It was a great climb and a wonderful payoff at the top. Then came the decent... long and steep back to the shuttled car. Overall, just over 14 miles and plenty of sweat. Great group that we really look forward to hiking with again.
RT
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Big Hump Backpack Trip
Spent the weekend with the Sierra Club on a one night backpacking trip to Big Hump Mountain in Roan Mountain State Park in NE TN. It was a blast. Temps were warm but the views were insane. Camping on Little Hump on Saturday night we had a 360 degree view of the area which stayed clear with bright blue skies. That night we had a little rain and quite a bit of wind but it was great. Cool night temps made for a great night at camp and perfect temps in the morning to get the day started. Sunday we started our climb up big hump. I can't access our pics but here is one from online.
It was a great climb and a wonderful payoff at the top. Then came the decent... long and steep back to the shuttled car. Overall, just over 14 miles and plenty of sweat. Great group that we really look forward to hiking with again.
RT
It was a great climb and a wonderful payoff at the top. Then came the decent... long and steep back to the shuttled car. Overall, just over 14 miles and plenty of sweat. Great group that we really look forward to hiking with again.
RT
Monday, July 19, 2010
Catching up…
So again, I drop the ball and have not posted in some time. Kind of fun though because I get to throw everything in one post. It has been a very active spring and early summer.
Let’s look at everything in reverse…
Weekend on the upper and a 13.4 mile trail day a couple of weekends ago. Good to get back on the upper and get our trail legs going.
Before that, 4th of July weekend… We were in Seattle. Our first trip to the Northwest, and it won’t be our last. Great food, people, and mountains! We’ll be back to scale some of those giants, I hope. Ate great food, saw tons of sights including a pod of whales, and hiked an amazing trail with a picture perfect glacial lake after a really hard climb.
Just before that, Julie’s parents were out. Always a blast with those two. This year we went to Charleston SC (South Kackalacky). It was really really hot and humid but we had a ball. Saw Fort Sumter, historical Charleston, a submarine, an aircraft carrier, dolphins, and a really cool bridge. Good food and many liquids were consumed, in moderation of course.
Memorial weekend was West BY GOD Virginia. We led a trip up to the New River and had a ball. We had high levels and it made it quite the run. Lots of laughs and no swims! Great weather and the water really was quite interesting and fun.
Late March, early April, we were in DC. Met my big bro and his new fiancé for some sightseeing in the nation’s capitol. It was a blast and we caught the cherry blossoms, quite nice. Some divine oysters and tons of museums and tourists. It was a lot of fun. Really liked Arlington cemetery, hadn’t been and really found it interesting.
Early March, went to Atlanta for the first time. Julie took me for my birthday. It was really cool. Got to see the Georgia Aquarium which was great. Whale sharks are quite large! We ate some great food and enjoyed the CNN tour and the Blind Tour. If you get a chance to take a Blind Tour I highly recommend. You get to experience different scenarios in complete darkness with just a cane. It was intense and quite awesome. Bodies exhibit was cool too, go see it when it comes around.
Mid Feb, I think, my grandfather passed in his hometown in Iowa. We travel to the funeral and it was great to celebrate his life. Cool guy with a huge family in his wake. It was good to see everyone from the family and we laid plans for a large Thanksgiving get together.
We made an unexpected trip to Tulsa in January for Julie’s grandmother’s funeral. Sweet lady and sad to see her pass as well. Had a rather large family gathering and it was a blast. Really was a great way to send Dorothy off. She would have had a ball at the wake.
That’s about as far back as my memory serves. So there it is. We’ll try to post more soon. Coming up is some trips to see OU play football and Julie going back to school for her masters! Good luck baby!
RT
Let’s look at everything in reverse…
Weekend on the upper and a 13.4 mile trail day a couple of weekends ago. Good to get back on the upper and get our trail legs going.
Before that, 4th of July weekend… We were in Seattle. Our first trip to the Northwest, and it won’t be our last. Great food, people, and mountains! We’ll be back to scale some of those giants, I hope. Ate great food, saw tons of sights including a pod of whales, and hiked an amazing trail with a picture perfect glacial lake after a really hard climb.
