Outdoors

I've had a few close calls in the mountains. But none so wild as the summer of 2013. After a heinous spate of bad luck and weather, my climbing partner Brian Moran and I were dropping down from Camp 3 on Broad Peak in the Karakoram…
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Up steep rock faces or under the intense flow of a waterfall you’ll find the unsung heroes of East Tennessee rescues Charlie Avery has logged many hours parked along Newfound Gap Road. He has a real, old-fashioned park service radio…
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Nothing tastes quite like outdoor gastronomy cooked up by friends When it comes to backcountry eating, I tend to be described as a minimalist. In order to keep weight down on a five day hike without resupply, this is a necessary…
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The search for a forgotten crossing from North Carolina to Tennessee My relationship with Ekaneetlee runs as long as the creek. Since first reading of this secret passage from North Carolina into Tennessee, I was consumed with a desire…
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Walking in the footsteps of a forgotten expedition I was surfing through bottomless rhododendron patches on Blanket Mountain for miles. This stretch out of Elkmont, Tennessee, in the Smokies, was as off trail as it gets. My objective…
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A patch of heaven worth fighting for Prior to 2015, this rough patch of hill country was like many in our region, abandoned by timber barons to all but local adventurers. Fortunately, thanks to the rescue efforts of Unicoi native…
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We're off to the Andes! I was sick with flu-like symptoms for a week after paying $200 for a yellow fever shot. Other team members just had vivid dreams for a month. But that was not my biggest worry as we crossed the 24 hour threshold…
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Denali, 2007. There was nothing in the mountaineering manual that mentioned anything about having to use a communal bucket for high altitude human waste. Nevertheless, here at fourteen thousand feet on America’s highest peak I was…
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Hidden in Knoxville’s backcountry lies a landscape worthy of exploring If weekend traffic is any indication, Knoxville’s investment in the Urban Wilderness Gateway Park proved a success. Build it and they will come, indeed. Bikers…
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Often seen as the Smokies' little sibling, the Big South Fork rides like an emergency $20 bill in my wallet. As leaf peepers crowd the usual, high-altitude routes, I sneak off into this gorge to feast on colors that flow downstream…
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