GABES MOUNTAIN BACKPACK WITH OVERNIGHT
BACKCOUNTRY STAY
Backpack through an old growth forest, past ruins of early sites and the popular Hen Wallow Falls in the eastern Cosby region of the Park, and camp at a primitive site. This eight-mile easy-to-moderate hike is on a good trail passing through diverse foliage and stands of impressive buckeyes, poplars, and silverbells. It provides novices an opportunity to learn from seasoned backpackers and the more experienced a chance to add to their knowledge of natural history. Participants will provide their own gear and meals. Register early, as space is limited to six participants. Instructors: Joel and Kathy Zachry, both M.S., are your husband and wife leaders with more than 50 combined years of backcountry identification and hiking experience. They have led Field School sessions since the early 1980s and completed section hiking the 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail in 2005.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Fee: $98*
Fri. & Sat., September 18 & 19
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Cosby parking lot beneath entrance station at 10:00 a.m., Fri.)
*Registration fee is nonrefundable.
INTRODUCTION TO MAP & COMPASS
This course includes an introduction to the use of a forester's compass and a basic understanding of reading a topographical map as used by land managing agencies for control and management of emergency incidents. This will be done through lecture, classroom activity, and outdoor exercise. Instructor: Joe Kelley served as a National Park Ranger for more than 30 years, mainly in the Great Smokies and on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Special assignments nationwide have included major disasters, forest fires, search and rescue incidents, the National Park Service’s Special Events Team, and instructor of national interagency emergency and incident management training.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Fee: $49
Sat., Sept. 19, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
ADVANCED USE OF MAP & COMPASS
This course serves as an in-depth instruction of map and compass skills by incorporating the use of the forester's compass and the 7.5 topgraphical map series of the U.S.G.S. to conduct a simulator multi-agency search and rescue exercise in basically a "table top" format. The team approach will be used. Prerequisite: Introduction to
Map & Compass. Instructor: Joe Kelley.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Fee: $49
Sun., Sept. 20, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
A SMOKY MOUNTAIN DAY HIKE
Take a walk in the woods that will highlight many of the delightful aspects of these diverse mountains. The natural beauty and interesting history of the area will fill our day. In a moderate, seven-mile hike, we will have views, see big trees, encounter bear signs, rock-hop a stream, witness old homesteads, and meander through quiet coves. There is some uphill climbing at first but most of this hike is gentle and easy with views and a variety of plants that make the effort all worth it. We will take our time and talk about whatever catches our attention as this beautiful area comes alive for us. Instructor: Wanda DeWaard, M.S., recreation and environmental education, is an outdoor educator who has shared Earth Kinship and Environmental Awareness programs with community groups, schools, colleges, camps, nature centers, and teacher conferences since 1974. Anything and everything in the natural world brings out her enthusiasm and contagious sense of fun.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Fee: $49
Sun., Sept. 20, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Finley Cane/Lead Cove Trail head on Laurel Creek Road, 5.5 miles west from the Townsend “Y” on the way to Cades Cove. If you get to the Cades Cove entrance, you need to backtrack about 3.5 miles to the trailhead.)
ELK IN THE SMOKIES
Come and learn about the experimental elk release in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Elk have been extinct in North Carolina and Tennessee for approximately 150 years, but they roam again now in the valleys of Cataloochee in Western North Carolina. We will view elk and their behaviors during the mating season, hear bugling, and learn how researchers track and monitor elk in the Smokies. Instructor: Joe Yarkovich, Wildlife Management/Elk Research Coordinator, National Park Service. He has spent time working on wildlife projects in Sequoia National Park, Santa Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, various Louisiana wildlife refuges, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Fee: $49
Sat., Sept. 26, 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Cataloochee Ranger Station.)
A DAY WITH A NATURALIST
Spend a day with an experienced field naturalist exploring the natural heritage of the Great Smokies. While visiting an ancient site associated with the last Ice Age, you’ll learn about the geologic origins of the Appalachians and the Smokies’ exact place in the Blue Ridge Province of the Southern Appalachians. You’ll visit various habitats like cove and northern hardwood forests, identifying distinctive birds, trees, wildflowers, and ferns associated with each. In the high spruce-fir forests along the Tennessee-Georgia state line, you’ll examine a unique habitat currently being subjected to atmospheric pollution and an adelgid that infests Fraser fir. Discuss Park Service attempts to contain these and other threats like the European wild boar and various “exotic” plants. The day will conclude with a walk (three miles round trip) along the moderate Kephart Prong Trail, where human and natural history are intertwined. Throughout the day you’ll learn non-technical methods for bird and plant identification. After participating in this workshop, you’ll view the natural world of the Smokies with new eyes. Instructor: George Ellison is a writer-naturalist who resides in Bryson City, N.C. He serves as a fieldtrip leader for the annual Native Plants Conference, sponsored by Western Carolina University, and teaches plant and bird identification workshops for the North Carolina Arboretum.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Fee: $49
Sat., Sept. 26, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
This apple denotes Knox County Teacher Center approval for in-service credit.
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