Unaka Mountain with the Boys

Over the last weekend of July, my son, dog and I decided to give my wife some peace and quiet for the weekend, so we headed out to the Tennessee/North Carolina border.  I had also been doing long runs in the 15-20 mile range over the last few weekends, so this was also a chance to give the legs an easy weekend.  

We piled in the car at 8am Saturday, drove west and by noon were turning off TN-395 to the Gravel Beauty Gap Road.  Of course we had to stop and snap a few photos at Beauty Gap before parking the car at a small pull-out and starting the hike.

Beauty Spot Gap on the NC/TN border

The hike up was pretty non-eventful, following the Appalachian Trail through the woods and up a few rocky ledges

Gus taking a break after an apparently exhausting initial quarter mile

Brogan and Gus after a brief steep rock section of the AT

until entering a quiet, gorgeous pine forest at the very top.  We stopped and had a snack

Near the summit of Unaka, admiring the tall pines

Another summit!

while Brogan enjoyed the novelty of having his left foot in North Carolina and his right foot in Tennessee.

Straddling North Carolina and Tennessee.  He's just as dorky as I am

We headed back down to the car, with an easy day under our belts - 3.1 miles round trip with just over 1000' of elevation gain.  We stopped for another small peak on the way to the Rock Creek Campground just off TN-395 where we spent the night.  We lucked out and ended up next to a great family that invited us over.  I chatted mostly with the grandfather, a local who grew up in Unicoi while Brogan played with two brothers that were 8 months older and younger than him.  They had so much fun they were up until 11pm before I finally got him to bed.

Waking Brogan up the next morning was tough after his late bedtime - I don't think he got out of the tent until 10am.    

Two reluctant risers

Gus went nutso as he tends to do, exhausting himself while the boys played with him.

A thoroughly exhausted dog - it's hard work running around with a leash in your mouth

At noon (and after some tears about leaving his new found friends), we moved to the trailhead for a hike to the Rock Creek waterfall.  This is a nice trail, wide and well maintained.

The Rock Creek Falls trail.  Note that Brogan is wearing the same clothes as the day before.  This is what happens when Mom isn't around...

The trail follows Rock Creek for most of its distance, and spices things up a bit with four easy stream crossings.  Well, easy if you have long legs.  Little ones need to take a little more care.

Negotiating a stream crossing

Proudly showing the stream he just crossed "without falling in once."

After about an hour and a half we reached the falls, which were pretty impressive - about 60' high.  I, being a dumbass, brought only my telephoto lens.  This made it impossible to get a good shot with the three of us in front of it with the self-timer, so you'll have to settle for Brogan in the frame to set the scale.

Brogan in front of the falls.

Brogan fell trying to reach the big ledge, which was not his favorite experience - the water was cold even in July.

Rock Creek Falls

The walk back down was uneventful, wrapping up a 4.4 mile, 1000' elevation gain day.  We found mountain laurel blossoms Brogan wanted to bring some home for his mom, and we did a good job keeping them alive until we arrived home that evening. 

Always thinking of his mom

Brogan was very enthusiastic about the waterfalls, so we'll have to work more of those in in the future.

Saying Goodbye to My Dog

For Christmas in 2001, my newly betrothed wife and I got each other a boxer puppy.  Mixed with the joy and excitment of bringing our 9-week old Boxer puppy home to Chicago was the thought that this puppy would break my heart one day.  Unfortunately, that day is tomorrow.

It begs the question - is it worth it?  I remember a friend of my parents' buying a parrot in his 50s after putting his dog to sleep, unable to bear parting with a pet again in his lifetime.  But, even as I look at my beautiful dog and his broken body, dreading tomorrow, the answer for me is still a resounding "yes."

They say dogs take on their owners' personality.  Leon certainly did.  He stubbornly refused to be walked on his leash in the cold Chicago January.  He planted both legs on the pavement and put his head down with an obstinant look on his face.  Eventually, he accepted the leash, but with the dignified air of a dog doing it on his terms.  I watched with twisted pride as he embarrassed a cocky dog trainer in a class of 20 dogs, refusing to budge to any command.  He was proclaimed "the most stubborn puppy I've encountered in 13 years of doing this."  Under our (or so he let us think) tutelage, he became an extremely well-trained dog that could be taken anywhere off leash.  But he did so on his terms, with dignity.

He became the "mayor" of Chicago dog parks, greeting every dog that arrived, being drawn to those that ignored him.  Friends of ours fought over who got to babysit him when we left town for the weekend. 

Leon taught us patience in 2004.  Weeks before leaving for my post-doc in Ireland, we found that our vet had screwed up the paperwork that would allow us to take him to Ireland with us.  That meant my wife's parents would keep him for four months and bring him over once everything was done properly.  We had the Leon countdown, and embarrassed the hell out of our friends (and ourselves) as we jubilantly greeted him at the Cork airport. 

