We had a near record crowd for the Southern Highlander Hangover trip this year. And the weather could not have been better. The only people not pictured here that were in attendance are Micah, David and Drew Snider and Tipi. That brings our total to 17, just shy of the record of 21.

I made it up for two sunrises.  And they were epic.

Myers was there so you know laundry got done.

But the sun sets were equally spectacular.

A day hike happened. Kelsie led Chris and Chambers down Deep Creek and up the Haoe.

That’s McQueen prior to making a big scene.

Hanging out with Tipi in his usual camping spot over above the saddle,

I didn’t notice what he was wearing for a couple of hours. Until I did. He took my Denali summit photo and whose picture is in my face? Yep.

Micah did a cameo on Friday.

He wasn’t disappointed for his efforts.

No matter how many times I’ve gone this hill the mountain always offers up do you stunning vistas.

The new Peakfinder app points out all the mountains to be seen from the Hang. I never realized we could see all the way to Blood Mountain.

 It is always great to see Jon and AJ. Andrew and Chambers didn’t fear the climb.

 The week prior, Kelsie, Richard, Linda and I paddled across Calderwood to camp beneath the Hangover. I have been derelict in posting due to all this outdoor time but this photo and the next are from that adventure.

We had a great moon the prior weekend down on Calderwood as well.

 Tipi got some views.

 Chris’ first time on the rock.

 And the week before that, Micah and I tackled the North Ridge route on Table Rock. It turned into a mini-epic as do all of my multi-pitch climbs.

I was also honored for the opportunity to present my Everest story to the esteemed  Chicago mountaineering club.

 

 

Let’s end this fantastic Hangover adventure with some solid, old school Tom Jones owning Crosby, Stills Nash and Young. I never cease to be amazed at his talent.

It was a fluke decision. This beautiful spate of weather we’ve been experiencing lends itself to these kinds of excursions. On thursday morning way departed four and a half hours north into the beautiful Allegheny hills of West Virginia.

It’s fall and another rail trail called. It all started the weekend before when we were climbing at Starr Mountain.

My old friend, Jeff Grindstaff recommended this one after I had recommended the Katy Trail to him.

That’s Jeff second on the left guiding us expertly up to beautiful Rock faces outside Chattanooga.

This is another view from Starr Mountain down in Benton Tennessee from the weekend before.

So Kelsie and I loaded up her truck and the bikes and away we went.

She made an incredible montage video here.

Starting in the town of Caldwell West Virginia, the first night we peddled 17 miles into our first campsite. And it was right outside of camp that we encountered a large black creature in the middle of the trail. Many times have I come upon  large black seeming mounds in the middle of trails that did not move. They often prove to be stumps. This one, however, did move, and it bounded  to verify a very sizable adult black bear.

The temperature was pretty cold that night probably in the upper 40s. We encountered the only company we had along the trail that evening.

Leah and Michelle from Florida shaded the same trajectory. Headed north they also chose the uphill version as it was less driving.

They had a campfire ready for us.

We say goodbye to them early Friday morning because we had 50 miles to do that day. If we saw anyone on the trail I hardly remember it. Unlike the C&O and GAP trails this one is almost totally isolated.

Total length northbound was 80 miles. Our intention was to hit the top section in Cass, turn around and repeat. Going uphill, the grade varies from 1 to 3%.

We slept beneath the stars that evening and were awakened in the middle of the night to the thundering crash of trees into the river. it wasn’t until the next morning we realized it was beavers.

There are always vestiges of the rail line.

We made it to the end of the line and then it was time to turn around and head south. This day was going to be a long one though.

By the time we reached another empty campsite we were too tired to even start a fire. We’re even too tired to cook a meal. But I slept like a log.

The final day saw us just doing about 25mi out.

We must end with a song as cool as this trail itself.

It was almost heaven, West Virginia.  But that’s not the song you’re going to hear below. Thank you for the beautiful weather, the great company, the perfect riding ,solitude, the animals, The outdoor experience. Glorious Fall has arrived.

 

The flying sausage decided we needed to drive to Laurel Gap. By the time you deal with I-40, Heintooga road and Maggie Valley it’s 3 hours from my house.

