Max Patch

Sara and I went to Max Patch late last week.  Max Patch is an enormous bald between Knoxville and Asheville that the Appalachian Trail crosses.  I'm not sure how, but this was the first time that I had ever been.  It is an incredibly beautiful place with 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains.  

The weather was perfect the day we were there.  Clear enough to see about as far as you could in any direction.  Highly recommend anyone to make this trip.  It takes a little effort driving on forest service roads but once you get there the hike is only about a 2 mile loop to get to any part of the bald. 

Mount Mitchell

Finally got to take a long awaited camping trip this weekend.  Michael, Matt, and I have been planning a trip to Mt. Mitchell for a month or two.  Michael's girlfriend, Kathryn, came along as well.

We left early Saturday morning from Johnson City headed for Black Mountain Campground in the Pisgah National Forest at the base of Mt. Mitchell.  We got to the campground and set up camp and were ready for our hike by 10am.  The plan was to hike up Mt. Mitchell Trail from the campground to the top of Mt. Mitchell.  The trail gains 3700' over 5.6 miles.  It was quite a climb.  Everyone killed it though.  We made it to the top in a little under three hours.  The trail was very rocky, rooty, and wet in places but overall was clearly marked and fairly well taken care of.

Once we reached the summit, we were stuck in the middle of a huge cloud so the views weren't great.  It was a clear day but not while we were at the summit.  So that was kind of a bummer.

We did get some nice views on the hike back down though...

Really fun trip with fun people.  Need to get a few more of these trips in before leaving for Dallas...

Andrew Skurka

I had the opportunity to go listen to Andrew Skurka speak at a local outdoor shop in Lafayette on Saturday night.

Many might not know him, but Skurka is a professional long distance backpacker.  He has been named the Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic and Person of the Year by Backpacker Magazine.  He is known for his super long distance treks at incredibly fast speeds.  He has completed the Great Westen Loop (a 6,875 mile journey) in 208 days, the Sea-to-Sea Route, a 7,775 mile route across North America, The Appalachian Trail, The Hayduke Trail, and 4,700 mile six month journey through Alaska and the Yukon.  This is quite the list of accomplishments, especially at the speeds he does them at.  Also, most of the treks he completes solo.

The presentation he gave on Saturday night was about the Gear and Skills that he uses when planning his adventures and treks.  It was really interesting to see his very methodical and carefully planned approach to the trips that he goes on.  For more information check out his website:  http://andrewskurka.com/

Here are a couple videos where he discusses his Alaska-Yukon expedition:

Pinnacle Mountain Fire Tower

We are currently on Mardi Gras break at LSU, so I decided to come back to Tennessee for the break to spend time with Sara and family.

Today, I made my second trip up Pinnacle Mountain Trail to the Fire Tower in Unicoi.  The first time I went was last August.  I road my bike the 5 miles up to the tower.  Today, I decided to hike it.  After the nasty weather and the threat of snow yesterday, today's weather was beautiful.  Sky's were clear and much warmer than yesterday.  There was a little bit of snow up by the fire tower but not much.

Happy BDay Mom!

Today is mom's birthday.  She wanted to go on a hike for her birthday...so thats exactly what we did!

We went and hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail near Shady Valley that mom and dad went to last spring and really enjoyed.  The hike was a point to point hike mostly along a ridge line above Shady Valley.  It was 6.5 miles hike from US91 to Low Gap.  Typically in the winter, there would be great views of Shady Valley to the east and South Holston Lake to the west but the weather didn't cooperate for that.  Very overcast.  We hiked up in the clouds for a portion of the hike.  Not the best of weather but we had a great time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

2011 . In Review

2011 has been another great year for me.  I got to experience so many awesome things and had life changing events happen.  I have so much to be thankful.  I have a great family, an incredible fiancee, and so many great friends.  My blog frequency has slowed downed a little of late, but thanks for always checking in.

I wanted to do a little recap of my year.  In my typical blogging style, many pictures, not so many words:

JANUARY

Studio trip to San Antonio and Houston...

FEBRUARY

Sara visits Baton Rouge and NOLA...

MARCH

Mom comes to NOLA for a mission trip (and Mardi Gras)...

APRIL

Spring Break trip with LSU to...Los Angeles, Yosemite, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Death Valley NP, Mammoth, Grand Canyon NP, Sedona, and Phoenix...

MAY - JULY

Spent the summer studying abroad in Italy.  Spent eight weeks in Rome.  While in Italy, I got to travel to the Monti Simbruini National Park, the Cinque Terre, Venice, Florence, and Sorrento/Capri.  I spent the final four days of my trip in Madrid, Spain...

AUGUST

Family vacation to central Tennessee for a lot of golf and a little bit of hiking...

SEPTEMBER

Beginning of internship at HadenStanziale...

NOVEMBER

SARA AND I GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!

DECEMBER

Trip to Illinois to visit family for Christmas.  Sara got to come with and meet lots of family she had never met before...

2011 was a fantastic year.  Hope everyone has a great 2012...

William B. Umstead State Park

I went to William B. Umstead State Park today to do a little running.  The park is located in between Durham and Raleigh.  Really a great outdoor oasis in the middle of a very urban area.  It is only about a 10 minute drive from where I am currently living in Durham.

Umstead is a great place for hiking and/or trail running.  Today I went out on the  Sycamore Trail.  It is a 7.2 mile lollipop style route.  The trail goes past Sycamore lake and follows Sycamore Creek for a while before wrapping back around to the trailhead.  The trail was really great for running because it had a good mix of flat areas and more technical, rocky climbs and ascents.

Beautiful landscape, beautiful day.

Rock Creek Falls

Took a short hiking trip last Saturday with Sara, Mom, and Aunt Dolly.  I didn't want to do too many miles because I had the half marathon Sunday morning, so we went to Rock Creek Park in Unicoi.  There, we took the relatively short hike to Rock Creek Falls.  It was about 4 miles round trip.  Really a beautiful area very close to Johnson City.  The trail follows Rock Creek the entire way to the falls.