Hi all, long time since i have been on line, but the good news is that the tree top trail is re opening at OxBow Meddows learning center in Columbus, Ga. and as before i and my co-worker will be responsible for inspecting and maintaining it, a little history on the trail, about 6 years ago the trail was opened it had a aproch trail that led up 30 feet to a tree platform about 40ft. up then went i think it was 60 ft. to a 20x20 platform in a tower then went another 70 ft. to another tree platform about 40 ft. up all conneted by swinging walkways, odear, my co-worker and i a university maintenance carpenters was asked to help build the thing and then where asked to maintain it, not abule get to it with a mecaniacal lift so we looked into rope climbing to get above and under the trail, so i found Joe and he trained us on how to get to where we needed to be, well, everything was good untill we discovered that the first tree was diying and that part of the trail had to come down, now afther 4 years we have replaced that first part of the trail with a tower and now we will be making our first climb to inspect the trail will be this week,(weather permitting) it has been awhil since ether of us has climbed so we will be starting out slowly!! (what a pain), geting paid to climb again (eat your hart out guys) , i just hope i can still do it, I have lost 30 pounds but i also have had a knee surgery as well so pray for us and hope we can still do the job and come and check it and all the aligaters and outher critters out mabe you will us hanging around in the tree tops 0r under the trail looking things over for your safety!! anyway, Good Climbing James

Well ... dang ... if it ain't ol' Foghorn himself, checking in after dropping off the face of the earth for so long I'd almost forgotten what he looked like. Hummm, 30 pounds, hunh? I might not recognize you.

I had planned to get down to Oxbow Meadows a long time ago, but then everything got shut down. Hopefully I'll make it soon, and maybe some other climbers will do the same.

For those who don't know about this place, it's on the south side of Columbus, Georgia, and adjacent to Fort Benning. James "Foghorn" Stewart had to learn tree climbing from ol' Joe of the Jungle so he could build and maintain the tree top trail.

Hi Bill, yea it,s been awhile, and tomarrow we will see if i can still climb, i have had a series of ilness that make it hard to breath in some positions, i tried to climb 2 years ago and only got about 10 ft up before i had to come down in a hurry because i could not breath well but i have been working out and hope that tomarrow will be better, i will have my partner James Smith with me in case i get into any trouble, Joe trained him and i together, so i have fath in his ability to help me if i need it . but hopfuly i will do alwright and will be abule to start climbing again, i sure do miss doing it, it was a lot fun going to climbing getogethers and meeting everbody in the tree tops, its just a different kind of people that will climb up into a tree just to hang out and injoy what God has given us. if all gos well you might just be climbing a tree one day and find me already ther, so say a prayer for me and hopfuly i will be climbing again and can get back to seeing all you guys again in the tree tops. Good Climbing James

following a good suggestion from a fellow tree climber

you old farts might remember the old song Back In The Saddle Again, whell I AM, i made my first climb in three and a half years, not since i climbed at Joe and Bills in March 2008 have i been abule to get into a tree due to a problem with breathing ability, i tried to climb 2 years ago but had to cut my rope at 10 feet in order to get to the ground to catch my breath, i am top heavy so when i climb i tend to lay back so i use a chest harness and would compress my chest, but to day i was abule to make 4 short 20 ft climbs with no problems with my breathing ,sore mussels yes, but at lest i can climb again , the mussels will heal, i just have missed being in the tree tops, and of cours i did it in order to inspect the tree top trail, and the purpose for the need to climb and of course started the climb off a platform that was 35 ft up a tree, anyway it was a grate day in the tree top, untill you have to take few years off from being abule to climb you really cant tell how much you really injoyed it, so appreciate the time you spend in the tree tops (as i know we all do) i will be seeing yall in the tree tops soon!! Good Climbing James

That is awesome James, congrats on fighting your way back into the trees!
-AJ