Blue Ridge Outdoors August 2015

AUGUST 2015

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SCOTT JUREK

SETS NEW A.T. RECORD

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE PROFESSIONS

COOL SCHOOLS 32 OUTDOOR COURSES

RIDE BIKES,

DRINK BOURBON

JENNIFER PHARR DAVIS ON THE A.T. RECORD | EXERCISE MAKES YOU SMARTER

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B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5 / R I C H M O N D VA E D I T I O N

CONTENTS

August 2015 photo by LUIS ESCOBAR

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

8 EDITOR’S NOTE

23 COOL SCHOOLS

Scott Jurek makes a career-capping comeback to break the Appalachian Trail speed record.

Hike the A.T., scuba dive, ice climb, paddle rivers for college credit. Check out the 32 best college courses and outdoor offerings in the Southeast.

10 FLASHPOINT Ocoee River ransomed by TVA

12 QUICK HITS

33 WILL WORK FOR ADVENTURE

Eastern cougar declared extinct • Tour de Pour • Bikers bare al • 500-pound marathoner

Get paid to do what you love. Meet six outdoor enthusiasts who have made their dream jobs a reality.

14 THE DIRT

39 ‘HOLD THE TRAIL LIGHTLY’

Q&A with Scott Jurek • Exercise makes you smarter

56 THE GOODS Cyclist’s Ally Stacher’s go-to gear

Sept. 19, 2015

Previous A.T. record holder Jennifer Pharr Davis shares her thoughts on Scott Jurek’s new mark.

49 RIDE BIKES, DRINK BOURBON Four cyclists pedal 60 miles of Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail., visiting distilleries along the way. On paper, it sounds awesome. In reality, it’s even better.

A Unique Triathlon Experience.

Bike. Kayak. Run. 40-mile trail ride 12-mile kayak run 13-mile trail run

NEW RIVER TRAIL STATE PARK MAX MEADOWS, VIRGINIA 800-933-PARK (7275) www.virginiastateparks.gov

55 THE KID IN ME 58 TRAIL MIX New grooves from our neck of the woods COVER PHOTO BY

Jess Daddio loses her worries (and her shoes) and finds herself while creekwalking.

DEREK DILUZIO / DE RE K DIL UZ IO.COM A U G U S T 2 015 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M BRO_August_2015.indd 1

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CHATTER PR ESI D EN T

BLAKE DEMASO

ED ITOR I N C H I EF

WILL HARLAN

will@blueridgeoutdoors.com PU B LI SH ER

LEAH WOODY

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MEGAN JORDAN

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Editorial & Production SEN I OR ED ITOR JEDD FERRIS jedd@blueridgeoutdoors.com

TR AVEL ED ITOR

JESS DADDIO

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LAUREN WALKER

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PAIGELEE CHANCELLOR

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WILEY CASH, KY DELANEY, GRAHAM AVERILL, JEFF KINNEY, DAVE STALLARD JULIA GREEN, ROBERT MCGEE

C OPY ED ITORS

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WOLF WARS The last 100 red wolves on the planet need to be protected—not hunted to extinction. They belong in their wild, native habitat. We have become the greediest of species.

—Elizabeth O’Connell, Boulder, CO. SIGHTINGS ARE ESCAPED PETS I’ve worked in the woods for 32 years and have never seen a mountain lion in the wild. Sure, we may have a few big cats in the woods, but they more than likely were pets who escaped their enclosures.

—Andrew Baril, Huntsville, Ala. THIS IS COUGAR COUNTRY Eastern cougars are not extinct. They are routinely sighted in the Virginia mountains. I have seen one myself along Twelve O’Clock Knob Road in Roanoke County, Va. There is no mistaking an animal of that size with that tail, held low and parallel to the ground.

—Allen L., Roanoke, Va.

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Asheville, N.C. Office (828) 225-0868 SEN I OR AC C OU N T EXEC UTI VE

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AC C OU N T EXEC UTI VE / M A R KETI N G & PR

NICK NOE

MILLBILLIES, MURDER, AND MAYHEM I grew up in Gastonia, took the mandatory course in North Carolina history, and graduated from a local high school, yet I never learned Gastonia mill’s complex history until reading Wiley Cash’s article. It is a shame that this important part of Gastonia’s history was buried for decades. Cash has done a great service by shining a light on it.

—Richard Redano, Knoxville, Tenn.

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Digital Media CRAIG SNODGRASS

License Plate Application

ON LI N E D I R EC TOR

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The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) now has a specialty license tag in the state of North Carolina.

By getting your tag today, you’ll help the ATC protect and maintain America’s Facts Favorite Long Distance Trail!

The ATC will receive $20 annually for each AT plate purchased or renewed.

How Much Does It Cost?  $30 Regular Appalachian Trail plate*  $60 Personalized Appalachian Trail plate* You are allowed four (4) spaces for a personalized message. __ __ __ __ 2nd Choice __ __ __ __ 3rd Choice __ __ __ __ 1st Choice Name (as shown on certificate of title): FIRST

MIDDLE

CITY

STATE

LAST

ADDRESS ZIP CODE

HOME PHONE

OFFICE PHONE

Current North Carolina Vehicle

 You must already have the vehicle registered in North Carolina.  You receive a FREE ATC Membership with the purchase of your NC AT Tag.  *The $30 or $60 annual fee is in addition to regular annual license fees you have already paid.  Personalized tags may be relinquished to someone else, but once a numerical tag expires without renewal, that number can never again be reissued.  If you change your mind, you can go back to a regular license plate at any time. There will not be a refund of unused portion of special fees.  Additional applications can be found online at

All proceeds received from each state will help manage and protect the Trail. _______________________ ____________________________________ PLATE NUMBER

VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

TO ORDER, VISIT APPALACHIANTRAIL.ORG/PLATES ______________________ ____________________________________ DRIVER’S LICENSE #

YEAR

MODEL

MAKE

BODY STYLE

www.appalachiantrail.org

Owner’s Certification of Liability Insurance I certify for the motor vehicle described above that I have financial responsibility as required by law.

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FULL NAME OF INSURANCE COMPANY AUTHORIZED IN NC – NOT AGENCY OR GROUP

B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R SPOLICY / ANUMBER U G–UIF POLICY S T NOT 2 01 5 ISSUED, NAME OF AGENCY BINDING COVERAGE ______________________________________ _________________________________________ SIGNATURE OF OWNER

AVERY SHOOK

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North Carolina Appalachian Trail

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D I G ITA L M ED I A SPEC I A LI ST

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CONTRIBUTORS

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APPALACHIAN TRAIL Map Guide Series

DREAM JOB?

Detailed maps ● “Must know” information ● Built for trail lovers

CHRIS GRAGTMANS PADDLESPORTS PROFESSIONAL

I always wanted to be a writer for Road & Track magazine. I read about cars obsessively and dreamed of test driving Ferraris and Porsches.

DUSTY ALLISON DIGITAL PUBLISHER

Novelist, fishing guide, bartender, and winner of the annual Hemingway Look Alike Contest in Key West.

AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER!

13 detailed map guides covering all 2,180 miles of the iconic Trail.

Appalachian Trail JESS DADDIO LEAH WOODY PUBLISHER

I wanted to be a film editor and edit movie trailers for films. Not movies...just the trailers.

JOHNNY MOLLOY OUTDOOR WRITER

Playing basketball in the NBA.

TRAVEL EDITOR

Archaeologist, horse whisperer, and professional underwater basket weaver.

I hated writing.

WILL HARLAN EDITOR IN CHIEF

Astronaut. I still look up at the stars every night.

Available at NatGeoMaps.com and outdoor retail locations JENNIFER PHARR DAVIS PROFESSIONAL HIKER AND AUTHOR

I had no clue! I wish I could go back and tell myself, “That’s okay.”

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I told my 4th grade teacher that I wanted to be a professional hang glider.

(I have never tried hang gliding).

Like us on Facebook: natgeomaps Follow us on Twitter : natgeomaps © 2015 National Geographic Society

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EDITOR’S LETTER

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT SCOTT JUREK

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>> His nicknames include “The Jurker” and “El Venado” (the deer)

THE COMEBACK

SCOTT JUREK SETS NEW A.T. RECORD

>> As a lifelong naturalist, he knows nearly every tree in the forest. While running along the A.T., he identified trees as we passed and seemed to greet them as old friends.

A

t the 2005 Badwater 135Mile Race, Scott Jurek was curled on the baked asphalt puking his guts out. Amid the intense, 100-degree heat, Scott began vomiting uncontrollably and finally collapsed on the side of the road. Runners passed him. Lying in puddles of his own pavement-boiled vomit, he was ready to quit.

But he didn’t.

He eventually scraped himself off the pavement and got to his feet.

Over the next sixty miles, he chased down the leaders and set a new course record, becoming the youngest runner ever to win Badwater.

Since then, Scott has made several incredible comebacks. One of his most memorable was in 2009. After his mother died and his wife left him, he resurrected himself from a disappointing year of racing defeats to set a new 24-hour American distance record.

He topped that performance with an even more amazing comeback last month.

The 41-year-old ultrarunning legend began his A.T. speed record chase from Georgia’s Spring Mountain. I joined him on the trail near Big Bald, N.C., six days and 300 miles into his trek in early June.

I’ve shared with the trail with Scott a few times—usually far behind him. But once, at the Promise Land 50K, I was within earshot of Scott and the lead pack. As we approached the summit of a steep climb, I heard a piercing, rapturous howl. It was Scott, and it was pure animal joy.

But when I met Scott on the A.T. in June, he was anything but joyful. He could barely walk. His knee pain had begun in the ragged, rugged Smokies, and he had been overcompensating with his left leg 8

>> He is 100% plant-powered; the world’s most accomplished ultrarunner is a vegan. >> The seven-time champion of the Western States 100 Mile Run, Scott stayed through the night at the race finish line every year to cheer home the other runners.

for the past 50 miles. He soldiered up the steep climb to Big Bald, but by the time we reached the windswept summit, he was reduced to a hobble.

He had torn his left quad.

“This is a game changer,” he muttered.

He limped down the back side of Big Bald in a downpour and finally staggered off the trail in excruciating pain near Erwin, Tennessee. His thru-hike seemed to be over. His record chase seemed finished.

Except that this was Scott Jurek.

If anyone could rise from the ashes, it was the lone wolf from the Minnesota flatlands who transformed himself

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from an unassuming farm boy to the world’s greatest ultra runner.

With a torn quad, Scott continued soldiering ahead the next day. He backed off the mileage for two days, and then resumed his record-setting pace toward Katahdin. For the next 1,800 miles, he pushed through injury and pain, and on July 12, he set the new A.T. speed record of 46 days, 8 hours, 11 minutes. It was only three hours ahead of the previous record held by Asheville’s Jennifer Pharr Davis.

As a physical therapist, Scott understands the human body better than anyone. But he knows something even more important: himself. He is a lifelong student of the human spirit, honed by Zen clarity and a Spartan inner discipline.

Scott knows pain. And he also knows how to transcend it.

After tearing his quad only a week into his A.T. record chase, Scott had every reason to call it quits. But he reached deeper than the pain to pull off one last incredible, career-capping comeback. Atop Katahdin, he howled once more.

SCOTT JUREK SET A NEW A.T. RECORD OF 46 DAYS, 8 HOURS, AND 7 MINUTES. W ILL H A R LA N photos by LUIS ESCOBAR

will@blueridgeoutdoors.com

WANT ANOTHER GREAT EXCUSE TO BE OUTDOORS? LET US INTRODUCE YOU TO FLY FISHING. Learn to fly fish, or hone your skills, with the world’s best fly-fishing instructors at an Orvis Fly Fishing School.

FLASHPOINT

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THE END OF OCOEE?

TVA WANTS RANSOM FOR WHITEWATER RELEASES

by JEFF KINNEY

M

any people love to hate dams because they destroy native ecosystems, severely diminish the wilderness character of rivers, and displace anyone living downstream. And the power they generate usually just gets dumped into the grid for everyone’s use, which brings scant benefit to the locals who are most affected. Dams that are (mis)managed for the benefit of giant corporations over actual people are the worst of all, because often the recreational benefits they can provide are discounted or ignored entirely just to wring the last possible dollar out of all that rushing water.

Such appears to be the case with the Ocoee River in Tennessee. As the nation’s most popular whitewater river—some 250,000 people visit each year for rafting, canoeing, and kayaking—you’d think the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) would continue to support whitewater releases from the dam it operates there. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.

According to the Ocoee River Council, the TVA wants $1.8 million annually to continue returning water to the riverbed for recreation after the current contract for water releases expires in March 2019. And it’s even worse than that; the TVA is insisting on payment upfront, which means outfitters would have to obtain a $9 million loan to secure water releases for five years. Add at least another $2 million for interest and closing costs, and the price would climb to $11 million or more, an enormous sum that likely would have to be paid for by rafting fee increases of $8-10 per person on the Middle Ocoee.