But I was fortunate to have the company of one Grady. We ascended the Balsam Mountain Trail.

It’s 1500 ft and 4.2 mi to the shelter, in the light sprinkling rain. And the shelter was full. Which made me glad I brought my tent. Snug we were in the shadow of the hemlocks. Away from the snoring masses.

There to greet  us was Jimmy Dean, Steve Mcqueen, Dwight and Robert Carver. And 10 other of our closest friends, who all  bedded down at 7:30.

Hiker midnight came super early at Laurel Gap. But not for me and Grady and Dwight. We greeted the stars well into Highlander midnight.

As a result of Dwight’s late night activities,  he was unable to complete their anticipated  loop,and  Sunday morning found them dependent upon me and Grady to ferry them back around to their car at Big Creek.

But not before a stop at one of our favorite dining establishments in the Maggie Valley. Martin would be proud.

It was a quick hit weekend trip but a lot of fun was had.

The weekend before I was at the Obed for Trail days. This is a place where a lot of volunteers put in countless hours to maintain a national Park service resource. I’ve been able to participate in many Trail days over the years. This year we put up the new sign for the parking at South clear.

The East Tennessee climbers coalition does a magnificent job.

There were probably at least 70 volunteers that day. Projects completed include trail work, litter pick up and of course the South clear parking lot project. Then of course we had some climbing that afternoon.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a couple of days. It was also the only dry weekend I had in two months.

I would like to speak a little bit more about the covid. Many of you know that I had a breakthrough infection after vaccination. I was fully diagnosed with covid pre vaccination in December. That was 2 weeks of flu like symptoms, and complete isolation over the holidays. In addition to missing work and an AT hiking trip with Brian.

So I was first in line to get vaccinated with moderna in February. You may recall that I started getting sick at Richard’s hike a couple of weeks ago. And this bout was worse than the first. They say the chances of getting reinfected are almost astronomical. Well I guess you can say I’m good at beating the odds. I shudder to think at what may have happened had I not been vaccinated. Actually I know what would have happened. I would have been on a ventilator at UT hospital in a hallway probably.

A very good friend of mine lost her mother this week to the virus. She was un vaccinated. 1500 people per day are dying from this virus. So far we’ve lost 600,000 Americans. Yet we still hold super spreader events like UT football games. People still argue about the efficacy of masking. And folks who have no problem taking polio and many other vaccines, suddenly think they’re going to be computer chipped with the covid version.

I still have people say things to me like I probably got the covid because of my altitude exposure. What they’re really doing is trying to find some reason that a healthy person like myself would catch this plague. And they want to be able to fit the Fox news narrative that people who get covid really have underlying problems.

I don’t.

If you’re watching Fox news and News Max, understand that the people spouting this propaganda to you are vaccinated. So good luck with your ivermectin.

2 Corinthians 4:4. the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ who is the image of God.

 

 

Richard and Keene tell stories of their many years and 900 miles through the Smokies around a rainy camp in Elkmont on Saturday evening.

We woke early Saturday morning to embark on a shuttle ride up to Clingmans dome so we could drop down Sugarland Mountain trail 14 miles. My allergies were giving me a hard time but once I got on the trail things felt wonderful. I believe there were 12 of us on the shuttle.

The weather was fantastic and the views breathtaking. I enjoyed listening to Laura speak of Richard’s selflessness on her hikes with her. He was always first in camp to start a fire and provide food for everyone, as was the case this time. I concur, he’s a pretty good dude. This meetup crew is a varied group. I got to know them through JD but mostly of late, through Richard and Kelsie, which is how they met. I had to dig deep to find this, from when I finished my miles many years ago. http://southernhighlanders.com/SETTLETHIS.htm

Richard had tasked me and Patrick to find the start of the manway up from the Chimneys which intersected Sugarland mountain. I had written a story for the Farragut/Northshore Magazine about this offtrail several years ago. Here is a link to that. http://southernhighlanders.com/Chimneyscan.htm  I’m going to post a link from past Highlander epics when we did this.

