August 20-21 - Whitewater Rafting

Broams and McGregors to host. 

 

Rafting

I made a reservation for 15 with the NOC.  $35/ea.  Time 3:45, arrive 1/2 hour ahead, so 3:15.  Total time 2 1/2 hours. 

Location :
  3420 Hartford Rd, Cherokee National Forest, Hartford, TN 37753
  Lat Long : 35.819108, -83.156823

 

From Asheville, NC - (approximately 55 miles) Take I-40 West towards Knoxville. Eight miles after the NC/TN state line, take Exit 447 (Hartford Rd). At the bottom of the ramp, turn left and go under I-40. Then turn right onto Hartford Rd. Drive 1/4 mile and turn left at the NOC sign, just as the road starts to bend left. Follow the gravel driveway to our Pigeon River Outpost. Welcome!

 

Hiking
As an additional activity, I'm proposing a hike to "Max Patch" - this is a short hike to a beautiful "bald" on the Appalachian Trail.

 

http://www.trailbehind.com/Max%20Patch%20Mountain/  

 

Camping - ** change in plans **
As we are rafting later and driving around in the mountains with darkness approaching and hungry kids in the car isn't my idea of fun, I found something closer that was *reservable*.  We have a group site (#2) in the Cosby Campground in the GSMNP.   :
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/Cosby_Campground_Tn/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70960&topTabIndex=CampingSpot

 

Note :

• $26/night for *all* of us - that's less than $2/head!
• They do say a max of 5 cars so we may need to park a couple of cars elsewhere  
• ** Don't bring firewood!! ** there are new rules about bringing in wood...
• Shirin - the bathrooms will be nicer...

Itinerary

I'm proposing the following : 

• leave *Saturday* morning
• raft mid / late afternoon
• camp at Cosby
• hike to Max Patch Sunday morning
• head home

July 29-31 - Virginia Creeper Trail

Thomas' and Dawkins hosting.   We rode bikes on this "rails to trails" trail a couple of years ago - it was great.

From Clark :

Here is some information on the campsite and bike rentals for the upcoming trip.


Campground: Creeper Trail Campground http://www.creepertrailcampground.com/

It's located at the top of the Virginia Creeper trail and it's a Christmas tree farm as well. They have a primitive area (field) and camp sites available where we can set up a few tents per site. The cost is the same for either at $5 per head per night. We can choose where we stay when we get there. The camp site area has trees if you want to hang a hammock.

The nice thing about the location is that we don't have to pay for shuttle service if we leave a few vehicles at the bottom to carry our bikes back up when done. I have a trailer that will hold 10 or so bikes. However, if you want to rent a bike and take the shuttle, we can easily coordinate the timing with the group. The campground also has about 50 bikes to rent at $15/day but they don't have a shuttle service.

The campground appears to have a good bit to offer - check out the website. Late arrivals won't be a problem since they don't lock the entrance gate.

The last time we used the following outfit for bike rentals & shuttle service: www.adventuredamascus.com/ They did a great job and we can use them again. Click on the link for pricing and details. They have hourly shuttle service and will drop us off within walking distance of the campground.


Date: July 29 - 31

Campground address: 2238 Whitetop Gap Road, Whitetop, VA (276) 388-3426

Travel time: about 4 hours

Va Creeper Trail info: www.vacreepertrail.com/

If you have not been before, the trail is very nice with neat things to see. The very gradual downhill grade makes the biking very easy.

We have about 30 attending so far. Ronnie will work up a food list a little later.

It's going to be a fun trip! Looking forward to seeing you there!!


Clark Thomas

June 17-19 Chau-Ram County Park Outing

We will be camping at the "Original Long Creek Campground" (this is where we camped on last Summer's zip line trip) with the activity being a day trip to Chau-Ram Country Park (where a lot of folks went last year, too).

Camping
Directions coming soon.
Note that this is a rustic campground with a privy toilet (outhouse), picnic shelter, primitive showers, and a number of smallish wooded campsites.  This is a great place to hammock camp as a number of us did last year.

Chau-Ram County Park
This is about 15 minutes away and is at the junction of the Chauga River and Ramsey Creek.  It's a really nice park and the creek/river are a lot of fun to play in.  There is camping here, but it was not suitable for planning a group trip (i.e. no reservations).

Other Activities
There are a lot of hiking opportunities, including lots of waterfalls.  The Chattooga River is nearby, too, offering canoeing / kayaking.

May 13-15 Y Indian Longhouse

The Trailblazers will be hosting an activity, a "watermelon race" from 1:00-1:45 on Saturday.  We are also invited to participate in the Pinewood Derby on Sunday.

Pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/YIndiansSpringLonghouse2011#

April 30th - Air Show in Beaufort

The Himes and Broams were able to make this trip - pictures here :

https://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/TrailblazersAt2011MCASBeaufortAirShow

April 8-9 Relay for Life in Lexington

For our April outing, the Trailblazers will be participating in the Lexington Relay for Life on April 8-9. We would like to invite all Indian Princess, Indian Guides and their families to participate with us! This event raises money for the American Cancer Society.

We will have shelters and in true Trailblazer tradition, plenty of food at the relay for participants! Moms, siblings and friends are also invited!

If you would like to participate you can register online at
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11SA?pg=entry&fr_id=33081
sign up for team YMCA Trailblazers.

Ronnie will be sending out more information shortly, but feel free to contact him if you have any questions. Also if you own or work for a business who would like to be a sponsor please let him know. There are different corporate sponsorship amounts and would get you banners displayed at the event, your company name on the participant t-shirts, etc availabel at different sponsor levels.

Please come out and participate! If you cannot you can still register as a team member and for the $10 you will get a participant t-shirt. If you would rather not register how about donating to one of our team members!


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Pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/TrailblazersAt2011RelayForLife#

March 12th - Cowboy Action Shooting outing

Ronnie's friends in the Palmetto Posse, an affiliate of the Single Action Shooting Society, have offered to host an event where we can sample the sport of "Cowboy Action Shooting".  This will be 2-4(ish) on the afternoon of Sunday, March 13th.  To give you an idea of what this is about, here are pictures from a previous Trailblazer outing :

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/TrailblazersAtCowboyShoot
And from an event I attended with Ronnie :
http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/SASSJuly5th2008

There will be a nominal cost to cover ammunition.

Directions to Mid Carolina Rifle Club


Mid-Carolina Rifle Club (MCRC) is an outdoor shooting range located about 2 miles south of the towns of South Congaree and Pineridge.

 Street address is 3435 Fish Hatchery Rd
                         Gaston, SC 29053


From I-26 East
Coming from Greenville-Spartanburg area or I-20 East to I-26 East Take exit 115 and take a right off the exit ramp (toward Swansea). At the traffic light at the top of the hill take a right onto Fish Hatchery Road. After about 5 miles, you will come to a stop sign, and a road sign that indicates Busbee Rd to the left, and Fish Hatchery Rd to the right. Turn Right. Once you pass Forest Manor Mobile Home Park, look for a dirt road to the left.

From I-77 South Coming from Charlotte or I-20 West (Exit 76) to I-77 South As you approach the I-77 and I-26 interchange, you will see a sign for Exit 1 (Cayce). Exit here (before getting to I-26). At the end of the exit ramp, at the traffic light, proceed straight onto Fish Hatchery Road. After about 5 miles, you will come to a stop sign, and a road sign that indicates Busbee Rd to the left, and Fish Hatchery Rd to the right. Turn Right. Once you pass Forest Manor Mobile Home Park, look for a dirt road to the left.
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Pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/scott.broam/TrailblazersAtCowboyShoot2011#