Dream. Plan. Live.
Many of the Buffalo River’s 135 miles are wide and gentle, but the upper portion of the river just below our launch point at Steel Creek contains technical rapids up to Class 2. With the river in flood stage and park rangers urging us to hold off on starting, we were faced with a choice. We could wait several days to start until water levels receded, throwing us off our itinerary, or we could face the flooded river.
If you’ve ever been in the shop and asked one of us for help when planning a trip, we’ve most likely pulled up some website or resource that you might not have been previously familiar with. After years of planning trips and adventuring around you tend to start collecting these resources, but I understand they can be hard to find at first, especially for those who aren’t research oriented. My goal here is to throw out some of my top resources for getting you outside and trip planning. The resources that will help for a specific trip are going to vary wildly, but the ones I’m going to cover will hopefully span a vast amount destinations and trip types.
As you could probably imagine we see our fair share of scouts preparing for trips at RRT. Currently with 4 Eagle Scouts on staff we’d like to think we are pretty good at it too. So with all of that scouting experience we were curious what stood out to them as their most epic trips and unforgettable moments. Here is Will and Joe’s top 5 trips that they would not have experienced without being a Boy Scout.
As many may know last year “the crown jewel” of the boy scouts was greatly affected by a wildfire that destroyed nearly 1/5th of its 140,177 acres. Having gone to Philmont in 2013 it is very sad to see all the wreckage. It really hit home seeing camps like Dean Cow which I had camped and climbed at when I was there, now destroyed.
RRT’s new gear rental program gives opportunity to the new adventure seeker. With RRT’s professional gear guidance and rental service you can be side by side with seasoned thrill seekers and look like the pro of the group. We now rent gear from top name brands like MSR, Black Diamond, Thermarest, Osprey, Sea To Summit, and Sierra Designs.
I first came across the Black Mountain Crest Trail a few years back with a simple Google search- “toughest hikes in America.” Seems like an odd Google search, but tough trails are where my bucket list starts. Everything I read about the Black Mountain Crest Trail in North Carolina deemed it one of the most rugged, difficult trails in the Eastern US. At only 12 miles long, its short length shouldn’t be overlooked as it packs in plenty of elevation gain, technical hiking, and difficulty into those few miles. The ridgeline traverse covers five of the ten highest peaks East of the Mississippi River, eight different six-thousand foot peaks, and a finish on Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain in the eastern US.
The Sheltowee trail runs 323 miles from northern boundary of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Rowan County, Kentucky to the southern boundary of Big South Fork NRRA in Scott County, Tennessee. The STA, is a 501(c)3 non-profit association with the purpose of achieving the formation of a highly functional cross-state recreation trail. This includes trail maintenance, building, and markings.
The most important part of gear repair isn’t the gear itself, it’s you. Yes, even through all the ups and downs, cursing, and joy that you and your gear share, at the end of the day the gear is selfish. You invest all this money in it, the least it could do is dry itself out and quietly make its way to a cool (50-70 degree), dry closet and hang itself up, patiently awaiting the next opportunity to carry your means of survival.
Climbing as a sport has been growing increasingly popular in recent years, thanks in part to the release of professionally made documentaries on the sport. 2018 was a landmark year for climbing films, with three climbing films out for widespread release. I had the opportunity to see Reel Rock 13, the Dawn Wall, and Free Solo in theaters and thoroughly enjoyed each of them.
You shouldn’t have to challenge your kid to play sixty minutes a day you should try to get them to sit down for only sixty minutes a day. I would have never had the tools and mindset to complete the entire Appalachian Trail without these experiences.
