Recovery from Chemo is my primary goal—not really hiking the longest trail right now. Though most of you know I want to hike longer until I can go back to the Len Foote Hike Inn in the fall. At five miles in and five miles out, that feels like a stretch, but I'm going to [...]
For years, my friend Beth (in the background) has been telling me about Max Patch. She has hiked it with her family, and I finally told her, "Let's do it." I'm still in recovery from Chemo, but that isn't stopping me, especially on good days. And last Thursday was a very good day! We [...]
Beth mentioned we could see Elk at Cataloochee in the Great Smoky National Park, and I immediately said, "Let's go." I love Native American names and places so I thought this would be fun. According to the National Park website, Elk once roamed the southern Appalachian mountains as freely has they did anywhere else in [...]
I learned a lot about the Balds along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Most were man-made when they stripped the lumber off the areas and the "locomotives" removing the lumber sent sparks flying in the nearby forests. The result was complete devastation. On one side the rocky view of the Devil's Courthouse. On the other side [...]
The view from the trail going up to Waterrock Knob. The day before I chose to hike up Black Balsam Bald because it was an easier trek to the top and this trail was "strenuous." After friends arrived, I forgot the description of Waterrock Knob trail and without thinking said, "That sounds like fun!" The [...]
I don't like hats and will probably "lose" the one I wore on this hike. But the real point of the photos is to show that there is life after Chemo! Right now, I probably know almost 20 people (a huge number for anyone), who are fighting cancer. Most people when they first call or [...]
We started out with a destination of Franklin, North Carolina thinking it would be fun to go a Scottish Festival. The real action happened earlier in the day, and we were left to wander through a half vacant city. But we purchased hiking shorts and shoes and other things. This city is not far from [...]
Whitewater Falls iced! I was really glad to make it to the first overlook, especially after finishing Chemo in mid-December. I told someone last week that the way you beat cancer is to refuse to give in or give up. The doctors have told me to do whatever I can do and keep doing it. [...]
