I love backpacking!

Scouts,

Below are the details of our trip. A permission slip will follow shortly.

This trip follows very close on the heels of our last outing and we now have only one more meeting to get fully prepared. Please keep an eye out for follow up emails and be prepare for our meeting next Monday.  If you plan on participating, please respond to this email and let me know how many of your family will attend.

Things we need to do next Monday:

• Watch a short demo of cooking gear and talk about appropriate food for backpacking and drinking water
• Plan Meals and assign grub masters
• Check backpacks  If you are a younger scout that has not backpacked with us before please bring your pack packed with the gear you are taking (minus food and water)
• All are welcome to bring their packs for checking and to show off your cool camping gear.
• Return permission slips

THE TRIP:

We will be hiking the Appalachian Trail again.  How lucky we are to have this in our own back yard!  The section we will be hiking is a little over six miles long and is not extremely strenuous. It is in the mountains however and you will have a pack to carry.  Backpackers will start at Keys Gap trail head  on route 9 and hike to the camping area near Blackburn Trail Center. We will be camping in a heavily wooded area where there are a few designated campsites.   Mostly we will have to find places for our tents among the trees.

(Don’t forget those pads.)  I am guessing that in 2 weeks we should have nice fall color to add to the scenery.

If there is enough interest and adult leaders we will also have an out and back hike for those who want something a little less challenging.  Just a warning though, the camping area is about 2 tenths of a mile from the Blackburn Trail Center parking area and it is up the side of the mountain.  If we do this option, you will still want to bring lighter gear in a pack so you can carry it safely to the camping area. I checked out the trail head this past weekend.  It is under an hour away and very easy to find. 

I have included a packing check list below as well as a map of the trail area and a site on the Blackburn Trail Center.

Map
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/m.php?wpt=Blackburn

BTC
http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,325,775,0,html/

 Regards,
Bob Terrafranca