Saturday, March 31 Nine workers met at Hardees on a blustery, still-winter day. Because of early morning fog on Camp Creek Bald, the group worked until noon on the Paint Mountain Trail in Paint Creek. The afternoon was spent blazing, trimming rhodo and removing blowdowns from our adopted section of the Appalachian Trail.

Sunday, March 25 Nine members turned up to go to Bays Mountain, close to Kingsport. It was a sunny but cold and windy afternoon especially close to the lake. After a two and a half mile hike around the Lakeshore Trail, we had a short visit with the wolves, otters and bobcats, then took in the show in the planetarium which was as impressive as ever.

Saturday, March 24 There were ten hikers that started up Big Branch Manway in the Smokies but three members returned to help out another of the hikers who had problems with dehydration. The group of six that continued up Big Branch hit squishy, sticky snow at 3500 feet which made the hike a very strenuous experience. The other group, after a short period of rest and hydration, hiked about six miles on the Baxter Creek Trail.

Sunday, March 18 Eight Club Members drove to Camp Creek Bald on Sunday afternoon to check out the Club's section of the Appalachian Trail and do some light trail maintenance. This section is now is pretty good shape for the coming onslaught of thru-hikers.

Saturday, March 17 Six Club Members drove to Damascus, Va. and rode their bicycles to Abingdon and back for a total of 35 miles. The day started out overcast and dreary and remained that way. Even the restaurant was cold at lunch.

Saturday, March 17 Several club members participated in the cleanup of Richland Creek and several other creeks in town on Saturday morning. The Greeneville Hiking Club found the most unique pice of garbage: a satellite dish.

Sunday, March 11 Fifteen Club Members turned out on a very chilly but sunny morning to climb up to Big Butt on Cold Springs Mountain. We left Horse Creek on the Turkeypen Cove Trail and hiked past the overlook to the junction with the Middle Springs Ridge Trail. Four hikers opted for the LiteHike and returned to the trailhead at this point. The rest of the group then took a jeep road which was in great condition past the helicopter pad to the summit. We hit snow about three fourth of the way up and had several inches on the ground at the top. We discovered an overhanging rock which offered a great view and made a perfect spot for lunch. After bushwhacking through the heath balds, which also had spectacular views, we intersected the AT, on which we hiked south to the junction of the Sarvis Cove Trail. We descended on the Sarvis Cove, Poplar Cove Trails and the Colds Springs Mountain jeep road.

Saturday, March 10 We couldn't make it up to Camp Creek Bald due to road conditions, so 7 workers opted to hike in Hot Springs on Roundtop Ridge to the Rich Mountain Tower and down the AT to Tanyard Gap.

Saturday, March 3 On a dreary, drizzly day, five members hiked the Huskey Gap, Little River and Cucumber Gap trails from Sugarlands to Elkmont in the Smokies, for a total of about eleven miles.

Thursday, March 1 Seven people helped Denise Ashworth with the planting of Chestnut Trees on the burned out section of Greene Mountain.

Sunday, February 25 Even though it was pouring rain in the morning, six members showed up for the seven mile, moderate hike on Buffalo Mountain close to Johnson City. They were rewarded when the skies cleared and the sun came out making for a wonderful hiking experience. The views of Washington and Unicoi Counties from the two overlooks were outstanding.

Saturday, February 17 Nine club members turned out for the hike to the Mt. Cammerer Fire Tower. The group ascended from The Cosby Campground on the Low Gap and Appalachian Trails, then took the spur trail to the Tower. At the top the thermometer was barely in the twenties, with a very brisk wind driving the chill factor down to near zero. We hit snow at about 3500 feet and had several inches at the tower. The clouds lifted during lunch and the sunshine, along with the snow and hoar frost made the descent down Groundhog Ridge breathtaking. This manway drops over two thousand feet in less than two miles giving the effect of a ski jump. We returned to the campground via the Lower Mt. Cammerer with several challenging creek crossings after the recent rains.

Saturday, February 10 There were eight club members and two special four-legged guests for the hike in Greystone. The day was cold and dreary but the group found the Phillips Hollow and Artie Hollow Trails in great shape, newly blazed and cleared. The only problems were the blowdowns on the Davis Creek Trail between the Shelton Mission Road and the first creek crossing.

. Sunday, February 4 On a beautiful, sunny afternoon we had a terrific turnout of 22 persons for the hike on the Laurel River close to Hot Springs, N.C. We developed Plans "A", "B" and "C", by splitting up into three groups with different routes all ending at the same destination. Many of us drove to the "Shack" in Del Rio for a great meal after the hike.

Saturday, February 3 We had eight members who went in the cave in Mosheim, plus one sane person who remained in the van. It was a great trip if crawling in mud and wading in knee deep, cold water turns you on! After being temporarily disoriented a few times, we finally emerged from the cave, covered in muck, only two hours later than expected. Most of us plan on returning sometime during the next millenium.

Saturday, January 27 We had nine club members and one guest from Loudon, Tennessee for this hike that started in Elkmont in the Smokies. We began on the Meigs Mountain Trail, hiked it to Upper Buckhorn Gap, then took the Meigs Mountain Road, an un-maintained trail, with seemingly hundreds of blowdowns, to connect with the Middle Prong Trail. After an invigorating ford of the Little River, we hiked four miles down the Tremont Road (which was closed for the winter) to the Institute and ended up covering about 13 miles.

Sunday, January 21 Snow and closed roads again kept the seven hikers in attendance from hiking the Road Prong Trail. Instead we did a loop from the Sugarlands Visitor Center on the Old Sugarlands Trail, Twin Creek Trail and Gatlinburg Trail for a total of 8 or 9 miles. The snowfall and sunny conditions made for a beautiful outing.

Saturday, January 13 Ten persons from Greeneville were in attendance at the Wildlife Wilderness Week exhibition in Pigeon Forge. We saw programs on Bears, Hummingbirds, Raptors and folk music but the highlight of the day was Bill Landry, of the Heartland Series, who gave a video presentation about the Cherokee Indians.

Sunday, January 7 Nineteen Club Member showed up for the hike to Laurel Creek Falls in Hampton but we decided to go to Rock Creek Falls in Erwin instead because of slippery road conditions. This was a very invigorating six mile return hike with over six inches of snow on the ground at the top. The Falls was frozen over as were several banks of icycles which resembled stalagmites and stalactites found in a cave.

Saturday, January 6 There were six hikers on the Mystery Hike to the Smokies. We started in Tremont and hiked the West Prong Trail to the junction with the Bote Mountain and Finley Cane Trails and back. We visited a cemetery close to Tremont, then took a short, but steep hike to Spruce Flats Falls, which was frozen over and very impressive.

Monday, January 1 Twelve club members braved the cold and forecast of snow but we couldn't overcome the ice on the Shelton Mission Road and had to move the New Year's Day hike from Margarette Falls to Persimmon Ridge in Jonesborough. The weather held and the hike went without a hitch although the ones who ate at the Cracker Barrel did experience a mini-blizzard on their return to Greeneville.