Topic: Walkin’ On The Happy Side of Misery

Tennessee Trails: Volunteers clean trails, remove litter from walking trails

By Debbie Boen | February 15, 2008 |

Not far from Clarksville are walking trails in parks and at nearby Land Between the Lakes. A great way to walk them is with the Tennessee Trails Association.

This last weekend our local Tennessee Trails Association did a litter pickup and debris removal in Rotary Park and on a north-south trail at Land Between the Lakes (LBL). The group removed several bag fulls of trash and moved many wind blown tree limbs off the trail. They left tired, but with a feeling of pride in knowing that they had left the trails in better shape than they found it.

James Arthur Neblett participated in the litter pickup hike this year and last year. He said that it beat staying inside no matter what the weather was, and he is anxious to participate in this endeavor in the future.

One of the local Tennessee Trails members is J. R. Tate (at left). Among other trails, he has walked the Appalachian Trail four times. It took him six months each time. During his 2006 walk, we got a glimpse of his adventure through diary passages he sent to the Leaf Chronicle. When I asked him his secret to success he said, “Hiking is a matter of moving your right foot, then your left foot. Repeat until you get from where you started to where you end up”. He found that the mental part of hiking is a lot more important than the physical part. He kept himself going sometimes on the simple thought of a warm sleeping bag or a great meal ahead. «Read the rest of this article»

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