Just before that, Julie’s parents were out. Always a blast with those two. This year we went to Charleston SC (South Kackalacky). It was really really hot and humid but we had a ball. Saw Fort Sumter, historical Charleston, a submarine, an aircraft carrier, dolphins, and a really cool bridge. Good food and many liquids were consumed, in moderation of course.
Memorial weekend was West BY GOD Virginia. We led a trip up to the New River and had a ball. We had high levels and it made it quite the run. Lots of laughs and no swims! Great weather and the water really was quite interesting and fun.
Late March, early April, we were in DC. Met my big bro and his new fiancé for some sightseeing in the nation’s capitol. It was a blast and we caught the cherry blossoms, quite nice. Some divine oysters and tons of museums and tourists. It was a lot of fun. Really liked Arlington cemetery, hadn’t been and really found it interesting.
Early March, went to Atlanta for the first time. Julie took me for my birthday. It was really cool. Got to see the Georgia Aquarium which was great. Whale sharks are quite large! We ate some great food and enjoyed the CNN tour and the Blind Tour. If you get a chance to take a Blind Tour I highly recommend. You get to experience different scenarios in complete darkness with just a cane. It was intense and quite awesome. Bodies exhibit was cool too, go see it when it comes around.
Mid Feb, I think, my grandfather passed in his hometown in Iowa. We travel to the funeral and it was great to celebrate his life. Cool guy with a huge family in his wake. It was good to see everyone from the family and we laid plans for a large Thanksgiving get together.
We made an unexpected trip to Tulsa in January for Julie’s grandmother’s funeral. Sweet lady and sad to see her pass as well. Had a rather large family gathering and it was a blast. Really was a great way to send Dorothy off. She would have had a ball at the wake.
That’s about as far back as my memory serves. So there it is. We’ll try to post more soon. Coming up is some trips to see OU play football and Julie going back to school for her masters! Good luck baby!
RT
Weekend...
Another great weekend.. Upper Ocoee on Saturday with a morning session at Hell Hole. Water was really cold and felt great. We had Hell Hole almost to ourselves for over an hour. Got to love play boating before the run. Then ran up top to hit the upper. Great run with tons of smiles.
Sunday we got up walked 2 miles in the neighborhood (good hills in there too), hit the gym and relaxed until lunch. Had lunch with the Benton’s and then went to see the new movie “Inception”. It was so so… form your own opinion if you like. I wanted more than what I saw.
This coming weekend… Backpacking trip on Roan Mountain!! Just 14 miles so should be fairly easy with some great Bald views. Really looking forward to it!
RT
Sunday we got up walked 2 miles in the neighborhood (good hills in there too), hit the gym and relaxed until lunch. Had lunch with the Benton’s and then went to see the new movie “Inception”. It was so so… form your own opinion if you like. I wanted more than what I saw.
This coming weekend… Backpacking trip on Roan Mountain!! Just 14 miles so should be fairly easy with some great Bald views. Really looking forward to it!
RT
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Interesting weekend...
Well we had a great time this past weekend... Julie and I are trying to get into better backpacking shape. We hit the trails this weekend logging 20.5 miles in two day trips. It was great and we're not even sore, for whatever reason.
This first 12.5 miles were in Pickett State Park North West of Knoxville. More west than north I guess. Great Park with just a few trails. Our trail was fairly flat and a 10 miles loop with a side hike to a waterfall. We plan on backpacking this trip if we ever have someone interested in a non-aggressive first backpacking trip. The spots for camping were great and had amazing access to water and side hikes. The terrain was varying. We hit arid dry spots with large sandstone bluffs, heavy forest with thick rhododendrons, and even a couple rock overhangs with small caves. We really enjoyed it.
On Sunday we saddled up with some friends and headed on over to the Smokies for a more strenuous hike. This trail had plenty of elevation gain and loss. It was a great loop with some amazing views of Cades Cove and the valley. Even some locals on this trail...
