BACKPACKING OVERNIGHT TO GABES MOUNTAIN 
Backpack into an old growth forest, past ruins of early sites and the popular Hen Wallow Falls in the eastern Cosby region of the Park. This eight-mile easy-to-moderate overnighter gives novices an opportunity to learn from seasoned backpackers and the pros a chance to add to their experience and knowledge of natural history. Participants will provide their own gear and meals. We will tent camp about midway through the trip in a backcountry campsite. Register early, as space is limited to six participants. Instructors: Joel and Kathy Zachry, both M.S., are husband and wife naturalists who have backpacked the Park together since 1982 and completed section hiking the 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail in 2005.
COURSE #291911 FEE: $98*
Fri. & Sat., September 5 & 6
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Cosby campground entrance station 10:00 a.m., Fri.)
*Registration fee is nonrefundable.
INCREDIBLE EDIBLES AND TRADITIONAL MEDICINALS 
Climate and age of the Appalachian chain created a diversity of plant species that is greater here than anywhere in North America. This diversity of life has sustained man for 10,000 years. Spend a day discovering how to identify plants and trees Native Americans and early settlers used for dye, food, medicines, crafts, and other items of daily life. Sample delicious wild flavors appropriate to the seasons. The instructor will share the herblore from “medicine men” and “granny women” while the group searches the woods and fields of this temperate rain forest for its hidden treasures. Instructor: Ila Hatter is an interpretive naturalist, artist, storyteller, and wildcrafter with more than 28 years experience teaching the cultural heritage of native plants. Ila is author of Roadside Rambles, a wild foods cookbook, and a video series: Wild Edibles and Medicinals of Southern Appalachia and Mountain Kitchen. She hosted three Folkway programs for PBS/UNC-TV, and has appeared on CNN, Turner/South, RFDTV, and A&E.
COURSE #291881 FEE: $49
Sat., Sept. 13, 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet on porch at Park Headquarters.)
INTRODUCTION TO ORIENTEERING
In the simplest terms, orienteering is the process of using a map and compass to travel from one place to another. Traditionally, orienteering has been associated with competitive events where participants race cross country with map and compass to find targets in the shortest period of time. Through lectures, classroom activities, and field exercises, you will learn the fundamental skills of both competitive and wilderness orienteering. Instructor: Neal Buckingham has more than 15 years experience in training civilian and military groups in land navigation, orienteering, and search and rescue techniques.
COURSE #291867 FEE: $49
Sat., Sept. 13, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
ADVANCED WILDERNESS ORIENTEERING
If you have some outdoor and/or orienteering experience, here’s a chance to get in-depth instruction on using a map and compass to navigate in remote areas. Lectures and classroom exercises will emphasize the advanced aspects of map reading, using an orienteering compass, declination, route projection, and improvisation. Practical field exercises will enable you to learn first-hand how to navigate from one point to another in the wilderness. Prerequisite: Introduction to Orienteering. Instructor: Neal Buckingham.
COURSE #291867-1 FEE: $49
Sun., Sept. 14, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at amphitheater at Cades Cove.)
A DAY WITH A NATURALIST
Spend a day with an experienced field naturalist exploring the natural heritage of the Great Smokies. While visiting an ancient site associated with the last Ice Age, you’ll learn about the geologic origins of the Appalachians and the Smokies’ exact place in the Blue Ridge Province of the Southern Appalachians. You’ll visit various habitats like cove and northern hardwood forests, identifying distinctive birds, trees, wildflowers, and ferns associated with each. In the high spruce-fir forests along the Tennessee-Georgia state line, you’ll examine a unique habitat currently being subjected to atmospheric pollution and an adelgid that infests Fraser fir. Discuss Park Service attempts to contain these and other threats like the European wild boar and various “exotic” plants. The day will conclude with a walk (three miles round trip) along the moderate Kephart Prong Trail, where human and natural history are intertwined. Throughout the day you’ll learn nontechnical methods for bird and plant identification. After participating in this workshop, you’ll view the natural world of the Smokies with new eyes. Instructor: George Ellison is a writer-naturalist who resides in Bryson City, N.C. He serves as a fieldtrip leader for the annual Native Plants Conference, sponsored by Western Carolina University, and teaches plant and bird identification workshops for the North Carolina Arboretum.
COURSE #291915 FEE: $49
Sat., Sept. 27, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
ELK IN THE SMOKIES
Come and learn about the experimental elk release in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Elk have been extinct in North Carolina and Tennessee for approximately 150 years, but they roam again now in the valleys of Cataloochee in Western North Carolina. We will view elk and their behaviors during the mating season, hear bugling, and learn how researchers track and monitor elk in the Smokies. Instructor: Joe Yarkovich, Wildlife Management/Elk Research Coordinator, National Park Service. Joe has spent time working on wildlife projects in Sequoia National Park, Santa Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, various Louisiana Wildlife Refuges, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
COURSE #291883 FEE: $49
Sat., Sept. 27, 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Cataloochee Ranger Station.)
The apple denotes Knox County Teacher Center approval for in-service credit.
Question? E-mail us at Smoky@utk.edu