Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy

History. Art. And the Great Outdoors.

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February 11th, 2023: Second Saturday Workday

This Saturday, February 11, we will be working the Buckeye Creek approach trail to the Bartram Trail. If we have a big enough group, we will have one group work from Hickory Knoll trailhead. We will meet at 9am at the Buckeye Creek trailhead and plan on wrapping up around 3.

Buckeye Creek Trailhead Location

Check the weather and dress in layers, as our winter weather tends to be a little less predictable at times. Please bring work gloves, good boots, plenty of water, lunch, any meds you might need and esprit de corps.

We’ll start at 9AM and wrap up at 3pm.

If you’re new to trail maintenance or just want to learn more, you can find more information here on our site. Don’t be shy, we’ll provide everything you need to enjoy your day while making a huge impact for future enjoyment of the Bartram Trail. The hard work of our volunteers is what keeps the 110 miles of trails open and usable all year long.

Please RSVP so we can plan the work and tool requirements.

Thank you for your volunteerism!

Bartram Trail Report for January

The Bartram Trail Report for January includes a lot of rocks, trees, cold hiking, and solid reports from our members out there helping out.

While we had to cancel our Second Saturday workday due to weather conditions, we have still been able to get out and get some well-needed maintenance done this month. We didn’t really expect the snowfall at elevation we received the night before our Second Saturday event and just had to cancel the morning of. Unfortunate too, we were all looking forward to some great trail-grub to be cooked by Jim. We hope we can get that rescheduled soon!

Third Friday Workday

Third Friday Workday trail maintenance crew sizing up the task

Our Third Friday workday was very successful and some of you may have seen the posts on our social media channels. A small crew of volunteers and a couple of great partners from the Chattooga Ranger District were able to set the last few stones in place at the massive stair rebuild just below Rabun Bald, on the north side. The original steps were built decades ago, but freezing and thawing actions, along with a lot of water flowing across the trail, took them out. Large chunks of mortared stone were littered around this area. Needless to say, its been a nasty mess for a while.

Back in December, we were able to place our Public Lands Corps crew at this location to rehab these steps. They were able to accomplish way more than any of us expected, but their hitch ended a little short of placing the final few steps. We applaud their efforts and those of our Forest Service partners for the huge undertaking.

We returned on a very cold morning this month to finish the steps off. With the help of a winch and pully-system, rock net and bars, and a few strong backs, we pulled some stones from the surrounding woods and moved them into place.

First hikers to use completed steps from our Third Friday Trail Maintenance Workday
First hikers to use completed steps from our Third Friday Trail Maintenance Workday

This is a well-traveled section of the trail, with an additional easy access trailhead at Beegum Gap. We greeted several hikers as we toiled away on the stone work. We even had a few pass by just as we finished, who enjoyed the safe descent down the stairs.

Walking With Bartram

Our Walking With Bartram series continued last week on January 27th. The group of 13 hikers were supported by a few of our local volunteers to help with shuttling from Hale Ridge Rd to the starting point at Wilson Gap. This made the trip really great, as those roads can be a little rutted out in places.

The views from the Bartram Trail never get old!
The views from the Bartram Trail never get old!

It was certainly a cold morning and stayed cold through the day, but as we know, putting those steps in gets the blood flowing and everyone heating up. This group was also treated to the new stairs below Rabun Bald after a short break for lunch at the top of the tower. Fortunately, the sun was bright and the wind was light, so it was a great point to re-fuel bodies and souls.

Walking With Bartram hikers stopping for a view and a quick break
Walking With Bartram hikers stopping for a view and a quick break

Over this past weekend, we also had a couple of members hiking between Sandy Ford and Warwoman Dell, who had a little adventure of their own. While they missed the side-trail to Big Rock there were looking for, they certainly didn’t miss the giant pine tree that has been recently blown over. At this point in the trail, about a mile south from Warwoman Dell, you’ll find the huge root ball that has created a bit of an obstacle to go around. We’re working on getting some volunteers out there asap to fix the situation. In the meantime, please use caution while stepping up and around this crater.

Trail Conditions Report

Trail Conditions Report includes a large pine tree tipped over exposing its root ball.

Finally, we’re getting out on this last day of the month for Trailhead Tuesday! We’ve had a couple of folks sign up to join us and we’re looking forward to making this a regular trail maintenance event each month in 2023. Trailhead Tuesday’s are scheduled for the last Tuesday of each month. We’re choose a handful of trailheads to send our volunteer teams out to for light cleanup, replacing rack cards, and making notes of any major work that will need to be done at a later time. This also gives us a chance to meet hikers starting or finishing their trip and for us to convene over frosty beverages at the Lazy Hiker Brewing afterwards.

Sign up for our volunteer newsletter to receive information about all our trail maintenance work days and how you can get involved.

Listening to the Land: With Rapture and Astonishment Photography Reception

Photos from the Bartram Trail are on display in the library this winter; tonight we’ll celebrate and learn more about their work.

Listening to the Land: is a nine-month community celebration of the Bartram Trail, launching with the project-shaping photography exhibition With Rapture & Astonishment that highlights how eleven photographers inspired by William Bartram reimagined the landscape he encountered. A series of workshops, nature walks, and dynamic online conversations will follow, inviting photographers of all levels to join us in creating a community archive of the Bartram Trail that celebrates this region’s rich biodiversity while honoring each person’s unique way of seeing and responding to the land.

Please bring your friends and family, and join some of the photographers who’ve been taking a closer look at William Bartram’s Trail, and learn how you can get involved with the months-long project!

Listening to the Land : Contemplative Photography Awe Walk

Many of us yearn to create photographs full of feeling and emotion. Contemplative photography offers us a path. By learning to listen to the land and centering our practice in humility and wonder, we deepen our connection with the natural world and our photographs come alive with meaning and beauty.

This one-hour awe walk* will introduce you to simple contemplative photography practices. Starting at the Macon County Library, together we will take a leisurely photography walk on the Little Tennessee River Greenway. Photographers of all levels are invited (camera phones are welcome) and even seasoned practitioners should find value in this unique approach to the medium.

*An Awe Walk is a walk within a place of meaning and beauty to encounter something that amazes and transcends, whether big or small.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer and contemplative artist. Her photography and public installations feature intimate images that touch deeply into questions of place, belonging, and ecological personhood. Since 2016, her work has primarily explored the power of beauty and its impact on our feelings of connection and kinship. Through the use of handmade cameras built in response to the land, she engages in deep conversation with wild and natural places. Susan lives in the southern Appalachian region, where she is the director of the Kinship Photography Collective.

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