All and all a great weekend and some great trails.
Rt
This first 12.5 miles were in Pickett State Park North West of Knoxville. More west than north I guess. Great Park with just a few trails. Our trail was fairly flat and a 10 miles loop with a side hike to a waterfall. We plan on backpacking this trip if we ever have someone interested in a non-aggressive first backpacking trip. The spots for camping were great and had amazing access to water and side hikes. The terrain was varying. We hit arid dry spots with large sandstone bluffs, heavy forest with thick rhododendrons, and even a couple rock overhangs with small caves. We really enjoyed it.
On Sunday we saddled up with some friends and headed on over to the Smokies for a more strenuous hike. This trail had plenty of elevation gain and loss. It was a great loop with some amazing views of Cades Cove and the valley. Even some locals on this trail...
All and all a great weekend and some great trails.Rt
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Bummer Sooners...
Well as you all know, the Sooners took a big hit and a loss this last weekend. I hope Bradford gets better and that Tebow if found guilty of some felony. One can dream.
Frees up some time for kayaking though... I think I like climbing in the poles better than staying at the top all season anyway. Seems almost impossible to be king of the hill for so long. Tennessee and Tulsa played some good football though. We'll see if they can hang with that level of offensive production in the coming weeks.
rc
Friday, August 21, 2009
Friday!
Yes another week down. This weekend we're getting some kayaking in to prepare for Gauley season. Tomorrow we have a beginner trip we're helping with on the Pigeon River. Great first class III type river with good road service. We have a young man in our care tomorrow and I think he'll tear it up. Looking forward to it. Then on to the Upper Ocoee to get some big water practice for the Gauley!
This year is going to be the year of the Gauley for both Julie and I. We have both run the Upper and Lower and are looking for some more time on the Upper! We'll spend our first trip out working on the lower to find our bearings. Then move up to the mighty Upper on trips 2 and possibly 3. We'll see how we feel.
The Gauley is all big pushy water, Julie's favorite. I'm more into the tight creeky rivers and Julie loves to get pushed around by the big water. I dunno... Anyway, the lower is chalk full of play and the upper has some class V rapids. So on one you're all smiles and laughs, and the other you want to survive. When you do survive you smile about it, knowing the next rapid you'll be scared all over again. Good times!
Here are a couple of pics on the upper...
Anyway, enjoy your weekend imaginary friends that read this blog.
Rt
This year is going to be the year of the Gauley for both Julie and I. We have both run the Upper and Lower and are looking for some more time on the Upper! We'll spend our first trip out working on the lower to find our bearings. Then move up to the mighty Upper on trips 2 and possibly 3. We'll see how we feel.
The Gauley is all big pushy water, Julie's favorite. I'm more into the tight creeky rivers and Julie loves to get pushed around by the big water. I dunno... Anyway, the lower is chalk full of play and the upper has some class V rapids. So on one you're all smiles and laughs, and the other you want to survive. When you do survive you smile about it, knowing the next rapid you'll be scared all over again. Good times!
Here are a couple of pics on the upper...
Anyway, enjoy your weekend imaginary friends that read this blog.
Rt
Monday, August 17, 2009
Away we go...
Alright, again it's been some time since the last blog update and I'm feeling like writing. Life has continued to be very interesting. In the last few months we've been to concerts, entertained family, been to Oklahoma, spent some time in North Carolina, taken a SWR refresher, tried to wake board, paddled the New River in West Virginia, had a 75ft tree at our house struck by lightening, paddled in the Smokys in August, and had some great laughs. Yet during this time we keep thinking, man we haven't been paddling much (obviously not true).
It's been great fun and to be honest, I have loved this summer. It has rained and rained and rained and I love me some rain. The grass is lush and green and the trees have been beautiful. Less one of course...that was a mess. It has really reminded me or Ireland. Tons of green!
