Day 1 of Wilderness Wildlife Week 2014 in Pigeon Forge Tennessee

As the first day of Wilderness Wildlife Week for 2014 is about to kick off, you can feel the excitement. An new location with lots more room and luxury than before, a staggering amount of new programs, and the return of some of our favorite presenters and their programs.

We are also very thankful that Wilderness Wildlife Week is taking place later than usual as the weather is going to be far better for hiking and outdoor activities that it was originally scheduled for.

It is however winter in the Great Smoky Mountains and though it will be about 50 tomorrow for some of the hikes, my thermometer reads 17 degrees right now in Pigeon Forge!

Signups for Wilderness Wildlife Week Guided hiking trips for tomorrow will take place today at 6 pm in the Greenbrier Hall Section C.

Some of the favorite Wilderness Wildlife Week presentations for today will be introduction to Beginning Mountain Dulcimer (bring your own if you can, how to take Great Photos with Cell Phones or Point and Shoot Cameras which is sure to be a packed class and Civil War in the Mountains presented by our own Chris Tipton.

If you have the time and the energy it is well worth sticking it out to the end and catch this years keynote program which is always a winner.

Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule
Day 1: Saturday, January 25th 2014

• 8 – 11am: Learn to Use a Map and Compass. Limited to 50 so you must pre-register at Information Desk. Presented by Terry and LaValla Edgington. Taking place at room South 4A.
• 9 – 10am: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! The Smokies Through a Camera Lens! Ways to Improve Your Photography and Develop Your Craft. Presented by Dale Knight. Taking place at room North 3.
• 9 – 10am: The Serpent Handlers. Presented by Fred Brown. Taking place at room South 3.
• 9 – 1pm: The Smokies Through a Camera Lens! A Nature Photography Workshop. Presented by Kendall Chiles, Tom and Pat Cory and Daniel Dempster. Taking place at room North 2.
• 9:30 – 10:30am: The Appalachian Trail: An Entertaining Adventure Video Presentation. Presented by Jeff Alt. Taking place at room South 2.
• 9:30 – 11:30am: Fly Fishing the Smokies: Presented by Greg Ward Taking place at room South 1.
• 10 – 11 am: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Wildflower Folklore: Ila Hatter (Wildcrafting with Ila). Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section B.
• 10 – Noon: Introduction to Beginning Mountain Dulcimer. Presented by TNT Dulcimers (Deby Libby, Ginny Cliett and Linda Smith). Taking place at room South 4B. There is a Limited to 25 so you must pre-register at Information Desk. Limited number of loaner dulcimers available so bring a dulcimer and music stand, if possible. Observers are welcome.
• 10:30 – 11:30am: Rock Formations of the Smokies. Presented by Harry Moore. Taking place at room South 3.
• 10:30 – 12:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program: The Smokies Through a Camera Lens! Great Photos with Cell Phones or Point and Shoot Cameras. Presented by Richard Iceland. Taking place at room North 3.
• 10:45 – 11:45am: Special Kids Track. Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep It Fun. Presented by Jeff Alt. Taking place at room South 2.
• 11:30am: Sunday Hike Signups. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section C.
• 11:30 – 12:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program: Our Smokies Heritage! Out of the Dark, Part 1: Doc Henderson Versus the White Caps. How a courageous doctor rallied his community by riding out to oppose a secret order of nightriders engaged in terror, torture, midnight whippings and murders in the shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains. Presented by Don Williams. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section B.
• 11:30 – 1pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program and Special Kids Track: Wilderness Wildlife Week Tall Tales for Young and Old. Watch or join in as we spin a tale about a boy named Booger and his faithful cat Stinker and a firefly. Limited to 40 so you must pre-register at Information Desk. Presented by Mary Phillips. Taking place at room South 4A.
• Noon – 1pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Cougar Recovery in the Great Smoky Mountains. Presented by Dr. John Laundre of the Cougar Rewilding Foundation. Taking place at room South 3.
• 12:30 – 2pm: Learn the Clawhammer Banjo, Part 1. Limited to 10 so you must pre-register at Information Desk. Participants must bring own five string banjo tuned in the key of G. Presented by Boogertown Gap. Taking place at room South 4B.
• 1 – 1:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program for Our Smokies Heritage! I Come to Borry Coals a presentation of the oral history of Smoky Mountain speech. Presented by Tyler King. Taking place at room South 2.
• 1 – 2pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program about the Smokies Through a Camera Lens! Creative Nature Enhanced Photography. Presented by Larry Perry. Taking place at room North 3.
• 1 – 2pm: Discovering October Roads Video Presentation. Presented by Fred Brown and Harry Moore. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section B.
• 1 – 2pm: Songs of the Carter Family. Presented by Tony Thomas. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 1 – 2:30pm: Hiking and Backpacking Program: Getting Started with the Right Gear. Presented by Mike Braun, Bill Deitzer and Pamela Rodgers. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section C.
