Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge Tennessee Schedule for Day 1 Saturday, January 7th, 2012

High up on the peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains there is still some snow and this weekend is the start of the 22nd annual Wilderness Wildlife Week. This means if you are planning on taking one of the free guided hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, make sure to pack boots!

Wilderness Wildlife Week is a free week long event that takes place in Pigeon Forge Tennessee consisting of exhibits, demonstrations, musical performances and guided hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Since the quality of the performances and lectures is so high and amazing popular for people interested in music, photography, nature, travel, hiking, camping, fishing, history, storytelling and more, this event is not being promoted very much as it is generally filled to capacity.

Last year's unusually rough winter weather during Wilderness Wildlife Week meant that some guided hikes were cancelled and a few presenters were unable to show up due to closed roads. So far it looks a though the weather in the Smokies is going to cooperate as the next week looks seasonable warm.

Music Road Hotel and Convention Center is where all of the classes, performances and lectures will take place. The Music Road Hotel and Convention Center is located at: 303 Henderson Chapel Road in Pigeon Forge, TN 37863.

Since Wilderness Wildlife Week is so wildly popular with hikers, the guided hikes require that you preregister the day before the hike right across the street from Music Road Hotel and Convention Center is the Holiday Inn Express.

Information Desk is open from 7:00 am – 9:00 pm and the Vendor/Exhibit Hall is open from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm.

• 8:00 am – 11:00 am: Learn to Use Map and Compass. Presented by: Terry and LaValla Edgington in the Harp Room. Limit 40. Must pre-register at Information Desk.
• 8:30 am – 10:30 am: Fly Fishing in the Smokies. Presented by: Greg Ward in the Violin Room.
• 9:00 am – 1:00 pm: Nature Photography Workshop. Presented by: Kendall Chiles, Tom and Pat Cory, Danny Dempster and Harold Stinnette in the Guitar Room.
• 9:00 am – 10:00 am: Rock Formations of the Smokies: Geological Past of Smoky Mountains. Presented by: Harry Moore in the Dobro Room.
• 9:00 am – 1:00 pm: Photo Exhibit Entry and Setup in the Cello Room (An entry form must be submitted with each photo entered.)
• 10:00 am – 11:15 am:: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Cades Cove Teachers. Presented by: Dorothy Gregory Sutton in the Ukelele Room.
• 10:30 am – 11:30 am: Discovering October Roads: View Fall Colors of East Tennessee. Presented by: Fred Brown and Harry Moore in the Dobro Room.
• 11:00 am – 12:30 pm: Beginning Mountain Dulcimer. Presented by: Deby Libby, Ginny Cliett and Linda Smith in the Violin Room. Limit 25. Must pre-register at Information Desk. Limited number of dulcimers available. Observers are welcome.
• 11:30 am – 12:30 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: A Hysterical History of Words. Presented by: Kathy Gwinn in the Harp Room.
• 11:30 am – 12:45 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. War within the Family: Civil War Gregorys. Presented by: Mary Greggory in the Ukelele Room.
• 11:30 am: Sunday Hike Sign ups at Holiday Inn Express
• Noon – 1:00 pm: Introduction to the Autoharp. Presented by: Tony Thomas and Judy Carson in the Dobro Room
• 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Margaret Stevenson: The Walkingest Woman in the Smokies. The Story of the First Lady to Complete All 800 Miles of Maintained Hiking Trails in the Smokies. Presented by: Bill Deitzer in the Harp Room.
• 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Everybody’s Fishin’: A Cross-Cultural Fishing Extravaganza Celebrating Fish Fisherpersons and Other Wonderful, Watery Critters. Presented by: Doug Elliott in the Violin Room.
• 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Kids Track Kindergarten – 5th Grade Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Learn About Bears Through Hands-On Activities. Presented by: Anne Allison and Kathy Sherrard from the ABR in the Breakfast Room. Limit 20. Must pre-register at Information Desk.
• 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: The Serpent Handlers. Presented by: Fred Brown in the Dobro Room.
• 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Searching for Panthers in the Smokies. Presented by: Dr. Don Linzey in the Guitar Room.
• 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Cades Cove Photos and Photographers. Presented by: Missy Tipton Green in the Ukelele Room.
• 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm: The Discovery of the Gray Fossil Site. Presented by: Harry Moore in the Harp Room.
• 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm: Civil War in the Mountains. Presented by: Chris Tipton in the Violin Room.
• 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: National History Day Students: Talented Local Students Share Their Knowledge of How to Document Your Local History. Presented by: Sabrina Gray in the Dobro Room.
• 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. The Upland Chronicles: Vibrant Local History and Heritage of Sevier County’s Past. Presented by: Carroll McMahan in the Guitar Room.
• 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Fly Casting. Presented by: Greg Ward in the Breakfast Room.
• 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program .Uncle Noah and Sarah Brown Burchfield. Presented by: Larry Sparks and Judy Myers Johns in the Ukelele Room.
• 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Out of the Dark: A True History of the White Caps and Blue Bills: At Last This Long Repressed History of Outrageous Depravity and Unsurpassed Heroism in This Region’s History Can Be Talked About in Public. Presented by: Don Williams in the Harp Room.
• 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. A Tennessee Music Sampler: Stories and Songs. Presented by: Hills-N-Hollows in the Violin Room.
• 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. The 1500 Year Old Silver Bible: A Chronicle of the Emotional History of the Earliest German/Gothic (and Perhaps English) Language Document, Including Its Translation, Disappearance and the Miraculous Rediscovery of This Piece of Christian History. Presented by: Peter and Gudrun Seifert in the Guitar Room.
• 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom: Celebrating the Natural World Through Stories, Songs and Lore. Presented by: Doug Elliott in the Dobro Room.
• 6:00 pm: Monday Hike Sign ups – Holiday Inn Express.
• 6:45 pm: Bagpipe Performance. Presented by: Charles Smith in the Dobro/Harp Rooms.
• 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm: Wilderness Wildlife Week Opening Comments: Terry Maddox, Executive Director of Great Smoky Mountains Association; Jim Hart, Director of Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Dale Ditmanson, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Dobro/Harp Rooms.
• 7:30 pm: Opening Remarks. Presented by: Ken Jenkins in the Dobro/Harp Rooms.
• 7:45 pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program. Wolves 2011: Update on Ecology and Politics in the Upper Midwest. Presented by: Peggy Callahan in the Dobro/Harp Rooms.

Since this program will go on for another week and there are still some cabins left to rent in the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge area, book right now for this week and get 10% off!