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Day 2

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I started out the day by listening to the daily poem podcast. Today’s poem (which was actually September 17ths poem – I’m behind) was a poem titled The Writer by Richard Wilbur. I immediately thought of my daughter Hannah when I heard this poem. I listened to it four times and then sent her a link to it. I hope she listens to the poem in the spirit it was intended.
I had one more peak to finish on the southbound leg of the Square (which is what the eagle loop trail looks like). That went well, and I started the bottom of the square. That portion of the trail fellows a river for more than 7 miles. , and so it’s relatively flat. The bottom, right corner of the Square is the confluence of two rivers, the Little Missouri and some other river I don’t know the name of. I forgot that you have to ford that river several times. The last time I was here in 2017, the river was almost waist high. We had to take our boots off. This time it was low enough to chance walking across. I didn’t stay dry, and my shoes got soaked and socks. For this trip, I changed to a trail running shoe and a pair of wool blend light running socks. I was really amazed because after an hour of walking in those wet shoes, they weren’t so wet, but not quite dry. I’m drying the socks and shoes out now so we’ll see how they do in the morning. I may change to a dry pair of socks, but it’ll be interesting to see if I need to.
One of the songs in my playlist today was Ed Sheeran‘s I See Fire. The chorus of that song talks about the mountains and the trees being on fire, and I couldn’t help but notice the parallel with the red yellow and gold fall colors of the trees in these woodst hat are about to fall asleep for the next three months. I know that that’s not the context under which that song was written, but it certainly described the surroundings on today’s hike.
The trees today were a mixture of pines and hardwoods, which means from an arborists standpoint, this forest is in transition. Forests start out with coniferous trees because they have acidic soil. But as the soil becomes more basic, it can support hardwoods, and so the hardwoods become the mature forest. It is fitting that I hike this forest today in the autumn of my life, and the trees are telling me that this is a time of great transition for me.
I spoke yesterday of wanting to find my spiritual purpose now that I’m no longer going to be a Deacon. Except for Diaconate training, the last time I felt that I was really fulfilling God‘s mission for me was when my wife and I were podcasting. We did a podcast called the Catholic Family for about a decade. It was a lot of fun and it felt like we were fulfilling God’s purpose for us. As our kids grew, we didn’t podcast anymore, and struggled to find our purpose in the podcast is it moved from parenting skills. Perhaps it’s time to do an empty nester podcast.
Anyway, I’m still thinking about what God wants to do with me for the rest of my days here in this world. Hiking in the forest has an uncanny ability to focus the mind on spiritual things. Perhaps it being in God‘s country.
The trail today was relatively flat, with a few peaks. The river is beautiful, but wide. Tomorrow I’ll come into Albert Pike Recreation Area, but that’s just 2 miles up the road. I still have about another 9 miles to get to the point at which I entered the trail two days ago. My plan is to get up relatively early so that I can finish the extra 2 miles. Today’s hike was precisely the same length as yesterday‘s hike, 9.3 miles
Tomorrow, hopefully after finishing the entire 27 miles, my cousin will pick me up and I’ll go back to Hot Springs Arkansas and visit with my aunt and family for a little while at least. I have a hotel in Little Rock Sunday night because my Monday flight leaves early. I’m hoping that the early flight will have less of a chance of being canceled in the light of the government shut down. We’ll see. Actually, if my flight was canceled, it would probably be a good thing because I could spend another day with my family. We must always find the good in every situation.
Today’s mileage: 9.3 miles.
Total mileage: 18.6 miles.

Minutes – 05/10/2019

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NWES convened their Spring meeting at 1830. Members present included; Irais Castellon, Luis Contreras, Terri Moore, Matt Moore, Stephanie Cunningham, Ethan Cunningham, Kara Taylor, Walker Boyd, Michael Wesp, Ashley Wesp, Hannah Sweeney, Allyson Sweeney, David Sweeney, Mattie Claire Sweeney, Austin Sweeney. Robin Murphy attended as a guest.

Item 1: Appalachian Trail, 2019

The club discussed the upcoming summer hike on the Appalachian Trail this summer. David Sweeney opened with two suggestions for the AT hike. First, that crews be limited in number to make logistics and skill levels easier, and second, that the crews consider separate itineraries. These suggestions were discussed and adopted, yielding the following decisions for the upcoming hike.

This year’s hike will consist of two separate itineraries:

Georgia Crew
Trek: Springer to Unicoi Gap
Date: July 16-26, 2019
Crew: Michael Wesp (CL), Kara Taylor (S), Stephanie Cunningham (L), Ellie Cunningham, Matt Moore (G), Terri Moore

North Carolina Crew
Trek: Hot Springs to Irwin
Date: July 7-18, 2019
Crew: David Sweeney (CL), Allyson Sweeney (L), Irais Castellon (G), Luis Contreras, Mattie Claire Sweeney, Hannah Sweeney, Walker Boyd, Robin Murphy, Jane ?

Commit date for this hike will be Saturday, May 25, 2019 at 7pm. Next meeting is Friday, May 17, 2019 6:30 at the Sweeney’s.

