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It was a busy weekend and a lot of things happened prior to it. As expected, the backcountry fee has now doubled from $4 to $8 in addition to a parking fee which is $5 per night in the Smokies.

Please make your comments known. we will foia them and prove that this is an unpopular proposal.

And prove The NPS to be fast and loose with their visitation numbers.

Myers was with us.

Yes that’s Carver and he’s not at Mount Collins!

The trillium are out.

 The dwarf crested Iris are at lower elevations, this is from the River bluff in Knoxville that morning. Knoxville climbers took over 800 lb of trash out of that area. We had 15 people there working to clean up that area. And none of it was climber trash.

Yes it’s that time of year.

This is going to be a short post because I’m getting ready to bite off a big chunk of the Appalachian Trail with Frank.

We will be heading north from Atkins Virginia in a day or two. Check out my Instagram feed for updates.

Peace.

This was the final night of my three days in the back country. We ended up at campsite 30.

But it begins the weekend before with Steve McQueen, which is actually his real name. (Frank asked me what his real name was.)

And a ridiculously cold crossing of Abrams Creek. I counted 35 steps from shore to shore. My toes were frozen by number 20.  We had one more to do outside of campsite 15.

You may recall the heavy winds that precipitated the Wears Valley fires. That’s why we had rabbit Creek to ourselves. That and the two cold crossings.

Now fast forward to the following Friday. Frank Whitehead was itching to get out. I hadn’t seen him in almost 2 years. We decided to take off Friday and first go up campsite 20.

 Mr Yo-Yo has turned into Santa Claus. This was the last adventure Frank and I shared. Hard to believe it has been that long. http://southernhighlanders.com/new/2020/10/13/a-t-time-damascus-to-atkins/

Despite showing full in the reservation system we had the place to ourselves. this is a familiar tactic with the national Park service as you will recall we proved in this article. https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/17708-a-strained-relationship-suspicion-of-nps-lingers-among-some-backcountry-users-parkside-communities

Queen joined us that first night and soon we were regaled by stories from his time working at the blue oyster bar.

Something bluish caught my eyes we hiked out Saturday morning. It was the remnants of this old mason jar with the ancient cap and the colored glass.

We came by the car to replenish supplies and I ran into my old friend Carl Monin. He just returned from our destination, campsite 30. It was great to see this guy with whom I have shared a trail and campsite. He has been a supporter of SFW and we appreciate his efforts.

It was a perfect April weekend. Crisp days and l cool nights. A carpet of wildflowers accompanied us up the Little River Trail. We had a few crossings to make.

At campsite 30, we were joined by Kurt, who slayed fish up and down the trail. He caught 15 that first day. Then in rolled Richard who forgot his tent poles. I’ve done this before and had to rig it just like he did. Hiking poles are quite versatile.

Another delightful evening was enjoyed around the campfire with intermittent stars. I heard little noises outside my tent and wasn’t able to sleep very well. Next morning I woke and noticed that some animal had chewed holes all through my shirt. I’m thinking it was a mouse going for the salt.

Either way our plan for the day was to say goodbye to Frank as we departed on a bushwack up towards the dome. I’d always wanted to explore that area and see how far we could get up through the rhodo. 

 

It was a glorious spring day. Fields of phlox and wildflowers abounded.

We crawled at times on our hands and knees through dog hobble and rhodo. Then we find these open areas that look like they were associated with the rail lines.

You run across strange things off trail in the Smokies. Something had been nesting  under this little cave and apparently had a fire.

We were cris- crossing the stream hopping over logs and rocks. I was reveling in the majesty of this beautiful April Sunday morning. I was thinking about how blessed I am to be able to do these things. We joked about all the off trail adventures I’ve had and how it’s a wonder I haven’t gotten seriously injured. We worked our way back towards camp on the opposite side of the creek. Kurt now took the lead as we hopped Little River  for probably the 20th time. I’ve been making these epic jumps and nailing every landing. I was walking across logs 10 ft off the ground.

Kurt had just jumped across a little bit of berth. I followed him. My foot slipped and I did not nail this landing. My right foot sailed off the greased rock with the eloquence of fat albert in ballerina tights. I was now airborne and heading for the creek arm first. I remember the landing quite distinctly. It was my right arm that broke the fall mostly. That along with my hip. Soon I was laying sideways in the roiling water. Kurt turned around to try to move me, but my body was having none of it. I had to lay in that water for at least  15 seconds. Despite the fact it was ice cold, I wasn’t feeling that. It was the pain to my hand and legs. Eventually I mustered the adrenaline strength to roll over onto a little bit of a rocky bank and laid face first there for about 5 minutes. I  wondered what was  broken. This scenario of hiking out 7 mi back to the car came to mind. I was able to get righted with Kurt’s assistance. I didn’t think that I had broken anything in my leg system. But my hand was another matter. Either way I knew I was good to get back into camp.

