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• Malvern Hill National Battlefield Park

  • When
    19 Mar 2025

  This easy Wednesday hike will cover about 3 miles, looping through the woods and fields of this battlefield park, commemorating the last of the Seven Days battles between General McClellan and General Lee.  The cannonballs and Minie balls were flying on that hot summer day in 1862, but now, this site is place of peace and nature.  The only thing we are likely to see flying are birds.  We will hike past a beaver pond in the woods, and also take a short stop or two to look for wildlife and bird activity.

  Art Ritter (o2behiking@yahoo.com) is the hike leader.  Please email him if you have questions, but there is no need to register - as is typically not the case for our Wednesday hikes.  Meet at 9:50 at the main parking site for the park, which is off the Willis Church Road on the left hand side if you are coming from Route 5,  There is a good-sized parking lot, a kiosk, and a line of cannons.

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• Fortune's Cove Preserve (C3)

  • When
    20 Mar 2025

  This will be a moderately difficult hike in the Nature Conservancy’s Fortune’s Cove Preserve, which is located south of Charlottesville near Lovingston, VA. The Preserve’s 5.5 mile trail provides challenging mountain terrain with stunning vistas.  Hike takes about 5 hours and includes a 1,500 to 1,7000 foot climb. Pets prohibited by the land manager and group size limited to 12. Carpooling is preferred because of limited parking.  If interested, contact Phil Freda at philfreda@yahoo.com

  To prevent invasive weeds, they ask that you check pant legs and shoes for seeds before hiking. Description of the area here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/fortunes-cove-preserve/

  
  

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• Appomattox River Walk & City Point

  • When
    16 Apr 2025
  •  
    9:50 AM
  • Location
    Hopewell, Virginia

  Tim Gilbert (804-304-8841) and Ann Lankey (804-338-1771) will lead a hike along the Hopewell waterfront. We will meet at 9:50 A.M. in the parking lot next to the Appomattox Regional Library near the intersection of Hopewell Street and Appomattox Street.  We will begin by crossing the street to City Park and strolling the boardwalk along the Appomattox River.   We will then walk along Riverside Avenue, passing some Sears kit houses.  We will pass through the grounds of St. John’s Episcopal Church which dates from the 1800’s.  We will head for City Point which was Grant’s headquarters during the Civil War.
  
  Arrangements have been made with the national park rangers to have the visitor center/manor house open for our group.  We will be offered a 20-minute movie and an opportunity to view the exhibits.  We will walk the grounds overlooking the Appomattox River.
  
  Next we will visit the Old City Point Waterfront Park which has a view from of the Benjamin Harrison drawbridge from the dock.  We will make our way back to the library through the City Point historic neighborhoods.
  
  Those who do not wish to visit City Point National Park can head back to the library on their own.
  

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• Spring Fling Backpacking Trip (B3)

  • Start
    10 May 2025
  • End
    11 May 2025

  Hello campers!  Our annual Spring Fling Backpacking Trip will take place May 10-11, 2025.  (Mother’s Day weekend.)

  We will hike from Rockfish Gap to the Paul Wolfe shelter (5 miles) that Saturday and you can either tent or stay in the shelter (if there is room).  We will hike back to Rockfish Gap on Sunday. 
  

  This is a great chance to dust the cobwebs off your gear if you have not been out since last year. It's also a great chance to see those spring wildflowers in bloom and catch some of the spring warbler migration as these amazing tiny creatures make the dangerous trip to the northern parts of North America.

  Contact Beth Kirwin at 804.212.6437 or elkirwin@gmail.com if you have questions or want to join in the fun.

  
  

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• Great Smoky Mountains Camping & Hiking

  • Start
    15 Jun 2025
  • End
    19 Jun 2025

   June 15-19 Cades Cove Campground:  Group Site #4 

  Cades Cove is located in the SW area of the GSMNP below Townsend, TN.  This is a very busy area with much to do and is much easier to access if you are Camping. Potential hikes could include Gregory Ridge (11 miles) with possible Full Bloom Azaleas, Spence Field -Russell Field Loop (13 miles), Rich Mountain Loop (8.5 miles) with some shorter hikes possible,.  And there is touring Cade Cove itself. Also, last year the tour road was reserved for just Bicycles on Wednesday.  I have reserved a nice Group Campsite, plan to cut off participation at 12 and sorry, no dogs on this group outing. To review details and participation contact Howard Davis at hsdhiker@gmail.com 

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