Owlbebak

I just finished reading Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival , written by Joe Simpson. This book is his account of what happened when he and a friend climbed  a mountain in the  Peruvian Andes and suffered extreme hardship and life threatening events. Without a doubt, Joe Simpson, has the creative writing ability to capture the physical difficulty and psychological anguish they suffered. His writing will carry you into the frigid, icy cold of the mountain and you'll be hanging on to the rope for dear life too. This is the first mountaineering book I have ever read and there were many terms I was not acquainted with. Wisely, the publisher printed a list of terms in the book that helps the reader comprehend key descriptions and narratives. After finishing the book, I was able to watch the movie documentary that was made of the event. It was visually  spectacular with actual footage of the mountain and recreations of events...

Initially we planned to go hiking and camp on the Panther Creek Trail in Georgia, very near to this trail. We switched to the Bartram Trail about  three weeks prior to our trip, thinking this hike would be the greater challenge and learning experience. We were proven correct. This trail tested us, our equipment, and taught us important lesson in our quest for backpacking experience and knowledge. My friend, Shawn, spearheaded the trail logistics and most of the information gathering for this trip. He acquired a detailed map created by the Georgia Bartram Trail Group , which I highly recommend purchasing. Another informative source is the  Georgia Trails . Also contacted and utilized was the drop off and pickup service of the Chattooga Whitewater Outfitters . Mike, an owner of the service, is a great guy and their restaurant makes a mean pizza. We arrived on Friday afternoon, in separate cars, driving through steady rain showers, at Tallulah Gorge Stat...

Here are a few photos of our rain soaked Bartram Trail backpacking trip. We had to cut it short after two days due to our underestimating  the trail difficulty for tough little 12 year old dude. It was a little too much for him, but he was a true trooper and didn't whimper or carry on as you might expect an overstressed  kid to do...or weak adult. P1090453 P1090456 P1090457 ...