We had our second run-in with law enforcement while sleeping in a hidden drive off a road in western Tennessee. Roused by a rough rapping on the side of the van, we were greeted by a slightly confusing exchange:
Officer: With a thick southern accent, asked “what are you into?”
John: Being mildly confused, gave the vague and diplomatic answer, “just enjoying the morning.”
Officer: “Sure, but that doesn’t answer my question. What are you into?”
John: Fortunately resisting the urge to say something like “I’m into climbing, electronics, and women” admitted that we were traveling and had spent the night there.
After a little more probing about why some Texans would be hanging out in backwoods Tennessee (he thought we were trying to hunt in a Wildlife Refuge), they accepted our story and we hurried onward to visit the Narrows of the Harpeth, one of John’s favorite destinations during his college years in Nashville. We then took advantage of John’s knowledge of the city to spend a day biking around, eating delicious food, and trying to avoid the crowds of freshmen gathered at Vanderbilt for move-in day.
At the Narrows of the Harpeth, Montgomery Bell employed slave labor in the 1800s to dig a tunnel through the rock, routing the river through it and thereby powering his iron manufacturing operation.
John in Nashville, with the capital building in the background.
Nashville built this full scale replica of the Parthenon. After seeing the real Parthenon, it was cool to see this what it looked like before.
We spent the next four nights in Clarksville, where a great local climbing wall – King’s Bluff – is situated along the Cumberland River. Our first night there hit 98% humidity, making it our most uncomfortable night yet. We ended up going to the gym to shower three times in two days to relieve the excessive stickiness. Fortunately, the humidity passed after a day and we enjoyed some pleasant weather – and some incredible climbing – during the rest of our stay.
Unfortunately, despite the wonderful climbing, the dominant feeling of the area was that it was simply dirty. Apparently King’s Bluff is the local hangout for high schoolers looking for a private place to hook up. The area was filled with cars on Saturday, but not a single climber. We saw people making out, groups of kids smoking, and even came across a used condom in the parking lot. John filled multiple bags of trash up in the parking area alone, yet the next day the place was covered with trash again. Some people just have no respect for the outdoors.
Love the narrows. Only place I know of where you can park, put in, paddle downstream 2 hours, then pull out and walk back across the road to your car. Canoe rental guy lectured us about not trying to shoot the tunnel in the big-ass aluminum canoe. We told him not to worry about us.
That’s awesome! The hike at the top is beautiful too.
John might remember his brothers and I filling the back of a green pickup truck with a trail’s Summer trash left behind by our fellow Austinites. Being the sensitive sort, even as a boy, he placed his arms around me as I cried at the disrespect for nature. Ok. Ya. So, he rolled his eyes in that condescending manner he and his brothers did so well. But, hey!