Cameron Builds It: Undaunted

Well... I wouldn’t quite compare my trip to the Linville Gorge with one Mark Hekman to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The similarities are sparse. A few days in the wilderness vs few years crossing the uncharted country (uncharted to europeans that is.) However, when we lost the trail within the first hour, I thought about Meriwether and William. If you aren’t familiar with the Linville Gorge, it is 12 miles of rugged wilderness carved by the Linville River over the last few million years. Grand Canyon of the East they call it. In fact, it is so rugged that the 12,000 acre wilderness is one of the only areas in the southern Appalachian Mountains’ long history of logging to be fully spared from a single cut. So trudging past virgin stands of hemlock that were possibly growing before europeans crossed the Atlantic was (not to be sappy but...) awe inspiring. Because it is so inaccessible, the amount of other people in the Gorge is, to say the least, small. Particularly when the temps aren't getting out of the 30's and snow is in the forecast for 2 days. So after Hekman (also known as “Heksquatch” or just “Squatch”) and I found the trail again, forded the river to get to the world’s greatest campsite ever, and got a fire rolling, it was nice to sit down and warm up with a little bourbon. A few days of hiking and camping in the Gorge did us right. Only one fatality... Mark’s finger was crushed by a log. Prognosis as of yesterday... broken in 4 places. He's one tough mutha. Never whined at all. But this just reinforces my theory that he is forever cursed for cyclocross. 4 years and running with a broken bone before the season starts. We were definitely glad to get warm hugs from the family when we got back but after excursions like this, as soon as I’m home, I start thinking about doing it again. Big thanks to J-Fed for the gear. It was a life saver!

Into the Wild...

Mark likes introspection. He took lots of time to reflect and meditate... not really.

Great spot to camp... only... its on the other side.

Fording the river. 39 degrees. almost sundown. slippery. fast current. miles from anywhere. oh yeah... that 30 foot water fall 50 meters down river... not dangerous (or stupid) at all...