Up..up..UP to Chimney Top!

     Sweetie and I got to spend an adventurous weekend with our small Bible study group this past weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. This is truly a beautiful area, and if you haven't been to TN, or its mountain area, you will be impressed with its beauty and the breathtaking views.
      I will start out with a little background here, this is a group of largely 20ishers and a couple of early 30 year olds. (FYI: Sweetie and I are late 30's)We knew going into this last year when we made our year commitment to these folks it wouldn't be without its share of drama and exciting moments. We have had a lot of both, and don't regret a minute. These guys and gals are an inspiring group. We let them talk us into going hiking early Saturday morning.
First off, "early" to a 20isher is 10 am. I was up making them breakfast at 830.  The mumbling amongst themselves only lasted until the smell of bacon, biscuits, and farm fresh eggs wafted through the air caught their noses.
     On the way to Chimney Top we chatted about the hike. Here is what the brochure said: "Chimney Tops Trail - 1700 ft. up - 4 miles round trip - Strenuous) The trail crosses bridges over a cascading mountain stream and through virgin forest to the Chimney Tops, a rocky outcropping at the summit. A level path leads along a tree-covered ridge and, after negotiating some large boulders and tree routes, the large rock mass of Chimney Tops looms before you. An exciting scramble takes you to the top (not advised if you don’t like heights).You are greeted by an awe-inspiring 360-degree panorama of forested mountain slopes stretching away into the distance."

     We didn't realize how much of that was up. I mean like climbing up, up. If I am brave enough to do this again, I will spend more time stretching, as I certainly stretched muscles that haven't stretched in awhile and they are still screaming at me. For my readers benefit, only one of the group had actually made this climb, an energetic Army officer with a consistant smirk on his early 20's face. (Now I know why he was smirking)
According to him, he generally jogged up the mountain. (slight eye roll and smirk from me now) But since he had the group he would walk it with us.
     The first mile was a typical hike, stepping over logs, and occasionally walking across a wooden bridge that crossed rushing water. (looking at the water made me wish I had gone white water rafting instead). As we headed into the second mile of this hike, Sweetie and I moved from the middle to the rear of the group, as one of us wanted to stop for a few minutes and catch our breath. The overall blessing to this whole experience was that it was a crisp 59 degrees when we started and only reached a high of 63 by the time we were finished.

In the second mile the track gets more rugged and an unrelenting, and the steep climb begins. (Steep meaning placing ones foot firmly on the ground and reaching with your hands to pull yourself up, placing your opposite foot in a nook or cranny and repeating until you are able to stop and give your body time to sweat)Fortunately, after 20 minutes or so the gradient eases up, even descending for a short time. The path is now eroded and very narrow in places. In many places the earth was wet and muddy, presenting us with a slippery slope. God and I had many conversations up and down that mountainside. (esp. with these signs)

We passed several folks going down, some sharing their various words of wisdom and advice. As time went on and we kept winding up the mountain, the jokes started flowing about how the slow ones will keep the bears busy so the rest can escape. Mountain climbing humor at its best I suppose. While we never saw any bears, we heard that there were some you could see once on top of the mountain.
As we got to the top, the trail stops so you can look out over the valley. It was beautiful. However, this was not good enough for the majority of our group. They wanted to go to the very top and literally sit on top of the mountain. This was allowed, but not advised. There was a warning as you can see in the above picture showing us a picture of stick man falling off the cliffs. Once all the 'pride' talk subsided, it was then decided a select few of us were brave enough to make the climb. The rest would stay at the bottom and pray for us.

See? We made it- all the way up - as far up as one could go! I generally don't mind heights when there is a bar to hold onto or a safety harness involved. But since I had neither, I clung to the rock ledges and enjoyed the view. I didn't spend much time up there though, enough to get the full panoramic view, look for bears, then take a couple of pictures. The smirking Army officer kindly went down the top of the mountainside in front of me, and was there to lend a hand, while Sweetie kindly escorted me down from behind.
I appreciate our group for the adventure and in some cases, helping me stretch myself to accomplish something I didn't set out to do, overcome my fear of climbing out to the ledges of the mountain top called Chimney Top!