“Unlike moderation, temperance does not push us into the mediocre middle ground. Instead, we maintain the discipline to find a balance point between robustness and risk, the weights on either end of our scale.”
I love how you put this. A fine distinction too often overlooked. I thank Sam for the pointer to this rich essay about your hiking adventure.
I’ve spent many solo hours and days in quiet contemplation among the pines and streams of the Rocky Mountains in years past. I miss it terribly.
Thank you Dee! I had extensive plans for spending autumn in the mountains this year, but found all of that upended by the hurricane that hit the southern appachians. The good thing, however, is that nature is all around us, even in the most unlikely places, and it's always good to take time to appreciate it!
Your story reminds me of a place we used to visit, Falls Creek Falls. It’s not even a hike anymore since the road has been put right in where they built an industrial facility of some sort. That hike used to have around 20 creek crossings. Some of them were through rapid-flowing water knee-deep, so the chances of falling down after slipping on the rocky bottom were high.
We were camping out there once on July 2nd. It rained all night and snowed first thing in the morning. High elevation. We had to hike out with the creek flooded with extra water and it was up to my waist in a lot of spots! I’ve rarely been that cold.
Wow, that sounds intense! I’ve kept these visits to the warmer months to avoid getting wet in the cold, but then I have to deal with the humidity of the south!
I felt such comfort reading about your journey of stoicism. I'm not sure I could ever reach those levels but it sounds delightful. Your writing has changed so much since the beginning when I first found you.
Oh, and I would've turned around and hightailed it out if I'd encountered a bear. I have so much respect for your bravery!
Awesome! I’m still changing up my writing style, little by little. Its all a work in progress, but I’m glad you’re getting something from it!
Although the bear surprised me in the moment, I knew my chances of encountering one were pretty good. I had an even closer encounter near there many years ago!
Hahaha! The vast majority of the time they are terrified of humans and just want to get away from us. If I hadn't caught sight of the one in this story at just that moment I would never have known it was there.
A really enjoyable read Erik. I love how you bring the reader along on your adventures and your words really bring the landscape alive. Seeing the bear must have been amazing. I am not familiar with the concepts you describe around moderation and temperance but for personal fulfilment I can see the importance of staying out of the middle ground.
I knew my chances of seeing a bear were pretty high at this time of year, but it did catch me by surprise. I just wish I had been able to take a quick photo!
I view temperance as just that- being able to stay out of the middle while staying in rational control.
Thanks for your comments, they're always valuable!
Great story Erik. Sounds like you had quite an adventure (river crossings, untracked wilderness, bears) - just enough challenge to take you out of your comfort zone without the need for a helicopter airlift! PS You have some beautiful wildflowers this time of year.
I hiked to Jack's River falls the day after Helene. Encountered boars but no bear. Water was high and the falls were very impressive. It was interesting climbing around alone next to such raw power. Several full trees revolved in a circle, floating in the eddy on river right that forms on the shelf between the two drops of the falls. I regret not taking a video of that.
I've read Talib's books and recognized your "soul in the game" comment. Good stuff. Thanks for posting this.
I plan to kayak Jacks river someday after a big rain, hopefully soon.
That would be interesting to see! I'm very surprised you were able to reach the falls. I would have expected a lot of trees down on the forest service roads, not to mention trees across the trails. There are a lot of standing dead ones in the area due to pine beetles.
I'm also surprised that Jacks river would be navigable at all by kayak. Seems much too shallow, but then I've almost always seen it at fairly low water levels. If you do it I'd love to hear about it or see some photos/video!
I don't know if there's a way to post video here but the falls were impressive--the river was fast and deep and just crashes down all over those rock teeth that stick out about half way down the second drop. I hiked in from Beech Bottom trailhead--the roads were surprisingly clean but I had an electric saw in case roads had been blocked by trees. The Jack's river trail can't be hiked after a huge rain, because the river rises significantly and becomes a fast moving (and dangerous) whitewater river. The same is true for the Conasauga river and that river trail. Neither river is normally boatable. But both come alive like sleeping dragons after a big rain. It's really crazy how powerful they are, but then a day later they disappear like ghosts.