We have also been spending a great deal of time with friends and that has been a ball. We have played some Wii, drank some wine, eaten some great food, and laughed until we cried. We have really met some great folks in TN and they have really made our transition very smooth. We're never at a loss for someone to join in on a weekend, or even weekday, adventure. Just a couple of weeks back we threw out the idea to drive up to West Virginia to kayak on a Thursday and we had a bite and left the next day. That was impressive and quite honestly one of the best trips I have had to WV. Great water, food, and friends. The people in TN are truly amazing and quite active.
So as far as plans, it's almost Gauley season so WV here we come, again... We're also really excited about getting some good backpacking weekends in. We recently read that there are over 900 miles of trails in the Smoky Mountains. I'd like to walk them all at some point. I think we're only 20-30 miles in thus far. But there is a great 30 mile hike on the east side of the ridge that I think we might try to do this March. So we could double our mileage in one 3-4 day trip. That would be really nice. We also cannot forget to mention, it's ALMOST FOOTBALL SEASON!!! BOOMER!! Looking forward to seeing Bradford tear it up again, what a great kid on and off the field. I hope our post season can finaly bring a W. That'd be really nice...
So there it is, life is a grea trip. Hope you're enjoying your ride as much as we are. Love, Eat, Laugh, and Explore! "LELE"
Randy
It's been great fun and to be honest, I have loved this summer. It has rained and rained and rained and I love me some rain. The grass is lush and green and the trees have been beautiful. Less one of course...that was a mess. It has really reminded me or Ireland. Tons of green!
We have also been spending a great deal of time with friends and that has been a ball. We have played some Wii, drank some wine, eaten some great food, and laughed until we cried. We have really met some great folks in TN and they have really made our transition very smooth. We're never at a loss for someone to join in on a weekend, or even weekday, adventure. Just a couple of weeks back we threw out the idea to drive up to West Virginia to kayak on a Thursday and we had a bite and left the next day. That was impressive and quite honestly one of the best trips I have had to WV. Great water, food, and friends. The people in TN are truly amazing and quite active.
So as far as plans, it's almost Gauley season so WV here we come, again... We're also really excited about getting some good backpacking weekends in. We recently read that there are over 900 miles of trails in the Smoky Mountains. I'd like to walk them all at some point. I think we're only 20-30 miles in thus far. But there is a great 30 mile hike on the east side of the ridge that I think we might try to do this March. So we could double our mileage in one 3-4 day trip. That would be really nice. We also cannot forget to mention, it's ALMOST FOOTBALL SEASON!!! BOOMER!! Looking forward to seeing Bradford tear it up again, what a great kid on and off the field. I hope our post season can finaly bring a W. That'd be really nice...
So there it is, life is a grea trip. Hope you're enjoying your ride as much as we are. Love, Eat, Laugh, and Explore! "LELE"
Randy
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
How not to...
This is how not to run a waterfall...
Lesson over. I actually ended up flat with my hair dry. But I sure thought I was in for a beatdown.
Not to leave Julie out, she also had a how not to moment...
Ah good times. She was okay as well and had a good laugh about styling it backwards.
Randy
Lesson over. I actually ended up flat with my hair dry. But I sure thought I was in for a beatdown.
Not to leave Julie out, she also had a how not to moment...
Ah good times. She was okay as well and had a good laugh about styling it backwards.
Randy
Thursday, April 30, 2009
BSF Weekend
Had a great weekend and got a great workout. Friday we headed to Nemo to get a little bouldering in. This was great and we've now decided it's our new Tuesday outing. Pictorious...
In bouldering you work problems only as high as you don't mind falling. A crash pad helps ease the landing. Good fun and a great workout.
Then on Saturday we headed out to the Big South Fork with our play boats. Had a great run and found tons of play.
Then after camping that night, on Sunday we took in the Honey Creek Loop trail also there in the Big South Fork area. This trail was kick ass. You first head down some ladders from the overlook down to the creek level. Then you hike back up the creek. It was only a 4 mile trail but it was tough. Plenty of water crossings, great views, and caves. We had a ball. Here are some pics...
Overall Epic weekend. Had a blast. Great company too, Andy, Tom, David, and Tisha. Gotta love Knoxville!
Later,
Randy
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