GLFWDA Smoke Mountain Trek. When was it?

[Bronco4-Play]

My first one was in 87, it was the 13th anual. It was a GLFWDA event called the Smoky Mountian Trek. It was run by Rick Taepke and Tom Hoskins, they had taken it over from whoever ran it before (I don't remember the name). It was based out of the Spivey Cove campground on the Tennessee side of what is now the Tellico ohv area. It was a 10 day event with a catered steak dinner on both saturday nights. There was organized trail rides every day with one of the weekdays set aside for trail maintenance day.

Membership in GLFWDA was required to attend, so those who were not already members Of GLFWDA became members of the Smoky Mountian Explorers club, which was a GLFWDA club.

Around 1990 it had out grown the Spivey Cove facility and was moved to the Hanging Dog Camping area near Murphy NC, about 8 miles south (ish) of the OHV area. It was about this same time that Rick and Tom had a falling out with great lakes and changed the name to the Smoky Mountian Venture. It was still held the last weekend in April through the first weekend in May as in the past but without the GLFWDA afilliation.

1999 was the 25th aniversery run (I've still got the jacket), but it fell apart not long after that due to not enough participation to cover the event ins.