That might not sound like much, but outfitters justifiably fear it would drive away customers, which would 10

force additional price increases in a self-defeating downward spiral.

“The cost to users of paying for lost power to obtain water releases is not sustainable, even if it were half the price TVA wants,” says David Brown, a spokesman for the American Outdoors Association.

He also noted that outfitters would be hard-pressed to secure such a large loan with just a five-year time horizon. The upshot: recreational river usage would nose-dive and many outfitters could go out of business, taking with them some $43 million in annual economic benefits and 622 full-time-job equivalents within 60 miles of the river—not to mention a slice of irreplaceable outdoor recreation.

“The Ocoee is a public resource,” Brown says. “It’s not that outfitters aren’t going to pay fees—they have been for years—but it’s who they pay fees to and whether they’re reasonable. There has to be some consideration for recreation.”

The Ocoee is one of the only rivers in the Southeast where recreation is not part of the dam’s license. That’s because, unlike other power companies, the TVA is a federally owned corporation created

B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5

by congressional charter in 1933.

Unfortunately for rafting companies and their clients, its projects aren’t licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which requires most utilities to provide equal opportunities for recreation without reimbursement for lost power.

TVA Spokesman Jim Hopson says it’s only “fair” that outfitters pay up. “When the TVA diverts water for power production, there’s a cost associated with that to serve 9 million people across the river valley. We’re working with the rafting companies to determine the most fair and equitable approach, but we have to make sure that the TVA’s rate payers aren’t burdened.” Except the “burden” would be trivial; the TVA reportedly has pegged the cost of recreational releases at less than 1/50th of 1 percent of its annual revenue. Hopson refused to confirm that number, but he did admit that the cost “isn’t a significant portion” of the TVA’s earnings. So it’s clear that power rate hikes would be minimal and could easily be absorbed by the TVA itself if it’s that concerned about its customers.

Jack Wise, CEO and co-owner

THE OCOEE IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR WHITEWATER RIVERS IN THE EAST. photo by TOM TOHILL

of Ocoee River outfitter Wildwater, notes that if the TVA gets its way, companies like his will have no choice but to raise prices or cut overhead.

Either option would take a toll on the river experience for paying customers, and outfitters would be forced to renegotiate a contract every five years, making long-term business planning nearly impossible. The TVA is “going to ruin an economic driver for Southeast Tennessee,” Wise says.

Preventing that will require new legislation. Wise encourages concerned paddlers to contact congressional representatives and ask that TVA recognize whitewater recreation as a purpose of the Ocoee dam and provide releases at least consistent with the current schedule.

He believes recreation on one of the East’s iconic rivers is worth fighting for.

FOR A MODEL LETTER to send to your congressional rep, visit SaveTheOcoee.org/model-letter-tocongress/

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QUICK HITS

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Adam Hill, pro paddler Pat Keller, and champion mountain biker Sam Koerber—who embody the spirit of the film fest. Unlike other film fests, 5Point features films that are about more than heart-pumping adrenaline.

They highlight people who go deeper and give voice to the places and issues that matter most. >> 5pointfilm.org/asheville

SHORTS

BLUE RIDGE BRIEFS

by JEDD FERRIS EASTER N C O U G A R D E C L ARE D EXTI N C T?

In June the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided it was ready to call the eastern cougar extinct. The particular subspecies of big cats has been on the Endangered Species List since 1973, and although there have been recent confirmed cougar sightings in the East, officials say those were likely western mountain lions that migrated to the right coast.

“We recognize that people have seen cougars in the wild in the eastern U.S.,” said Martin Miller, northeast chief of endangered species, in an AP report. “Those cougars are not of the eastern cougar subspecies.”

Eastern cougar populations declined rapidly in the 1800s, killed

by European settlers protecting livestock as they harvested native forests. The large cats, known as mountain lions, pumas, and other names in different parts of the country, are still being spotted on the East Coast. A cougar was killed in Kentucky last December. A 60-day comment period on the proposal to remove the specific eastern cougar subspecies from the endangered list ends later this month.

TWO VI RGI N I A F R I E N D S VISIT ING

B IK ERS B A R E A LL

illustration by WADE MICKLEY

“I’ve always wanted to go on the great American road trip, and this is like an extreme version of that,” Nabors told the Daily Progress. The pair left Virginia in a Dodge Ram truck borrowed from Nabors’ parents. They started at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and plan to finish next August at Maine’s Arcadia National Park. Along the way adventure plans include canoeing in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota and hiking the 93-mile Wonderland Trail in Washington. >> Follow the journey at 59in59.com

EVERY N AT I O N A L PA R K I N A YE AR

A.T. P L AT E SALES RA ISE A MILLION

Two buddies from Charlottesville are currently on an epic road trip, traveling across the country with plans to visit all 59 National Parks in the continental U.S. within the next year. In June, Trevor Kemp and Darius Nabors both quit their jobs at the University of Virginia and set off to visit the 59 parks within 59 weeks, an excursion undertaken to commemorate the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary in 2016.

DOL L ARS IN N.C .

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The Appalachian Trail Conservancy announced in June that it has raised more than $1 million from sales of the A.T. license plate in North Carolina. Trail lovers willing to spend a little extra for the specialty plate, first offered in the state in 2005, are making a big difference along America’s Favorite Footpath.

The conservancy funnels the cash raised from the plates—also offered

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in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Pennsylvania—straight to trail maintenance through grants given to trail clubs and other organizations.

According to the Asheville CitizenTimes, this year the ATC has already given $30,000 to trail projects, monitoring, and outreach.

5POINT FILM FEST H EA D ED TO ASH EV ILLE, N.C .

On August 14-16, Asheville will host a celebration of the country’s top boundary-pushing adventure films.

The festival weekend will kickoff with a free outdoor party before the films roll at 7pm on Friday. Saturday’s line up will include a community picnic, ice cream social, van life rally, dance party with DJ Marley, a youth adventure film program, and an amazing lineup of powerful films.

BRO Editor in Chief Will Harlan will moderate a panel of top regional athletes on Saturday morning at the New Mountain Sol Bar—including elite triathlete and runner Jay Curwen, Girls at Play founder Anna Levesque, ultra running wild man

On June 13 groups of cyclists around the world once again stripped down and pedaled in unity as part of the World Naked Bike Ride. With bare butts on seats, bikers in cities across the globe from Barcelona to Chicago took short rides to raise awareness for alternative transportation and cyclist safety. In Portland, Oregon, an estimated 10,000 riders pedaled in the buff. A spokesperson explained why: “We face automobile traffic with our naked bodies as the best way of defending our dignity and exposing the unique dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians as well as the negative consequences we all face due to dependence on oil and other forms of non-renewable energy.”

50 0-POUND M A N PLA NNING M A R ATH ON IN D EC EM B ER

Derek Mitchell is shedding pounds on race courses. Since March the Kansas City-based Mitchell has committed to running at least one 5K a month in an effort to lose weight, and so far it’s working. In March he weighed 570 pounds, and in late June he was down to 538 after finishing five races. Now he’s raising the bar and planning to run the Honolulu Marathon in December. He picked the race because it doesn’t have a time limit, but he’s taking the endeavor seriously, telling Runner’s World that he recently started a six-month endurance-building training plan.

“I’m losing about 12 pounds per month, so if I keep that up, I’ll be at about 450 pounds by December, which, to think about that is awesome,” Mitchell told RW.

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bikethevalley100.com C ENTU RY AN D M E TR I C C ENTU RY Saturday, September 5th parksandrec@ci.waynesboro.va.us

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THE DIRT

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KING OF THE TRAIL Q&A WITH THE NEW A.T. SPEED RECORD HOLDER SCOTT JUREK

by WILL HARLAN LESS THAN 300 MILES INTO HIS A.T. TREK, Scott Jurek sustained a knee injury and a torn quad that nearly forced him off the trail. Then in Vermont, he caught the flu. As his pace slowed, he felt the record slipping away. But Jurek rallied, and on July 12, he summited Katahdin and set a new Appalachian Trail speed record of 46 days, 8 hours, and 7 minutes.

Scott Jurek shared his thoughts on the record-breaking run two days later while recuperating in New England.

WHAT AR E YO U D O I N G TO CE L E BRAT E ?

My wife Jenny and I have spent a few days in Portland, Maine, hanging out with friends, sleeping a lot, and eating really good food.

H OW DI D YO U I N J U R E YOUR KNE E AND QUAD I N T H E S M O K I E S ?

Early on, I was feeling great and probably pushing a bit too hard.

The stretch of the A.T. through Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the toughest, with especially rugged and steep climbs and descents. In the Smokies, I felt a twinge in my right knee, and I began overcompensating with my left leg. So my left quad absorbed most of those punishing descents, and by the time I reached Big Bald, it was in worse shape than my knee.

H OW DI D YO U E N D U R E 180 0 MIL E S ON A TO R N QUA D A N D I N J U RE D KNE E ?

After I hobbled down from Big Bald to Erwin, Tennessee, I thought the hike was over. It was so painful. With two bad legs, I couldn’t even limp. I figured the record was out of reach, and I wasn’t sure I would even be able to finish the thru-hike.

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But Jenny and Horty [David Horton] encouraged me to continue.

The best thing I could do was to walk it off and give my body a chance to respond. The next two days, I backed off the mileage and only walked. I didn’t run a single step.

Muscles know how to heal themselves if given a chance. The body is amazingly intelligent and resilient. Slowly, the pain decreased slightly, and I started running again in Virginia. I wore compression bands and iced the quad every chance I had.

It still hurt, and there was a knot of pain for the rest of the trek, but it was manageable.

WE RE T HE RE OTH ER ROUGH PATC H ES ?

I took several falls and bruised my left hip. But the quad and knee were the only major injuries. To deal with the pain, I focused on small goals— making it to the next road crossing

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or trail shelter. I broke the trail into a series of shorter treks.

In Virginia, I was able to get back on record pace. I felt my spirits lifting and my hopes renewed. I was also buoyed by all of the camaraderie and companionship. Dozens of friends and supporters joined me on the trail.

But then in Vermont, I caught a stomach bug and then the flu. My pace slowed to a crawl. I fell behind my mileage goals. After coming so far and getting so close, I felt the record slipping away once more.

WH AT D ID YOU TH INK A B OUT D UR ING TH OS E DA RK MOMENTS WH EN YOU H A D TO D IG D EEP?

Mostly I thought about Jenny. I thought about everything she had been through, and I knew that I couldn’t give up. She kept me going.

She ran alongside me in the early mornings and late evenings. She was there for me, every step of the way.

I also thought about my mom and her struggle with multiple sclerosis, which left her unable to move. I thought, ‘Yeah, I might be in pain, but I am still moving. I am still alive.

I can do this for her.’

AS A V EGA N, WAS IT D IFFIC ULT TO STAY FUELED ?

Jenny had hoped to do more cooking from our van, but with all of the other logistics she was handling, she didn’t have time. So she had to find things in grocery stores and diners like hash browns and French fries cooked in veggie oil, which wasn’t always easy in small rural Appalachian towns.

W H AT W ER E TH E H IGH LIGH TS ?

Those early morning and late evening runs with Jenny—and seeing her at the summit of Katahdin. I didn’t get the record—we got the record. photo by LUIS ESCOBAR

ASHEVILLE ATLANTA BIRMINGHAM CHAPEL HILL CHARLESTON CHARLOTTESVILLE WASHINGTON, D.C. NASHVILLE RICHMOND

the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the special places we love

© AMI BENOIT

Protecting

Tradition

navigates a new path through a historic destination.

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, only two hours from Northern VA and DC, Charlottesville and Albemarle County, VA is perfect for your next excursion. Visit nearby Shenandoah National Park for 500 miles of hiking trails, or kayak, canoe or fish on the James River. And with 30+ wineries, numerous breweries and cideries, you’ll discover why one day just won’t be enough. Plan your next trip and request a visitor guide at visitcharlottesville.org/BROguide.

Where tradition is always new.

THE DIRT

0 8 . 15

BETTER THAN ADDERALL

EXERCISE MAKES YOU SMARTER

by BRAD STULBERG

W

orkplace doping—the illegal use of drugs to enhance cognitive performance—is growing rapidly.

Thanks to increasing globalization and human-replacing technology, the bar for intellectual performance is higher than ever.

But there is a safer and more ethical way to get the same, if not greater, benefit: Exercise.

“It is quite remarkable, the effect exercise can have on cognition—the ability to think critically and make good decisions,” says Dr. John Ratey, psychiatrist and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.

Exercise literally grows the brain at a cellular level and primes it to perform at peak capacity.

