THE thread.

“:)

NOTE: I don't claim to be organizing this trip.. but I wanted to at least get it on the calendar somewhere. The final date is not set in concrete -- it could be one week earlier, or one week later.

More to come from Trip Organizers as soon as details are set.

:)”

“The final date is not set in concrete -- though some of the participants should be, <G>”

“yo CGhiker / Barb - you going to be at this one?

there is a nice campsite, Martins Fork, about 12 miles in - is this where it is going to be ...... j/k”

“Looky there, TownDawg IS trainable.
This thread is linked to the trip page. ;)”

“HOI: yes.. exactly. This one is a TRUE backpack trip.”

“The 13th is a holiday. If the TC3 moves up a week, more may be able to come.”

“i didnt say the 13th.”

“I was gonna bring a bushel of oysters, but if we are really backpacking I guess I'll have to leave my tent and bag at home to conserve space and weight. ;)”

“lol./. there are several ways to get to Martins fork.. some are as short as about 3 miles.. but hey.. prolly wont tell u which those are.. :)”

“hooommmmmmmm hooooooooommmmmmmmmm...

we'll see its a long a$$ humpin drive...thanks for makin it even longer.”

“This is soooooooo weird. I was writing a column ghost towns I'd visited yesterday morning. I've been to Cumberland Gap and found out about Hensley Settlement. It's been tops on my "to visit" list of ghost towns since.

So where is Martin's Fork in relationship to Hensley Settlement?”

“Don't know what my schedule will be for sure that far ahead, but as it stands now I will be available 5 days (10-14 of Oct.)and want to go. Put me down as a definite maybe.”

“Hey lizs, there's a PDF map at the NPS site for Cumberland Gap. It looks like the Hensley Settlement and Martin's Fork are pretty close.

I may or may not be able to come. It depends on things like, exactly when it is, and does it conflict with our planned trip to DisneyWorld (sigh)...”

“pitbusher, we went there 2 years ago. i thought it was gonna suck but we had a GREAT time! it went by way too fast, but i absolutely loved it. our youngest boy is getting old enough to appreciate it so we're prolly gonna go again soon.”

“Well I think that there is limited parking sort of close to Hensley Settlement and if you take the back way it probably would only be about two or three miles and one creek crossing (ie where you get water) to get there. Of course if you have a horse then you are all set to pack in all sorts of goodies (grin) - a nice corral for the horses at Martin's Fork campsite. One thing I wonder at however is whether the rangers are going to permit a crowd at the campsite - since you have to get a backcountry permit from them that specifies where one is camping (established campsites with privies only) they may balk at having a lot of people at the same campsite at the same time. I found the privies rather remarkable also - I still wonder what those BFBs were that were covering the walls - it was too much for me, I went and dug a cathole instead.”

“BFBs??

Hey, do you know more about this than the rest of us, HOI? Towndawg did not say for sure that Martin's Fork is where it would be.

You said you were "j/k" when you mentioned Martin's Fork, and then Towndawg just played along.

I remember when I was there,looking at the maps, figuring out that back way in from the north to Hensley. Perfect time for a 4 WD or mountain bike (well, a long haul UP with a mt. bike)

BTW, Cumberland Gap NHP was innovative a few years back in that it was allowing the creation of mountain bike trails in a national park facility. They were highlighted during an International Mt. Bike Association convention, which is why the person I was traveling with was there. I didn't go on the trails (opted for a day trip to GSMNP instead), but I think the mt. bike trails were around and above the tunnel through the Gap.”

“look at my webpage, liz.. The site is Martins Fork.”

“k... link, please? Thanks.”

“Click on Towndawg's name on his last post that will take you to his profile. Web site is listed there.”

“stumprider.... friend forever!!!

It'd be cool if you move here... I can show you all kinds of cool stuff around here... if'n the wifey lets you go outside and play.

lol”

“I keep looking in the mailbox to see if there is a thin envelope or a thick one. But in the mean time I'm still sending out apps. Churning out 3 more this weekend.

By the way, 'wifey' likes to go out and play, too! That's why I married her. Our first 'date' was a day hike.”

“coooooooooool!!!”

