Man Camp 2011

By Tommy

To all who know me well, a week of camping, rafting, and high adventure is a dream come true.  However last week when I spent five days in the north Georgia woods hiking and rafting, it was my father-in-law's dream come true.  Click here for the whole story on my mother-in-law's blog. For years Jill's dad has looked forward to the day when he could take all his sons and sons-in-law on this trip, and last week it happened.  Not only was it a trip to be dreamed of, but it will be a trip to be remembered.

Day One - Blood Mountain

Stream running through a hollow log on the trail to the top of Blood Mountain.

View from the top of Blood Mountain.  Believe me - this picture hardly does it justice.  Absolutely beautiful!

After we finished the hike we went to a local swimming hole called Dick's Creek.  The water was wonderful and we had a good time playing in the waterfalls and jumping off of rocks. 


Day Two - Nantahala River

We sure had a lot of fun on this river in North Carolina.  The water was a little bit chilly, but after being thrown (by people, not rapids) in several times your body gets used to it.

Day Three - Tallulah Gorge

Absolutely beautiful view from the top.

Slide rock at the bottom of the gorge = best way to spend 2.5 hours on a hot/humid June day.  There were 20-30 people at the bottom of the gorge, but we had the most fun by far.  There were a few sunbathers from other countries who delighted at our craziness - including trains down the rock.  Lesson from today - when you are in the front of the train, and you hit the water there are still 7 more people immediately behind you coming fast; your options -  move or get slammed repeatedly to the bottom of the swimming hole.

Day Four - Ocoee River

We had a lot of fun on this river in Tennessee.  At one point the four rafts with our company (ours and two others) tethered to a large rock with a gentle slope into a mild rapid.  We then flipped one of the rafts over and pulled it a ways up on the rock, creating an awesome slide into the rapid.  This was the site of our only casualty this trip (a pair of glasses), but other than that we could have stayed all day.  Lesson learned from this day - don't prank others rafts if you are not 100% certain of whose raft is which.

Overall we had a great time.  Jill visited her mom in Houston while we were camping.  She also attended a good friends wedding (future post coming).  I was delighted with the fun we had on the trip, but was grateful to return home to showers and a consistent daily schedule (I am my mothers child). We drove back to Houston and Jill had made me an early birthday cake (she was getting some decorating lessons from her mom).  It was delicious.  We flew home Sunday and have been catching up since then.  Looking forward to my real birthday this weekend. Happy Friday!!!