Recent Trips (Bear, Suck Creek Christmas)

Cloudland Canyon

Nervously Scouting

Me in the first tier of Stairway

Jason portaging Knucklehead

Jason explaining something

Corey Hall - Big Bang

So far this kayaking season is shaping up to be one of the best I can remember. We are about 8 inches over average for rain currently in Chattanooga (and probably everywhere in the SE). In kayaking I have set a couple of goals for the next couple of years and was able to tick one off last week with a run of Bear Creek running off Lookout Mountain. Although it was a minimum level (10"), it was still incredible quality and by far the best run I have done in the southeast and possibly anywhere. I was with a great guide and am looking forward to trying to get the lines down considering it is very close to my house. Christmas day I was able to go kayaking with Jason one of my best kayaking friends. This was a rare treat as it is hard to keep the man away from the Tellico. We had good run down Suck Creek and although pressed for time, I had a great time. I have this new Olympus Stylus waterproof camera and am trying to figure out how to use it so my pictures are not the best, but it sure is convenient.

Bouldering LRC

My brother-in-law's brother Seth was able to get over to Little Rock City for a bouldering session recently. Although we had damp conditions we were able to salvage some quality problems, most of which we hadn't been on before. The bouldering at LRC is exceptional and it is incredible how many countless high quality sandstone boulders are packed into one place. Here are a couple of sub-par images of Seth.

Oliver

421 Tennessee

Baker Gap

Roan Creek

Tennessee roads are high quality.

Shady Valley

South Holston Valley

Powell Mtn: Stony Creek below Chimney Rock Fork.

This is a section of streambed that has quite a bit of bedrock. Probably pretty interesting class 3+ with a few hundred cfs. This is about a half mile below the confluence of Stony Creek and Chimney Rock Fork. The section between Glady Fork and Chimney Rock Fork has similar gradient but alot of wood and an uninteresting features. The section of Stony Creek from Marsh Fork to Glady Fork has the most potential, but is the most remote as well as being prohibitivly narrow. Because the previous pic is wide angle, the gradient is a bit steeper than it appears.

South Fork Powell

A super-tight, super sweet gorge locked up with deadfall. Big Cherry Lake is the water resevoir for Big Stone Gap. A few years ago the resevoir size was increased significantly by the construction of a new dam, Big Cherry Dam. The gorge below it is the steepest and most rugged of all Powell Mountain drainages. Unfortunately the ridiculous gradient is coupled with excessive lumber. The need for a permit and epic rainfall put this gorge in the "lets just go do Little Stony and high water Guest" category.

Week off in Chattanooga

Pinball

Suck Creek

North Chick

This past week I had a vacation week and (thanks to my understanding wife) got to get outside more than usual. A good friend from school came down from Nashville for a climbing day at Sunset Rock and we got to toprope a couple of cool routes. We spent a lot of time just trying to identify routes since neither one of us had climbed there before, but it was a fun day on an awesome crag. Throughout the week I was also able to get on some whitewater. The following shots are from North Chickamauga creek, Suck Creek, and Little River Canyon, all of which are within an hour of downtown. Excellent weather for November I must say.

Vail Pass/Camp Posthole 2004

Brumley

Nolichucky

Always beautiful, always fun.

Navy SEAL off road challenge (Halloween)

This Halloween I drove over to Cosby, TN to participate in a trail race. I was on a team with 3 other guys that I work with and despite some nasty trail conditions, it was a lot of fun. The course is brutal with steep rutted out climbs into steep downhills the entire 3.5 miles and obstacles in between. The obstacles consisted of ropes courses, hurdles, walls, etc. We maintained a fairly consistent pace and were able to take 2nd in the team competition. I think I'll definitely do it again in the spring. Whereas running on the road is quite boring, this course was dynamic and kept your attention throughout. Oh yeah, the other picture is of my son as Chucky for Halloween later that evening.

Cohutta Springs Triathlon

My wife Becky did this sprint triathlon recently in Cohutta Georgia. It was a 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike ride and 4 mile run. This was her first triathlon and she trained very hard for it, putting up impressive times and taking 2nd in her age group. She is now seemingly addicted and is searching the calender for her next potential event.