[at-l] FYI - Benton MacKaye Trail / Ya'll come!!! (purty darn long)

[shellydhale at earthlink.net (Shelly Hale)]

The following is from the 
Hiwassee Hiking Club
Athens, TN
January 2004 Special Edition Newsletter...Please read.

Quote
    The Benton MacKaye Trail Association (BMTA) received a very special holiday gift when in mid-December 2003 the U.S. Forest Service approved the 85-mile extension of the footpath through the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests.  The approval of these two forests in Tennessee and North Carolina will almost double the length of the existing trail.  The new route will pass through three wildernesses; Little Frog and Citico in Tennessee, and Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock in North Carolina.  Eventually the extension will hook to the Appalachian Trail in the southeastern part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, providing a 400-plus-miles great southern trail loop, Spring to the Smokies and return.  When ended at Davenport Gap back into the Appalachian  Trail again, the two footpaths would form a complete figure-eight from the two southern termini atop Springer Mountain.
    The first volunteer work crew began clearing trail immediately following the signing of the Cherokee decision notice:  On December 23 a crew completely opened a mile in the remote Bald River drainage area.  BMTA Construction Director Ken Jones of Tennessee has set a goal of trail completion for the 85-mile segment for about December 2005.  However, Ken notes that "this is not a race to the finish line.  The most important facts are safety of the workers and building a quality trail that will help minimize future maintenance needs."  Part of the route will be new construction; part is on existing trails that will be upgraded and linked to the Benton MacKaye route.  Several construction trips every month on the new route ware now being planned by the BMTA.  These all-volunteer trail crews have already had much practice maintaining several existing trails on the proposed route for some years.
    The new trail route will provide a significant amount of variation of terrain and elevation as it winds through some less accessible areas of the Southern Appalachians.  In this 85-mile extension the trail will vary in elevation from just over 1,000 feet as it crosses three rivers (Ocoee, Hiwassee, Little Tennessee) to just over 5,000 feet in the Little Haw Knob area south of the Cherohala Scenic Highway before entering the Citico Wilderness.  (The entire trail's highest point, when completed in the Smokies, will eventually be 5,843 feet atop Mount Sterling in the northeastern part of the park.)  Because of this new trail route's general remoteness it has sometimes been described as "what the Appalachian Trail was fifty years ago!"
    The BMTA invites hiking clubs to begin planning hikes on the Benton MacKaye Trail in Tennessee and North Carolina in the years ahead as sections are completed.  you may desire to keep track of the new trail extension's progress on the website:  www.bmta.org Maps are available online or hard copies can be ordered.

MAINTENANCE OPPORTUNITIES

February 7 - BMT Extension Construction (TN/NC) Work Trip.  We will be starting the first of the monthly construction trips at the point where the new trail route crosses Kimsey Highway (FDR 68).  This trip will be sidehill tread construction.  We will meet at the Ducktown Hardees for breakfast at 8:15 am.  This Hardees is located on US 64 just West of the intersection with TN Highway 68.  Contact the trip leader Ken Jones at mkjones@comcast.net or 423-745-2451 if you need further directions or information about the trip.

February 13 - BMT Extension Construction (TN/NC) Work Trip.  This work trip will be sidehill construction starting at Deep Gap on Kimsey Highway and working north.  We will meet at the Ducktown Hardees at 8:15 am.  Contact the trip leader, Ken Jones at mkjones@comcast.net or 423-745-2451 if you need further directions or information about the trip.

UNQUOTE

Shelly Hale


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