Blog: Trail Adventure Stories

End of my Rope at Midnight In college I had a calculus class that was BRUTAL! My high school never got to pre calculus so this math class was insane. I needed it to apply to my major so I had to take it. The first day of class the teacher confused me to no end. The two students on either side of me were catching on. I asked them for help and soon we had a regular study group where both of them coached me along.One night we had a two-hour study session and we were spent. The Aaron leaned over and said, "let's go rappelling!"The girl in our group reminded him that it was 11:30pm and she was pretty sure it was dark outside. "Pick up your stuff, let's go!" he responded. We looked at each other and followed his enthusiastic order.30 minutes later we found ourselves staring off into the abyss. He had driven to the top of a rim and had the truck lights shining on our entry point. He had anchored to the top of cliff. When I looked over, I could see NOTHING!He said, "I've got to stay here to make sure you guys get str... Read More

The Boy Who Cried Wolf My son, daughter and I have a favorite mountain biking loop in Farragut State Park. A couple of Summers ago we left the house close to dusk and headed to the trailhead. The trail loops around through the whole park from the South end up and around to the visitor's center and then back down through the middle to the original trailhead. We pass through an equestrian area, forest canopies, and territories of several bands of deer.Toward the beginning of the trail there is a grassy meadow surrounded by a forest of pines. My son had sped ahead on his bike as I hung back with his younger sister to make sure she could handle her new larger bike. When I felt she had it under control I sped up to catch my son who usually stops at a typical way point to let everyone catch up. As I entered the meadow I heard my son yelling and suddenly saw him running back to me. "Wolf, wolf, I just saw a wolf!"I immediately thought of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" story but quickly realized he wasn't telling stori... Read More