Fiery Gizzard is actually the name of a trail I went hiking on recently - sometimes I don't have to work very hard for eye catching blog titles.
This weekend I drove up to central Tennessee to get my hiking fix. Specifically the destination was Grundy Forest, a 212 acre tract, adjacent to Monteagle, TN. The Forest is actually part of the much larger (16000 acre) South Cumberland State Park. The Forest features some amazing geologic formations common to the Cumberland Plateau region including an extensive gorge and numerous waterfalls with inviting pools.
The Fiery Gizzard is a 17-mile one-way trail, and one of its termini is at Grundy Forest. We didn't hike the entirety of the trail, but that would be a fun and easy weekend endeavor - there are 4 primitive camp sites along the trail.
We hiked the FG along the riverbed through an extensive Hemlock forest that reminded me a lot more of the Northwest than the South. There were numerous rocky landslides that we had to traverse, so any hikers will need to watch their footing. The trail then did some impressive twists up the ridge line before leveling out. We took a slight detour (~.4 mi) to have lunch at Raven's Point, a very scenic promontory. After lunch we diverged from the FG and took the Dog Line trail to head back towards our cars. The piece of the Gizzard plus the Dog Line added up to a respectable ~10 mile day hike.
Since I wasn't rock hopping or splashing through the river this time I brought along a better camera. The pictures just hint at beauty of the region.
We were lucky enough to have weekends off, so on one of the last weekends I talked a co-working into driving north "into the country." Our goal was the ruins of a Ryukyu castle - Nakajin.
Deep in Okinawan farm country where they grow bananas, pineapple, dragon fruit, and much more, we found the ruins perched atop a rise. Far less touristy than Shuri Castle, Nakajin-to was a well maintained site that afforded amazing views of the ocean. I guess the old say was just as true in the 1600's as it is now: it's good to be the boss!
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The encounter started on Tuesday. I called to confirm with the hike leader of the group that I joined - I wanted to go on the upcoming gorge riverbed hike. I sat in mute silence for a second when he actually began to interview me, I couldn't believe it.
What hiking experience have I had? Was I in shape? Could I identify poison ivy? Did I have any problems hiking in wet boots - because we we're going to get wet? Could I climb down cliffs? Scramble over wet rock? When he was satisfied, apparently, that I could cut it, he told me where and when to meet up.
I hung up - I knew the hike was going to be interesting.
Fast forward to the hike...
He wasn't kidding - it was a VERY technical hike. We free climbing down cliffs, scrambled over icy slick rocks, climbed boulders, and waded through churning streams. Not to mention tramped through poison ivy, ran face first into a number of spider webs, and cracked our shins countless times. It took us 3 hours to go TWO miles.
I can now understand why the hike leader interviewed me.
Why did I/we do it? Besides the Wandering Men answer - it was there - it was a great workout, and the scenery in the gorge was amazing. The numerous rock formations and outcroppings, waterfalls, and especially the stone arch were worth the sweat and bruises. And the expected/unexpected time spent playing in the water was a treat!
One of the members of the group brought his digital camera, and he took some amazing pictures. He deserves a lot of thanks for capturing the day so vividly.
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My pictures and video will only pale by comparison now...I took a disposable camera and a waterproof video camera - it kept on ticking after I took it under a waterfall multiple times - hopefully we can get some media posted soon.
Okinawa is filled with its own rich history, and numerous ruins of Ryukyu civilization dot the island. Shuri Castle was the palace of the Ryukyu Emperor, and since the 1980's Japan has spent a lot of effort to rebuild and repair this impressive abode. A number of Ryukyu sites, Shuri Castle included, are now listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
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UPDATE!: I told ya that the first two were just a teaser - now you can get the rest of Tom's stunning art as desktops, PLUS, you can get an EXCLUSIVE El'laa desktop by Wandering Man artist, Hall! That's right, folks! You can finally behold the face of the cold-as-ice villainess of Skein of Shadows: El'laa!
We know, we know - you've already gotten all of the original desktop images (including the special wrap-around Skein of Shadows desktop, too) and you're getting kinda bored with them. Ok, ok, we'll admit it; us too! However, as the Wandering Men always say: "GOOD THINGS HAPPEN!" And these good things are actually AWESOME things - not only are these new desktops a preview of some of our Men: theWandering artwork for our Mobicon cards, they are also brand new depictions of the heroes of Skein of Shadows by none other than world-famous fantasy artist Tom Babbey! Check them out and let us know what you think! Enjoy!
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The encounter started on Tuesday. I called to confirm with the hike leader of the group that I joined - I wanted to go on the upcoming gorge riverbed hike. I sat in mute silence for a second when he actually began to interview me, I couldn't believe it. 
