December 3-4, 2016 I am not a big fan of crowds in the backcountry. Hence my favorite destinations are often obscure. Chief among those are Farlow Gap. Hikers probably don’t recognize the name, for them it’s just a gap on the Art Loeb Trail before the Deep Gap Shelter. Bikers likely recognize is as a … More Daniel Ridge Loop Trail, Farlow Gap Trail
November 18-20, 2016 It’s late fall and the temperatures have felt more like mid-summer rather than the cusp of winter. It has been nearly 70 days since any measurable rainfall in Western North Carolina, wildfires are popping up over the region. Most started by deranged pyromaniacs/attention seekers, but the bone dry conditions act like vat of gasoline. … More Mt. Sequoyah, Mt. Chapman
November 5-6, 2016 There are forty peaks over 6000’ as part of the South Beyond 600 Challenge. The most remote and difficult are located in the backcountry of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’ll be honest; these are hard peaks to grab. They require a lot of research and a lot of compass/orienteering skills. My … More Old Black, Tricorner Knob, Mark’s Knob, Mt. Guyot
September 24-25, 2016 My favorite hiking challenge has been the South Beyond 6000. Sponsored by the CMC, one must hike 40 peaks over 6000 feet in North Carolina and Tennessee. I’ve hiked all the peaks in the Great Balsam area of North Carolina, except Mt. Hardy. Mt. Hardy is located in the Middle Prong Wilderness. … More Mt. Hardy
April 30 – May 1, 2016 In a clearing at the confluence of Yellowhammer Gap Trail and Nichols Cove Trail is a small cemetery. “Two Sisters of John & Marget Dotson – Born December 14, 1914 – Died December 20, 1914 – At Rest”. In front of the grave marker are two small granite markers … More Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
April 16-17, 2016 “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”[1] The more I hike in Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, the … More Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
December 12-13, 2015 Nestled in Graham County, the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness is secluded and sacred. Just walking over the terrain, sleeping on the forest floor, one can sense that there is a deeper story waiting to be told. In the center of this Wilderness is a wonderful, difficult loop waiting to be hiked. The Weeks … More Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
September 12-13, 2015 “It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.” – Dave Barry The Appalachian Trial is special. But, I don’t believe it necessarily comes from the scenery or toughness; but rather from the camaraderie and time you spend with … More Appalachian Trail – Max Patch to Hot Springs
August 8-9, 2015 The ecological teaching of the Bible is simply inescapable: God made the world because He wanted it made. He thinks the world is good, and He loves it. It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it. And He has never revoked the conditions, bearing on His gift to us … More Great Smoky Mountain National Park – Jerry Hollow
May 16-17, 2015 I woke up at 6:30 in the morning at Deep Gap. I could see the sunlight starting to peer inside my tent. I unzipped my warm sleeping bag, leaving its confines to walk to the cliffside. To the east, over Linville Gorge, the dawn’s sunlight burst forth, its ringlets turning the sky … More Winter Star Mountain, Mt. Craig, Mt. Mitchell
