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
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
May 2-3, 2015 “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien; The Hobbit Some weekends are not about hiking twenty miles, testing your fortitude over tough terrain, and roughing it. Some weekends are for beautiful, easy-going trails, cooking marshmallows and hotdogs … More Farlow Gap
April 25-26, 2015 “Deep in each man is the knowledge that something knows of his existence. Something knows, and cannot be fled nor hid from.” ― Cormac McCarthy I will often enter the woods to shed my worries and anxiety, only to find that those concerns were so inconsequential that I have a difficult time … More Ellicott Rock Wilderness
January 17-18, 2015 It’s hard to write about a place that you found, when in reality, you don’t want anyone else to know about it. But, we want people to experience nature and explore the beauty our Nation holds. Ramona, Gracie, Emily and I set out to hike and camp in the western portion of … More Ellicott Rock Wilderness