Leon and I formed an even closer bond as we ventured into the trailless mountains of Ireland together. I was a novice hiker, and felt better having him with me - even if he would have been as worthless as tits on a bull if something went wrong.  He followed me during horrible days of wind and rain in 35 degree weather.  On the rare days he saw me leave with my backpack and I didn't take him, my wife reported upon my return that he lay in front of the door whining.

Then, we returned to the States, living in North Carolina.  We almost lost him to pancreatitis while Tiffany was pregnant with our son.  Probably just to test us.  Then, six years ago when his "little brother" arrived, he was the most gentle, tolerant dog in the world.  I had to use the jaws of life to pry a ball from his jaws, but he would let our toddler son simply pluck a ball from his mouth.  He just knew.

With the mountains now hours away, he became my running partner as I tried to stay in shape.  Until one day three years ago he refused to get out of the car.  I had to drive him home.  Two days later, instead of running to the door after asking him if he "wanted to go for a run," he bolted upstairs and hid.  He would still go hiking with me, but he had started to slow noticeably.

And now we're here.  He's completely lost function of one rear leg, has partial function of the other and has lost control of his bowels.  He doesn't greet us enthusiastically, follow us around everywhere (unthinkable) or do much except lay on the couch.  The spark in his eyes is gone, and he struggles to maintain dignity.  He resists being carried up the stairs, wanting to do it himself even if he falls three or four times.  It is time.

Tomorrow will be extremely difficult.  Leon is an avatar of our marriage and has been part of almost every experience we've had.  It's really hard to imagine life without him.  Leon is the best dog ever.  All dog owners think they have the best dog(s) ever.  And they're probably right. 

I'm not sure I believe in heaven.  But if it does exist, I hope Leon is there, greeting me at the gate with a wag of the tail and a sparkle in his eye.  If not, I don't want to go.

Linville Gorge - Day 2 (April 1)

We're up at first light Sunday morning.  I begin wondering what the implications are of Brogan staying up 2 hours later than normal and waking up an hour earlier than normal.  We quickly down a champion's breakfast of coffee/hot chocolate and a Clif bar and take down the tent.

First on the agenda - a visit to Wiseman's overlook.  Great views of the gorge.  Unfortunately, the photos are a bit bleached - I forgot my polarizing filter.  We hang out here for about 20 minutes.

In front of Hawksbill, which we'd hike later in the day

The view south down Linville Gorge from Wiseman's Overlook; Table Rock to the left

Brogan looking north along Linville Gorge

Hamming it up at Wiseman's Overlook

Next up - Laurel Mountain (4,060'), just off the road on the west rim of the gorge.  There is no trail to the top; it's a summit only a peakbagger could love.  I debate whether or not to subject Brogan to this idiocy, but when we pull off the road my GPS tells me we're only 0.28 miles from the summit.  How bad can it be?  We start up through some rhododendron and blow-down.  Brogan is dubious, but soldiers on.

I am a bad father.  Next up, chainsaw juggling.

That is, until the bugs come out.  Brogan has a bit of a bug phobia, and is very annoyed by those flying around his head.  About halfway to the top, we pass a dead tree, about 15' high.  This tree is peculiar in that most of its base is gone.  I tell Brogan to take a wide berth around this thing, and this is the last straw.  Lack of sleep, the bugs, the bushwhacking and the fear of being "smushed" by a tree all combine to break the camel's back; a mini-meltdown occurs, and he asks to turn around.  It's the first time he's ever done this, so I know he's upset and immediately head down.

How is this thing still standing?

  He's still excited for Hawksbill, as there's a trail to the top and he saw how "cool" the mountain looked from the other side of the gorge.  The trail is rocky and steep.

Why take the easy way?

I was too slow with the camera to catch his crimp move with the left hand.

Success!  Now, how to get down...

At this point, I hear words that send me into a panic.  "Dad, I have to poop."  We're pretty far in at this point, and I'll spare you the conversation, but it was clear we had to get somewhere fast.  Luckily, I had stashed some TP in the backpack he was carrying.  There will be no pictures from this portion of the story.

Suddenly three pounds lighter, Brogan bounds up the trail to the summit, which was fantastic.  Lots of rock outcrops for great views. 

Victory!

View across the gorge from the top of Hawksbill

Brogan at the top of Hawksbill, camera looking south.  The two peaks we climbed the day before are visible - Dogback (L) and Dobson Knob further away (R, just left of Brogan)

This little dummy made me nervous, jumping from rock to rock, oblivious to the several hundred foot drop-off just below him

After a snack and taking in the views, we head down.  Tree roots keep grabbing Brogan's feet, and a couple nasty falls onto the rocky trail result, including an acrobatic one that involved a somersault and miraculous avoidance of hitting head on rock.  At this point we decide to call it a day and forsake our last hike to the top of Gingercake Mountain.