However, Richard pulling up the rear, never arrived. And after 45 minutes Patrick, Laura and I shoved off on down the trail.

I was sick here and didn’t even know it. Much more on that later.

The wildfire went from here clean over to the bullhead. I had not walked this trail since.

We gave up on waiting for the rest of the team as Patrick, Laura and I were running down the trail. Kelsie was with the other group helping Keene finished his last miles over on Meigs Creek.

We finally got to the bottom of Sugarland Mountain after about 13 miles. Laura was sitting on a log waiting. Storm clouds were gathering so it was decided that Patrick and I would hike two miles around into Elkmont and retrieve a rescue vehicle. And then the sky opened up.

Big time. I should have just walked through the creek into the campsite. Instead we shortcutted through the Wonderland hotel, or what remains of it.

Guess who pulls into the campsite? I feel it appropriate to post a link to when JD and I first met on the trail many years ago. He was over on LeConte doing some miles as we were sweating down from the “dome”. Still the issue remained of rescuing everyone over on Sugarland Mountain. So we assembled a convoy and headed back that way. After I changed into dry clothing of course. By now I was feeling less good than before. I thought that the hike had just worn me down now we’d done almost 15 miles.

Keen and his group beat us back by several hours. A big party was going to happen that evening with barbecue, buck dancing and all sorts of shenanigans. We had probably 23 people there.

I could feel myself starting to go downhill. Those allergies were really kicking my butt

It started sprinkling off and on. As we socialized and visited around camp, our companion, the rain, paid visit. I can feel myself sinking lower and lower into my outdoor chair. After dinner I indulged the need to retire to my tent. This was about the time the dancing portion of Richard’s party initiated. I’m very proud of them for finishing their miles in such style. If you are interested in renting Richard for the weekend he is available for weddings and Bat Mitzvahs. His stage name is Gen. Beauregard and he will entertain your family, work gathering or bachelorette party in true Southern style. That includes hatchetry, woodsmanship and feats of strength.  Here is a publicity photo for those interested.

I awakened early the next morning. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was more than allergies. When Kelsie came out of her tent, I informed her of my intention to stay distant from the group. This meant skipping the much anticipated breakfast for which we had contributed provisions to include Benton’s bacon.

 

I was achy and not from hiking. My head was swollen, my sinuses enlarged. This feeling was all too familiar. I packed up camp and collapsed in Kelsie’s truck. We drove back home with me fully masked. The rest of that afternoon was a complete wash. I could hardly move from the couch. I knew what had to happen the following morning. I was first in line at the health department after waiting 30 minutes to be told that they could not covid test me as I had health insurance. Not that they couldn’t put a sign out there like they did the time before. The question everyone needs to be asking themselves is why do we not have free covid testing? This is after all a pandemic. My bill for lab services only through my family Dr is unknown. But I have a 6k$ deductible.

After being turned away from the health department which tested me in December and confirmed my original covid diagnosis, I laid myself at the feet of my primary care physician and begged them to work me in.

The following day I had the results of the PCR test. Covid positive. Again. I was fully vaccinated in March and you will recall that I was fully sick in December. 4 days of flu-like symptoms. Another quarantine, and week’s worth of unpaid missed work.  Yes I blame Bil Lee, our derelict governor.  He’s too busy pandering to the gun and Fox news crowd to care about the health of his citizens.  I developed what they called a breakthrough case. Lucky me. Had I not been vaccinated I think I would probably be on a ventilator in the hospital.  95% of the people on ventilators in hospitals are unvaccinated.

So that’s my weekly rant, oh wait, no it isn’t. You may have heard about the parking fee for Laurel falls trailhead. I certainly have from everyone. So the Southern Forest Watch sent a letter to superintendent Ca$h outlining our concerns. The comment  period seems to have been shortened.

This is of course to avoid capturing negative sentiment about the proposal. We’ve been on this rodeo before. They’re just greasing the wheels for more fees for parking at Alum cave and elsewhere. But they need the money to pave Cades Cove road again. (not a pothole on that road, been riding it on the bike on Wednesdays).