A couple years ago, I had a haunting experience kayaking Conasauga where I broke my paddle and had an extremely dangerous class V swim... really didn't have the right skills or boat to be out there that day. The river took my shoes during the swim (I use the word "swim" loosely, it was really just a blur of water, boulders, branches, and sky and a fight for survival). It was January 2, and I hiked out alone with a snow forecast for that night. The trail was not usable due to the river crossings, so I was scratching and clawing my way out for 4+ hours. And I was on the wrong side of the river. But I knew another group was planning to kayak there that day, and after a few hours I finally encountered them, and they roped me across. They were having their own difficulties and running low on time, and half of them ended up hiking out too. The last one to hike didn't make it out until late at night, which kind of overshadowed my own ordeal lol. In the following weeks, I hiked back in multiple times looking for my boat. On the last time, I was charged by a boar but escaped across the icy river. That was terrifying... The whole saga really galvanized something in me. I've been fascinated with the Cohutta wilderness ever since.
Now it's a major life goal of mine to kayak the boatable rivers in there from top to bottom. You only get a few chances per year. Hiking around and understanding the trails is fulfilling in its own right so I've started doing more of that. I hope to camp in there more, etc. Doing that stuff will also help me know the rivers and trails better for when the future kayaking opportunities arise!
PS - it's interesting that you quoted Antifragile, because I read that book a year or two before my Conasauga experience. And when I hiked into Jack's river falls the other day, I encountered 7 boars. It definitely triggered my extremely scary prior experience. So it felt extra fulfilling to push forward on the trail after encountering the boars. For me, it felt like a kind of antifragility.
Man, that is INTENSE! I've been to the falls many times on the Beech Bottom Trail. Years ago I had a close encounter there with a bear cub while momma was just out of view around a bend in the trail. Never encountered boar though!
Taleb's ideas on antifragility are very compelling to me. Thriving in chaos and disorder is pretty much exactly what we gain from the wilderness (so long as it doesn't kill us)!
“Unlike moderation, temperance does not push us into the mediocre middle ground. Instead, we maintain the discipline to find a balance point between robustness and risk, the weights on either end of our scale.”
I love how you put this. A fine distinction too often overlooked. I thank Sam for the pointer to this rich essay about your hiking adventure.
I’ve spent many solo hours and days in quiet contemplation among the pines and streams of the Rocky Mountains in years past. I miss it terribly.
Thank you Dee! I had extensive plans for spending autumn in the mountains this year, but found all of that upended by the hurricane that hit the southern appachians. The good thing, however, is that nature is all around us, even in the most unlikely places, and it's always good to take time to appreciate it!
💯
Your story reminds me of a place we used to visit, Falls Creek Falls. It’s not even a hike anymore since the road has been put right in where they built an industrial facility of some sort. That hike used to have around 20 creek crossings. Some of them were through rapid-flowing water knee-deep, so the chances of falling down after slipping on the rocky bottom were high.
We were camping out there once on July 2nd. It rained all night and snowed first thing in the morning. High elevation. We had to hike out with the creek flooded with extra water and it was up to my waist in a lot of spots! I’ve rarely been that cold.
Wow, that sounds intense! I’ve kept these visits to the warmer months to avoid getting wet in the cold, but then I have to deal with the humidity of the south!
I felt such comfort reading about your journey of stoicism. I'm not sure I could ever reach those levels but it sounds delightful. Your writing has changed so much since the beginning when I first found you.
Oh, and I would've turned around and hightailed it out if I'd encountered a bear. I have so much respect for your bravery!
Awesome! I’m still changing up my writing style, little by little. Its all a work in progress, but I’m glad you’re getting something from it!
Although the bear surprised me in the moment, I knew my chances of encountering one were pretty good. I had an even closer encounter near there many years ago!
I live at the base of the Rockies and I've never seen one in my life!!
Hahaha! The vast majority of the time they are terrified of humans and just want to get away from us. If I hadn't caught sight of the one in this story at just that moment I would never have known it was there.
A really enjoyable read Erik. I love how you bring the reader along on your adventures and your words really bring the landscape alive. Seeing the bear must have been amazing. I am not familiar with the concepts you describe around moderation and temperance but for personal fulfilment I can see the importance of staying out of the middle ground.
