Metro to Mountain Journal

After poring over our maps, my wife and I decided to go on a backpacking trip to Big South Fork National Park in north central Tennessee. We had considered going to the Appalachian Trail, but decided that the closeness of the Big South Fork made the trip the most viable.

We were going to keep our packs at less than twenty pounds but then at the last moment we added just a few extra items that could not weigh that much. The packs ended up in the high twenty pound range. The actual weight was a little disheartening but we wanted a good workout. Reasoning that heavier was better, we did not lighten our burgeoning loads. After all to hike the BIG South Fork, we were going to need big packs.

Finally we were ready. We had trained, prepared our plans, shopped, and packed. Everything was in the car ready to go. All we needed was a good night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, I get very excited about trips, no matter the size. I slept poorly because I did not want to oversleep. My wife slept poorly because I slept poorly. And my dog slept poorly because my wife and I slept poorly. Eventually my wife sent me downstairs to write and leave her alone until it was time to get up. I was not to come back upstairs a minute earlier. The dog was probably saying the same thing as my wife, judging from his body language.

I was left alone all morning to dream at my computer. The alarm would go off at seven which was just minutes away and we would be off. I can’t wait.

Happy Trails.