Please be safe, GET VACCINATED, wear a mask indoors and quit shaking hands etc. So far, I appear to have infected no one. And we did contact all the folks at the Elkmont event. Praise to the Lord. Understand that if you are afraid of the vaccine, then think about what your children will say when you are on your last breath at UT Hospital as one of the dying unvaccinated. This stuff is serious, it is NO fun and very uncomfortable.  I’m so appreciative of Kelsie and Hilary Burgin for looking after me with groceries etc during this second infection.

I had a piece published in CityView this week and hope you get to take a look. As you know we have been climbing here for a while and I wanted to showcase the work done by the East TN Climbers Coalition.  Thanks to Rebecca Whalen at CityView.   https://cityviewmag.com/black-mountain/

Peace.  Now for some music. We’re going to go way back to the 70s for this timely piece of masterful guitar/vocal work by Greg Lake.

 

 

 

 

Don’t let the beautiful photograph fool you, we climbed 4,000 plus feet in the monsoon rain to get to Mount Sterling on Friday.

You may recall my friend Marina from the first Gap C&O bike trip. She was riding solo from her hometown in Pittsburgh via Smolensk Russia.

I was waiting for the news report of the bomb.

Apparently the only bomb was a cloud that dumped all of its contents on us as we climbed and climbed and climbed.

She’s a good sport, but Marina is a former Mountain guide in the Caucasus of Russia.

This is a person who rode by herself from Pittsburgh and followed us all the way to DC then turned around and rode all the way back.

During the times of respite from the rain we had some pretty views.

We were joined by a couple and their four year old daughter who climbed that mountain, also in the pouring rain. That little girl is one tough bird. I never heard her cry or complain one time. Most people I know don’t  climb Baxter Creek up hill anyway. But this little girl marched on in her crocs, smiling the entire way.

Bryn and Marina were fast friends.

The next day we took off down Mount Sterling ridge and came to the Swallow fork Trail. It probably would have been wise for us to drop down Swallow Fork instead of taking on the rest of Sterling ridge, Balsam mountain and Gunter fork.

But Marina wanted to do some mileage. And why not? She came all the way to Tennessee so I wanted to make sure she got the full Smokies experience. We had barely set foot on the Gunter fork trail right up from Laurel Gap shelter when the second monsoonal deluge began.

One of my favorite swimming holes is at the bottom of Gunter Fork. Marina took full advantage of it as we were already soaked to the bone. It was one of the weekends where you forgo any notion of walking in dry shoes, socks or boots.

We made it out of the Smokies alive in time to get back the following day to enjoy a bike tour around the city of Knoxville. Of course we were dogged by a rain during that event as well.

I hope everyone is well.  Let’s enjoy some music. Can you believe this is Paul McCartney?

 

 

There’s always a place I can find my pet little copperheads. It’s down at the bridge in the lower Muir valley area.

The camping is good at Land of the Arches and it’s near my favorite climbing.

There are routes over there that are 75 ft tall. The Corbin sandstone is the best climbing you will encounter on the East coast.

Kelsey did good leading on some 5.8.

Because they’re only two of us I don’t have a lot of photography.

The weather was ideal, it cooled off to make the slab perfectly sticky. I’ve had so much good fortune at the Red River gorge.

Peace to all as summer rages, the hornets nest was close to the ground. That usually  implies a cold winter.

 

To see a better version of this photo, go to my instagram link here.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CRu1XQbMu0h/

As you can see, we had a great time helping Abby finish her last mile in the park She is a real go-getter, just like Kelsie. These gals were super-motivated and did all their miles in record time. Kelsie was about six months and Abby about seven or so. We ascended Trillium behind the Llamas.

On Sunday, we hit the Obed and climbed Tarantella. Thank goodness we had Scotty as our rope gun. I can’t lead that one right now, or forever, for that matter. It’s the pumpiest route at Lily Bluff at my level. We enjoyed a nice swim afterwards.

Tarantella is a 5.10 and it’s so super pumpy. Kind of surprised we had the bluff to ourselves.

