The air was cool, crisp and breezy for a nice walk in the woods. The night before I called my hiking buddy, George, to see if he was hiking this week just prior to his major surgery taking place on Friday the 26th and he answered in the affirmative which was no surprise to me for this gentlemen who has also been fighting cancer for a good while now but not letting it keep him from what we both love and that's being on the trails.
George has been the hiking coordinator of the Soddy Daisy Hiking Club for as long as I've known him and his scheduled hike was for a hike on the trails at Sewanee: The University of the South. Although we had accomplished a grueling hike bushwhacking over to Virgin Falls just a little over one week ago with Boodie Fox. I still wanted to get one more hike in with George before his surgery since I wasn't sure how long his recovery would take.
We carpooled up to the top of Monteagle, Tn where the college's trails are located and there was a total of 14 avid hikers who showed up for the morning hike. George and his wife Sarah, myself, Phil and Linda opted for the shorter leg to Green's View.
It was following along the upper rim and small ridges along the bluff area, for a total of 4 miles, short even by Geroge's standard but I didn't care since I knew I would be spending some quality time with my dear friend. It's also a special treat every time I hit a new trail that I've never experienced before. The views were Spectacular from several of the overlooks and I was assuming that I was looking down on the Winchester Tn farming community but I'm not sure. Prior to our hiking we were advised by Delores to try the Mountain Goat Market for an awesome lunch and she was right on, they make everything from scratch and the food was delicious - will definitely be taking my wife by there for lunch as we head back and forth to Nashville's Sarah Cannon Cancer Center each month for treatment.
The other 9 hikers opted for a 6 mile hike which I believe was following just below the mountain bluffs along a portion of the Perimeter Trail and being led by Delores Ladd. When we returned to the parking lot they were still out and there was something mentioned about one portion of their group taking a wrong turn on one of the splits but apparently that got resolved and from my understanding all returned safely to Chattanooga by that afternoon. That missed turn would have been fairly easy up there since the college provides great signage but I didn't spot any trail blazes on the trees along the way of our hike.
Please keep George in your thoughts and prayers as he undergoes a very difficult surgery later this week.
Thank you Larry for the great write up.
Thought for the Day: All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
To see a bunch of really nice pictures, click here.