RSS FeedMay 08, 2007
Great Southeastern Hiking Festival a Big Success!
Black Balsam Knob in the Pisgah National Forest
Photo by Jerry Greer - Flight made possible by Southwings
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival held this past weekend in Montreat and Black Mountain, North Carolina was a huge success! Despite some inclement weather, nothing could dampen the spirits of the 150 folks who traveled to the Montreat Conference Center for a weekend of hiking, education, networking, and great entertainment.
On our opening day, Thursday May 3, the conservation group Southwings provided American Hiking Society with an overflight of the Pisgah National Forest and Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Flying along with me was professional photographer Jerry Greer and Lindsay Nash from the Asheville Citizen Times. While Jerry snapped photos, Lindsay interviewed me about the festival and the project that I am responsible for - the Southern Appalachians Initiative.
Special thanks to our sponsors who made this festival possible. This includes the Lyndhurst Foundation, National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, NC State Parks, Mast General Store and the Carolina Mountain Club.
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 06:48 AM
April 17, 2007
Author of "Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails
from North America's National Parks" to appear at Hiking Festival
On Saturday May 5, The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival comes to Black Mountain, North Carolina. From 9 AM until 7 PM, a free festival will take place in downtown Black Mountain. This free festival runs concurrent with a 4-day conference that will be taking placce in nearby Montreat, NC. Music and speakers will be featured throughout the day. There will also be a number of exhibits setup throughout town, including booths representing American Hiking Society, the Carolina Mountain Club, NC Bartram Trail Society, and the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail.
At 2 PM former NPS park ranger, Andrea Lankford serves up a backpackful of spooky stories and freaky folklore from her critically acclaimed book, Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America's National Parks. Reviewers describe Andrea's strange but true tales from near and afar as "spell-binding," "fun," and "Oooh, scary!" During the book signing that follows, get a free cool and creepy sports bottle with your book purchase.
We hope to see lots & lots of folks at the festival, so mark your calendar, and plan to bring the entire family for a fun filled day!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 04:02 PM
April 11, 2007
Early Registration Deadline for
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival ends April 16
The deadline for early registration for The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival ends on April 16! After April 16, you can still register, but our registration fee increase.
This 4-day conference will be held May 3-6 at the Montreat Conference Center, just 15 minutes east of Asheville, NC. Activities at the conference include more than 20 hikes, a series of outstanding educational sessions, great speakers, and fantastic entertainment.
You don't want to miss this fun and educational event! Checkout our festival website and register today!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 08:39 PM
Christine Kane Releases new Concert DVD
Performing May 5 at The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival
Asheville based Singer/Songwriter Christine Kane has released a new concert DVD entitled Live at the Diana Wortham Theatre. Filmed live in Asheville, this DVD features 16 of Christine's songs.
Well, Christine is playing The Great Southeastern Hiking at the Montreat Conference Center on Saturday May 5! The performance is included with registration for our 4-day conference that includes hikes, educational sessions, great speakers, and much more. Or you can purchase tickets to see Christine's performance online for $15 each. We hope to see you there! In the meantime, enjoy a couple of Christine's performances (below) from her new DVD.
Christine Kane - Right Outta Nowhere
Christine Kane - No Such Thing As Girls Like That
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 08:07 PM
February 16, 2007
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival
Official Press Release
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 16, 2007
Contact: Jeffrey Hunter
(423) 266-2507
JHunter@AmericanHiking.org
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival
Western North Carolina from May 3-6, 2007
Four days of recreation, education, festival activities and entertainment
Montreat & Black Mountain, North Carolina - American Hiking Society is hosting the Great Southeastern Hiking Festival, a four day event that expects to draw more than two thousand people to western North Carolina. The festival includes a conference at the Montreat Conference Center that will convene hikers and members of trail clubs from throughout the southeast and features more than 20 scheduled hikes, educational seminars for hikers and trail organizations, inspirational speakers and great regional entertainment. A large, free public festival punctuates the weekend on Saturday, May 3 in historic, downtown Black Mountain. Festival goers will be delighted by arts & crafts booths, food vendors, entertainers, and outdoor information and education.
