ETSU Students' Appalachian Trail Maintenance Trips
Spring 2007: Saturdays, March 24 and April 21, 9am-3:30pm

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Note: Saturday March trail trip is ON. Weather will be great! -- KOD Fri 3/23 8pm

What:
- ETSU students are helping to build a new section of the Appalachian Trail at Iron Mountain Gap, 20 miles from campus.

- Members of the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club (TEHCC) are coordinating the work.

- The new trail section replaces a poorly-graded older section, as part a long term plan to improve the AT in our area.

When and Where:
- Saturdays, March 24 and April 21

- 9am - 3:30pm

- in the parking lot for Discount Liquors, on the southeast corner of the intersection of University Parkway and South Roan Street, in Johnson City.  (NOT the One Stop, but rather the place across the street. Enter the lot by Hardees and drive back around behind Discount Liquors.) 

- We'll carpool to the trailhead where hwy 107 crosses the A.T., at the TN/NC state line, above Limestone Cove, outside the town of Unicoi, TN.

- We'll return to the lot by 3:30pm. 

What to Bring:

- Good hiking shoes or boots. Be ready to hike a mile of mountain trail to the site.
- Water -- at least a liter or so-- and a packed lunch. 
- Layered clothing.  It can get cold in the mountains, even in April! 
- A car, if you can drive others, or a couple of dollars for gas money. 

In Case of Severe Weather:
If a trip is to be cancelled because of weather, that decision will be made by 6pm on the friday before the trip. Check the environmental studies website for an announcement: <www.etsu.edu/environmentalstudies/>

Contact:

Kevin O'Donnell, professor of English and director of the Environmental Studies minor: odonnell@etsu.edu, 423 439-6679.

About the AT and TEHCC:
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT, for short) is a continuous footpath that runs for more than 2,200 miles, from Georgia to Maine. The trail is maintained entirely by volunteers. The Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club coordinates the maintenance of 132 miles of the trail -- including some of the roughest segments on the entire trail! -- in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. 

Pics from Nov 11 2006:

A nice new section of trail!

Tim uses a pickaxe to take out a root.

Heather and Jamie from Alpha Phi Omega,

the co-ed service fraternity on campus.

Grace, on lunch break.

Mike, almost ready to get back to work.

Johnson City through-hiker, "Beer Poet"

GA>ME 2001, Mexico>Canada 2005

Ed Oliver, TEHCC

Bob Peoples, TEHCC, owner of Kincorra Hostel, Carter County TN