Minutes – 09/07/2018

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  1. Call to Order: Treasurer David Sweeney called the meeting to order at 17:53 at WC Mercantile. No other officers were present. Club members present were; Immediate Past President Terri Moore, Matt Moore, Allyson Sweeney, Stephanie Cunningham, Petra Cunningham, Kathryn Sweeney, Mattie Claire Sweeney.
  2. Old Business:
    a. Reading of the Minutes. David read the minutes from the last meeting. They were accepted without comment.
    b. David confirmed that the federal IRS 501(c)(7) incorporation has been accepted. He also found out that we will need to file some further paperwork to take non-taxable donation.  Stephanie Cunningham suggested that Stephen Heck may be willing to examine tax exempt donations for the club for a reduced fee. Stephanie said she would ask him.
    c. David relayed the current account balance for the club which is $854.78. No expenses have been made against the club the fall, 2017 color hike.
  3. New Business:
    a. David went over hikes for the fall. There is a choice for the fall color hike of a short trail at Lost Maples, or 28 mi. 3 day loop at Lake Georgetown.  Club members present preferred the longer 3-day loop at Georgetown.  Sat-Mon (or Tues morning) is preferred. All present voted for Georgetown. Allyson volunteered to be the crew leader and Stephanie is the co-crew leader.
    b. Brandi and Stephanie want to do the TC Challenge, run from Navasota to Anderson, bike from Anderson to Conroe, and kayak across Conroe to beer. Terri is interested. Stephanie is looking for interested parties. TC stands for Tejeda/Cunningham.  Stephanie volunteered to be the crew leader for this event. Date has yet to be set. 
    c. We discussed a spring hike at Davy Crockett National Forest – it’s a 20 mile straight shot. No date was set. Pedernales Falls SP also has Juniper Ridge Trail, 9 miles, which is promising.
    d. We discussed some changes for the AT trip in 2019. Frontier Airlines is inexpensive enough for us to ship our equipment and fly to the trailhead. This would eliminate hotels, food, travel expenses, etc. This will be discussed in the spring when we begin planning for the AT, but the recommendation is that we fly rather than drive this year.
    Rocky Racoon – We have been asked to man an aid station, Feb. 2-3, in Huntsville. We will request the “Far Out” station. We will wear our club t-shirts. We will bring a BBQ pit, beer and make a trip out of it. Stephanie is the crew leader for this event.
  4. Adjourn: There being no further business to bring before the club, Terri Moore made a motion to adjourn. Luke Sweeney seconded it. The meeting was adjourned at 18:42.

Minutes – 12/08/2017

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Agenda

  1. Call to Order: President Terri Moore called the meeting to order at 18:33 at President Terri Moore’s house.. Officers present included President Terri Moore, and Treasurer David Sweeney. Other club members present and in good standing were; Michael Wesp, Seth Kehlenbeck, Allyson Sweeney, Mattie Claire Sweeney,  Stephanie Cunningham, Petra Wright, Ashley Wesp, Kathryn Sweeney, Kara ??, Janet Leffingwell, and Walker Boyd.
  2. Old Business:
    a. Reading of the Minutes: Kathryn, Allyson 
    b. IRS Incorporation Status: Treasurer Sweeney confirmed that the state incorporation paperwork was complete. He has been working on federal IRS 501(c)(7) incorporation paperwork and made a motion that the Board approve the filing of this paperwork to officially register NWES as a non-profit entity for tax purposes. This will allow the club to accept donations of money and equipment to fulfill the club’s purposes while giving members the ability to record these donations as charitable. It would also give us a tax-exempt status for some period of time, which could be useful.  MOTION: Treasurer Sweeney moved that the club approve submittal of IRS 501(c)(7) paperwork along with the necessary filing fee of $400 at the earliest opportunity. He further moved that if there were not sufficient funds in the club’s bank account to cover these fees, he would provide the difference to be reimbursed at a later time when the club had the funds. SECONDED by Austin Sweeney. MOTION CARRIED
  3. New Business:
    a. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Sweeney reported that there were no changes from the earlier report on the AT trip.
    b. Color Hike. A discussion of the Color hike ensued. No fiscal report on this hike was available.
  4. Adjourn: There being not further business to bring before the club, the meeting adjourned at 21:05.

AT, 2017 Trip Report

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Another AT section is in the books for NWES. This year, we completed the northeastern half of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from Clingman’s Dome to Hot Springs, NC, a trek of 75.4 miles this year. While this trail was only slightly less rugged than last year, there are some moderately challenging elevation changes such as the descent into Davenport Gap, a loss of almost 3,000 feet.

The trek was not without incident. We had several discussions with the park rangers when our two crews of 8 camped together for two nights because of a storm. As you may be aware, GSMNP is one of two places on the AT that require permits and have significant rules, such as no groups more than 8 hikers. I can tell you from personal experience that you should follow the park rules to the letter or you will get into trouble. While our fast crew was able to finish the park, our slow crew was diverted one day from completing the park. We were reunited the next day and put in at Max Patch, a beautiful high bald with a tremendous view. We were able to finish out our trek in three days at Hot Springs, NC, where we took a much deserved zero day after 9 days on the trail.