“We’re excited to be holding this first-ever hiking festival in the gateway to the region’s most spectacular trails”, says American Hiking Society’s Southeast Trail Programs Director Jeffrey Hunter “We really want to showcase the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and demonstrate that environmental stewardship and economic vitality go hand in hand.”
Representatives from American Hiking Society, Carolina Mountain Club, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail, North Carolina Bartram Trail Society, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Nantahala Hiking Club and the Montreat Trail Club will be on-hand to lead hikes, seminars, and welcome hikers to the beautiful southeast. Entertainment for the weekend includes the Asheville based roots/blues duo The Grit Pixies (Thursday night), local bluegrass favorites Buncombe Turnpike (Friday night), and Asheville based singer / songwriter Christine Kane (Saturday night).
For more information, you can visit The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival website at http://GreatSEHikingFestival.org.
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Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 09:27 AM
February 14, 2007
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival
to feature a fantastic Writers Roundtable
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival planned for May 3-6, 2007 at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, NC is jam packed with all sorts of activities including more than 20 hikes, all sorts of educational sessions, and fantastic entertainment.
One of the featured activities is our Writers Roundtable. This 90-minute panel will feature Danny Bernstein, author of soon to be released “Hiking The Carolina Mountains” (Milestone Press – April 2007 release), Anne Mitchell Whisnant, author of “Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History”, Mary Russell Roberson and Kevin Stewart, co-authors of “Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas: A Field Guide to Favorite Places from Chimney Rock to Charleston”, Randy Johnson, author of “Hiking North Carolina” (Falcon Press), and Tim Silver, author of “Mount Mitchell & the Black Mountains: An environmental history of the highest peaks in the Eastern America." The Writers Roundtable will be moderated by Will Harlan, Editor in Chief of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine.
The only way to get to meet these great authors all at the same time is to register for The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival! Registration for this four day event is $150, and includes 9 meals, great musical entertainment (including The Grit Pixies, Buncombe Turnpike and Christine Kane), more than 20 different hikes, a host of great educational sessions, and inspirational speakers.
Don't delay! The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival is expected to sell out, so register today! You don't want to miss out on all the fun!
Hiking the Carolina Mountains
Super-Scenic Motorway:
A Blue Ridge Parkway History
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 11:42 AM
February 09, 2007
Registration for The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival is open!
The weekend of May 3-6, 2007 The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival is coming to Western North Carolina! Starting on Thursday May 3, a four day conference will open at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina. The conference will feature more than 20 hikes, great entertainment, inspirational speakers, educational sessions for hikers and trail organizations, and great food!
This event is being co-hosted by the Carolina Mountain Club, NC Bartram Trail Society, Nantahala Hiking Club, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail and the Montreat Trail Club. Representatives from these clubs will be on hand throughout the conference to lead hikes, give presentations, and welcome you to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. A number of American Hiking Society Staff members will also be on hand throughout the weekend to lead trail work, hikes and seminars.
There are several ways to get involved with this fun Festival. If you'd like to spend the entire week in the mountains, you can join the American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation planned for the Montreat Conference Center from April 29 - May 5. Participants in the Trail Crew are welcome to attend the evening entertainment planned at Montreat. With the Grit Pixies, Buncombe Turnpike & Christine Kane booked to perform; you won't want to miss out on the fun!
Registration for the full conference is only $150, and includes 9 meals (dinner Thursday through lunch Sunday) and participation in all hikes, educational seminars and entertainment. Lodging at the beautiful Montreat Conference Center is available, but not included in the registration fee. If you would like to join us Friday afternoon, a registration plan that includes 6 meals (dinner Friday through lunch Sunday) is also available for $115. One day plans for Firday May 4 and Saturday May 5 are also available for $65. To register for the conference, please visit The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival website, where you’ll find additional information and a link to our registration pages. But don't delay. These earlybird registration fees will be going up next month, and the activities at Montreat are expected to sell out!
In addition to the festivities planned at the Montreat Conference Center, a one-day free public festival is planned for Saturday May 5 from 9 AM - 7 PM in the Town of Black Mountain. The festival will have food, crafts, music and fun for the whole family! You won't want to miss it! To learn more about this free festival, please contact the Black Mountain - Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce.
