Time to Escape

Since I was a child I have loved being in the 'outdoors'.  Growing up in the Germantown area of Louisville my favorite place in the world was the small wooded lot  next to St. Michael's cemetery, which the last time I was there a few years ago had become a Krogers' parking lot, my favorite past-time was riding my bike through almost every part of the city.  When I went to live with my grandmother in Breckinridge county, KY just before high school I began spending every free moment wandering in the woods, exploring the caves, and scrambling around on the sandstone cliffs which were all within eyesight of her house.  When I joined the Army just out of high school the 'outdoors' expanded for me whether it was the Bavarian Alps, Central American Highlands, or the mountains of North Carolina I loved them all.

After the Army I moved back to Kentucky, met the love of my life, got married, and had two wonderful children, but I still came up with reasons to spend as much time as possible in the 'outdoors.'  My wife and I even spent our honeymoon hiking and picnicking in Cumberland Falls State Park.

Three years, five months, and sixteen days after the start of that honeymoon my wife died leaving me with two very small children to take care of and my days in the outdoors ended--for a while.



Atop the Natural Bridge Red River Gorge, KY

When my son was five and my daughter six, I took them on their first camping trip to Land Between the Lakes.  This was followed by several trips to Red River Gorge where I taught them to rock climb (a passion I had picked up in Germany), and took them on bike rides through the gorge.

For Christmas 2000 the children and I went to Gatlingburg.  During that trip we went across the mountains to Cherokee, and then Asheville.  I had visited the area a couple of times with a friend while stationed at Fort Bragg, NC.  During our little touristy trip I fell in love with the area, and on July 4th weekend of the following year we moved to Asheville.

Linville Gorge, NC

Our home away from home

Through the next six years, the children and I went camping, biking, and rock climbing in areas all around western North Carolina including Table Rock/Linville Gorge, Boone, and Looking Glass Rock.  Then in 2006 I lost my job to a merger and downsizing and ended up in Indianapolis.

I like Indy okay, but I really miss the ability to drive for a few minutes and lose myself in the woods and mountains.  I have been back to Western North Carolina/ Eastern Tennessee a couple of times in the last six years went to New River Gorge in West Virginia once, and my son and I took a Christmastime trip to Red River Gorge a couple of years ago. But it hasn't been enough.

Like I mentioned above I like Indianapolis, it's a nice sized city and, as far as cities go it's relatively peaceful, but for the better part of a year now I have really been itching to escape back into the mountains.  My children are young adults now, and have started living their own lives--as it should be, leaving me to sit around daydreaming about rocks, water, and trees.  I am rarely happy anymore except when I am daydreaming in such a fashion. Then after a series of heart attacks back in May left my heart in rough shape I figured that my days wondering through the mountains were over, and the time I have left for anything has gotten quite a bit shorter.

I have since learned that riding my bike could be a suitable replacement for back-packing, so long as I take it slow and easy, which, as it turns out, is the perfect recipe for touring.  I had begun planning small trips in the hope that these will sate my need for wilderness, but had also started to doubt that this will be the case.

I have come to the conclusion that what I really need to do is embark on one last great escape.  I have always wanted to experience some of our grand national parks and monuments out west, especially Yellowstone and Devil's Tower, and what better way to do it than to go by bike.  Through research I have found that the Adventure Cycling Association's Northern Tier route, and Great Parks route will take me to or at least near these and other wonderful places.


So, I vow here and now that I will as soon as possible, hop on my bike, head north to the Northern Tier trail then head west.  I don't yet know how I am going to finance my escape, and the logistics for the trip are, at present, quite daunting, but I know that I will do this--that I need to do this, so I will find a way before it's too late.