July 4th, Three Day Weekend at the Ocoee

I met up with Phil Jones on Saturday, July 3rd and we proceeded to run shuttle and put-in on the Ocoee. It was a beautiful day and not nearly as crowded as I had anticipated.
The Put-in. Looking behind us:
Downstream from the put-in: Phil stowing his gear:
I had forgotten how beautiful this gorge is! A guy hitting the mystery move at Flipper:
Boogie Boarding Hell Hole.
Chillaxin' at the campsite.
Awesome view from camp:July 4th and onto the Olympic Section. The first shot is me at Mikey's, post boof:
This guy went a little too far out on the boof and ran out of water:
A couple of nice boofs.Phil's first time running this drop:
Keith Sprinkle ^ and Tera in the shot below:
Phil got a couple shots of me at the Olympic section.
A few shots of the fireworks we could see from the campsite. They set them off on both the 3rd and the 4th.
Monday, July 5th at Tsali:What an awesome place for a MTB trail:
Amos' Epics

Afterwork Soul-O Figure 8 by amosiv at Garmin Connect - Details

Trail conditions were exceptional. 17 miles of some of the most diversified while still reminiscent of the Wilson Creek style trails. Thanks to a little cool front the temps were not too bad.

Thursday After Work Kitsuma with Johnny Calhoun. Trail conditions were perfect!

Johnny Calhoun with the Kona 29er he rode the Great Divide on and below dropping the steepest drop on Kitsuma:
All that Kudzu.
Clink link below for ride stats:

Fathers Day was a great family outing as was Sat. @ Harper CK. Sunday, Soul-O 29 mile MTB ride of Curtis Creek, BRP, Heartbreak Ridge and Jareds Creek

This post is not only today's epic ride but also to get caught up on yesterdays event and last weekends Fathers Day outing. The first picture is from Fathers Day, and was taken at Upper Wilson Creek literally under the Blue Ridge Parkway. We chilled there for awhile then headed back south on the Blue Ridge Parkway for more family adventure. Next stop was also on Fathers Day and was taken from the top of Flat Rock. Behind Starla is Grandfather Mountain.
The next 5 pics are also from Fathers Day when we hiked to Upper Creek Falls:
This was a great Fathers Day!

Next up is Harper Creek Falls yesterday.
And finally my ride today. The total distance was 28.7 miles. I skipped going to the Fire Tower this time. First up is 9.5 miles of climbing up Curtis Creek.
Curtis Creek about 5 miles into the climb. Above is the original bridge at this point in 2005 a year after the flood. Note my NRS in the foreground and how small it looks relative to all the debris. ^ One of the many views from Heartbreak Ridge.
Those are Black Berries behind the flowers but most are still red. I found and ate about 5 or 6 small black ones. Up near the top of Heartbreak Ridge I did find a couple of Blue Berries that were tasty as well.

Wineberry in the picture above. I tried one and it tasted pretty good. I looked it up in my book "EDIBLE WILD PLANTS" when I got home. Now that I know what they are I may have to go back for more.
One last thing to mention; Thursday I found another Rattlesnake while taking JJ to the Pinnacle overlook. I found this one just off of the trail that circles the Pinnacle which is on the south-western rim of the Linville Gorge. I didn't have the camera but I would say this snake was probably at least 2 feet long and had about 6 rattles...
Amos' Epics

Soul-O Heartbreak Ridge with a side hike up to the Fire Tower - 30 miles. 9.5 climbing up Curtis Creek, 5.5 of BRP, the rest is Heartbreak/Jareds Ck

I started riding from Jareds Creek Rd at about 7:40. I hit some showers around mile 7 up Curtis Creek and it only rained for about a mile. By that point I was so warm from the climb, the showers felt refreshing. The temps were nice and cool up on the parkway, especially coolest at the fire tower. The clouds were looking very ominous around the tower so I got a move on it and made it to Heartbreak Ridge and manged to stay out ahead of any more showers. A good day on the trails. I ended up getting in 30 miles.

Views from the fire tower.

The notch is where the parkway was cut through the trees:The first shot from Heartbreak Ridge:Soul-O Heartbreak Ridge with a side hike up to the Fire Tower by amosiv at Garmin Connect - Details
Amos' Epics

Lake James/Linville River Sky Line, short but sweet little loop

Only a 15 minute drive from the house.
I had been hiking in here a lot but only biked it once. I finally followed the double track all the way through and discovered the "loop".
It was a great training loop with a lot of steep uphill climbs. Natural interval training. The only down side = chiggers.

After Work Friday, Big O with Camye and Johnny Calhoun

The Big O has some great down hill:
Camye was killin' it with her new single speed. She was flyin' up those uphills.

Thursday, 6/10/10 After Work Hike on the Blue Blazes.

This is a great trail with a lot of potential for tying together the single track with some of the old logging roads for a loop.
Amos' Epics
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