Despite the pain of several falls, the promise of ice cream still draws a smile.

Overall, a good trip.  I'm not happy with how quickly our boy is growing up, but on the way home I do realize one benefit:  he is getting better at expressing himself.  He tells me his favorite things about camping is "sleeping in the tent with his Dad" and "roasting marshmallows."  He also enjoys adding mountains to the list that he's climbed, but not the ones that make him fall or don't have a trail.

Linville Gorge - Day 1 (March 31)

Tiff skipped town to Chicago to run a half-marathon in her 13th state, leaving me with the boys.  That meant - peakbagging!  The plans were probably too much for a 10-year old hobbled dog, so I dropped Leon off at the in-laws Friday night and packed for the trip.

Only 3 hours after our scheduled 5am departure, we headed for Linville Gorge.  A healthy breakfast of donuts and coffee (Mom's outta town!) along the way, donuts and coffee-induced farts in the car (go wild, it's Mom's car!) and we're reach the Kistler Memorial "Highway" on the west side of Linville Gorge at noon, heading south.  Our first objective, Dogback Mountain (3,540'), was an easy 0.1 mile round-tripper off the road, but with great views of Hawksbill and Table Rock. 

Brogan and Gus posing for a terrible photographer - I hid Table Rock behind a tree

A hop back in the car and a few mile drive to an open white gate off to the right - we take this 2.7 miles to a small parking area for Dobson Knob (3,700', one of North Carolina's 95 peaks with 1,000' of prominence), our longer hike of the day.

The first mile or so of the hike is on an old jeep trail.  We pass the time in true Dillmore dorkiness - Brogan insisting on math problems after every 0.1 miles, doing well on addition and multiplication but experiencing problems distinguishing between velocity, distance and time.  Gus, wanting to participate, trots up after the first mile or so with a very self-satisified look on his face.  Did he just figure out how to split the atom?  Did he just prove that P=NP*? No, but close...he rubbed himself with Unidentified Animal Feces (UAF)!!!  Because it is smart to smell like the excrement of a wild animal (who apparently had Mexican food and beer the night before).
* - bzzzt!  If you got this reference without google, you are even more hopeless than I am.




The UAF stripe on the shoulder really ties his ensemble together - and guarantees him a lot of space in the tent

 After many washings in puddles, admonitions from Brogan and verbal affirmations from me that yes, he is the male offspring of a female dog, we are on our way again.  Soon the road becomes a foot trail - the Mountains To Sea Trail in fact.  I remark to Brogan that this is the same trail that passes within a mile and a half of our house back in Raleigh, and that we travel this same trail often.  He, being five, has not yet learned how to politely hide the fact that he could not possibly be less impressed.  Which then makes me wonder about my daily interactions with other adults...

Anyway, after about 2 miles we see an unmarked path heading off to the summit of Dobson Knob.  I hand the GPS off to Brogan, who likes to watch the mileage decrease as he approaches the summit. 

Literally following the shortest line to the summit.  Metaphorically following in his Dad's footsteps.  The over/under on age he first kisses a girl is 18.4

We reach the summit (sic) and shatter the ethos of the wilderness with a cell call to Mom.  No more peaks on the agenda today, so it's time to find a campsite and settle in, right?  Well, no.  See, a small distance away the topo map indicates two contours that are the same height as the marked summit, meaning we can't be sure that we reached the true summit of Dobson Knob.  So, we tack on an extra mile to visit the other areas.  I have great difficulty explaining this to my five year old, which means

• it's probably too complicated
• there's hope for him yet

Tromping to the summit(L)/[thought bubble] Oh no!  P=NP has terrible implications for the future of cryptography!!! (R)

The rest of the hike is rather uneventful.  We find GPS readings on the other contours to be 25' lower than the marked summit on the topo map.  We also see lots of tadpoles in the puddles on the way back.  Brogan is proud to set his one-day hiking record of 6.19 miles (boo 1!) and 1225' of elevation gain.

We take our pick of the numerous fantastic sites available on the west rim of Linville Gorge and settle in for the night.  Mac and cheese with peas followed up with S'mores make it a great night.   

Our accomodations for the night.  Gus sees some poop in the distance that looks like the rollin'-in kind

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Winding down with Dr. Seuss by the fire

Night be damned, that Dr. Seuss book WILL be finished!

Globetrotters Win World Championship!

Friday I my son and I "opened" our last Christmas present from my wife - the World Basketball Championship!  The Harlem Globetrotters were against "The Elite."  


I had never been to a World Championship game before.  I was surprised by a few things

• It didn't sell out - weird, considering how popular basketball is in the world
• The crowd was extremely partisan in favor of Harlem. 
• The refs were lousy.  They took a lot of stick from the Globetrotter players
• I think it was fixed.

Nevertheless, we had a great time, and our son really enjoyed it...

A four pointer!!!