Camping / Christmas Lights at James Island County Park - November 11-13

We are considering reserving the climbing wall or booking the "challenge course".  Another possibility is the "Charleston Freedom Trail" which is a sort of scavenger hunt / walking tour of historic Charleston.  Please let Ronnie know your preference as soon as possible!

Please contact Ronnie as soon as possible if you are camping - we will be paying in advance and they will *mail* us the passes so we can get in Friday night with a minimum of fuss (and not pay admission).  But... you must let Ronnie know first.

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We did it! 

Trail : http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=202888110398211134349.0004b1b1d23506f57211e

Pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/103868908476097872378/TrailblazersOnTheCharlestonFreedomTrail#

Camping at Lynches River County Park - October 21-23

Joe and Kurush are hosting.  Per Joe :

 

The October Trailblazer outing will be a camping trip to Lynches River County Park in Florence County http://lynchesriverpark.com. The dates are Friday October 21 thru Sunday October 23. The campsites are $8 per night with up to 4 tents per site. I have sites reserved, but need to get a more firm headcount. Please let Joe know if you plan on attending and how many people by Friday, October 7.

Activities :

• Archery - the park has a range and we are borrowing bows and arrows from the Lexington YMCA
• Canoeing - we will bring a trailer load of canoes - make sure you e-mail Scott if you are interested, have your own equipment, etc.

 Since we are camping in October, we thought we would go with a little Oktoberfest German theme:


Menu:

Friday night – Dinner on your own / something to grill

Saturday Breakfast: Rolls, cold cuts, oatmeal, fruit

Saturday Lunch: Sandwiches, soup, fruit

Saturday Dinner: Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, Spaetzle, apple strudel

Sunday Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bacon, little smokies, fruit

 

All: Snacks to share, drinks

 

Madge:

Spaetzle, Mustard, ½ gal. Juice, 1 doz. Kaiser rolls, 1 loaf bread, 1 lb ham, 1 lb salami, 1 can clam chowder soup, 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 can sauerkraut, 2 boxes pre-cooked bacon, spray butter, apple strudel, 1 lb turkey

 

Udwadia:

horseradish mayo, ½ gal milk, 1 lb ham, 1 doz. Kaiser rolls, 1 loaf bread, 1 lb salami, 1 lb pastrami, 2 sticks butter, 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 can sauerkraut, 2 rolls paper towels

 

Broam:

½ gal juice, 1 lb salami, swiss cheese (32 slices), spicy mustard, 1 loaf bread, 1 lb pastrami, 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 pack hot dogs, 1 doz. Eggs, 2 boxes pre-cooked bacon, apples

 

Dawkins:

ketchup, ½ gal milk, 1 lb salami, 1 doz Kaiser rolls, 1 bunch bananas, 1 loaf bread, 2 cans clam chowder soup (New England), 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 pack hot dog buns, 1 box pre-cooked bacon

 

Wigley:

½ gal juice, 1 lb sliced pepperoni, American cheese (32 slices), 1 bunch bananas, 1 loaf bread, 2 cans clam chowder soup (New England), 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 pack hot dog buns, 1 doz. Eggs, 1 lb little smokies, plastic utensils

 

Collier:

½ gal. milk, 1 lb sliced pepperoni, 1 bottle spray butter, 1 jar mayo, 1 box instant oatmeal (10 pack), apples, 1 loaf bread, 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 pack hot dog buns, 1 lb little smokies, plastic cups

 

Hart:

Coffee, creamer, sugar, ½ gal milk, 1 lb ham, 1 box instant oatmeal (10 pack) 1 jar peanut butter, 1 jar jelly, 1 pack bratwurst (5), 1 pack hd buns, 1 doz. eggs, 1 lb. ham paper plates

 

Directions
We will be at the Lynches River County Park http://lynchesriverpark.com/

 

1110 Ben Gause Road

Coward, SC 29530

 

Joe is working on the full directions from Columbia, but here are the details from Florence:

 

From Florence: Take US 52 south for 12 miles, take the first right past the Lynches River Bridge onto Old Number 4. Go 2 miles and turn right onto County Park Road.

 

DO NOT depend on Map Quest, Google Maps or GPS units for driving directions. These sources often provide alternate routes to the park, which may not be accurate.

[Looks like it is about 2 hours from Lexington]

Scottish Games - September 17

Day trip - Broams, Dawkins, Himes, Wigleys

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#