kimsey Highway at 8AM. Contact Rick Harris or George Owen to sign up.

Thursday, Nov. 12^th – We plan to haul in two routed sign posts and install them at the intersections of Cold Springs Gap Trail /Brush Mountain and Cold Springs Gap Trail/ North Fork Citico. I am hoping that Bobby Mitchell might be available with his mule to haul these posts. Since we need to haul one of these posts for 1.5 miles on a hiking only trail, we will need a Forest Service employee in uniform to accompany us. If this doesn’t work out, we can haul these 4 x 6 posts in with human only power. The total walking distance is 3.2 miles one way with no significant elevation gain. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, Nov. 13th - BMT Section 12b - Drypond Lead Trail to Kimsey Highway. Rick Harris will go out and check on the condition of this section and may do some brushing out of the section outside of the wilderness.

Thursday, Nov. 19^th – We plan to haul in two routed sign posts and install them at the intersections of Cold Springs Gap Trail /Brush Mountain and Cold Springs Gap Trail/ North Fork Citico. I believe that Bobby Mitchell will be available with his mule to haul these posts. Since we need to haul one of these posts for 1.5 miles on a hiking only trail, we will need a Forest Service employee in uniform to accompany us. If this doesn’t work out, we can haul these 4 x 6 posts in with human only power. The total walking distance is 3.2 miles one way with no significant elevation gain. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Friday, Nov 20th - BMT Section 12b - Dry Pond Lead Trail to Kimsey Highway. Sul Sullivan, section maintainer, plans to clear some brush off his section.

Saturday, Nov 21st - BMT Section 11e - Thunder Rock Campground to FS45. Tom Waters, section maintainer, plans to go up and cut out branches from a tree blocking easy passage along the trail. We will later go back with chain saw to finish the job.

Monday, Nov 22nd - BMT Section 12b - Drypond Lead Trail to Kimsey Highway. KB Sullivan, section maintainer, plans to return to his section and do more clearing of the brush.

Tuesday, Nov 23rd - BMT Section 12b - Drypond Lead Trail to Kimsey Highway. KB Sullivan, section maintainer, and Rick Harris plan to return to his section and use a chain saw to remove some trees from across the trail. Contact Rick Harris at HarrisRi@aol.com

Sunday, Nov 29th - Unicoi Turnpike Trail - Marc Bernatti and Rick Harris will log out this 3 mile trail. Meet at the Coker Creek Visitor Center at 2PM.

Tuesday, Dec 1st - Brush Mountain Trail - Ken Jones plans to return to plant the trail post at the upper end of the Brush Mountain Trail.

Thursday, Dec 3rd - Cohutta Wilderness - For the work trip this coming Thursday, we will be doing something different and helping out on a Cohutta Wilderness Trail. This trail received a lot of wind damage at a point about 3 miles in from the trailhead. Take a look at the attached picture for an example of what it looks like. There will be a lot of hard crosscut saw work with some complex (dangerous) blowdowns. We will be meeting Jim Holland at the Cottonwood Patch Campground at 8 am. It is located 9 miles in from St. Clairs’ Store in Cisco. Turn east on GA Highway 2 off of US 411. We will also meet at the vacant lot at the intersection of US 411 and TN 30 at 7:30 am for the trip down. My only problem is that Thursday is my last potential jury duty day. I am hoping that in the Holiday Spirit, any potential defendants for that day will plead guilty!

If you plan to go on this work trip, please reply back to Ken Jones mkjones@comcast.net so that we can all know how many saw crews that we can provide.

Thursday, Dec. 10^th – SABCH Work Trip – Little Citico Horse Trail #3 – We will be digging the tread wider and chopping out roots along this short 1/3 mile segment of the trail. The work area starts only about 200 yards from the trailhead at the Citico Creek Bridge. Meet at the Ranger Station at 8 am or at the trailhead at 8:45 am. Please let us know if you will be meeting us at the trailhead so that we can bring extra tools and safety gear.

Thursday, Dec. 17^th – SABCH Work Trip – Mill Branch Trail – We will be working on re-grading the tread in areas where it has filled in and is too narrow. This work will be within the first mile from the trailhead with very little climbing. There will be only crossings of side streams involved, so we should be able to keep dry feet. If it is cold, we should be able to dig to stay warm. Meet at Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am.

Thursday, Dec 17th - BMT Section 17b - Betty Petty and Ralph Van Pelt plan to check out their section and do routine maintenance on their section.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Sunday, December 20 2009

Section 13c - Big Bend to Towee Creek on the John Muir Trail

Meet at 9AM at the Towee Creek Trailhead along the Hiwassee River in the back parking lot. Some will work from Towee Creek toward Big Bend and others will shuttle to Big Bend and work toward Towee Creek. We all will be brushing out the trail and meet at the center. We will also log out the trail. Also, we may need to touch up some of the blazes. Contact Rick Harris at 423-253-6358 (home), 513-260-1184 (cell) or HarrisRi@aol.com. We also may go work on BMT Sections 12c and 12d if time.

Monday, December 21, 2009: Coker Creek Falls Area, BMT Section 13e - Marc Bernatti and other Coker Creek Ruritans Plans to clear trees from the Coker Creek Falls parking lot and the campsite at the BMT Crossing.

TN/NC BMTA WORK TRIP

Tuesday, December 22 2009

Section 12c-d - Kimsey Highway to Lost Creek

Since we finished off BMT section13c on Sunday and actually got some work done on section 12d, we will return to Section 12c and 12d to work on clearing blowdowns and brushing out. We plan to meet at the McFarland Road Crossing at 9AM or at the Webb Bros store in Reliance at 8:30 AM. Afterwards we will go out to eat again, probably either the Vine Restaurant on US411 north of Benton or at Michael's Italian Restaurant in Etowah. Contact Rick Harris at 423-253-6358 (home), 513-260-1184 (cell) or HarrisRi@aol.com.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009: BMT Section 12d - McFarland Rd to Lost Creek - Bill Lundin plans to repaint blazes on his section

Thursday, December 31, 2009: New Years Eve – SABCH Work Trip – Mill Branch Trail Maintenance – We will be continuing our tread work from the spot where we quit, about 0.7 miles in from the trailhead. For this trip we will need to cross Mill Branch at a spot that is normally a dry foot crossing with water proof boots. Who knows what it will be like with all the rain (plus snow melt) we have been getting. Meet at the Tellico Ranger Station at 8 am for the work trip.