HOW IT WORKS Three neurotransmitters—serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine— are integral to brain function, says Ratey. Serotonin influences mood.

Norepinephrine heightens perception.

Dopamine regulates attention and satisfaction. When these neurotransmitters are in balance, the brain is ready for optimal functioning.

When they are out of balance, cognitive ability suffers, and in severe cases, psychiatric disorders may arise.

Many drugs used to treat mental health disorders, including those implicated in workplace doping, individually target serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine.

But Ratey explains that “simply raising or lowering the level of a neurotransmitter does not elicit a crisp one-to-one result because the system is so complex.” Exercise, on

the other hand, is so effective because it seems to promote an ideal balance of neurotransmitters, priming our brain for peak performance.

After just one 35-minute aerobic treadmill session, creativity and cognitive flexibility—the ability to think about multiple concepts at once—improve significantly. Ratey says these findings are especially intriguing because “cognitive flexibility correlates with high performance levels in intellectually demanding jobs.” In other words, you may want to consider a quick workout before your next important meeting.

LONG TERM BENEFITS: EXERCISE AND LIFELONG BRAIN GROWTH In addition to priming the brain for acute bouts of cognitive work, exercise simultaneously promotes long-term brain development by triggering the release of “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” (BDNF), a neurochemical that Ratey says is like “Miracle-Gro

for the brain.”

BDNF fuels a process called neurogenesis, which spawns new brain cells and facilitates connections between them. The link between exercise and BDNF helps explain mounting evidence that exercise lowers risk for and delays the progression of degenerative neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Unfortunately, you cannot just go for a run and become smarter.

While BDNF seeds brain cells, in order for those brain cells to survive and form new neural networks, “one must challenge the mind along with the body,” says Ratey. Like a steroid, BDNF works best when paired with heavy mental lifting.

With that in mind, sports that combine aerobic effort with technical movements, planning, and strategy— like tennis, climbing, trail running, and mountain biking—are perfect for growing your brain, since they activate both the mind and body in

unison. Also effective for long-term brain growth, Ratey says, is engaging in challenging cognitive tasks immediately after aerobic exercise; with BDNF flowing, the mind is ripe to expand.

Therein lies the unparalleled performance-enhancing magic of exercise: it improves the intellectual work you do today while, at the same time, makes you smarter tomorrow.

Or, as Ratey put it, “That’s the beauty of all this, you get an acute effect and a chronic effect; it is really quite remarkable.”

The implications of all this are fairly straightforward. If we want to enhance our intellectual performance, and do so in a perfectly legal and safe way, we should prioritize exercise in our lives. This key message is not particularly new. Modern science is simply proving what the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Thales began preaching over 2,000-years-ago: “sound mind and sound body” go hand-in-hand.

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THE DIRT

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ALONE IN THE WILD

JOHN LOGAR TACKLES THE 1,000-MILE IDITAROD ON FOOT

by JESS DADDIO

“I

t’s time for you to go.”

John Logar stood in the town of Shaktoolik, gazing out toward the Norton Bay. Nearly 50 miles of treacherous sea ice stretched before him, which, in the pre-dawn hours, looked like nothing more than a dark abyss. Behind him, a 65-pound sled scraped along the frozen tundra, a constant reminder of the more-than 700 miles Logar had already navigated through the heart of Alaska’s Interior.

The wind lashed at his face and clothes, whipping snow and ice across the barren landscape at upwards of 20 miles per hour. A winter storm warning called for a few inches of snow accumulation and more unrelenting winds, but Logar wasn’t listening to the weather forecast—he was relying on the locals of the area to dictate his departure.

“You get up and go when it’s your window,” Logar says of the sea ice traverse. “The general rule of thumb is you don’t sleep out there. That’s kinda the crux of the move.” Yet just a few hours later, Logar found himself doing just that: bivy camping on an entirely exposed, treeless chunk of ice. And the worst part?

He had diarrhea.

18

“The ice is cracking and screaming at you, the wind is pelting you,” Logar remembers. “You just had to look at the wind and point your ass away,” which might not be so bad, save for the fact that Logar was flagging his bare cheeks to the elements every two hours for seven days straight.

Were it not for a kindly local with an apocalyptic supply of Laffy Taffy, Logar, an emergency medicine physician by trade, might have had to pull out of the Iditarod Trail Invitational altogether less than 300 miles from the finish. But just 23 days, 23 hours, and 10 minutes after taking his first steps from Knik, Logar found himself in Nome beneath an arch that read, “End of Iditarod Dog Sled Race.”

He was the first racer to make it there by foot, a feat no doubt worthy of celebration. Yet there was no crowd in town to cheer him on during the home stretch, no one to ring cowbells and pop bottles of champagne as he unhooked his sled and reveled in his accomplishment.

Actually, there was no finish line at all. When Logar arrived in Nome, it was already three o’clock in the afternoon and the town was busy

B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5

disassembling the lights and display that had been used for the dog sled portion of the Iditarod.

“It was about as anticlimactic as you can imagine,” Logar says. “It was like, ‘Party’s over, dude.’”

But truth be told, he could not have cared less. Logar was never in it

In the days following the Iditarod, Logar was overwhelmed with interest from media outlets and Tucker County locals who touted him a hero and smothered him in praise and pride. Though he had just spent three weeks isolated in the Alaskan backcountry, Logar shied away from

“The biggest moment I had during the race was when I thought, ‘This might be the most selfish freakin’ thing I’ve ever done in my life.’ Who was this benefiting?

Nobody. My own need to go bigger. That’s all it was.” to win it. The real victory wasn’t even in finishing a 1000-mile trek through some of Alaska’s most remote and rugged wilderness. For Logar, the prize was completing the Iditarod and arriving home in Davis, W.Va., in time to see his oldest daughter compete in her first ski race.

“I was hell-bent on getting home,” Logar says. “That was the final push for me.”

the attention, for to him, winning a 1000-mile race by foot was no impressive athletic exploit but an act of utter selfishness.

“I felt like I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide,” he remembers. “The biggest moment I had during the race was when I thought, ‘This might be the most selfish freakin’ thing I’ve ever done in my life.’ Who was this benefiting? Nobody. My own need to

go bigger. That’s all it was.”

But Logar’s wife thought differently. An active outdoorswoman herself, Jody, according to Logar, is to blame for his now decade-plus relationship with long-distance running, an obsession that began in the early 2000s when the couple raced together in a marathon.

“We finished the marathon and I was like, ‘That’s it?’” Logar says. “I wasn’t done.”

So he kept running, tackling everything from 40-mile races like the Highlands Sky Trail Run in his backyard to the elite winter ultra, the Arrowhead 135 in northern Minnesota. Prior to racing the 1000-miler, Logar had already done both the Susitna 100-miler and the Iditarod 350 by foot in which he tied for second place.

Despite this, Logar never claimed to be a “runner.” He liked running, sure, and found himself on the trails quite frequently, but early on, his heart and soul was invested in whitewater kayaking, a sport which Jody is also responsible for introducing him to.

“That’s how I started running and riding,” Logar says. “When there was no one to paddle with, I’d paddle solo

and then end up riding or running back to my car.”

Logar’s “soul boating” days were largely spent on West Virginia’s Upper Blackwater River and its North Fork branch, both of which are notoriously difficult class V runs in the MidAtlantic. Clearly, Logar is no stranger to challenge, yet he says the days of travel leading up to the 1000-miler in Alaska proved more daunting than the 1000 miles of sub-freezing temperatures and harsh conditions that laid ahead.

“The most challenging time for me was leaving home,” Logar says, but Jody, ever the supportive wife, “put it in a framework that made me understand…[she said], ‘Yeah it’s selfish, but don’t forget you have two little daughters and it’s part of their life and part of their culture to see you talking about it and preparing for it.’”

To Logar, who swore the 1000-miler would be his last ultra ever, her words resonated enough so that he returned in 2015 to take a stab at the Iditarod 350 by bike. He placed fourth, and says he will return again one day to race in the 1000-miler both by foot and, eventually, by bike.

“It is an addiction,” he admits, “but, at least it’s a healthy one…kinda.”

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Logar answers 17 questions about walking 1,000 miles.

H OW DI D YO U D E C I D E TO DO T HE 10 0 0-M I L E R ?

I needed a reason to stop ultra races.

The best way for me to get out of ultrarunning was to do the hardest one I could find.

YO U TI ED F O R S E C O N D AT T HE ID I TARO D T R A I L I N V I TAT IONAL 3 50-M I LE R BY F O OT. W H Y NOT GO BAC K AN OT H E R Y E A R A ND T RY TO WI N ?

It was horrible. I still get cold chills thinking about not sleeping much for six days. I think we slept nine hours over six days, which was completely asinine and totally brutal. I swore off ever getting to that state of mind ever again.

H OW M UC H D I D YO U S L EE P IN T HE 10 0 0-M I L E R ?

I was on a 20-hour cycle, trying to consistently move four hours at a time, stop five or 10 minutes, and keep going. Didn’t matter when I slept, but it was four hours a night max.

WHAT WAS T H E F I RST DAY OF T HE RAC E LI K E ?

I by no means took off at a sprint. It’s a big slog is what it is. You start at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. You only have three hours of daylight. By 5 o’clock you’re like, ‘Damn, it’s dark.’

By midnight, everything’s falling apart in the middle of the night.

Everything is kinda uncomfortable and nothing feels right. You have blisters on your feet, your back hurts.

H OW DO YO U P U S H T H ROUGH AL L OF T HAT DI SC O M F O RT ?

Part of the game I’m playing with these races is that you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

That’s something we do not do as a culture. I like to think that I am becoming more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

WER E YO U BY YO U RS E L F F OR T HE M O ST PA RT O R W I T H OT H E R RACE RS?

I didn’t see anybody after mile 60.

WHAT DI D YO U T H I N K A B OUT F OR A LM O ST 2 4 DAYS ?

I thought about my kids and my wife.

20

DID YOU HAVE A NY WORR IES OR CONCE RNS GOING INTO IT?

They say your sled is as big as your insecurities. I had a great big sled that year. For me, all of my insecurities replayed inside my head for 1000 miles. Once I really settled into the routine of eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and trying to find some sleep, that was it. That’s as basic as it gets.

E XP LOSIVE DIAR R H EA AS ID E, WERE T HE RE ANY LOW POINTS?

When I was low and not moving well, it was pretty much time for me to eat.

It was hangry like you’ve never seen.

It’s hard to explain how it feels sitting on a trail in the middle of nowhere at three in the morning, not able to hold your head up, searching around for a Kit Kat and some Doritos. You go quick out there. It’s not like I feel a little shitty, and then shittier, and then really shitty. It’s just like all of a sudden, I feel like a giant turd ball.

WHAT WE RE YOUR MA IN FOOD STAP L E S?

Combos (the pizzeria flavor is my go-to). Then I got into Slim Jims. I did a lot of military packaged foods, which I will probably never eat again.

Paydays, at least two a day. Reese’s

B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5

and Reese’s Pieces ‘cause they don’t freeze. Paydays you gotta put in your mouth or your pocket to thaw out.

H OW MA NY CA LORIES WER E YOU CONS UMING?

I tried to take in 300 calories an hour, average of 6,000 calories a day.

D ID YOU EV ER PIG OUT AT RES UPPLIES ?

I ate a pan of moose ribs once. One time I went to this guy’s house and got some water at five in the morning.

I ate like eight bowls of cereal.

A NY WILD LIFE ENC OUNTERS?

Saw a handful of wolves. Had one follow me for 10 miles.

A FTER TH R EE D IFFER ENT ID ITA ROD FINIS H ES, TWO 350-MILERS (ONE

BY FOOT, ONE BY BIKE) A ND ONE 10 0 0-MILER , WH AT A R E SOME OF YOUR MUST-H AV E GEA R ITEMS ?

My “oh shit gear” is my Feathered Friends 40-below sleeping bag and liquid fire starter. Matches and a lighter are on my body at all times.

At that point I can get away with just about anything.

H OW D ID YOU TR A IN FOR TH E 10 0 0-MILER ?

Stay active and don’t get hurt. I never used a training plan.

LOGAR NEAR THE END OF HIS 1,000-MILE TREK ACROSS THE INTERIOR IN 2014 photos by NILS HAHN

D ID TH E TH OUGH T OF R AC ING FOR 10 0 0 M ILES EV ER OV ERW H ELM YOU?

To me it wasn’t a 1000-mile race. It was 1000 small races that I strung together.

A NY A DV IC E FOR PEOPLE LOOK ING TO TAC K LE LONG D ISTA NC ES ?

It can always get worse. If you’re not going forward, then you’re spending more time out there. And have a little perspective on the situation. You’re riding a bike (or walking) through the woods for hours. There are people sitting in a hospital with a sick family member right now. That’s true pain, true agony.