• 1 – 3pm: Stream-Stocked Trout Fishing. Presented by Greg Ward. Taking place at room South 1.
• 1:30 – 2:30pm: Special Kids Track. Family Fun in the Smokies. Presented by Katy Koontz. Taking place at room South 3.
• 1:30 – 3:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program about the Smokies Through a Camera Lens! How to Look at and Critiquing Images. Presented by Colby McLemore and Eddie Foley. Taking place at room North 2.
• 2 – 3pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Four Seasons of Whitetail Deer Video Presentation. Presented by Kate Marshall. Taking place at room South 2.
• 2 – 3pm: Special Kids Track. The Blue and the Grey: Learn about Life as a Civil War Soldier. The Civil War needs Young folks to enlist for the Union or Confederacy and as a recruit, learn about the life of a soldier. Limited to of 25 so you must pre-register at Information Desk. Presented by Mike Meldrum. Taking place at room South 4A.
• 2:30 – 3:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program about the Smokies Through a Camera Lens! Working with Wildflowers: A Photographer’s Delight. Presented by Jerry Whaley. Taking place at room North 3.
• 2:30 – 3:30pm: Confessions of Snake Boy: Snake Tales, Songs and Lore. Presented by Doug Elliott. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section B.
• 2:30 – 3:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Owls and Woodpeckers of Tennessee. Presented by Stephen Lyn Bales from the Ijams Nature Center. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 3 – 4pm: Sanctuary: Meditations from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Presented by J. Greg Johnson. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section C.
• 3 – 4pm: You, Me and the Bears. Learn what happens when bears come into campsites or near our homes. Presented by Joey Holt. Taking place at room South 3.
• 3:30 – 4:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Everything You Wanted to Know about Mountain Lions in the Smokies. Presented by Dr. Don Linzey. Taking place at room South 2.
• 3:30 – 4:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program Special Kids Track! Compost Stew: Keep Sevier County Beautiful. Limited to 30 so you must pre-register at Information Desk. Taking place at room South 4A.
• 4 – 5pm: The Smokies Through a Camera Lens! Turn Your Photography Into Art. Presented by Karen Jones. Taking place at room North 2.
• 4 – 5pm: Civil War in the Mountains. Presented by Chris Tipton. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section B.
• 4 – 5pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! A Bodacious Snuffy Smith Chalk Talk. Presented by John Rose the Snuffy Smith Cartoonist. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 4 – 5pm: Bluebirds Year-Round Video Presentation. Presented by Steve Garr (Birds-I-View). Taking place at room South 1.
• 4 – 5pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Alpine Hiking for Seniors. Presented by Peter and Gudrun Seifert. Taking place at room South 2.
• 4:30 – 5:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Bringing Sustainable Development to Environmentally Degraded Kenya. Presented by Dan and Nancy Richards. Taking place at room South 3.
• 4:30 – 6pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program about the Smokies Through a Camera Lens! LightRoom 5 Photo Editing Software. Presented by Colby McLemore. Taking place at room North 3.
• 5:30 – 6:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program about the Smokies Through a Camera Lens! 7 Steps to Becoming a Better Photographer. Presented by Bill Fortney. Taking place at room North 2.
• 5:30 – 6:30pm: Of Ginseng, Golden Apples and the Rainbow Fish. Presented by Doug Elliott. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section B.
• 5:30 – 6:30pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Our Summer in Alaska. Presented by Carroll and Michelle McMahan. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 6 pm: Monday Hike Signups Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section C.
• 7 pm: Bagpipe Performance. Presented by Piper Charles A. Smith, Retired Commander of the TVA Police. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 7:15 – 7:30pm: Wilderness Wildlife Week Opening Ceremony and Welcome. Presented by Butch Helton the Pigeon Forge Office of Special Events Manager along with special guests. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 7:30pm: Opening Remarks. Presented by Ken Jenkins. Taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.
• 7:45pm: New Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Keynote Program To Be Announced and taking place at the Greenbrier Hall Section A.

Let us know which one of these programs were your favorite today!

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Guided Hikes

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 1

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 2

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 3

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 4

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 5

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 6

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 7

2014 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule for Day 8