Saturday January 28, 2017:  Winter Hike at Christmount hosted by Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC)

Staff from the Hemlock Restoration Initiative joined our friends at the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) for a fun and informative winter hike hosted by Christmount Christian Assembly in beautiful Black Mountain North Carolina!

Location: Christmount ​Retreat and Conference Center, Black Mountain, NC

Date: Saturday, January 28th

Start Time: 11 AM

Difficulty: Moderate (4-5)

Leader: Haley Smith, SAHC AmeriCorps Outreach Member and Margot Wallston of the Hemlock Restoration Initiative

Description: This was the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s first hike of 2017 through the beautiful 400-acre, permanently protected woods of Christmount, where participants hiked 2 fairly steep miles along the Rocky Knob Trail. At the top of the ridge hikers were rewarded with beautiful views of the town of Black Mountain, the Black Mountains range, and Montreat, where SAHC also holds a conservation easement.

Staff from the Hemlock Restoration Initiative was on hand to talk about some of the previous treatments done at Christmount to mitigate the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) and future plans for treatment in the area.