Heading Home..

through the mountains, after a long Memorial day weekend in and on the mountains..

What's up next...

The summer adventure season has arrived!
On a daily basis we can be found on the rivers and in the mountains, and everywhere in between!

-Our weekly guided hikes (GH/WW) in Shenandoah have started on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
-Our weekly guided rock climbing (RC) is occurring in Shenandoah every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
(These programs will run thru the first of September. They are coded GH/WW and RC on "courses and trips - guided adventures" page of the website.)
-The Holiday Weekend, May 23 - 25 is becoming solidly booked with private guiding.. both hiking and climbing..
-Saturday-Sunday 30-31 May will be our next Basic Outdoor Skills and Survival (BOSS).. learn to backpack the way the guides at SMG do!

Our staff is always available to assist you on any and all of your Blue Ridge adventures and adventure planning.. for more information on any of our activities, see our website, call us 866.455.8672 or e-mail us at: adventure@teamlinkinc.com

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If you're thinking about a weekend program for your family or group, you need to let us know sooner rather than later..midweek dates are still pretty available.. however a 3-week advance registration is still recommended. Check the calendar at the bottom of the page for a complete listing of "open registration" opportunities.

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This is a very interesting read..

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"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
J.R.R Tolkein

Chock full of adventure

(and pollen...)

The past 7 days have been just plumb full of adventure... our scheduled whitewater trip was flooded out due to the monsoon rains of of the central Appalachians/Blue Ridge... so we went southeast to the tidewater regions, paddling and camping ... in the mud.... a great week of discovery!
Cap that with a climb-a-palooza on Saturday and a weekend on Old Rag working with and training the Old Rag Mountain Stewards, and... whew!
Instead of a lot of words.. here are a bunch of pics!

About to pop!

With all the spring rain.. the Blue Ridge is right on the verge of exploding! The next few weeks should be uproarious with wildflowers.. the trillium are nearing peak at the lower elevations and even Pink Lady Slipper has been noticed.. we've picked a fair number of merkles, and bluets are lining every rocky trail. NOW is the time to come visit Shenandoah, park your car, and take a hike that will take your breath away!











































.. a long forgotten and disused Blue Ridge spring... still flows at more than 50 gallons per minute

Slow is smooth...

Last week, (18-24 April) Chad, Jeremy and I were honored to be asked to help teach the EHART (Eastern High Angle Rescue Training) class for the National Park Service and other federal agencies in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway (near Linville Gorge). The high elevations, the long days, the SNOW(!), the awesome group of professionals, with whom we were working.. and the chance to do dangerous things in high places was all a balm to our collective souls.
There is nothing like rappelling late into the night, in a cold, 50+ mph wind off of a mile-high swinging bridge...to be followed by a headlight-lit rock climb... no this is not recreation... it's training. (though I can see how it can be confused for fun!)

..the bottom line is it is all about learning, and teaching others, how to save the lives of those who have gotten themselves into untenable situations in the mountains.
As members of the training cadre, we took, and take a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that the skills we were teaching will someday make a key difference in some unknown person's quality of life.



.. and smooth is fast..




..therefore, Slow is Fast!