I knew my chances of seeing a bear were pretty high at this time of year, but it did catch me by surprise. I just wish I had been able to take a quick photo!
I view temperance as just that- being able to stay out of the middle while staying in rational control.
Thanks for your comments, they're always valuable!
I'm envious of these wild places that you have access to! Lovely photos and words as always.
It's nothing much compared to the American West, but I love the areas around me!
Great story Erik. Sounds like you had quite an adventure (river crossings, untracked wilderness, bears) - just enough challenge to take you out of your comfort zone without the need for a helicopter airlift! PS You have some beautiful wildflowers this time of year.
For an overnight trip it was pretty epic! And I knew some autumn flowers were blooming, but I was not expecting those lobelia!
I hiked to Jack's River falls the day after Helene. Encountered boars but no bear. Water was high and the falls were very impressive. It was interesting climbing around alone next to such raw power. Several full trees revolved in a circle, floating in the eddy on river right that forms on the shelf between the two drops of the falls. I regret not taking a video of that.
I've read Talib's books and recognized your "soul in the game" comment. Good stuff. Thanks for posting this.
I plan to kayak Jacks river someday after a big rain, hopefully soon.
That would be interesting to see! I'm very surprised you were able to reach the falls. I would have expected a lot of trees down on the forest service roads, not to mention trees across the trails. There are a lot of standing dead ones in the area due to pine beetles.
I'm also surprised that Jacks river would be navigable at all by kayak. Seems much too shallow, but then I've almost always seen it at fairly low water levels. If you do it I'd love to hear about it or see some photos/video!
I don't know if there's a way to post video here but the falls were impressive--the river was fast and deep and just crashes down all over those rock teeth that stick out about half way down the second drop. I hiked in from Beech Bottom trailhead--the roads were surprisingly clean but I had an electric saw in case roads had been blocked by trees. The Jack's river trail can't be hiked after a huge rain, because the river rises significantly and becomes a fast moving (and dangerous) whitewater river. The same is true for the Conasauga river and that river trail. Neither river is normally boatable. But both come alive like sleeping dragons after a big rain. It's really crazy how powerful they are, but then a day later they disappear like ghosts.
A couple years ago, I had a haunting experience kayaking Conasauga where I broke my paddle and had an extremely dangerous class V swim... really didn't have the right skills or boat to be out there that day. The river took my shoes during the swim (I use the word "swim" loosely, it was really just a blur of water, boulders, branches, and sky and a fight for survival). It was January 2, and I hiked out alone with a snow forecast for that night. The trail was not usable due to the river crossings, so I was scratching and clawing my way out for 4+ hours. And I was on the wrong side of the river. But I knew another group was planning to kayak there that day, and after a few hours I finally encountered them, and they roped me across. They were having their own difficulties and running low on time, and half of them ended up hiking out too. The last one to hike didn't make it out until late at night, which kind of overshadowed my own ordeal lol. In the following weeks, I hiked back in multiple times looking for my boat. On the last time, I was charged by a boar but escaped across the icy river. That was terrifying... The whole saga really galvanized something in me. I've been fascinated with the Cohutta wilderness ever since.
Now it's a major life goal of mine to kayak the boatable rivers in there from top to bottom. You only get a few chances per year. Hiking around and understanding the trails is fulfilling in its own right so I've started doing more of that. I hope to camp in there more, etc. Doing that stuff will also help me know the rivers and trails better for when the future kayaking opportunities arise!
PS - it's interesting that you quoted Antifragile, because I read that book a year or two before my Conasauga experience. And when I hiked into Jack's river falls the other day, I encountered 7 boars. It definitely triggered my extremely scary prior experience. So it felt extra fulfilling to push forward on the trail after encountering the boars. For me, it felt like a kind of antifragility.
Man, that is INTENSE! I've been to the falls many times on the Beech Bottom Trail. Years ago I had a close encounter there with a bear cub while momma was just out of view around a bend in the trail. Never encountered boar though!
Taleb's ideas on antifragility are very compelling to me. Thriving in chaos and disorder is pretty much exactly what we gain from the wilderness (so long as it doesn't kill us)!