I felt like that I probably did damage my hand in some way. I was able to hobble back into camp and relax for a little bit before breaking camp. Richard and Kurt were kind enough to follow me back down the trail to the car. A couple of ibuprofen were a lifesaver. A trip to the X-ray machine the following day confirmed that I had fractured the bone in my metatarsal. Not bad considering the fall that I took.

Aside from that little incident it was a glorious weekend and week. Great to see Frank again and spend time with Curt, Richard, and McQueen. There will be no rock climbing content in this space for a little while.

 

Nestled amongst the Virginia hills at 3500 ft this hidden gem is truly a delight.

just 30 minutes outside of Abington hides a place that holds some of the most incredible rock climbing and camping I’ve seen.

I was the guest of Jordan and Erin. Always enjoy hanging out with them. They’ve gotten to be such proficient rock climbers.

I thought this place was super soft graded. But then again I’m way out of practice.

It has slab, crack, roof, you name it. I was obviously way behind these kids.

It’s only two and a half hours from Knoxville. I will definitely be back.

 

You may have heard that our team experienced incredible success in Ecuador last week, topping out on Pasochoa, then Ruccu Pichincha and finally the big one, Cotopaxi at 19,347 feet.  I am so proud of our group and look forward to sharing details with you via a piece in CityView’s next edition.  For now enjoy these few photos in the link below.

 

our first summit, Pasochoa was in the clouds. It was remote and our approach was longer than expected.

 

The next one, Ruccu Pichincha was similarly cloudy. It was 6.63 miles and 2460 feet of elevation to the summit at 15,358.

 

Here is the money shot. Cotopaxi summit. It was a horrid day weather wise. No views, cold, windy and all you know to expect on high mountain summits. We battled up and topped out in 6.5 hours and 3.5 down.  Stay tuned for details next month. So proud of my team. It was one of the best trips I can remember. My brother Todd and our friend Greg joined the merry band to sight see in Ecuador and soak in the Galapagos.

 

“the Mayor, Todd Quillen in our “estate” in downtown Quito. All he lost was his cellphone due to a pickpocket.  You will occasionally have that. It was the only real negative experience.  Below are many more photos, please enjoy.  Contact me if you want to have your own custom outdoor experience!

 

 

 

 

 

Immediately upon embarking on this late afternoon back country hit, I run into Bill Ramsey whom I haven’t seen in months. He was completing a loop and we were heading up for the night.

The stars were amazing and we had a brilliant fire.

Steve McQueen was on the scene.

he and I were getting a little shakedown run before we head to Ecuador on Friday.

So I’m trying to get things done before then. I’ll share another photo or two and then the next time you hear from me will be north of the equator.

The eagle has landed.

Follow me on Instagram for Cotopaxi updates

In the old days we called this a Team Extreme event. AJ and John Dempsey had originally planned to go up there. So I invited Richard and Wildcat. Then Brian came along.

it rained about 2 inches on Thursday. Friday morning promised to cool off and we ascended in the sleet.

Didn’t take long to reach the snow line right before the bald.

And soon we found AJ and Jon shivering in the high winds.

Richard and Bert were wise enough to drop off the other side of the hill to get out of the egregious wind. I’m thinking the wind chill made it down around zero given the fact that the ambient air temperature was probably 19 or 20.

Fires are important in this kind of weather and we did not have great ones. Not that we didn’t have a champion crew of fireman up there. It’s just that the wood was absolutely saturated.

This was my tent the following morning after a night of shivering for some. I was in my minus 40 so things were okay with me. However my toe monitor told me that it was well into the low digits. Hoar frost moved in and coated the trees so beautifully.

I had an unusual animal sighting. A black skunk creature walked below me on the freezing ground. It looked like a skunk but with a bushy and shorter tail. Then I noticed it has spots instead of stripes. Bert and I figured it to be a spotted skunk, which appears quite different from a usual skunk. It walked right by Bert’s tent.

Bob Stratton was killed by raiders during the civil war when he left the Bob and headed down towards Coker Creek. There’s a lot of good history for this area. You just have to look around to find it.

with all this snow and icy weather, you might enjoy my recent contribution for City View magazine.

Ice Climbing from Coast to Coast

 

The flying sausage and I flew into the backcountry for an overnight quick hit.

The winter starscape was amazing

Which made a warming fire not only nice but necessary.

this was an off-trail route which is why I’m not going to publicize the location.

Me and the old Jimmy Dean had a fantastic outing. It was about 15° I reckon. I can tell by my toe thermometer.

Soon we busted back out and got to enjoy a lunch on the road.

It’s definitely falls into the category of quick hit Backcountry trips.

I never thought this would be possible, especially on the heels of my Ouray experience. But Charlie Avery hooked us up. He had paid a guide from Fox Mountain to take him up for an ice clinic. And Charlie took us here. It is right off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Shining Rock. A place I have spent a great deal of time. We had a blast. Thanks to Kat, Micah and Charlie for making this a memorable experience.

At about min 2, my crampon comes completely off.

Twas a tradition of time’s past. Our Denali crew would gather in Colorado for good ice and fellowship. This year our numbers were diminished due to illness and work obligations but it was still Neil ,JDavis, Neils son, James and I.