Kelsie heads up the infamous rocking chair. 5.9

And, on Friday, Kelsie and I took off for a paddle down part of the Little River. We put in at the Water plant in Alcoa and floated to Rockford, What a delight to be on the river with no company other than cranes and heron.

I had a great time hiking with Marc Anthony and Nathan Sparks, publisher of Cityview Magazine. Some of you may know Marc from the Marc and Kim radio show. Marc did a wonderful piece here and I really appreciate his time and that of editor Rebekka Whalen.

https://cityviewmag.com/the-call-of-the-mountains/

Yes, that’s me with the sexy legs at the end of the C&O Towpath again. You may be wondering why I went back. Well, Kelsie was itching to do her first bikepacking journey and I wanted to spend a little more time on this trail. So, off we headed to our nation’s capital and departed from Georgetown, heading north this time.  Right off the bat we came across a deer, so close to the city. It was a good omen, we would encounter many.

 

 Again, more sexy leg photos. People just can’t seem to get enough.

 Mile Zero, We found it with no problem.

 

Sights like this were missed  first time around. Really spectacular set of waterfalls here.

 

Our goal was to do about 50 miles per day. Our first night of camping was peaceful and we were joined by two fellows  finishing their journey. They had an interesting story about a bear encounter along the GAP portion. Apparently one of them awoke during the night to see a bear dragging their bike off as it had food in the pannier.  We took necessary backcountry precautions and hung food nightly.

 

This is my rig. It is a full suspension mountain bike with adapted panniers. In order to complete 187 miles with three nights of camping, it needed to haul 30 pounds of gear. You may notice that I replaced wide mountain tires with skinny Shwalbe Hurricanes. They performed flawlessly on both journeys with zero flats.  Zero. I don’t necessarily recommend a full suspension bike, hardtails are better. It’s less weight and energy required. But I can’t afford a gravel bike presently. It would have to do. The C&O is essentially flat. Weight is not really an issue in those circumstances.

 

One of our more interesting deer encounters involved this young buck who got between us and a woman walking in our direction. We both stopped but the deer had no escape route. He opted for the canal. With no problems he swam across and climbed the vertical bank. Kelsie lost count at 14 deer, I believe. But the most unusual episode came on our final day. I was behind Kelsie, (aka the Kingston Hauler, since that is what she hold a local legend status on with Strava) and was attempting to pass when a fawn emerges, or should i say, attempts to emerge from the thicket between her and the canal. The deer starts her jump and nearly brushes Kelsie’s arm before thinking better of the attempt.

 

Harper’s Ferry. We locked our bikes and carried all our pannier bags up and over the bridge into W. Va. It was time for lunch.

 

We had miles to go and dared not tarry as Antietam Battlefied awaited.

Quite a bit off trail we rode through Sharpsburg and reached the infamous Sunken Road shown here. 5000 soldiers died in a hail of gunfire and constant artillery. Being a bit of a history buff, this Sunken Road and it’s imagery have haunted me through the years.

 It was a solemn experience and worth the uphill detour. We overnighted at a place called Big Woods camp which found me swimming in the Potomac and the arrival of our new friend, Luther, from Cookeville.

Her favorite part.  (Not looking at my backside)

 

 Kelsie is a pro on her first ride. We had the Paw Paw tunnel to negotiate this day.

 

Hey, those sexy legs don’t wash themselves!

 Our last day was planned to be a campout in the final site outside of Cumberland, Maryland. However, whenn we arrrived, the temperature had spiked to 97 degrees. The campsite was utterly unappealing and no access to the river was gained. So we pushed on towards town and shower. The next morning we caught a one and a half hour late Amtrak train back to D.C. Upon arrival in D.C. we had more riding to do back toward Georgetown and mile zero. We passed the nation’s Capital, White House, Lincoln Memorial and Smithsonian. It was now only 94 degrees. Glad we were to finally reach the vehicle and start heading back to TN. We overnighted in Stanton, VA where I celebrated my birthday in this magnificent little town. The C&O was a grand excursion, I highly recommend.