When he’s not riding his bike, running, or foam rolling in between 12-hour shifts as an emergency medicine physician, Logar can be found teaching his seven- and five-year-old girls to Alpine and Nordic ski on the slopes of Tucker County. He blames both his mother and his wife for his passion for adventure.

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Adventure for Credit

DITCH THE BOOKS AND HEAD OUTDOORS: THE FIVE COOLEST COURSES YOU CAN TAKE FOR COLLEGE CREDIT IN THE SOUTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC!

by JESS DADDIO

TAKE A HIKE SEMESTER-A-TRAIL

EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE

Emory, Virginia Have you ever wanted to take six months off from life, pack your bags, and hit the trail? “Communing with nature and simplifying your life sounds romantic, but it is hard work,” says Semester-A-Trail and Emory & Henry Outdoor Programs Director Jim Harrison.

In 1997, Harrison and his wife Aliese completed a southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Unrelenting hordes of mosquitoes and torrential weather plagued the couple during their 2,189-mile trek, but he says that despite the physical and mental battles, thru-hiking the A.T. proved to be more than just a long walk in the woods: it was a walk back to hope.

“The thru-hike experience renewed my faith in humanity,” Harrison says. “Without even knowing our real names, people of all creeds and socioeconomic backgrounds embraced us and our hiker smells, offering unconditional support and big smiles.”

Shortly after completing the trail, Harrison started working for Emory & Henry College. Inspired by his thru-hike, he immediately began planting the seeds for an outdoor program. Jason Hibbitts of Honaker, Va., was one of the first students to take part in Harrison’s hikes.

“I wanted to test my mettle and chase that wanderlust,” Hibbitts says. “There’s something spiritually humbling about having an experience you can’t buy your way out of.”

So, in 2006, Hibbitts headed south for Springer Mountain in Georgia and began his six-month

VCU STUDENTS CAN EARN SIX CREDIT HOURS DURING A FOUR WEEK, 300-MILE RIVER TRIP PROGRAM CALLED FOOTPRINTS ON THE JAMES.

courtship with the white blaze.

“Thru-hiking is great because you’re challenging yourself to see the world in a different way than you might in a classroom,” Hibbitts says. “I was accountable for my own learning. No one’s going to make you get up at 6 a.m., lace up your boots, then hike 20 miles,” but he did, and came out at Mount Katahdin stronger for it.

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ADVENTURE IS A WAY OF LIFE. Your comfort zone has no boundaries. So you take risks and seek challenges. You discover who you really are. And along the way, you discover what it means to be a Mountaineer.

wvu.edu

Today, students from any department can hike the trail and acquire 12 or more credit hours, though part-time enrollment is also available. Past students have incorporated projects in a variety of fields, ranging from psychology and wellness to community service and environmental science.

For rising junior and music education major Jon Ross of Knoxville, Tenn., that opportunity to combine academic pursuits with extracurricular interests is exactly what he’s looking for. In the spring of 2016, Ross will begin his northbound journey along the A.T. in hopes of finishing before the fall semester of his senior year. And while longdistance backpacking certainly isn’t among the courses required for a degree in music education, Ross is ready to step beyond the borders of his comfort zone in search of challenge, fresh air, and a dash of inspiration.

“I’m hoping [the thru-hike] will give me a little time to be with myself and figure out exactly where the creativity in my mind wants to wander,” Ross says. “Along with my evolution as a person, I think I’ll grow as a musician as well.”

Students interested in the Semester-A-Trail program should expect to work hard and think big.

Prior to departure, thru-hikers-intraining will receive certifications in Wilderness First Aid (WFA) and CPR, complete nature writing and introductory backpacking courses, and submit a comprehensive trip plan (including risk management, budget, and logistics).

The program has seen such success that the college now plans to expand the Semester-A-Trail offering into an institute that would allow participants to transfer in and out from other schools or engage the program as a gap year. on Emory & Henry’s Outdoor Program and the Semester-A-Trail experience, contact Jim Harrison at harrisj@ehc.edu or visit ehc. edu/student-life/outdoor-program FOR MORE INFO

EHC FAST FACTS P OP UL AT ION:

1,012 undergrad

OUT DOOR RE C D EGR EE: OUT DOOR CL UB:

No

Yes – E&H Outdoor

Programs Climbing wall, bouldering cave, 18-hole disc golf ON- CAMP US ADV ENTURE:

course, indoor pool

DIVE DEEP SCUBA

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

State College, Pennsylvania Escape the rat race pace of your concrete jungle by suiting up in a pair of flippers and taking the plunge. Between Pennsylvania State University’s for-credit SCUBA courses and the Nittany Divers SCUBA Club, students of any ability level can explore the underwater worlds surrounding State College, Penn., just about every day of the week, every month of the year.

“We start out with swimming, then snorkeling, then gearing up in SCUBA equipment and getting you to float neutrally under the water,” says Paul Rentschler, a certified SCUBA instructor through the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) and the current SCUBA Diving Supervisor at Penn State.

Rentschler first acquired a love for SCUBA when he himself attended Penn State as an undergraduate in the electrical engineering department.

Having already participated in a dive course at a nearby shop in Reading, Penn., Rentschler turned to the Nittany Divers to satisfy his thirst for more. The diving club, which was founded in 1967, took his SCUBA skills to new heights, and lower depths.

“It’s very freeing and it’s very peaceful,” Rentschler says of SCUBA diving. At Penn State, students can have that experience and learn the art of SCUBA for college credit during an eight-or 15-week beginner’s course.

“It’s just a lot of fun exploring a whole different world,” says Penn

SCENES FROM BREVARD’S VOICE OF THE RIVERS TRIP, DURING WHICH STUDENTS OF EVERY MAJOR PADDLE FROM SOURCE TO SEA.

ON-C A M PUS A DV ENTUR E: Indoor pool, indoor ice arena, Stone Valley Recreation Area

photos by KELSEY BRACEWELL

PADDLE THE SOURCE

State alumnus Matt Vinciguerra (’07). “Each class I took, I learned more about SCUBA diving, and the more you learn, the safer you can be.”

Advanced SCUBA, SCUBA Rescue Diver, Training Assistant, Dry Suit Diver: for someone who went SCUBA diving as much as Vinciguerra, even if it wasn’t as part of a for-credit class, it may come as a surprise that he majored in astrophysics instead of, say, marine science. And while he now maintains a full-time job as an engineer, he regularly instructs at Neptune’s Realm SCUBA Center in Avondale, Penn and has been on almost 600 dives from Cozumel to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

VOICE OF THE RIVERS

PSU FAST FACTS POPULATION:

46,000 undergrad

Yes – BS/ MS: Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Management

OUTD OOR REC D EGR EE:

Yes – Penn State Adventure Recreation

OUTD OOR CLUB:

BREVARD COLLEGE

Brevard, North Carolina At Brevard College, experience is everything.

But, according to Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education (WLEE) Associate Professor Clyde Carter, the school doesn’t promote just any type of experience.

“The [outdoor] industry wants to hire people with a lot of ‘personal experience,’” Carter says, “whether you’re swimming through a class IV or you get stuck on the side of Looking Glass during a storm, that all deals with personal experience.”

That idea of living and learning, sometimes the hard way, is exactly how Carter found himself at Brevard College. In 1989, Carter convinced the college’s president to hire him as the director of an outdoor program that didn’t exist yet, but would be unlike anything else at the time.

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2

HBG

Why is Harrisonburg the second fastest growing metropolitan area in Virginia?

JMU “One of the Best Small Places for Business and Careers” – FORBES “One of the Smartest Cities in America” – LUMINOSITY

According to the Weldon Cooper Center, Harrisonburg is second only to Northern Virginia in population growth. And Chmura Economics ranks Harrisonburg first for employment growth among all Virginia metropolitan areas.

While lots of factors contribute to such success, the partnership between the community and James Madison University helps lead the way.

“5th Best College Town in America” – TRAVEL + LEISURE

Visit www.jmu.edu/economicimpact to learn more.

P H OTOGR A P HS BY M I KE M I R I EL LO (’09 M)

IN GARRETT COLLEGE’S ICE CLIMBING COURSE, STUDENTS LEARN THE BASICS OF ICE CLIMBING AMONG THE GRANDEUR OF THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS IN NEW YORK. photo by KEVIN O’BRIEN

With the help of outdoor legends such as National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) founder Paul Petzoldt, Carter crafted an outdoor program and degree based on parttheory, part skin-your-knee trial and error.

“That’s why [experience] is in our title, Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education,” Carter says. “We put [the students] in real situations, but there is a safety net to some degree. If they make a wrong turn, as long as there’s not a life in danger, I’m gonna walk behind them with a smile on my face, even if it means we’re out there till dark.”

In 1997, Carter, whose own early outdoor adventures were fraught with one-too-many close calls on flooded sections of the Chattooga River and self-guided tours through unknown routes in the Tetons, sat down again with the college faculty to propose another opportunity for students to implement classroom ideas into the real world: an extended paddling trip from source to sea. Surprisingly, the

college supported the expedition, and Voice of the Rivers (VOR) was born.

“The goal is not a wilderness program, though we’re camping out and paddling the whole thing,” Carter says. “The goal is to meet as many people as possible who work on the river, recreate on it, depend on it, and hear their stories.”

Additionally, the VOR trip is open to students from any department, not just the WLEE program. Criminal justice, environmental studies, music education, and even theater majors have found their way onto a VOR trip, and according to WLEE major and VOR alumna Kelsey Bracewell (’09), the diversity of backgrounds was what made the three-week trip so special.

“I remember sitting there on the water near the end of the trip and thinking we were just crushing it,” Bracewell says. “I was really impressed with how our group performed that day,” noting that, though her fellow students all had varying degrees of experience in a sea kayak, the three weeks of paddling and backcountry living in a group setting had gone relatively incidentfree. “We had all worked really hard to get that far,” she adds, from logistics and risk management, to

researching regional literature and sea kayak training.

The VOR program has taken students on a number of different source-to-sea journeys, from the Brevard campus to New Orleans, from Henderson County to Charleston, S.C., from Cashiers, N.C., to Savannah, Ga., and even an extended three-month expedition on Patagonia waterways.

BC FAST FACTS POPULATION:

701 undergrad

Yes – BA: Wilderness Leadership & Experiential Education (WLEE)

OUTD OOR REC D EGR EE:

Yes – Climbing Team, Outing Club, Paddling Club, Cycling Team

OUTD OOR CLUB:

ON-C A MPUS A DV ENTUR E:

Bracken

Preserve

CLAMP ON CRAMPONS ICE CLIMBING

GARRETT COLLEGE

McHenry, Maryland Winters in the mid-Atlantic always mean unavoidable element: ice.

While unfortunate for skiers and snowboarders, the ice in the Mid-

SEWANEE STUDENTS ENJOYING A SUNNY DAY ON THE SHOULDER OF HANDIES PEAK (14,058’) DURING A 10-DAY COLORADO WINTER MOUNTAINEERING TRIP.

Atlantic is prime for ice climbing.

“No one really knows what to expect from an ice climbing class,” says Andrew Hershey, an Associate Professor with the Adventuresports Institute (ASI) at Garrett College.

“It wouldn’t be hard, you’d think, to get people to sign up, but even Adventuresports students are intimidated by cold weather activities.”

ASI student Kayley Green was just that: intimidated, hesitant, and, truth be told, a little nervous. Though actively involved in the ASI program and an avid climber, ice climbing was foreign territory.

“I’d never been ice climbing before and I really, really hate cold weather,” Green says. “And I hate snow.”

Despite having doubts, Green enrolled in the course anyway, and in January of 2015, after a 15-hour drive north to the Catskills of New York, she found herself enthralled by some of the East Coast’s most pristine ice formations.

“When students get out there, most of them typically really, really

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love it,” Hershey says, despite facing low temperatures, unpredictable weather, and often brutal wind.

The ice-climbing course takes place over the span of five days, and though the early years of the course were spent right down the road in Savage River State Forest, the crew now heads north.

“We cover all the basics of ice climbing,” Hershey says. “We look at understanding how ice is formed, how to evaluate ice, how to swing your ice tools, how to move on lower angle ice,” all of which, he says, is founded on the students’ knowledge of basic rock climbing skills, which they accumulate through prerequisite classes in introductory top rope and multipitch climbing.

GC FAST FACTS P O PU LAT I O N :

769 undergrad

Yes – Associates in Applied Science Degree (AAS) in Adventure Sports Management; B.S. Adventuresports Management 2+2 Program through Frostburg State University

OU TDO O R R E C D E G R E E :

OU TDO O R C L U B :

No

Climbing wall, indoor pool, low element challenge course, Wisp Resort and Deep Creek ON -C AM P U S A DV E N T U R E:

Lake within sight 28

WATCH VIDEO Garrett College students talk about adventure, past and present, at BlueRidgeOutdoors.com

LEARN TO LEAD PRINCIPLES OF FIELD LEADERSHIP

GEORGIA COLLEGE

Milledgeville, Georgia It’s one thing to know how to keep yourself safe in the backcountry. It’s another thing entirely to facilitate a group experience in the outdoors and not only keep those people safe, but also teach them something in the process. Georgia College’s Principles of Field Leadership class provides students with a framework to do just that.

