Cumberland Gal: Cumberland Gal Cover Photo and Updates

Cumberland Gal Cover Photo and Updates

Current Cover Photo is Crab Orchard Creek in Winter from a few years back. Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Current Cover photo is Halfmoon Rock in the Red River Gorge seen from the Chimney Rock Trail. Trip report posted here

New Blog Entry--Where to Go Four Wheeling In Tennessee

Above is a photo of the East Fork River in Autumn along the River trail.

New Blog Entry--Navigation Tools & Systems for Four Wheeling

Below: Kenny Koogler with a paper copy of Royal Blue way back in the day.

Upcoming Plans

Content:

Tennessee Landforms update-- I am going to go back through my blog entries that pertain to the use of Tennessee Landforms and mark them as outdated. Potentially irrelevant in that form, but I am NOT going to delete them. It will hurt my websites performance. I'll get no end of warning messages from Google about it. I'll just make a note on each one and star them on the alphabetical index. I will also be writing up a brief tutorial on the new iteration of Tennessee Landforms. Chuck Sutherland is the new person in charge of it. This time there is a team effort because of his wife, Kelli along with myself and other helpers. It is my favorite website ever. It has been a useful resource to me from the beginning. I have been waiting to understand the use of it better myself before trying to write a tutorial. Blind leading the blind and all that!

I will continue to focus on visiting the areas that pertain to the Little Tennessee River watershed and include them in Valley So Wild blog series.

Lord willing, I plan to book my 2025 Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage to Jamestown, TN.

Camping or staying with Sharon. Hunting wildflowers, waterfalls, caves, mushrooms, and getting into mischief with my new right knee!

I plan to continue my Hybrid Trillium Research in 2025 by going to Alpine Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Western NC. Hoping to get up with Wally and Cathy and stay at Adventure Village to camp for at least a long weekend. Fingers crossed!

Health:

I will have my right knee replaced January 21, 2025. I have begun working out as "prehab" at a local fitness center.

**My daughter Crystal is my Christmas baby. She shares a birthday with Jesus! Born on Christmas morning 1986. She will turn 38 this year. She has developed SVT. It is usually caused by an extra electrical node in the heart. It looks like I produced two babies with this electrical back up system in their hearts. She will be going for an electrophysiology study to determine where it is coming from. It is surgery with anesthesia. The doctor makes an incision in the groin vein and threads a catheter with electrodes through the vascular system to investigate the heart. If they find the spot causing the problem they "ablate" it or burn it out with a laser. It destroys that tiny piece of tissue that is causing problems. We are much in prayer for her health and safety.

Winter Trips:

Hoping and praying that next weekend Kenny and I can get out together for some fun in the woods. We're caught up with home projects...all done! Shopping is done. Wrapping is nearly done. Decorating done. Just need to get a break from the madness. Come on Sat. Dec. 21st!