I needed to do a couple of days worth of work in my office before taking off for some climbing at the Red River Gorge in Ky. Everyone knows that I am a big fan of this classic sandstone here. Kelsie and Scotty had never been so I was happy to accompany them, along with Jordan Harris, to my favorite rock in the world. We had Fall weather in the midst of summer and spent the fourth at Muir Valley and PMRP pulling that beautiful sandstone. It is something to behold.

 

 There were more than one of these!

 Scotty B sends a 10.

Jordan starts off on a weird little traverse.

Now, let’s start this week off with some tunage.

 

 

The weather looked quite specious. Rain showers throughout the day with the occasional heavy thunderstorm was predicted for this part of Virginia.

We arrived at the Elk Garden parking lot to a soaking storm. The flying sausage pulled in with his Entourage. They were eager to hit the trail for 5 and 1/2 mi ascent to the base of Mount Rogers summit, the highest point in Virginia. Kelsie and I opted to wait out this round of storm. It would last almost 2 hours, but when it finally broke and our radar indicated such, we rode it like the wind.

 

Knowing  this would be short lived, we opted for the horse trail which diverted from the AT. I was reminded of having been here in October when Frank and I did our 80 mi section hike to Atkins.

The rain barely touched us as we sloshed through the trail now turned into a creek. A great canopy of trees kept us dry. By the time we spotted our first pony, the skies had cleared.

We finally found the Sausage and his group at Rhododendron Gap.

  And the Rhodo didn’t disappoint.  (Or, as Frank calls it, Rhondo!)

The ponies are a great novelty that draw many many people to the highlands annually

However the longhorn cattle is one I can do without. Especially when at 2:00 in the morning they come stampeding through camp. It gives me flashbacks of the Karakoram and when Brian and I were sitting in our tent which was trampled by ponies. (You can read about it by purchasing a copy of my book, Tempting the Throne Room. )   That’s when I discovered that Jimmy Dean has a fear of bovines. Not sure what the forest service was thinking by allowing this cattle grazing up on top of a bald that already is sufficiently defecated upon.

Among the many great guests that Jimmy brought up, was KO and his wife Paula. Would you believe that her dad was the drummer for Roy Orbison. It was fascinating to hear that story.

We had barely gotten our tents set up when a horrific storm crested the knob of this high point in Virginia. It rained sideways with lightning and all of us were fearful of losing our homes.

 

 

When the clouds finally rolled out, we had a beautiful, star lit evening.

Sarah was able to wrangle a fire out of totally soaking wet wood. I have a lot of respect for anyone who knows how to start and tend to fire.

I regret that I forgot to snap a star-scape photo before I went to bed but I passed out pretty hard.

We went back out along the Appalachian Trail to make a complete loop. Sunday was glorious; all the weather we didn’t have the day before.

I realize that Mount Rogers and the Grayson Highlands has been trending of late. The pandemic has brought people into the woods that never even thought of venturing out before.

The bad weather worked in our favor. It kept the crowds to a minimum. I’m thankful for the invitation by Jimmy Deane, the flying sausage. It was good to shoulder a pack again.

On other notes, I have a video on youtube that has no accrued 469,000 views. In other words, gone viral. It is one we made in 2019 as we enjoyed a Safari on the Serengeti. I’m still not certain why it has garnered so much attention but if you watch, you will notice that a hyena shows who is the boss to some cheetahs.  If you would like to go on a safari or a climb of Kilimanjaro, please contact me and I will hook you up with the BEST and cheapest trip you can ever imagine.  When I say I have a hook-up, you know it is for real.    Take a gander and just some of the sights you will see on a safari in Africa. My friend will take you in a private jeep to three different National Parks and you can actually tent camp in the Serengeti with gourmet food. It is a bucket-list life experience. Contact me if you want more information. Africa is open for business for vaccinated folks.  EMAIL John

And finally, one of our good backpacking buddies, Gary Duvall, suffered a massive stroke yesterday. If you have any room to pray for him, please do so as his family will be taking him off life support at any time. We have enjoyed many a campfire and trail with him and I can say he is genuinely one of the nicest fellows you would ever meet. He has two boys in addition to his wife. Gary is barely 60 years old with no history of health issues. I know the family would appreciate any good energy you can send his way.