(Hopefully, photographic evidence of the following climb report will soon be added to this message board)


Pinyata and Country Girl showed up in the north Georgia mountains last weekend, intent on a full week at a remote but comfortable cabin that's far, far away from the blazing summer sun in their hometown of Jacksonville.

Yesterday, Monday, we hiked into the top-secret Possum Top climbing area, where there are more than 100 tulip poplars that rival those at the more famous Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in North Carolina. We had Pinyata's nephew and niece with us -- soon to be known in tree-climbing circles as Roguelet and Spider Monkey.

It took Pinyata about five or six shots with the Sidewinder to get a line over a limb at about 90 feet in the Blackberry Poplar, which got its name from the wild blackberry bush that grows in the main crotch at about 104 feet. Meanwhile, I managed a surprisingly easy hand throw to a limb on the other side of the tree at about 75 feet.

Both of us went up SRT -- me on a Texas Rig and Pinyata on the Yo-yo system -- and then worked our way up to the main crotch from there. I finally reached a limb at about 112 feet and descended to make room for the other climbers.

Roguelet and his father (Pinyata's brother in law) both made it to a point just below the main crotch while climbing on Yo-yo systems, while Spider Monkey and her mom hung out about halfway up the tree on DRT systems.

It was the highest-ever climbs for almost everybody.

All of us were already on the ground when we heard thunder rumble to the north, so we quickly packed for the one-mile hike back to our vehicles. We got there just before the first raindrops fell.

It was a grrr-reat day...!

Sounds like a blast. I've heard all about roguelet's and spidermonkey's excellent tree climbing abilities. Hopefully you can convince Pinyata to share some of his pictures. Ya hear that, Douglas!?

Our excursion to Possum Top last year with Wild Bill has finally made it to YouTube.

Fast forward to 3:58 to go right to the climb segment.

Thanks again Bill for taking us to such a great tree!!

Click Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMIhHJKbQn4&feature=plcp

Happy trails!

Wow, that really looks like a lot of fun! How's the foot, Pinyata? It's been waay too long. If I bring over some giant St. Johns River shrimp and Datil peppers, you think we can have another cracker feast?

Glad you liked the video Patrick. We were blessed to spend a day with Wild Bill at such an amazing tree.

Recovering from multiple orthopedic surgery's has truly sucked. I am on the mend, however slowly, and look forward to getting back into a tree here in the next few weeks!

Giant shrimp and datil peppers is Angel's Music to my ears! We have plenty of home made pear relish, corn bread fixin's, and a Peach Cobbler recipe to die for....so lets do it!

Lets see if Hunabku can come up for air long enough to join us as well.

We can also climb Mark's Tree.....

Did somebody say food? You have my attention!!!

I knew you had to come up for air eventually!

How about that location! You can come out of the water, climb a tree at the water's edge, rappel down right onto the deck - and eat then of course!

Ron, you hit the nail on the head with that one.

Hey Hunabku, now that I'm up and running again lets get this on film.

Attack of the Aqua Rogues!

You guys are just having too much fun!

I guess your gonna get WildBill in the water for a go at it too, right?

This is a great thread. Thanks for the video and write up. Sounds like a great adventure - thanks for posting!