Lakes
Flint Rock – Holston Mountain Lookout Tower
Holston Mountain is one of our most recognized mountain ridgelines in the east TN/southwest VA area as it spans approximately 28 miles from Elizabethton, Tennessee to Damascus, Virginia. It’s the prominent mountain visible while looking south on most of the I-81 corridor from the Tri-Cities to Abingdon. The highpoint of the mountain is Holston High … Continue reading
Iron Mtn Backpacking: TN91 to Wilbur Dam Road
I finished up a small section of Appalachian Trail that I had not completed before, covering the Iron Mountain ridgeline from TN91 to Wilburn Dam Road. This was a southbound 16 mile hike, spending one night. About 3 miles into the hike my first stop was the Nick Grindstaff Monument. This is very eerie place with … Continue reading
Rocky Fork Backpacking
Located along the TN/NC border in Unicoi County, TN is the newly purchased U.S. Forest Service property known as Rocky Fork. This 10,000 acre tract is very rugged, with unmarked trails and very limited trail maps. My good friend Jimmy Humston and I decided to do some exploring along the northern-most sections of the tract … Continue reading
Watauga Dam
Watauga Dam was completed in 1949 by the Tennessee Valley Authority, creating a very beautiful lake at 2000′ elevation. At the time of its construction, it was the highest elevation earthen dam in the world, and today it still remains as the highest in the eastern United States. What makes this area so picturesque is … Continue reading
Rocky Fork to Birchfield Camp Lake – Mtn Bike
A few months ago I found Birchfield Camp Lake (elevation 4000′) in the Rocky Fork Tract via the Higgins Creek route. This time I decided to see if I could find it coming in from the main gate at Rocky Fork. This is a longer route, and since my knee is still tender, I … Continue reading
Birchfield Camp Lake
Sitting at high elevations, in between the peaks of Frozen Knob and Wilson Knob in the Rocky Fork Tract, is a relatively unheard of, man-made feature known as Birchfield Camp Lake. I have been told that this ~10 acre lake was built to assist in combating potential forest fires by the previous owners of the … Continue reading