On Thursday I will embark for the Katy Trail under the tutelage of Mark Jones. (ignore the dates on this map, I snatched it from the web) We will attempt to ride from Clinton Missouri to St. Charles on road bikes, camping along the way. I am excited about this new adventure and will be posting updates to my instagram feed which can be found here. https://www.instagram.com/johnwquillen/

The Katy Trail is a rail to trail which parallels the path of Lewis and Clark. In that vein, I am posting my favorite guitar solo by the same name by the greatest guitarist alive, Mr. Tommy Emmanuel. Please close your eyes and enjoy this musical journey.

Frank enjoys our morning visitor at the undisclosed location campsite.

So many times I have heard about the existence of the synchronized lightning bugs at this spot. So we decided to explore this mythology and confirm or break it.

Frank spearheaded this effort, we had not been on the trail together in some time. Brian MFN Tankersly also was in tow.

In order to see the lightning bugs you must be by a creek. And the temperature has to be correct. This particular evening we were almost alone in this Backcountry campsite save for two folks. We  set up our tents, including my sad sack.

You may recall this tent from years ago. I’ve hauled it on many a multi-day excursion. It’s very light and uses my trekking poles. But I would be better off sleeping out in the open. The design flaw is the distance spanned between the tent poles. This causes sad sacking.

Anyway, the two people who were already in camp informed us that a bear had come to visit them prior to our arrival. We did not see him, however.

I’m  jumping to our second night because I have no photos of the lightning bugs. I lack the photographic ability to capture them like Seth did so successfully last week. But they were fantastic, magnificent and continuous. And it was just us and our two neighbors.

The next morning we proceeded to our second campsite where we were joined by Seth and surprise visitors Richard and Linda. Linda entered camp with a practical joke. She appeared solo and asked who is Brian? Brian perked up and acknowledged that he was indeed the one. Linda then proceeded to say that the backcountry office  told her she could share a tent with him since the permits were limited. Brian’s response was that he is in a hammock and that he is married. His wife would be proud. Linda is a good actress.

Seth was able to do some fishing on his way into camp.

And talk about perfect weather.

We got in about 16 miles of hiking this weekend. We’re not disclosing the location because I don’t want to popularize this new secret spot.

Stay tuned because I’m getting ready to embark upon a big adventure on Thursday. I will be posting a lot of stuff on Instagram.

After missing it last week we nailed it this time.

The lightning bugs were there in full spect glory and we were able to bask fully in it.

Jesse The body even made an appearance.

We had a super large turnout and we’re joined by Heather this time. Many of the same folks that were with us last week returned for the splendor of this incredible event.

That includes Brian mfn Tankersley. We had two birthdays AJ and Curt. Andrew drove back up from Chattanooga, Mark Jones, Micah who received a new trail name as well. That name is Hurl. We were also joined by Suzanne, who had little choice but to loan her camp for our presence.

All the pictures I’m going to share with you are either from Seth or Myers.

Obviously Seth is responsible for these. He spent the entire evening orchestrating this artwork.

The lightning bugs put on a show for us all. It was Heather’s first backpacking trip and she nailed the landing.

Micah received a new trail name. Brian Tankersley lost one.

Good stuff.

Seth works his way up this beautiful wall on Knox County’s finest crag. We paddled to get there. Multi-pitch under responsible lead, who can beat that? It is what we would call an undisclosed location. But if you join the East Tennessee climbers coalition will let you know where it is.

But one heck of a fun time. Very happy to be among this group. We had great camaraderie a wonderful fire, perfect weather.

What else could you ask for?

Maybe you could ask for a beautiful rendetion of an aptly named song.  I present, Timberland for your enjoyment.

Some things will remain forever etched in your soul. This was yesterday to me. What you may not know, however, is that for his part in this rescue, my friend, Neal Kushwaha, was awarded the Canadian Humane Society Medal of Bravery.  And it was fully deserved.

https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/magazine/june-2019/blood-in-the-snow/

Saturday was one of those glorious nights you will always remember. Record cold had caused the thermometer to bottom out and register an historic low temperature. AJ and Jon Dempsey had gone up to our secret spot because it is so full of goodness. I was accompanied by Seth who grabbed this beatiful shot.

That cresting wave isHangover and this is one of the best views of it I’ve ever seen.

Seth settles into this beautiful beautiful area.

AJ and Jon had been on a bit of a walkabout.

They had some rain the tonight before.

Fireside we regaled Seth with old men tales of mountains and beyond. I can’t believe the number of crisp days we’ve had to enjoy this Wilderness. It is truly a blessing to be in this place with such good company and perfect weather.