“This course tends to show students that leadership is less of a coat in the closet that you put on when it’s your time to lead—it’s more of you being comfortable in your own skin,” says course professor Dr. Will Hobbs.

It’s called “field leadership” for a reason. Students spend just a couple days in the classroom preparing for the pinnacle of the course, a 12-day backcountry trip. The goal?

“Humility,” Hobbs says. “Students

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come into the class thinking, ‘I got this dialed,’” but anyone who has spent more than a week in the woods with the same group of 10 people knows it’s not that easy. Just ask outdoor education senior Cole Wilson who says the interpersonal skills he learned during those 12 days were invaluable.

“Three or four years ago, I would have viewed a leader as this concrete, almost president-like figure,” Wilson says. “Now I realize that there is so much more that goes into it, and it’s a lot about relationship building.

A good leader doesn’t always get noticed.”

Wilson’s come a long way since he first entered Georgia College as a programming and networking major.

Wilson found something during a summer backpacking trip that he wasn’t expecting: identity.

“I always had a passion for [working with] people, but in my mind, networking and programming wasn’t the way to do it,” Wilson says.

So he changed majors and never looked back.

Hobbs knows that story all too well and says that accepting your identity and becoming a good leader go hand-in-hand.

APP STATE STUDENTS TAKING SPRING BREAK TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH A 10-DAY BACKCOUNTRY SKI TRIP IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES. photos by RICH CAMPBELL

“When I was 18, I was wrestling with ‘who am I?’ and had this mistaken idea that there was one thing that I was designed to do, one purpose, one job, one person, one career, one life path for me and if I didn’t discover that, then I’d be screwed for the rest of my life,” Hobbs says.

So how did he overcome these feelings of doubt and uncertainty? He took a hike to Old Rag in Virginia.

Much like Wilson, Hobbs felt a certain peace as he gazed out at the expanse of rolling ridges and, for the first time, he felt like he belonged.

“I didn’t receive any answers immediately,” Hobbs says, “yet that recognition that there are systems at work that continue to function whether or not I exist was a humbling, frightening, and extremely freeing idea.”

It’s an idea which is integral to his course structure and what he hopes students will take away at the end of 12 days. The class is currently offered in May near the end of the spring semester.

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• Extensive hands-on experiences in the field • Utilizes Western Maryland’s abundant natural resources • Taught by active, experienced professionals

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Located in an outdoor wonderland off I-81, exit 26 in Emory, Virginia A U G U S T 2 015 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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GC FAST FACTS P O PU LAT I O N :

5,729 undergrad

OU TDO O R R E C D E G R E E :

Yes – B.S. in

Outdoor Education Yes – Outdoor Recreation Education

OU TDO O R C L U B :

ON -C AM P U S A DV E N T U R E: Lake Laurel Lodge, challenge courses, two climbing walls, Lake Laurel, and 83 acres of forest and wetlands

Best College Adventures Check out these other great adventure courses and travel opportunities offered by colleges throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. #1 WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Congratulations to WCU in Cullowhee, N.C. who again won Blue Ridge Outdoors’ Best Adventure College Bracket for the second year in a row.

With a Parks and Recreation Management degree, Base Camp Cullowhee outing program,

internship opportunities with the National Park Service at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Nantahala Outdoor Center, and front door access to some of the Southeast’s greatest natural playgrounds, it’s no wonder students who want to be immersed in the outdoors come to this adventure oasis.

And to gain a familiarity of WCU’s backyard, what better way to do that than by backpacking and climbing for 10 days at some of the region’s iconic destinations like the Linville Gorge and Mount Mitchell? Wilderness Education is a three-credit class offering students the chance to learn the basics of expedition planning, leadership, and implementation while being immersed in true backcountry. #2 MONTREAT COLLEGE

Our second-place finisher in the Top Adventure College tournament goes to another western North Carolina school, where the small student body and hands-on learning opportunities

create experienced leaders in the outdoors. Montreat, which is located in the shadow of Mount Mitchell and surrounded by national forest, offers a degree in Outdoor Education. The program emphasizes not only outdoor skills but also leadership training, environmental studies, and Christian faith.

Montreat’s 40/40 Wilderness Expedition takes students on a 40-day backpacking expedition in Wyoming that includes significant time living above 10,000 feet while also rock climbing, snow climbing and mountaineering, summiting multiple peaks.

APPALACHIAN STATE: The university’s Canadian Rockies Spring Break Backcountry Ski Expedition is a 14-day skimountaineering course spent in Banff, Canada.

VIRGINIA TECH: Paddling over

snorkel, swim, and camp in Manatee Springs, Cedar Key, St. Joseph Peninsula, and Ictucknee Springs in northern Florida. It’s the only way to spend your winter break.

50 miles of the San Juan River.

Canyoneering in Moab. Enroll in Virginia Tech’s Venture Out spring break trips and discover some of the country’s best adventures.

UT KNOXVILLE: Explore the

Cumberland Plateau’s underground labyrinth of caves.

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY:

Bikepack the C&O Canal, a 185mile trail that runs from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Md. EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY:

Don’t head south for spring break!

Head north and ski the slopes of Vermont.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY: Kayak,

UT CHATTANOOGA: Take spring break

and spend it sea kayaking for a week around Florida’s Cayo Costa Island.

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B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY: Footprints on the

James, a four-week kayak expedition navigating the James River.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: Backpack

the Grand Canyon, a weeklong spring break excursion into the heart of one of America’s most treasured icons.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Pump your arms out during a spring break climbing trip to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: Embrace

your wild side during a weeklong spring break trip camping on beaches and exploring Georgia’s Cumberland Island.

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY: Spring Break Mountain Biking is a weeklong stint of shredding Moab, Utah’s, sweet singletrack.

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY:

Immerse yourself for 10 days in the hostile yet awe-inspiring environment of Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park.

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: Embark

on the Pitt Odyssey and explore the adventures located right out your dorm room door.

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY: Ditch the books for the day and head to Liberty Mountain’s trail system, where students can get lost on over 65 miles of trails and logging roads that span across 5,000 acres.

SEWANEE – COLLEGE OF THE SOUTH:

Spend winter break bagging 14ers in the San Juan Mountains of the Colorado Rockies.

ROANOKE COLLEGE: The sky’s the limit in Kitty Hawk, N.C., with an overnight camping trip, a hang gliding lesson, and a kayak tour through a maritime forest.

DAVIDSON COLLEGE: Canoe down the

MARYVILLE COLLEGE: Put your mind,

RADFORD UNIVERSITY: Rock climb, backpack, and learn the basics of mountaineering during a 14-day course to central Colorado and the Collegiate Mountain Range, where walking through waist-deep snow and fording equally deep rivers is standard passage.

LEES-MCRAE COLLEGE: Feel good about going outside to play with Lees-McRae’s Outdoor Programs.

These adventurous souls give back by helping with adaptive ski and climbing events across western North Carolina.

NORTH GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY:

WARREN WILSON COLLEGE: Enroll

Rio Grande and experience Texas like you’ve never seen it.

Enroll in the Wilderness Journey Practicum, a 15-day backpacking journey in which students will abide by a minimalistic style of living including boiling water for treatment and tarp camping.

UNC – ASHEVILLE: Push yourself, learn to cook in the backcountry, gain your CPR/AED and Wilderness First Aid certifications, and challenge your idea of leadership in the Outdoor Leadership Training Program.

and your body, to the test during the three-credit Human Perseverance and Endurance course.

in an international voyage aimed at studying environment, culture, & adventure tourism in Armenia.

WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY:

Ever wanted to see Belize in an authentic way? Spend a week on Glover’s Atoll SCUBA diving, kayaking, and snorkeling.

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Back to School is almost here, but it’s not too late to make the most of your summer vacation! Race down a twisty mountain or hike down a canyon trail – and back up again. Paddle through rippling waters, then pitch a tent under the stars or spend the night lakeside in accommodations rustic or refined. Book your getaway today at Georgia’s geographically diverse State Parks & Historic Sites!

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K R O W WILL R O F E R U T N ADVE

by JESS DADDIO

M

ost of us can only dream about living in a world where we get paid to do what we love, but having an awesome job doesn’t have to be a stretch of the imagination. The following six individuals have made their passions their life, and with a little creativity and a lot of hard work, you can too.

Get inspired and then tell us—if you could make a living in the outdoors, what would you choose to do?

Emily Shanblatt

>> OUTDOOR DIRECTOR, FRENCH

BROAD RIVER ACADEMY FOR GIRLS

Asheville, N.C. Chemistry and outdoor leadership.

Those were 27-year-old Emily Shanblatt’s two majors when she graduated from Warren Wilson College in western North Carolina.

Though Shanblatt did teach

chemistry for a year, it was eventually her love of whitewater kayaking that took priority, leading her to the steep creeks of California all the way around the world to the big water of Nepal.

“In college, I discovered a kayak can take you to places you never even imagined,” says Shanblatt, now a sponsored paddler for Confluence.

“Your whole world opens up.”

Shanblatt taught women’s kayaking clinics for friend and fellow paddler Anna Levesque’s program Girls At Play, and helped with the French Broad River Academy (FBRA), an Asheville-based middle school for boys specializing in adventure education. Shanblatt’s vision of what she wanted to do with her life was starting to take shape.

Conveniently for her, so too was an all-girls version of the French Broad River Academy, which will begin its first year of operation this fall with

Shanblatt at the helm as Outdoor Director and math teacher.

“Every Thursday, we don’t step foot in the classroom. We go paddling as much as we can when weather and water levels cooperate,” which, when you’re in the Southeast, is practically year-round.

An all-girls middle school that focuses on whitewater canoeing, of all things, sounds pretty progressive, pretty niche, but Shanblatt’s in charge of 18 girls already, which makes her hopeful for the future of not just the program, but the girls themselves.

“More and more women are running class V and kayaking. The more women these girls can see reaching those higher levels, that’s really powerful,” Shanblatt says. “To give our students an option to explore those things is really valuable. Every girl needs to know that she’s capable of what she wants to do.”

MEET EMILY SHANBLATT, A PRO KAYAKER, OUTDOOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR, AND MATH TEACHER.

Pat Goodman

>> PROFESSIONAL CLIMBER Fayetteville, W.Va. The view from Pat Goodman’s office is rarely the same, but it’s usually about four inches from his face, hard, and kinda gray. That is, until he turns around and takes in the expanse of remote Canadian (or Chinese or Venezuelan or Indian) backcountry from his perch some 2,000 feet up on a rock face.

“The big appeal [of rock climbing] is getting into a remote location and experiencing an area that few, if any, people have ever visited,” Goodman says. “It’s a pretty surreal experience to go to a place like that.”

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PAT GOODMAN ON THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE PHREENIX (VI 5.11), AN 800-METER ROUTE ON THE PHOENIX WALL OF THE VAMPIRE PEAKS AT THE BORDER OF CANADA’S NORTHWEST AND YUKON TERRITORIES. photo by JAMES Q. MARTIN

Goodman, 37, works hard for those moments. Back in 2012 during his fifth trip to the Vampire Spires in northwestern Canada, Goodman and his team of three navigated 100 miles of the notoriously rowdy Nahanni River by raft just to reach the base of an 800-meter wall, The Phoenix, which was then-unclimbed. And the adventure was only beginning. They then successfully made the first free ascent, tackling an 18-pitch route they later dubbed The Phreenix rated VI 5.11.

As romantic as it sounds, bushwhacking through exotic landscapes and living in a bivy doesn’t necessarily pay the bills.

When Goodman’s not racking up first descents, he stays busy with hardwood flooring jobs back at his home in the New River Gorge.

“Maintaining a positive income is definitely a challenge,” Goodman 34

admits, but with a little help from his sponsors Outdoor Research, LaSportiva, Big Agnes, Metolius, Julbo, Probar, and Mountainsmith, Goodman’s able to travel the world on a never-ending quest for the next big ascent.

Aside from The Phreenix, Goodman has been on first ascent teams defying the unlikely close to home and far away, from a V.11 boulder problem in Linville, N.C., called Roadside Distraction, to Daugou Peak in China’s Shuangquiao Valley.

Though he’s experienced cultures and foods, traditions and settings of nearly every variety, his favorite part about his job is simple.

“The climbing. That’s why I do it.”

