Bowater trail/Piney River 01/02

“Noodle's & I are planning to go the either the 18th or 25th to a Bowater trail called Piney River...
Going in Friday coming out Sunday-
Short hike-but some neat things to see including a 100' suspension bridge.
Anybody interested? More details to follow...”

“18th is Linville Gorge as I recall.. not sure about the 25th..

I can't go the 18th tho.. for sure.. anniversary.. but otherwise.. might drag down early and dayhike it with ya.”

“10 mile 1 way trip with two trailheads- lots of bridges the hike is a piece of cake-
Near Spring City Tn.
Hwy 27 to Spring City-Hwy 68 to Shut In Gap Rd (about 1 1/2 miles)-1st parking area is well marked with a picnic/day use area- If in 2 vehicles head up Shut In Gap about five more miles and park at Newby Branch Forest Camp to walk back to Trail Head #1.
There is only one designated campsite on the trail about 1/2 way from either end-but I have stayed out of bounds when the need
has arisen- We have run into a Boy Scout Troop with about 50 or so a couple times.
While far from awe inspiring, the trail is a sweet little run-lots of water and bridges on the trail.Old narrow guage railroad lines and what I call Big Bridge- the 100' wooden suspension bridge that crosses the river at 4.4 miles-
A great trail description is listed in the Tag-Along guide-
Tennessee's South Cumberland by Russ Manning & Sondra Jamieson
ISBN #0-9625122-7-3 Published by
Mountain Laurel Press”

“Whats some advice on getting into the Boy Scouts for a 16 year old. A co-ed group that goes hiking all the time. And you don't have to earn your right to carry a knife.”

“brndon-I'm not sure what you want to know?
By the way-have you done your homework yet?”

“I was wondering who I could call to join a venture crew or something like that. The ones that go backpacking almost every weekend. I live in Bradley County.

I always have homework.”

“Boy Scouts of America
6031 Lee Hwy
Chattanooga, TN 37421-2991
Phone: (423)892-8323

Call or Visit BSA Now! *smirk*”

“You might contact Tennesse Trails-
The best thing might be to just watch this message board and the one at Backpacker Magazine.
Don't be afraid to make a post about a trail or site you would like to go to--the folks here will advise you about the place you want to go. Please use caution when when going with people you don't know-The world is full of scumbags-
My thinking about hiking/camping is that you just go...hike a hill or stream bed and learn as you go. It may sound a bit conservative in comparison to some of the adventures that these folks talk about,if you are like I was as a teenager the money some of these trips can cost is out of the question- Take some buddies and split the cost of gas-
You don't have the best of gear beyond a good sleeping bag/pad/and a pair of good boots to enjoy the woods-
Maybe one guys has a tent-another has a good stove- Fuel is cheap as are fuel bottles-the idea here is teamwork-
You will learn the things about packing your pack and firestarting like the rest of have the hard way-
It will make backpacking & camping much more enjoyable for you when you reach the age a lot of have.
Use caution and moderation- watch the weather report.
Boil your water if you don't have a filter-let it boil for a few minutes to kill the beasties.
MOST OF ALL- have fun and remember
"Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints"”

“There is nothing wrong with the Boy Scouts--if you have not already
give them try- Badges don't mean a thing-and you can hide your knife.
Hey I hear they "camp" in ROTC too..
I think Leatherneck is scout leader,have you "talked to him?”

“I've already talked with the Tennessee Trails and they don't go as much as i want to, but i haven't contacted the Boy Scouts. AS far as gear goes I have a Dana Design 4200ci backpack, an Extream Water Purifier, a Primus Yellowstone Lite Trail Stove, a 2 liter platypus and a Chinook 15 degree sleeping bag. I loved backpacking as soon as I realized what it really was. I find it more interesting staying gone for a weekend rather than just a few hours. Isn't the ROTC a juevinile deliquent camp??”

“Sounds like a hoot JOSH MAN but I got a trip the weekend before and one after. Susan would kill me if I tried to do 3 in a row.

