July 1: Day one of the Red, White and Bluegrass Festival

First day of the Red White and Bluegrass Festival is over and my favorite group was The SteelDrivers. After checking out every SteelDriver nugget I could find on YouTube, I expected a lot and they delivered. I consider them Bluegrass Honkeytonk. An Angel on each shoulder. Whiskey, Guns, and Guitars. Corn Liquor. Yes I bought the CD and got the autographs.
Clara Ann's favorite was the headliners, Dailey and Vincent, their harmonies and polish is amazing. Not many groups are half as tight as those guys. Starla went with me early in the day and we saw the three sisters out front and dad on the bassGold Heart, and then some of Heather Berry's set. Clara came back with me and we got to seeJr. Sisk & Ramblers Choice, The SteelDrivers, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, then the main act Dailey and Vincent. Gold Heart was nice, Jr. Sisk sang his butt off, Heather Berry had a beautiful voice and could go to town on that Autoharp and Larry Sparks was about as traditional as they come. It is no wonder Dailey and Vincent head lined the first night here, they took home seven awards at the 2008 International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, including Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year. They were really tight when I saw them at the Merle Fest and were to night as well. An all around great start off to an awesome 4 day line up!
Amos' Epics

A SoulO Ride of my favorite MTB trails in the Wilson Creek Area of Pisgah

My first creek crossing of the day:

Some nice waterfalls upstream of the creek crossing:

I am very thankful to who ever adopted this section of trail:

Some old growth forest.Something for everyone on this ride:

My second creek crossing:

Rhododendren is starting to bloom:

The only people at the falls were 2 guys up top and a small group in the big pool below the slide. I had the middle pool all to myself.Perfect place for a little swim to cool down:

Scopeing out the move:

He started sliding before he was ready but ended up ok.

Distance: 23 miles

Total time: 5:31 Moving time: 3:37 Stopped time: 1:54 # stops: 19

Min elevation: 1,364' Max elevation: 2,852'

Avg moving speed: 6.4mph

Amos' Epics

Wednesday Afterwork Ride with Johnny Calhoun

It was hot but the heat and humidity was not nearly as bad as when I made this climb on Saturday. It is much more fun when you can breathe.
Looking back at the stuff we climbed up to make it to the parkway:

Above was the last time I saw Johnny. I stopped to get a shot of him riding by with the fire tower in the background. The fire tower is right at the top of the picture. It is barely visible in the photo above but you can see it pretty good from the parkway at this point. He shouted fire tower when he went by me and I assumed that he meant that was where he was going. I was wrong and never saw him again.

Distance: 13 miles

Total time: 2:59 Moving time: 2:27 Stopped time: 32 min

Start time: 5:32 Finish time: 8:32

Min elevation: 1,646' Max elevation: 4,769'

Amos' Epics

Fathers Day. The girls got me an I-Pod and two runs on the Watagua. I dont know how they did it but they got the level just right.

The first run with Gaston and Layla felt like about 400 cfs thanks to the extra water Beech Creek was dumping into the river. A guy dislocated his shoulder at Split Decision before we got there. Lucky for him John Fuller, Mack, and Mike were there to help him get across the river and to hike out to the road. Those guys deserve some good karma over that. By the time we got to the scene they were out of their boats and were walking through the yard of the closest house on river left. We were not sure what was going on but they gave us the everyone's ok helmet tap which we saw as our exit signal and proceeded to run Vernon's Folly which was incredibly fun, the eddy was exceptional at this level.
Gaston at a little rapid we call Hydro: Next Layla:

The photo of the day, Layla with a great boof:

After driving Gaston and Layla back to the put-in, I waited for a little over an hour before Alex showed then Michael and Brian also made an appearance. We had a great group for a 2nd run. Milton ran the van back to the takeout for us and we were set. The level was at least 25 cfs lower but still a great level.
My second run:

Michael:

Alex droppin' it in the Crossfire:

Thanks to Brian for taking the shots at the falls:

On my drive back down Hwy 181:

A Box Turtle was laying eggs in our backyard:

Amos' Epics

Saturday, June 20: Solo Heartbreak Ridge Loop - I forgot my camera

It was a hot and humid day. Trail conditions were exceptional although there was a couple of blow downs on the climb, only one new tree down on the Heartbreak downhill. On the climb I stopped to adjust my brakes for a few minutes and got eaten up by mosquitoes. A little more elevation thinned them out significantly.
Total Distance: 23 miles
Total time: 5:02 Moving time: 3:45 Stopped time: 1:16
Min elevation: 1,483' Max elevation: 4,757'

Amos' Epics