Eva Surls

>> MOUNTAIN BIKE GUIDE AND COOWNER, THE BIKE FARM

Brevard, N.C. Cradled by the lush green expanse of Pisgah National Forest, The Bike Farm sits on 440 acres just outside of Brevard, N.C., a small town with a

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big reputation as the Cycling Capital of the South. With hundreds of miles of technical singletrack right out her backdoor, and a husband for a coworker, co-owner and guide Eva Surls sometimes has to pinch herself—is this really where she lives, works, and plays?

“I grew up in east Texas in piney woods, kinda like the eastern part of North Carolina actually,” Surls says, “but I fell in love with this area, the water, the green, and I definitely fell in love with the mountain biking here.”

Together, Surls and her husband Cashion Smith started The Bike Farm in the fall of 2012 as “a community-style hub that people could come gather at, ride bikes, and experience nature and healthy living.”

In the early stages, however, there was no “farm,” per say. There was just a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter that Surls and Smith lived and guided out of full-time.

“Owning or starting a business is definitely challenging,” Surls says.

“You’re married to it. You don’t leave it at the office because your home is

FOR EVA SURLS, CO-OWNER OF THE BIKE FARM IN BREVARD, HER JOB IS MORE THAN JUST RIDING BIKES—IT’S ABOUT GETTING PEOPLE BACK IN TOUCH WITH NATURE. photo by ROB ADAMO

the office.”

Still, for Surls, whose family encouraged her to pursue adventure sports at an early age, helping others experience biking is a dream come true. When she isn’t in the saddle guiding women or beginners around Pisgah’s elaborate trail system, she’s donning another hat as marketing director or perhaps event coordinator, maybe business manager—when your business has no full-time staff, you make do. But Surls doesn’t seem to mind, for at the end of the day, her mission with The Bike Farm is simple: get people outside.

“I really believe that part of health is experiencing nature and the future of the planet depends on humans interacting with it and realizing the value in it as its own entity,” she adds.

“Guiding was an avenue that I saw to get people out into nature…and also experiencing their own body.”

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Bryan Mangum

>> ROAD WARRIOR, EAGLES NEST OUTFITTERS

Asheville, N.C. If you ever meet Bryan Mangum, you’ll likely find him at any of the region’s major music festivals relaxing in a hammock, feet propped up, swaying in time with the music. Add some palm trees and a margarita and that sounds damn near like a vacation, but don’t be fooled—Mangum’s on the clock for Eagles Nest Outfitters, or ENO. His job? Road warrior, a fierce title for someone whose main job responsibilities include setting up hammocks, selling hammocks, and of course, relaxing in hammocks, too.

“The festivals can be anywhere from the Florida Keys all the way up to New York,” Mangum says of his territory. “Some people may only see bands once in their lifetime, where I get to see them sometimes four times throughout a summer.”

Like representing a cool outdoorsy brand and chilling in hammocks all day wasn’t sweet enough, Mangum also gets to see some of his favorite artists perform like Phil Lesh and Friends, Warren Haynes, Widespread Panic, and Slightly Stoopid, just to name a few.

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THOUGH LISTENING TO LIVE MUSIC AND SWINGING IN A HAMMOCK SOUNDS LIKE A VACATION, IT’S E.N.O. ROAD WARRIOR BRYAN MANGUM’S JOB. photo by BRYAN MANGUM

“The music is definitely a perk of the job,” Mangum, 28, says. “An even bigger perk of the job is when your booth is set up in front of the stage.”

Rough life, right? But setting up an armada of hammocks and manning a booth for four days straight requires a lot of patience, people skills, and, believe it or not, physical strength. The ENO booth takes Mangum two hours, sometimes more, to set up by himself, but if there’s one thing he’s learned during his yearlong stint of working the festival circuit, it’s this: be kind to your neighbors.

“You’re always gonna need help no matter what,” Mangum says.

Though he’s had some great festival neighbors over the past year like Sierra Nevada and Kitchen Craft, who fed him throughout the weekend, Mangum’s favorite neighbor would have to be a friendly girl by the name of Ashley, who worked the non-profit Rock the Earth’s booth at Mountain Jams in 2014.

“She sat in a hammock and we talked for three days straight,”

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Mangum says.

Because really, what other ingredients do you need for falling in love beyond hammocks, tunes, and conversation?

Zach Adams

>> TRAIL BUILDER, HEART OF THE HIGHLANDS TRAIL SYSTEM

Canaan Valley, W.Va. Zach Adams, 25, doesn’t have to worry about donning a suit and tie for his job. In fact, he could get away with wearing the same pair of Carhartts for a week straight if not for the torrential downpours that frequent his home in Canaan Valley, W.Va. But as a contract trail builder for the Heart of the Highlands Trail System, Adams is not in it for the casual dress code. He’s in it for the art.

“It’s super rewarding,” says Adams. “Creating a new build is my favorite part.”

You need only ride a minute from the town of Davis, W.Va., to get a taste of his trails firsthand. Rock gardens, log piles, and other technical trail features are standard fare on Splashdam Connector, Adams’ most prized trail. So what goes into all of that glorious, techy riding?

“We move a lot of muck and we

WHEN ZACH ADAMS ISN’T RECONSTRUCTING TRAILS OR BUILDING NEW ONES IN TUCKER COUNTY, W.VA., HE’S EXPERIMENTING WITH PUMP TRACK DESIGN IN HIS OWN BACKYARD. photo by JESS DADDIO

move a lot of rocks,” Adams says, which, when you’re at it 40 hours a week in less-than-ideal weather, can be downright exhausting.

Fortunately, Adams regularly employs the help of local AmeriCorps workers, volunteers, and, of course, a mini excavator and rogue hoe, his favorite tools. As a former cyclocross competitor and race organizer for his brainchild, Fast Forward Racing Productions, Adams knows the recipe for the perfect trail—“rocks, techy slow moves, fun flow sections… diversity, you know,” all of which he strives to include in his own builds or reconstructs.

It’s unglamorous work at best. Often muddy, saturated, or overgrown, the trails and elements of Canaan Valley are a force to be reckoned with. But for Adams, no matter how many tons of rock he hauls, no matter how many thickets of mountain laurel he wrestles, any day in the woods is better than a day at the desk. Plus, who wouldn’t enjoy cruising the fruits of your labor after a hard day on the clock?

DREAM JOB

REAL TALK

W

hat would you be willing to do to have the job of your dreams? What does it take to be a professional climber or brand road warrior? Here is advice from our featured adventurers.

1. BE WILLING: As in, be willing to forgo sleep, to be poor, to have people look at you like you’re crazy, to sometimes think you are crazy. Be willing to ride the peaks and valleys of chasing your passions.

“That’s one of the biggest things,” Pat Goodman says. “Be willing to have everything go differently than you had planned it to and still be excited about the adventure.”

MacKenzie Hatcher

AS A PHOTO BOATER, MACKENZIE HATCHER SPENDS MORE TIME IN A BOAT THAN BEHIND A DESK.

HIGHLANDS RIVER TOURS

photo by BEN WEST

>> PHOTO BOATER, LAUREL Ohiopyle, Penn.

Imagine a kayak for a desk, a stomping class IV-V river for a daily commute, an afternoon rush hour packed with commercial rafts. For photo boater MacKenzie Hatcher, 21, that’s been her work reality since she was just 15 years old. And though she has to wear a skirt to work everyday, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love kayaking and really enjoy taking photos, so getting to combine those two things makes it the best job,” Hatcher says.

Having grown up on the banks of the Youghigheny River in southwestern Pennsylvania, Hatcher, the daughter of river rat parents, has been kayaking for most of her life and shooting photos since high school. After attending the New River Academy, a traveling high school for kayakers that concentrates on videography and photography, Hatcher thought it only natural that she should continue her passions on her hometown river.

“There’s a lot to it,” Hatcher says. “People think it’s an easy job,” but you try safely navigating your way solo through pods of rafts, or

“floating undercuts,” amid technical whitewater, adjusting your camera settings to constantly changing light, and still creating consistently quality images without mishap.

Hatcher’s pretty dialed in at this point, and most problems are usually just dead camera batteries or full memory cards, but there have been a few out-of-boat experiences that have left her more than shaken.

“I also shoot photos on the Cheat River, and I once swam out of Big Nasty,” Hatcher says, recalling the class IV river was at high spring flows close to five feet. “I was by myself, but I somehow managed to get all of my gear to shore and still get photos of the trip coming down.”

Short of kayaking and camera skills, photo boating requires a good deal of grit and a wild hair.

Fortunately for Hatcher, she’s well endowed with both.

WATCH VIDEO See Brian Mangum, the ENO road warrior, in action at FloydFest at BlueRidgeOutdoors.com

2. LOVE YOUR PARENTS: Because hey, you got that knack for adventure somewhere, right? It also helps to have a good relationship with your folks in case, you know, your Kickstarter campaign falls flat on its face. Or when you need a staging area in between moves, like Eva Surls and her now-husband Cashion Smith did before moving to Brevard.

“We moved in with my parents for eight months which I would never recommend to any adult couple,” Surls says. “I’m still recovering from that.”

3. TRAVEL :

You’re not gonna get inspired sitting on Google or scrolling through Instagram feeds. Get out there and see the world and find out where you want to fit into all of that.

“My appreciation and drive for new things grows every time I travel,” says Emily Shanblatt. “It’s a lifelong mission.”

4. BE YOUR OWN BOSS:

If you’re going to create your future, you’re going to have to create your own boss, too. Make plans, and stick with them. More importantly, act the part.

“Time management is so important,” Bryan Mangum says.

“You can’t get bored. Find something to do and don’t take it for granted.”

5. BE PERSONABLE:

No matter how skilled you are, no matter if you’re the best photographer on the entire planet, if nobody likes you, nobody is going to hire you.

“That’s why people come back [rafting],” MacKenzie Hatcher says. “It’s based on how personable you are and how much you make them feel welcome and give them a good time.”

6. KEEP LEARNING:

And don’t stop learning. Ever. Whether it’s through workshops or shadowing or interning or heck, even volunteering, build your skills and listen to those who came before you.

“Get involved,” says Zach Adams. “Do it right from the start.”

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TOP TOWNS 2015

October 9 - 11, 2015

Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows, Nelson County, VA

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‘HOLD THE RECORD LIGHTLY’ MY THOUGHTS ON SCOTT JUREK’S NEW A.T. RECORD

by JENNIFER PHARR DAVIS LAST MONTH, Scott Jurek broke my Appalachian Trail speed record by three hours.

I have been asking myself, along with the help of reporters from across the country, “What does that mean?”

The word that keeps coming to my mind stays the same. “NOTHING.” I am not saying that my experience on the Appalachian Trail in 2011 means nothing. It means a great deal to me. That’s exactly why Scott Jurek’s finishing time does not change anything.

My greatest reward that summer was not the record. The lasting results I cherish the most are a deeper love for my husband, an increased appreciation for my support network, and a better understanding of the sacrifice it takes to accomplish something very difficult. And, like photo by STEVEN MCBRIDE

every hike, I finished the journey with a deeper sense of awe for the spirit and significance of the wilderness, and a stronger desire to give back to the trail community.

I never considered the Appalachian Trail record to be a race.

I looked upon it as an opportunity to maximize potential based on the experience of those who have gone before, and the tireless support of an unselfish and dedicated crew. If you lined up the past five record holders in their prime and told them to race down the trail, there’s no telling who would win. Each effort has faced different weather conditions and slightly different trail routes and reroutes. Each new contender benefits from the experience and wisdom of previous record setters.

The overall Appalachian Trail record is not a solo endeavor. It is a team pursuit. I could not have set the record without my husband, Brew, or the countless friends, family

members, hikers, and runners who helped us along the way. Scott’s success is due just as much to his support team as to his athleticism.

The record is not better or worse than any other type of wilderness experience. I have completed the entire length of the Appalachian Trail three separate times. I do not consider the overall record more or less valuable than my other two journeys. The record should be recognized because it is unique and extremely difficult, not because it is in any way superior.

Karl Meltzer and Scott Jurek are two of the most high profile ultrarunning icons in North America.

It has brought a huge amount of publicity to the Appalachian Trail and to trail records. Most of that publicity is very positive. But all record setters should be cognizant of “publicity pollution” on the trail. One person’s endeavor should not detract from another person’s wilderness

experience.

Several reporters with whom I have spoken over the past few weeks have attempted to offer solace by mentioning the fact that I still hold the female record. Although I proudly claimed the female record on the trail in 2008 and embraced the wording, I no longer think that fastest known times on long-distance trails should be split between male and female categories. Heather Anderson, Sue Johnston, and Diane Van Deren have proven that women are able to compete equally with men in a supported or unsupported fashion.

I proudly claim the second fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail.