 Seth definitely has an eye. He knows about product placement.

I promised you something on Jeffrey’s Hell from a couple of weeks ago and haven’t forgotten. I have been working diligently on something that is being edited. In the mean time, let’s get back to some tunes. How about a lot of guitar work by the amazing Billy Strings.

It’s really nice when you have a professional photographer in tow.This weekend we were fortunate to be accompanied by my friend, Seth Dortch

That’s him on the right with the thumbs up.

We climbed 1400 feet up Mill branch and 2.3 miles to meet Curt. It’s a nice pull in sections.Curt began his journey the day before leaving from Beech Gap. He traveled along the spine of the Fodderstack trail and camped at Crowder branch on Friday. The next morning he got up and did a gargantuan loop which brought him back up Mill Branch and  into our company.

We set about with the requisite camp chores.

He’s definitely got the minimalist thing going.

This was one of his first East Tennessee Appalachian backpacks, I’d say he does get a thumbs up for that.

Rightfully tuckered.

He may have the bug and is shopping for some lightweight gear.

I’m about to overdose on Citico goodness. It has been many years since I had stayed at Mill branch. This trip was very reminiscent of the time we ran into Tipi here. I am still  recovering from the 3-day epic Mark and I just completed. Expect a full report within the next week.

Excellent outing, excellent company, excellent weather.

Let’s end with a little concert action from two of the greatest guitar pickers of all time.

Folks,

This was one for the books. So much so, that I am going to take a bit of time to put it together properly. Let it suffice to say we went thoroughly to the “Back of Beyond” and survived to tell about it. I’m going to leave you with a teaser for two reasons. One, so I can have time to put this story together. Two, we are going back out again this weekend and I have to do some work in between. Mark Jones was my partner on this bushwhack and below is one of the little “issues” we had. (spoiler alert, there were a few).  But all is well that ends well.

Also, I have been posting flashback memories from two years ago from Everest on my instagram feed. On this day in 2018, for example, we were making our way through the Western Cwm between camp 1 and 2.

Stay posted for updates on this wild excursion.

p.s. If anyone here has any acumen with regard to Strava, I could use some assistance. My epic on this journey got stuck in my android phone, and I cant upload it to Strava.

Peace,

John

There is a section of the Crowder Branch trail that reaches a 47% grade. Mark Jones and I tackled this project just a couple of days after having been there on another trip.

It is a hefty haul getting up to the top of Crowder Branch this way.

I was trying to capture the steep angle of trail here but it doesn’t do justice to The climb.

Just two days before when I was there not half of these wildflowers were poking out of the ground.

Probably one of the best specimens of Jack-in-the-Pulpit I’ve ever seen.

Ascending through vegetation and blowdowns, we encountered an incredibly steep section. Unbeknownst to me, Mark had taken a tumble and nearly pierced his ear. I will not show you a photo of the damage per his request. But,he was bleeding like a stuck hog.

the final mile and a half is pretty much in the stream so there are some considerable crossings to be made the after a big rain storm.

You may remember we made the same ascent back in the fall.

Shortly, we were right back on the same spot where I had spent the night two days before. And it was so glorious be underneath the stars that were promising to show us some meteors. The meteor shower never happened. But, great company and conversation ensued. (Yes, there were plenty of derogatory comments made about our Grifter in Chief and his cabal of criminals masquerading as a president. I hate to be an “I told you so” but I did. Now that Trump has killed people with his lack of leadership on Covid, people are starting to come around. Of course, way more damage can and will be done because all the Republicans in power have ensured Putin can directly influence elections by voting down election security. So you may well have this Mango Mussolini for another term thanks to Marsha Blackburn and Moscow Mitch) By all means, though, please don’t look behind the curtain.

After an indescribably restful evening, and glorious fire, we lounged about the next morning departing right after coffee- thirty. I had encouraged Mark to go out the Farr Gap route and get into new miles.

Mark was not disappointed, and neither was I taking a solo journey back down Crowder branch. Here are a few notes about Crowder branch. You need to bring your route finding ability. This is more like a man way than a trail. Do not attempt after a big rain storm. I’ve done this several times and still get a little bit turned around in a couple of places. If you were thinking of attempting this and have questions just email me and I will share what little bit I know.

You see some strange sights in the backcountry. Looks like a bird lost its fight with a snake or something. There is an egg right there. On our way out we saw the most beautiful fox specimen. He had an almost gray looking coat but it was definitely a fox and he was in great health.

I’m not posting any pictures of Mark at his request. But we did have a magnificent time even though Myers wasn’t able to join us.

I’ll finish with one final wildflower that I know Rocky Ledge can identify.

Peace

John