4-Day, 4-Night Wilderness Backpacking Expedition

The Briefing

This is a 4-day, 4-night wilderness backpacking adventure. It will test you physically, emotionally and spiritually. It will not be easy and you should train in advance. However, it could be one of the most fulfilling experiences of your life!

The Guidlines

Each man will travel in a 3-person triad determined in advance. Each man is responsible for getting his own gear and the equipment for his triad (some loan equipment available). You must be 18 or older to participate.

The Mission

Wednesday, Mar 24: We will depart from FUMC at 5:00 PM and drive to Buffalo Mtn Camp. We will have bunkhouse lodging for the night.

Day One: 3.7 miles - Friday morning will start with a great hot breakfast at base camp. Then we shuttle to the Sam’s Gap trailhead (3,760 ft.) and start our ascent of Big Bald. We will camp just off the trail near a small spring.

Day Two: 7.3 miles - We start day two with a three mile steady climb up to the summit of Big Bald (5,516ft). Keep your camera ready - the views here are many and absolutely stunning! After lunch at the top, we descend about 1,500 ft to Whistling Gap where we will camp for the night.

Day Three: 7.2 miles - Today we wake up to a short climb up to High Rocks then a 1,000 ft drop to Spivey Gap. Here we cross HWY 19 and a few small streams then it’s off to the No Business Knob Shelter for our last night in the wilderness.

Day Four: 6.3 miles - The last day starts with an easy grade through Temple Hill Gap. Then we start descending along many switchbacks overlooking the Nolichucky River Gorge. We walk straight into Uncle Johnny’s Hostel where we will be greeted with hot showers and a relaxing view of the river. The drivers will be shuttled to Sam’s Gap to retrieve the cars. When they return, we load up and make the 30 minute drive to Johnson City for an all-you-can-eat dinner at Cootie Brown’s and joyous recap of the adventure!

The Cost

$275.00 per person includes:

• Guided 25-mile, 4-day, 3-night backpacking adventure
• Lodging Wednesday night & hot breakfast Thursday AM
• All food and snacks for the trail
• Hot showers post-hike at Uncle Johnny’s Hostel
• All-you-can-eat dinner in Johnson City, Tennessee

Chris Holden will serve as your Expedition & Spiritual Leader. He will be leading a mission briefing each morning and a de-briefing each evening at camp.

Contact your ‘Born Wild’ Coordinator Kelly Christopher (256) 990-0529 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to Trip Tools on this page and Register Online.  Space is limited-register now! Sign-up deadline Mar. 14th