I had taken a big gamble by taking this trip in the shape I was in, and I had done some crazy things. I navigated an unmarked hike in Linville Gorge of all places, including a trail segment so steep it was laughable. I had just done the longest hike of in the mountains of my life, and done it solo with two bad hips. I had driven on mountain roads an entire day on a tire going flat. I had used an Amazon hub. I stopped at stop lights. There were a lot of firsts this trip. So I wasn’t going to let another stupidly steep slope stop me again, even if it was getting dark and I was having to go down first, uncertain of how difficult it would be to get back up, especially with a camera bag and tripod on my back.
Tag Archives: trail
2020/10/18 – Sitting Bear Stands Tall
I peered over the edge, trying to figure out which route which cause a slightly marginal decrease in the likelihood of severe injury compared to the others. So too were close to ten others, hikers who had come from the other direction on a loop hike, not the out and back I was taking, and thus had not yet experienced this thrilling trail segment. I had come across them on my return trip, and had discussed strategies for how to handle this tricky section. My preferred method was the butt method, where you don’t run the risk of having your feet fall out from under you since you aren’t on them in the first place. This tried and true strategy is idea for Florida flat-landers, especially ones with bad hips, and it’s the exact strategy that I decided to employ here. Soon I was sliding down foot by foot, my hands gripping for patches of firm dirt, tree trunks, and roots, whatever would help me make a controlled descent besides the friction between my butt and the ground below which had long since caused the back pocket oy my pants to lose its functionality. And soon, most of the folks behind me had joined in, so there were a near dozen of us sliding ungracefully down the slope, all on our butts. From below, we might have looked silly for those not in the know. For others, they know that’s it’s just another part of hiking in Linville Gorge, one of the most rugged hiking areas in the East.
2020/07/02 – Abrams Falls
We were stuck in traffic. This may not have been uncommon if we were back in Orlando, where we have the happiest congestion on Earth, but that’s not where we were. We were waiting on the entrance road to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains, an entirely new opportunity to inhale carbon monoxide fumes and allow your middle finger to get some exercise. It seemed apocalyptic; cars stretched in either direction as far as we would see. They were releasing women and children only. The vehicle in front of us had long since resorted to cannibalism.
2020/06/30 – Roaring Fork (Finally!)
Rounding a bend, and we were there. Except it wasn’t just one single solitary tier as I had imagined. Instead, the whole of Grotto Falls stretches out for a hundred yards or longer, and in direct contact with the trail as well. In fact, there was even a lower tier of Grotto Falls below the trail, though trying to access or view it was something far beyond my imagination on this day. It made such an awesome scene to see the trail run alongside the creek, with the well known main tier lying in the background. A long exposure of this unanticipated scene would have fit right in with some of my favorites in my portfolio, but alas, that was a lot of trail that would have to be kept free of people for far longer than was going to be possible at this time. I was sad, because this is singularly one of the most beautiful sights I’ve come across in a mountain range that is absolutely full of them.
2020/06/29 – Little River of Big Wonders
Step by step I worked my way up the gradual incline, trekking poles assisting me to make the burden of each step just a little less. The sound of two feet and the knobby end of two poles constantly pushing off the ground filled the air with the distinctive sound of crunching dirt. There was another sound permeating the air; that of the heavy breathing of the three people enjoying this hike with me, my wife Jess and our friend John and his wife Lauren, making their first trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. I paced onward, practically oblivious to their plight, my overriding concern being to push the group forward to minimize the possibility of us getting caught in a significant thunderstorm, something I had experienced before and wanted to protect my less experienced friends one. If I may be excused for being oblivious to the physical struggles of my group, one must understand that it almost unfathomable that I could outhike anyone; for in the days and weeks leading up to our Smoky Mountain trip, I had legitimately barely been able to walk.
2017_10_21 – Chilling at Crabtree Falls
Trees and branches flailed violently in stiff gusts as some of the few golden leaves adorning at this late stage of the season detached and flew through the air. Just as chaotic as the trees was the effect this intense, bone chilling cold had on my psyche. With the wind blowing at such a high rate, the cold was inescapable, and it clouded my brain. Up to this point the temperature during our hike had felt fresh and not oppressive, and given that the day was supposed to warm up rather quickly once the sun came up, I was only wearing a moderately thick jacket over a t-shirt and turtleneck. That was hardly sufficient to combat the barrage of wind chill I was engulfed in, which said nothing for my exposed hands and face. Had I picked one waterfall before the trip that I wanted to photograph well, it would have been Crabtree Falls. I hadn’t imagined that I could reach the falls in good light, with nobody else around to cloud my shot, and still encounter such hostile shooting conditions. My mind had pretty quickly gone from fantasizing about an ideal shot to just getting a shot and getting the hell out of there.
2017/10/20 – Reveling in Roan Mountain
“Throw everything for a loop and go to Roan Mountain?” That’s what my immaculately prepared trip itinerary had listed for this Thursday in October 2017, the sixth day of our eight day mountain trip and our second in the vicinity of Grandfather Mountain and Linville Falls, likely next to a notation on a restaurant thatContinue reading “2017/10/20 – Reveling in Roan Mountain”
2017/10/16-2017/10/17 – Grandfather Mountain is our Granddaddy
I was almost through it, the stacks of boulders the size of modern day pickup trucks that tow mobile homes behind them just for the sake of justifying them costing more than my house. I had navigated foot by foot along the treacherous stretch, having to take care to avoid a spill and concentrating onContinue reading “2017/10/16-2017/10/17 – Grandfather Mountain is our Granddaddy”
2017/10/16 – Letdown at Looking Glass and Moore Cove Falls
Looking Glass easily provides the most striking and distinctive peak in the area. It’s shape can be easily identified from the rest even at a great distance. Every view which includes it is better because of it. You get no benefit from that when you’re on the actual rock. One thing is conspicuously absent from the view from Looking Glass; the rock itself.
2017/10/15 – Trial at Tallulah Gorge
Jello leg. That’s what you call it when your legs are so tired the soft tissue has lost all strength and has simply become a gelatinous mass, and you rely on the structure of your bones, any assisting devices such as railings, and sheer willpower to ply your way up the remains of whatever inclineContinue reading “2017/10/15 – Trial at Tallulah Gorge”
J. Parker Nature Stories 