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.