Fortunately we didn’t require their services. But the ride from Boulder to Ouray was a little more than dicey. What should have taken 5 hours ended up taking us almost nine. Snow was blowing sideways and mountain passes were closed. I was driving a two wheel drive Mitsubishi. It was solid ice all the way up and down these mountain passes. I will not be driving across the state again in winter time. However I did come across one of the most elusive outdoor sightings of all time on this journey. I finally saw a bobcat in the wild. It crossed in front of the car as we drove through the hills. All my years traipsing through the Appalachians hearing them and seeing their signs. Only to see one run across the road and almost get nailed by my car.  Truly a blessing.

Once finally in snowy Ouray, it was time to get at the task at hand. We follow our fearless later John Davis down into the canyon.

We established anchors and rappel down into our first ice climb. Since we were last there they developed a nice new anchor system. Very well marked with the snow. We don’t know what the routes are rated though because this was a new area that just opened up.

 

We were mostly climbing water ice 3 with the occasional four. It’s not been a great year for Colorado in general. You may have heard about the wildfires that went through Boulder right before I got there. Only about a third of the ice park was open. And all this was top rope. Very little lead climbing sections were even open. It’s been very warm until we got there.

After exhausting ourselves we would have a nice meal somewhere in town and retire early. Having only had a few days on the ice, we needed to maximize them. Neil was down from Alaska and his son James drove up from Durango. It was great to have James join us on the ice. He’s a natural, just like his father.

Good old JD, Dean Davis. Always so much fun to hang out with him and Neil. We missed Lee who was unable to come due to work and Dan who is suffering from chemotherapy complications. Dan’s had a rough time with a lung melanoma.

This is Neil socially distancing his son James who was exposed to a covid positive person prior to the trip. This meant that poor James had to stay in a separate hotel eat by himself and generally distance himself from us except when outside and he always wore a mask. Very thoughtful young man.

it was sometimes five and six degrees in the morning so when we headed back after a couple of days the roads were still solid ice coming out of Ouray. Fortunately the weather was good and allowed us but 4 to 5 hours over into Frisco/ Dillon.

I said goodbye to Neil and James whom I presumed departed for their hut to hut ski trip. And I said hello to Keystone. The first day of skiing was pretty good. The second not so much. And I will add that lift tickets are now about $150 a day.

One thing Colorado does right is they address this virus appropriately. Proof of vaccination is required before entering lodges and certain accommodations. I stayed at a hostel called the Pad my second night. It was a delightful experience, very clean  with hot tub. For $50 a night I stayed in the heart of ski country. Compare that to your average $200 night prices elsewhere.

As a matter of fact the skiing was so icy my second day I quit about 1:30. I proceeded back to Boulder and spent the night with John and his wife Zara. She is a gourmet cook and sommelier. She prepared two wonderful meals for us at the beginning and end of our excursion. They are such gracious hosts. I didn’t find out till I returned home that James was unable to join his father on the hut trip due to coming down with the actual covid.

I’ve always valued the time that I spend with my Denali buddies. We all met on that great mountain in 2007. I’m prepared to go to another Mountain that I visited prior to that. in February I will be leading a group downto Cotopaxi in Ecuador. We still have a few spots available if you are interested contact me I will leave our itinerary and details at this link.

https://johnquille0.wixsite.com/mountaineering/about-1

We have a very nice crew making the trip down to Ecuador. I’m looking forward to showing them some high altitude beginner mountaineering. if you’re reading this blog and you’re interested in letting me help you develop an adventure give me a call. Would you like to go learn how to ice climb in you Ray with a one-on-one guide? I’m a dirtbag climber and work for cheap. could probably be talked into flying out there if you get hotels and and car.

All in all a fantastic experience in Colorado. Many thanks to the Davis family and Neil and James. Now for some music.

Let us not forget that he was one of the greatest musicians of all time and this guitar lick proves it.

From back to front. This is a shot of us celebrating Richards 60th birthday and retirement from Denso.

This is a View from the road out of Clingmans dome. I departed there on New year’s day after spending the night at the shelter with….

Abby and Kelsey, the Sausage and Bert. Plus our two new friends Tom and Tammy.

It was the Sausage’s birthday. And this is the second year in a row I’ve spent it up there with him.

Bert holds Court.

 Madonna has entered the building.

Bert had them eating out of the palm of his hand.

Women folk have to earn their keep around us, though.

I rode my bike from Newfound Gap up Clingman’s dome road and began my hike.

When we departed the following day, the road was closed. This was a flashback to the year before. So, I did the only proper thing which was to ride my bike from Newfound Gap all the way down to the Sugarlands.

 On the way out, we found a lot of junk deposited by some kids who didn’t know what the heck they were doing. We know who they were because they showed up at the shelter soaking wet. Carrying Walmart gear. So they just dumped it trailside.

On Tuesday prior to that I met AJ and his friend up at the Crooked arm.

This was on the Tuesday night prior to New year’s Eve. So good to see AJ and so good to get two backpacking trips in one week.