It is a beautiful area to hike for those of yall considering going.”

“brndon-
I apologize for assuming you were a newbie-
I think another thing you might consider doing is offering to help with a scout troop-you could be the one handing out the badges.
I considered doing this once but the FBI background check...well...
Anyway-
You sound like you could be running
the ROTC class-I remember there were some real low brows-but you can learn some things-Tolerance for the less fortunate-Map/compass skills,they usually have a rifle team-do some climbing things like that. It is also a good way to get money for college and some good easy credits once you get in.
I don't work for ROTC by the way-”

“Walkindude-wish you could-the Towndawg says he may visit Saturday if we go the 25th-some sissy excuse about a wedding anniversary, are you on the Linville Gorge trip?”

“joshman: LMAO.. you are just paying me back for that phone call to your wife. :)

brndon: Tennessee Trails goes somewhere EVERY week, and multiple locations.

Tennessee Trails Association

I think what you really meant was that they tend to do ONLY dayhikes. That's why folks like me and a few others are starting to list BP trips now. For the most part, older than you tho. If you want folks your age, go hook up with Chattanooga at the college/community level.

Chattanooga Hiking Club

Make a visit to UTC Recreation/Hiking as well. A lot of colleges have really active clubs that go all sorts of good places. ('sides, you get to hang out with college hotties, brndon!)”

“I'll look into that Chattanooga Hiking Club, its seems like fun. Yea thats what i meant about the TTA doing just dayhikes. I would'nt mind going to some college and doing stuff with them since you mentioned that about the college hotties. Course I would hate to ruin it for all the older college guys!”

“Ok looks like the 18th-20th at his point-3 for sures/most likelys...with 3 more maybes. Most are pretty new to packing.
All guys so far-”

“I'm going BPing for 4 days the second weekend (LBL) and 3 days the forth weekend (Arkansas). Susan don't like it much when I go two or three weekends in a row. Gotta keep the lady happy.
Wish I could make it though. I like Piney River.”

“brndon
I'm in the Murfreesboro Chapter of the TTA. I don't hike with the TTA because it seems ALL they do is take little dayhikes. This is the place to hook up with backpacking trips.”

“Hey Dude-
I'm probably passing on old news to you, but the weirdest thing about some of the rocks at LBL--
Get them too hot and you get little lava bombs flying around-You could put an eye out.
Ruined a coat and a pack there cause of it.”

“WTF?”

“Stayed there a few years back= had a site right on the water-very ,very,cold night- A crew of 5-6 piling on the wood to the fire- when just as it got to be a cod roaster-We started to think that the wood was popping sparks on us- well- no big deal- it continued to shoot these missiles out when somebody actually saw one of the fire ring rocks "break" and one got him in the hair- The only thing we could think of was that the rocks may have been porous enough to hold water-and when they heated up Kaboom.
Good thing it was before fleece was popular.
Looked like plain old rocks-”

“I ain't ever seen anything like that!”

“Only time I've ever seen it.”

“LOL, we've got special rocks here!! I've actually had one do that too. Sandstone, and you're right JoshMan..they hold moisture.”

“Hey bp- see the post about Towndawgs call to the house?

If you make it to see Mtnsteve say hey for me!”

“joshman -- again, sorry about my phone call.. hehe.. oh well.. could have been worse ehh?..

I wont tell her about.. (oh sorry.. I promised to be the new me.)”

“Sure now he is sorry!!Tis ok td-
She loves me!”

“JoshMan - so she never mentions ME anymore?.. *ducks*”

“She did say you were a
Dickie Do Award Winner-”

“Something about your belly sticks out further past your belt than...



your dickie do.....”

“Looks like weekend begining 01/25 now--lots of schedule conflicts.”

“OK pretty positive-1/25-through 1/27 now- 6 on baord at present.”

“Here ya go Prowler---”

“still thinking I may go.. if I don't get a better offer.. heehee.

Reese Witherspoon left a message on my machine at work.. said she wanted to hike with me sometime.”