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 09:14 AM
November 21, 2006
Buncombe Turnpike to play the
Great Southeastern Hiking Festival May 4
Buncombe Turnpike, a 5-person bluegrass band based out of Asheville, NC has been booked to play the upcoming Great Southeastern Hiking Festival. They'll be performing on Friday night May 4.
Buncombe Turnpike is one of the most popular bands in an area rich in music. According to Julie Koehler of Bluegrass Unlimited, "Buncombe Turnpike has found that pencil-thin piece of ground between traditional and contemporary bluegrass and made it their home."
Registration for The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival will begin in early January. Check back here often for additional announcements regarding this weekend of fun, entertainment and education!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 10:47 AM
November 17, 2006
Grit Pixies Slated to play
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival
Eliza Lynn and Jill Fromewick are the Grit Pixies - photo provided by the Grit Pixies
The Grit Pixies have been added to the entertainment slate at The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival planned for May 3-6, 2007 at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, NC. The Grit Pixies are two very talented young women, Eliza Lynn and Jill Fromewick. Together they create magic in the form of blues and roots music.
I first learned about Eliza Lynn at the 2006 Hot Springs Trailfest. She played solo at that event, and blew me away! I immediately picked up her CD "Frisky or Fair" and set about to book her for the festival. Shortly thereafter, Mountain Xpress named Eliza the Best Singer/Songwriter of 2006.
Now, Eliza has teamed up with Jill to create a unique sound that reminds me a bit of stripped down Po' Girl. Jill plays a great harp as well as the washboard, and Eliza's voice and guitar playing is simply fantastic. To checkout their sound, take a moment and pay a visit to the Grit Pixies' MySpace website where you can stream a couple of their songs. Then make your plans to attend The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival, where the Grit Pixies will play for us on Thursday night May 3. It's going to be great!
Be sure to come back in a few days for another exciting announcement regarding entertainment at the festival!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 09:02 PM
November 15, 2006
Christine Kane to play Great Southeastern
Hiking Festival May 5!
Photo courtesy of ChristineKane.com
As planning for The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival continues, American Hiking Society is excited to announce that Christine Kane will headline our evening entertainment on Saturday night May 5. Christine is an enormously talented singer-songwriter from the Asheville area.
Additional announcements regarding entertainment, hikes, educational sessions and exciting speakers will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead. Registration for the event will be available in early January.
Y'all come! It's gonna be a hoot!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 11:18 AM
November 03, 2006
Heading to Asheville
Tomorrow I head to one of my favorite cities here in the southeast - Asheville, North Carolina. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, and featuring a vibrant cultural scene including great live music, Asheville is a wonderful city to visit - especially in the fall. Hiking oportunities abound throughout the area including in the Pisgah National Forest, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and on the Appalachian Trail just west of town.
I'm headed to Asheville to plan for the upcoming Great Southeastern Hiking Festival planned for May 3-6, 2007 - which will occur in nearby Black Mountain and Montreat. I plan to do a little hiking while I'm in the area. Hopefully you'll join me at the festival in the spring and see first-hand the beauty of the rugged Black Mountains.
Anyway, I thought I'd share a tune from an Asheville artist that I really enjoy - Christine Kane. Checkout her tune Right Outta Nowhere - which is available on Christine's blog. Enjoy!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 08:05 AM
September 29, 2006
The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival!
Save the Date!
Next spring, hundreds of hiking enthusiasts will gather at the Montreat Conference Center in the beautiful Black Mountains of North Carolina to attend The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival! The festival will be a fun filled weekend of hiking (more than 20 hikes planned!), education, inspiring speakers, entertainment (including live music!) and friendship.
The event will be jointly hosted by the Carolina Mountain Club, Nantahala Hiking Club, North Carolina Bartram Trail Society, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail, and the Montreat Trail Club.
Whether you're new to hiking or have been involved with hiking clubs for years, you won't want to miss this event! Details will follow in the coming weeks, and registration will open in early January '07.
For more information please visit The Great Southeastern Hiking Festival website, or write to Jeffrey Hunter! See y'all there!
Posted by Jeffrey Hunter at 10:11 AM