Crew members this year included; David, Allyson, Austin, Hannah, Luke, and Mattie Claire Sweeney, Jason and Callan Katkoski, Austin, Tim, and Walker Boyd, Michael Wesp, Caroline Guidry, Seth Kehlenbeck, Terri Moore, and Kelsey McLeland.

Minutes – 07/08/2017

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Agenda

  1. Call to Order: President Terri Moore called the meeting to order at 13:56 at the location of Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa, AL. Officers present included President Terri Moore, Treasurer David Sweeney, and Secretary Austin Sweeney. Other club members present and in good standing were; Jason Katkoski, Callan Katkoski, Michael Wesp, Seth Kehlenbeck, Caroline Guidry, Allyson Sweeney, Hannah Sweeney, Luke Sweeney, and Mattie Claire Sweeney.
  2. Old Business:a. Reading of the Minutes: This being the first official Board meeting after the formation of the corporation, no minutes were read, as no minutes were kept. b. IRS Incorporation Status: Treasurer Sweeney confirmed that the state incorporation paperwork was complete. He has been working on federal IRS 501(c)(7) incorporation paperwork and made a motion that the Board approve the filing of this paperwork to officially register NWES as a non-profit entity for tax purposes. This will allow the club to accept donations of money and equipment to fulfill the club’s purposes while giving members the ability to record these donations as charitable. It would also give us a tax-exempt status for some period of time, which could be useful.  MOTION: Treasurer Sweeney moved that the club approve submittal of IRS 501(c)(7) paperwork along with the necessary filing fee of $400 at the earliest opportunity. He further moved that if there were not sufficient funds in the club’s bank account to cover these fees, he would provide the difference to be reimbursed at a later time when the club had the funds. SECONDED by Austin Sweeney. MOTION CARRIED
  3. New Business:a. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Sweeney reported that with most expenses recorded, the club would be under-budget by a significant amount for the AT2017 trip. His estimate is noted here:
Category Actual Budget Difference
INCOME   
Trip Income $ 4,965.50 $ 4,965.50 $            –  
    
EXPENSES   
Trip Expenses $ 4,130.58 $ 4,641.89 $  511.31
Trip Expenses:Consumables $       79.90 $       79.90 $            –  
Trip Expenses:Contingency $              –   $    250.00 $  250.00
Trip Expenses:Crew Dinner $    270.00 $    250.00 $   (20.00)
Trip Expenses:Food $ 1,318.05 $ 1,299.91 $   (18.14)
Trip Expenses:Fuel $    630.55 $    621.00 $     (9.55)
Trip Expenses:Lodging $ 1,078.00 $ 1,387.00 $  309.00
Trip Expenses:Permits $    320.00 $    320.00 $            –  
Trip Expenses:Shirts $    224.08 $    224.08 $            –  
Trip Expenses:Shuttle Service $       90.00 $    110.00 $     20.00
Trip Expenses:Vehicle Maintenance $    120.00 $    100.00 $   (20.00)
Other Trip Expenses $              –   $              –   $            –  
    
Net Difference: $    834.92 $    323.61 $  511.31

b. AT2017 Trip Report: President Moore asked for feedback on the AT2017 trip.  A brief discussion ensued, owing to the excellent food and beer present.

c. Excess Food Dispensation: President Moore asked for feedback on how to dispense excess food from the trip.
 
d. New Officer Elections: Since we did not have a March meeting this year, as specified in the club bylaws, nominations and elections were conducted at this meeting. The following members in good standing were nominated by the floor:

President: Jason Katkoski
Treasurer: David Sweeney
Secretary: Austin Sweeney

President Moore called for approval of the slate of officers. A voice vote was taken and the slate accepted.  A vote, which was duly taken with the nominees out of the room. New officers were confirmed with their terms to begin January 2, 2018.

e. Jason Katkoski proposed that there be a new executive position in the form of a quartermaster.  Quartermaster’s duties would consist of 1) Making crew gear inventory list 2) Helping crew members find gear 3) Keeping track of crew gear 4) Buying new crew gear when necessary 5) Any other crew-gear related activities.

President Terri Moore nominated Member Luke Sweeney to be the crew Quartermaster, motion was seconded by Austin Sweeney. MOTION CARRIED

4. There being no other new business before the club, President Moore closed the meeting at 14:10 on this day, July 8, 2017 in the city of Tuscaloosa, AL. Our next Board Meeting is scheduled for March 2018.

AT-2017

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Won’t be long now before NWES is back in the hills. Our trek this year extends from Clingman’s Dome to Hot Springs, NC, a trek of 74 miles over 9 days. We are deep into planning mode and have 16 hikers with us this year ranging in age from 8 to 88. We’re going to setup photo feeds that will automatically post to the site while we’re there, so stay tuned.