In spite of all the time and energy that went into setting the overall record, I was surprised by how little actually changed after we accomplished our goal. I had the same friends, the same job, and the same bank account total. Ultimately, my self-worth is not based upon the record. It is defined by my faith, my family, and my friends. My two-year old daughter doesn’t know what the Appalachian Trail record is. She just knows that mama loves to hike.

One reporter asked if I will feel relieved when someone breaks the record. Relieved is not the word I would choose. But it does seem appropriate that someone like Scott took the record. The truth is, I haven’t hiked another 40 mile day since 2011.

I never wanted my legacy to be tied to an Appalachian Trail record.

I want a lifelong relationship with the trail. I want to get as many people out on the trail as possible— especially women and children. And I want to be able to give back through service, financial donations, and trail maintenance projects. I am starting to realize that a true legacy is not so much about performing when the whole world is watching, as it is a dedication to your cause when no one is watching.

My words to Scott are this: “Congratulations. Cherish the experience and hold the record lightly.”

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SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA OUTDOOR EXPO SEPTEMBER 12, 2015 ABINGDON, VA The 2nd Annual Southwest Virginia Outdoor Expo is the only one of its kind to raise awareness of the diverse outdoor recreation opportunities that are abundant across Southwest Virginia. It’s FREE with live music, local beer, raffle tickets, giveaways, and more.

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T H E G E N WO RT H V I R G I N I A 10 M I L E R SEPTEMBER 25 & 26, 2015 LYNCHBURG, VA The 42nd Annual Genworth Virginia 10 Miler is where southern hospitality meets the road. An event for all ages and abilities: Virginia 10 Miler (2015 Road Runners Club of America State Championship), Virginia 4 Miler, Virginia 4-Mile Walk or Amazing Children’s Run.

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SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 HOT SPRINGS, NC

OCTOBER 9-11, 2015 NELSON COUNTY, VA

5th annual event brought to you by the organizers of the long-running French Broad River Festival. Features on-site camping in a beautiful setting, craft brews, food and music including David Mayfield Parade, The Legendary Singing Stars, Pierce Edens and the Dirty Work, Grasshoppa and more!

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A special three day celebration of the outdoor mountain and music lifestyle.

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ANTHEM GO OUTSIDE F E S T I VA L OCTOBER 16-18, 2015 ROANOKE, VA The Go Outside Festival returns this fall and will be bigger and better than ever. Get ready to try it, watch it, drink it, climb it, bike it, do it all at this active-living, outdoor festival. Three FREE days of demos, music and activities for everyone!

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J&A Racing brings you Hampton Roads’ largest Halloween race and party, the Anthem Wicked 10K and Old Point National Bank Monster Mile. Have fun, be creative, and dress up for the Halloween season! The 10k course takes you along the beautiful Virginia Beach Oceanfront and will feature live Thriller dancers and other spooky surprises.

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O N T H E T R A I L S D U AT H LO N NOVEMBER 1, 2015 ROANOKE, VA The final installment in the Roanoke Triumph MultiSport Series, On the Trails, is an off-road duathlon at Carvins Cove. Lace up the trail runners and dust off your favorite fat tire ride because this will prove to be a racing adventure like you’ve never experienced!

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R O C K ‘ N ’ R O L L S AVA N N A H M A R AT H O N & H A L F M A R AT H O N NOVEMBER 7 & 8, 2015 SAVANNAH, GA This, the 5th anniversary running, brings with it a festival weekend of fun. Run amongst the beauty of Spanish moss covered oaks and historic buildings before turning towards the finish line where you’ll be rewarded with sweet southern bling. Run Saturday and Sunday and earn the additional Remix Challenge medal.

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G R E AT O U T D O O R P R O V I S I O N C O M PA N Y S U R F- N - S A N TA 5 M I L E R DECEMBER 19, 2015 VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA Have fun, be creative and dress the part! The Great Outdoor Provision Co. Surf-n-Santa 5 Miler will be held at twilight along the Virginia Beach boardwalk so runners can enjoy the “McDonald’s Holiday Lights at the Beach” display, named by USA Today as one of the top ten best holiday light displays in the country!

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2 01 5 U N I O N DRUMSTICK DASH NOVEMBER 26, 2015 ROANOKE, VIRGINIA

An annual autumn tradition, Roanoke’s Star City Half Marathon/10K takes runners on a course that incorporates a mix of hills and flat stretches along an outand-back course that unfolds throughout the city near the River’s Edge Sports Complex along the Roanoke River.

A family-friendly Thanksgiving morning event. This 5K winds through downtown Roanoke and ends on the historic Roanoke City Market. It’s been designed to insure maximum ease and safety. Plus enjoy music stationed throughout the route. Proceeds help the Rescue Mission provide meals to hungry families.

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RIDE BIKES,

DRINK

BOURBON

by GRAHAM AVERILL

I’

m maybe six inches off Keener’s back wheel when we see the deer bounding through the tall grass. I’ve been drafting for the last few miles, so I’m fresh, maybe even a bit frisky, as I whisper to Keener, all excited, “Let’s race it!” Before I can finish the sentence, he’s out of his saddle and hammering up the road. The deer leaps ahead, looking at us between graceful arcs, maybe a little bit curious about our bikes, which might seem foreign in a landscape dominated by farm trucks and thoroughbred horses.

Your average adult deer can run 47 miles per hour.

There’s no way we can beat this animal up the road, but it feels right to try. Maybe it’s the bourbon talking.

W

e’re in the midst of a 60mile road ride through Kentucky’s horse country.

The goal is to put in a big day on the bike, connecting four whiskey distilleries along the Bourbon Trail, a loosely defined driving route between Lexington and Louisville. On paper it sounds awesome. In reality, it’s even better. Four of us have made the trip—myself, Keener, Dusty and Kevin. We like to ride bikes, and we like to drink bourbon, so trading the steep Appalachians for Kentucky’s more mellow, rolling terrain seems like a no brainer. We’re used to suffering up steep mountain passes

on our weekly mountain and road rides around Asheville, so we’re giddy from the lack of climbing when the opportunity to race a deer presents itself.

Of course, the animal is just toying with us. After 30 seconds of somewhat competitive racing, she charges ahead, creating a gap, then cuts hard left, leaping over a four foot tall dry stack wall, and crosses the street a few feet in front of Keener.

He smiles: “That was just like that scene in Highlander!” (Google it, you won’t be sorry).

It’s hands down the most exhilarating experience I’ve ever had

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B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5 / R I C H M O N D VA E D I T I O N

Hilltop East 1556 Laskin Rd, Virginia Beach 757.962.6618 GreatOutdoorProvision.com

with an Odocoileus virginianus (fancy talk for white tailed deer) and the ride is only going to get better from here.

THE BLUEGRASS STATE

This is what I know about Kentucky: KFC was created here. The Red River Gorge is a huge sport climbing mecca. Ashley Judd is a huge fan of Kentucky basketball…and that’s about it. Oh, and they make bourbon here. A lot of bourbon. In the 80 or so miles between Lexington and Louisville, there are at least 20 distilleries, including some of the most storied whiskey producers in the world. Places like Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, and Four Roses. You can connect most of those distilleries via laid back, country roads, making for a picture perfect road trip—green hills and black horses roll past your window between distillery tours and tastings.

It’s even better from the seat of a bike.

We start at the crack on 9:30am, in downtown Lexington, riding past massive graffiti murals, train tracks and warehouses that have been converted into art studios, but we quickly trade the hip industrial vibe for pastoral farm country. The road we’re riding runs north from downtown, straight as an arrow, but never stagnant. It’s constantly undulating with big, fast downhills followed immediately by equally big uphills. The key is to get into a rhythm where you tuck and pedal hard on the descents, then stand and hammer to the top of the next hill without changing gears.

To the right of us are expansive horse farms with manicured meadows rolling onto the horizon. The farms are divided by four-board fences, all painted matte-black and a perfect dry stack wall, about four feet high, runs along the side of the road, separating the pavement from the pastoral scene behind it. I imagine that wall runs all the way until the road hits Ohio, then it probably transitions into your standard guardrail. Herds of black

thoroughbreds frolic in the grass, their hair shimmering in the bright sun. Occasionally, you’ll get a peek at a mansion, way off in the distance, big and garish and dominating the landscape.

On the left side of the road, it’s the exact same thing. I had this vague and stereotypical notion of Kentucky’s horse country as a land of mint juleps and women in giant straw hats, but I wasn’t expecting anything like this. It’s a weird blend of old world charm, opulence, and natural beauty, and it’s like nothing any of us have ever experienced before. Our typical road rides are hellish suffer fests where we grind up mountain passes to be rewarded with brief but beautiful long-range views. Here, in horse and bourbon country, the reward is immediate and constant.

The scenery never stops. And of course, there’s bourbon.

We hit Buffalo Trace at mile 27.

It’s a sprawling, industrial complex of historic rick houses, production facilities, offices, and a polished visitor’s center. There’s a cafe where

you can sit and have a BBQ sandwich while watching barrels roll from one building to the next on an ingenious rail system—like a roller coaster for whiskey barrels. Buffalo Trace is one of the oldest distilleries in the country, operating in some form or another for more than 200 years.

Their standard bourbon is a fine whiskey, but the distillery is also responsible for producing some of the most cherished bourbons in the world—your Van Winkles, your Blanton’s, and your Stagg Jr.’s.

We cut straight to the tasting room, blending into a tour group, where a guide pours us each an ounce of Eagle Rare and an ounce of Buffalo Trace. The Eagle Rare is the more expensive of the two, but it has a sharp edge to it. The Buffalo Trace is sweeter, more mellow. Getting to taste these bourbons side by side is educational. You start to appreciate the nuances of different mash bills and barrel treatments.

For the first few miles between Buffalo Trace and our second distillery, we’re stuck on a busy four-

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towns where the restaurants are boarded up, and trailers are packed three deep into small lots. The stateof-the-art Woodford Reserve, with its modern distillery and parking lot filled with Mint Julep tour buses stands in stark contrast.

The visitor’s center is highlighted with copper finishes and wood reclaimed from an old barn. An ultra modern fireplace separates the lounge from the tasting room, and shelves of Woodford Reserve bottles are backlit by a glowing wall.

We don’t have the patience to wait for the next tour group so we buy a bottle from the gift shop and find a picnic table under a tree and drink small pours of whiskey from plastic water cups and eat Clif Bars while watching guys in pastel golf shirts and women in sun dresses file into the distillery from tour buses.

HORSESHOES

lane highway, where semi trucks pass us at 60mph, so we pull up the route on my phone and find an alternate road that adds miles but takes us through a quiet neighborhood, then drops us through a narrow canyon on a gravel road. It feels like Pisgah, dark and shrouded by towering hardwoods.

Using the phone feels like cheating. The guys I’m riding with have a long history of doing stupid adventures together. We’ve been lost in the woods together, nearly hypothermic together, hid from snowstorms in forest service bathrooms together…but this bourbon ride is more civilized. We’ve stopped for snacks. We’ve pulled over just to google the answers to nagging questions.

A sample of our google searches during the trip: That scene from Highlander. Does the Spearmint Rhino have a dress code? How far is it to the moon? When was KFC founded?

There’s a moment on that gravel

road where we question our route, but Dusty puts it in perspective for us: “If things get too bad, we could always just call Uber for a ride.”

The gravel road dead ends into a dilapidated castle, complete with stone turrets and a tall iron gate.

It’s the original Taylor distillery, built by bourbon pioneer Colonel E.H. Taylor in the 1880s. It’s hard to imagine bourbon today without Colonel Taylor. He was the first distiller to advocate for climatecontrolled rick houses (before him, few people were even aging their whiskey). He pushed for the “Bottled in Bond” act, the first law to govern what you could label as bourbon. And he singlehandedly invented distillery tourism in this country, starting with

this castle, where he invited people to tour the production facility and picnic on the grounds.

We spend a few minutes peeking through the fence and admiring the straight up balls that it took to build a castle in the middle of Kentucky before pedaling on.

The road from the castle to Woodford Reserve is curvaceous and more humble than what we’ve been riding so far. It follows a river through smaller farms and forgotten

We have two options as we pedal the 20 miles back to Lexington. Hammer, and try to hit one more distillery before it closes, or meander and stop at this little restaurant that has cold beer and a backyard with picnic tables and horseshoe pits.

Naturally, we stop for beer and horseshoes. We can hear goats from the farm next door laughing as we divide into teams and drink a local lager called Cougar Bait. The horseshoes gets competitive quickly, and one beer turns into two, which turns into three.

We still have 10 miles to pedal back into town, where we’ll race each other, tucking deep into the downhills to stay out of the wind. We’ll have another bar stop in the final mile of the ride-we’ll be passing one of those blocks of warehouses and I’ll hear Guns n’ Roses blaring, so we’ll pull into the gravel lot and find a dive bar with a fire pit.

