The Walls of Jericho

On Sunday, we drove down to the TN/AL border and hiked the Walls of Jericho trail. It was approx. 7miles round trip with something like 1200+ feet of elevation gain on the way back up from the walls... We met my dad at the AL trailhead as well as my sister and her family. I warned everyone ahead of time that this was a pretty tough hike but I'm not sure that they fully grasped what was in store. The group started out in good spirits at 11:25am and we moved along at a pretty good pace on the downhill section. I carried my full pack and tried to imagine what it will be like carrying it for weeks on end in this kind of rough terrain... I can honestly say that my pack weight was not bad at all (approx. 31 lbs) and Im feeling REALLY good about my level of preparedness for my thru-hike.
  By the time we got to the "walls" at the bottom of the gorge around 2:30, everyone was pretty worn out. At that point there is still a short scramble up the creek bed and a few rock faces before reaching the "end" of the trail at the waterfall/pool. My dad had stopped at the creek, shy of the pool, so I encouraged him to push ahead since he'd come this far. It would have been a shame for him to have done all the work and not seen the falls. He made it and we got a photo to mark the accomplishment. He earned it! It was a TOUGH hike back up to the trailhead, even for a young guy, let alone a 70 year old. Needless to say I'll be thinking of him on my thru-hike whenever I need a little inspiration to keep moving.
  Dad and I brought up the rear and made it back to the trailhead around 5:45pm. There were a few bumps & bruises and some seriously worn out folks but we ALL made it and had a great afternoon! I had a great time enjoying the trail with my awesome family and feel blessed to have them in my life. I'll be thinking of this trip often while walking to Maine....