long time, no write

view from the Appalachian Trail
My buds and I at Charlie's Bunyan
Our 5 star accommodations atop Mt. LeConte
sunset atop of Mt. LeConte
The crew at New Found Gap (the beginning of our 11 mile hike)


As I say every time, it has been along time since my last post. But oh well.
The latest thing going on with me is that I went on a Men's Retreat with my church. About a dozen of us guys drove up to the Smokey Mt's. and hiked in Smokey National Park. It was a blast! I have never been in that part of the country and it is beautiful. We hiked 11 miles to the top of Mt. LeConte (6,500 ft) and stayed in a lodge on the top of the mountain. That was one of the hardest things I have done in a while. Near the end of the hike the grade gets pretty steep and my buddy Ted and I ended up having to rest about every 10 min's because of the thin air and the steepness of the grade. Being out of shape probably had a little to do with it too. It was worth it though. The views were incredible.
We also were able to spend a day white water rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. If you are not familiar with the river, it is one the best rivers there are for white water rafting. It contains some of the best class 3, 4,and 5 rapids in North America. In fact we rafted the Olympic section of the river that was used in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics for white water Olympic kayaking. It had an entire section of solid class 4 rapids that just about tossed me out of the raft.
All in all the trip was a blast I enjoyed getting out in nature for a while and getting to know some the other guys from my church. If you are ever in that part of the country go check out Smokey Mt. National Park, it is well worth it.