We’ll drink there for an hour and make plans for our return trip to Kentucky, but that’s later in the day. Right now, it’s just horseshoes, cold Kentucky beer, and laughing goats. photos by GRAHAM AVERILL

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B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / A U G U S T 2 01 5

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Trails to Blaze!

Hikers will fall in love with Coopers Rock State Park, more than 50 miles

of hiking trails from easy leg stretchers to long day hikes. The reward is a breathtaking 1,200-ft. overlook into the mile-wide gorge.

Bring your wheels and discover some of the best dirt bike trails that come with a 30-ft. canopy of leaves for cool summer riding! Best Kept Secret: Raven’s Rock Trail - the view is worth the hike!

Morgantown Marathon // Sept. 18-20 54

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800.458.7373 | tourmorgantown.com

Wine & Jazz Festival // Sept. 19-20

Arts Walk and Art is Food // Oct. 2

THE KID IN ME

by JESS DADDIO

M

ud gurgled around my shoe, air locking my sole to the muck-laden creek bed. Each sinking step felt heavy.

Squish. Student loans. Heeeeeave.

An unreturned phone call. Plop.

Negative feedback from a reader.

Normally, on any other day, I would have scrambled up the bank and bailed in a matter of minutes.

But I was on a mission: walk up this creek.

As a child, I spent my free time exploring the 400 acres of wooded pastures and abandoned barns surrounding my house. There was a creek, too, filled with tadpoles and all sorts of curious items to pique the imagination. Its babbling current was my safe haven, my secret spot, my place of belonging. I could spend hours there overturning rocks and envisioning the world beneath them.

When did such simple joys get lost in the mix of growing up?

An unseen rock turned my ankle.

I stumbled forward, bracing for the impact, surprised when I didn’t fall

face first. I straightened and sighed, gazing longingly upstream in search of some relief from this heinous mud bog. I had two choices: go forward or go back. There would be no shortcuts this time.

Splat. My mother’s health.

Yank. Upcoming deadlines. Slurp.

Did I ever schedule that doctor’s appointment?

My mind wandered like this for some time, traipsing along, pairing each plod with something on my to-do or to-vent list. I became so preoccupied, so consumed in my pity party, that I walked straight into a spider web, jabbed my temple on a twig, and flopped backwards into the creek. I teetered off-balance and flopped backwards into the creek.

I sat there awhile, on the verge of tears. I had come to the woods for peace, to escape the stresses of everyday life. I had envisioned the warm forest embracing me, its waters cleansing me of my woes. Instead, I’d trudged along with those worries in my back pocket. I’d let them dictate

my walk, my mood, my attitude.

Was I no longer that curious child who romped around in creek beds with no agenda, no concern for time or expectation? I was, I feared, becoming an adult, a jaded, anxious, uninspired adult at that.

I continued to sit there in the creek, watching the current pass over my legs. Twigs and leaves floated downstream. The wind rustled the canopy, shedding drops of dew from the trees. Everything was still.

I’m not sure how long I sat like that, legs sprawled out, slouched over, staring at my watery reflection, but I stayed still long enough that eventually, the late afternoon sun began to shine through the trees. I looked up, waking from my solemn slumber. The surface of the murky water shimmered in the golden light, and I realized that I had long discarded my to-do list, listening instead to the creek’s bubbling passage over rocks and under logs.

For the first time that day, my mind was still.

I stood up and started walking upstream again, noting the wild mushrooms rising from the ashes of decaying logs. The going was still slow, still rocky and muddy, but I picked my way methodically, imagining where the creek began, and where it ended, letting its trickling waters guide me.

Soon, I arrived at a series of ledges. A flat rock embossed in patches of fluorescent green moss protruded from the bank, begging to be sat upon. And so I went and sat, unrushed, unperturbed.

I took off my shoes, dangling my pruney feet in the open air. I built a mini cairn with nearby stones and pebbles, etched my name into the dirt, and all but forgot about the crotchety woman I was less than an hour ago until I realized one of my shoes had floated downstream.

I set off barefoot through the creek, feeling the mud squish between my toes, giggling as I slipped and slid over slimy rocks. The kid in me was back.

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THE GOODS

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STACHER’S PICKS

A PRO-CYCLIST-TURNED-MOUNTAINBIKE-MAVEN SELECTS HER GO-TO GEAR 1

by GRAHAM AVERILL ALLY STACHER KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT RIDING BIKES. The former pro road cyclist was one of the best domestiques in the sport, competing in Europe’s biggest races, but this year, she jumped head first into mountain biking, a discipline she didn’t have much experience with.

So far, so good. Stacher landed on the podium at the National Championships in the women’s pro division and was all set to win the Pisgah Stage Race when she blew a chain during the last stage. “I’m a princess roadie who’s used to racing in Europe with team mechanics. I didn’t know how to fix the chain, so I had to wait 25 minutes for help.” Stacher’s working on her mechanic skills, but she also has her hands full with her company that makes Ally’s Bar, a vegan-friendly bar that actually tastes good (think sweet potatoes, dates, cashews…). Needless to say, she never leaves home without a few of her own bars, but here are five more pieces of gear she can’t live without.

NO. 1 KASK PROTONE I’m a big helmet fan. You should protect your head. These are super lightweight helmets out of Italy. I’ve taken a few spills in them and haven’t had any problems. They’re really comfortable too, with good padding and leather straps that just feel nice. $299.95;

kask.it

NO. 2 FOCUS RAVEN It’s a hard tail, light and fast, and it handles amazingly. You can huck over anything on that thing. It’s one of the most fun bikes I’ve ever ridden.

Women’s specific bikes are fine for people who fit them, but I’m taller, I need a men’s medium. This bike fits well. $3,899; focus-bikes.com 56

7

4 2

10

8 3

NO. 3 OAKLEY RADAR SUNGLASSES

You should always look good. If you look good, you feel good and you perform well. I also like the transitional lenses in these. It gets so dark inside the woods, you need clear lenses, but then you’re on gravel in the sun and you need darker lenses. They transition super well. $160;

oakley.com

NO. 4 ROCKSHOX REVERB STEALTH DROPPER POST I ride the shit out of Pisgah on that dropper post. If you ride Pisgah, it’s technical and rooty, with drops and steep pitches. You have to work for every descent. Having this dropper post is a game changer for riding in Pisgah.

$324; sram.com NO. 5 I-9 TORCH ULTRALITE WHEELS I never leave home without them.

They’re really fast and roll amazing.

Pisgah is so challenging, it’s good to have really reliable wheels that you

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can try stuff with. And they’re color coordinated with my bike. $1,195;

9

industrynine.net

NO. 6 VELOCIO KIT (NOT PICTURED)

This is a really high end cycling kit. It costs more, but when you put it on, you understand why. The chamois in these shorts is so freaking comfortable. You get what you pay for. And the kit makes me look really fast. $169; velocio.cc NO. 7 IBEX ACE SHIRT The Ace performs equally well on a steep mountain trail run and a casual pub crawl. The Merino wool wicks moisture superbly and feels as good as it looks. $115; ibex.com NO. 8 MERRELL MIX MASTER MOVE 2

Looking for a PR shoe? This minimalist, versatile trail shoe with a 4mm drop weighs in at 8.4 ounces and performs well on roads as on gnarly singletrack.

$100; merrell.com

’S

EDITOR

CHOICE NO. 9 ICEMULE CLASSIC

COOLER Ditch the clunky beast of a cooler you’ve been lugging and strap on an Icemule. The portable, lightweight, wearable cooler rolls up, floats, and keeps ice cool for 24 hours. After a hot, sweaty day of adventure, the Icemule will ensure a cold beverage awaits. $50;

icemulecooler.com ’S

EDITOR

NO. 10 GRAMICCI MORRISON

CHOICE ORGANIC SHIRT

A blend of certified organic cotton and herbicide-free durable hemp, the V-neck wicks away moisture quickly and performs well in intense August heat.

Unlike synthetics, it doesn’t smell or scratch. It’s a clean, comfortable fit that performs like a champ. $27; gramicci.com

TRAIL MIX

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SOUND BITES

NEW GROOVES

FOUR UPCOMING ALBUMS FROM OUR NECK OF THE WOODS

by JEDD FERRIS LATE SUMMER INTO FALL is looking like high season for new releases. Here are four upcoming albums we can’t wait to hear.

LANGHORNE SLIM & THE LAW THE SPIRIT MOVES

Release Date: August 7 Since his last release, 2012’s The Way We Move, folk-rock showman Langhorne Slim (real name Sean Scolnick) has undergone some pretty major life transformations.

He moved from the West Coast to East Nashville, became completely sober, and ended some rocky relationships. Call it plenty of fodder for an open-hearted tunesmith, as lead single, the mellow highway cruiser “Changes” leaves little mystery about Slim’s headspace as he sings: “Things could be stranger, but I don’t know how. I’m going through changes now.”

STEEP CANYON RANGERS RADIO

Release Date: August 28 The Steep Canyon Rangers continue to step outside the boundaries of the traditional bluegrass persona they created as one of North Carolina’s favorite 58

bands over the past decade and a half. The new Radio, produced by dobro legend Jerry Douglas, finds the group further branching into different areas of roots music.

Banjo player Graham Sharp told the Wall Street Journal: “Radio travels the dial from top to bottom.

The album tunes into the rock channel for a little while, then the blues, then country, pop and, of course, bluegrass.”

PHIL COOK SOUTHLAND MISSION

Release Date: September 11 Phil Cook is best known as a member of the inventive indie folk trio Megafaun, a lauded band from the North Carolina Triangle with an uncertain future. He’s recently been on tour with Hiss Golden Messenger and not long ago teamed with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon in the bluesy garage-

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rock side project The Shouting Matches. Now Cook is stepping out on his own with a new solo album, Southland Mission. Leading single “Great Tide” has a gospelrock vibe with melodic slide guitar, a hopping Second Line beat, and the soothing harmonies that made Megafaun so enjoyable.

WIDESPREAD PANIC STREET DOGS

Release Date: September 25 Earlier this year Panic hunkered down at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, N.C., to make its first studio album in five years. During the sessions the Southern jam stalwarts were without founding drummer Todd Nance, who’s been on hiatus since last fall due to undisclosed personal reasons.

Filling in ever since has been Duane Trucks—nephew of the Allman Brothers’ Butch Trucks and brother of guitar ace Derek— who’s proven to be a nimble, energetic replacement in the live setting. This should translate on the new record, which includes some road-tested new tunes like “Street Dogs for Breakfast” and the New Orleans-inspired rocker “Cease Fire.” The album’s 12 tracks also feature some interesting covers—lending Panic’s patented Dixie groove bent to Alan Price’s “Sell Sell,” Murray McLauchlan’s “Honky Red,” and Willie Dixon’s “Taildragger.”

STEEP C A NYON 50K IN C A ROLINA

Steep Canyon Rangers bassist Charles Humphrey loves to run. He took up the sport a few years ago and quickly increased his distance, now having finished multiple ultramarathons, including the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run back in January. On September 10, Humphrey and Peter Ripmaster of Black Mountain Running Co. will co-direct the first Steep Canyon 50K & Relay Hullabaloo. The event—a combo celebration of beer, music, and craft beer—will take place at Oskar Blues Brewery’s REEB Ranch in Brevard, N.C. From there, the race course will take off into the DuPont State Forest, totaling a 10.4-mile loop that runners can finish three times alone or split into a relay with partners.

When not on the course, runners and spectators will hear tunes from members of SCR, Steve McMurry of Acoustic Syndicate, and a special side project dubbed the Asheville Country Music Review, which features guitar picker Jon Stickley and members of Town Mountain. The race leads right into the Steeps’ annual Mountain Song Festival, which this year boasts sets from Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs and many more. >> steepcanyon50k.com B US K ER FESTIVA L C OM ES TO S OUTH W EST V IRGINIA

Busking is a rite of passage for many fledging musicians, an opportunity to shake off the jitters of performing for an audience by picking on a street corner. It can be a successful training ground for later days on bigger stages (see busking vets Old Crow Medicine Show), or just a casual way to share some songs and earn spare change.

On September 5 some of the region’s best street performers will converge in Abingdon, Va., for Buskerfest. The event will feature musicians picking along the southwest Virginia town’s quaint Main Street all day and lead into a special Buskers After Dark evening show. >> mainstreetbuskerfest.com

FREESTYLE YOU’LL FIND IT HERE. West Virginia’s wilderness is a classroom of a different kind. Tests with no boundaries.

Learning with no limits. Give the kids a lesson in creativity — before these carefree summer moments are gone.

GoToWV.com | 800-CALL WVA | #GoToWV

New River Gorge, WV

Charlotte’s got a lot for outdoor adventure. charlottesgotalot.com • 800.231.4636