“the BFBs were Big "Forking" Bugs and there were a crapper full of them in every privy I checked except one in CG NHP.

As to Martins Fork - I camped there for a couple days about 8 months ago - explored the area around Hensley Settlement while trying to get my head back together about being layed off.

As to my guess about Martin's Fork - well it is about the only really good campsite in CUGA so I threw it out as a SWAG / joke as to where the TC3 would be and somehow I managed to guess the right campsite.”

“BFB's

the reason I won't use the Peck's Corner privy after thaw. (shiver)eeew!”

“Just called the park headguarters and talked to a ranger. You can drive up Brownie Creek Primitive Road to within 4 miles of Martins Fork CG. The rest of the road is impassable unless you have a 4x4 with very high clearance. I am going to try to visit the area next week (3/15-16) to scout it out first. Let me know if anyone wants to meet there.”

“I will probably jump in on a for sure once the date is set...
and hey folks hyway is not joking about bringing the oysters...just wish he would bring some fish too!”

“HOI, how close is Martin's Fork to Hensley? (me, could care less about food, but love old ghost towns... lol)”

“to Martin's Fork 7.2
to Hensley Settlement 8.0”

“as TD indicates it is about a mile from Martin's Fork to Hensley Settlement - the Settlement itself is rather spread out - probably close to a mile of walking around on the trails through the settlement. Martin's Fork is down near a stream for water so no matter which way you go you will be hiking up about 3-400 feet to get to Hensley Settlement”

“Thanks! I had checked the national park map, too, later, and saw they were close.”

“Clem, why should I bring fish if you are going to forget to bring butter?”

“This should be a great event. I'm just glad the UA-UT football game is the FOURTH Sat in October this year.”

“go UT!!! heehee”

“You listed yourself twice, dude!”

“That's one for each personality. j/k”

“I think it's one for each d--k.

i.e. MDK”

“Quick straw poll.

WHICH weekend in October are you guys wanting?..”

“The third sounds good to me.”

“Oct. 11-13.
That monday is a holiday.”

“I could make it Oct.10-12 if it is ok with ya'll.”

“Move it back to Dec.”

“lol.. sorries.. too many folks.. (namely the merchants/vendors) want it in October..

whine whine.. :)”

“The application has already been sent in. Too late to change it now.

I will follow up with NPS today to ensure the paperwork is ok. No late minute heroics like last year.”

“and Barb is doing a really nice job already.. this year is going to rock.”

“Good news for all of those who expressed concern over the last minute heroics last year.

NPS advised me today that the application is in hand, will be reviewed tomorrow and I will have the permit, or list of further requirements by end of week. We will have the permit by the end of the month.

Valerie from the city of Cumberland Gap called today to express how excited the city is over hosting this event. Two bands planned for Friday night and she is contacting vendors for Friday and Saturday. She expressed her desire that this turn into an annual event for Cumberland Gap as they would like to turn it into their biggest event to draw hikers to the area. At this point, I have already seen more support than I saw for all of Tc2 combined and we are 6 months away for staging this thing.

Things are looking up!”

“I like the idea. This years theme will favor ultralight backpacking recipes, which suits us geriatric backpackers. Good work.

Photo of Martins Fork:

http://twocentsworth.com/photos/cumberland-gap-2003/?image=martins-fork-campsite.jpg

I just came back from 10 days of visiting my daughter who was spending a semester studying in Japan. Since we are a backpacking family, three times she had us go to restuarants that have a grill at each table for the guests to cook their own food like if you were around a campfire. My daughter was trying to keep me from going into backpacking withdrawal. Then she organized a side trip to the restaurant supply shopping district of Tokyo where the real Iron Chef cooks from the television series buy their cooking utensils. With the Yen at a favorable exchange rate this month, I stocked up. They have a bigger selection of titanium cooking items in Japan, and cheaper too.”

“do you have to be a competitor to go on this trip?”

“Nope. Probably half of last years folks were just there for the fun. They had more prizes than entries and so several of us just entered our suppers in the contest. I won a stikmon, original hiking stick just by entering what I was going to eat for supper anyway.”

“That sounds like my kind of contest... Everybody wins!”