Rock Sprite and Badger have been involved in the Hurricane Helene relief effort at The Catawba River Lodge in North Cove, North Carolina. They’ve set up an organization that’s provided meals, showers, disaster assistance with FEMA, supplies and even haircuts for the 2,200 residents of the area. It’s yet another example of what a community can do when faced with a crisis. Neighbor helping neighbor.

We decided to take a short break from the staging area and see about some of the damage that Helene wrought to the area around the Lodge. Runoff from Honeycutt and Humpback Mountains produced historic levels of water, logs and debris cascading 2,200 feet down the mountains to the valley below.

The runoff also produced scars 30-40 feet deep where tiny streams once flowed. Rocky Branch is but one example and we chose to climb the landslide to see what we could find.

What we eventually found was bedrock which hasn’t been exposed for probably 10,000 years the geologists told me. Honey Badger also found huge rocks that were hanging from the middle slide blocking our ascent. The next rain or even a minor earthquake could shake them loose, resulting in instant death where Badger climbed. Upon examination of the danger, the time came to exit the terrain as soon as possible which entailed climbing back down the crevasse.

The “permanent” change in the mountain reminded us of a mixture of the 1,000 foot scar on Trout Branch (leading up to Mt. LeConte) and Echo Canyon in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado.

Our quest for adventure could have had unfortunate consequences. Trips like these are not for the timid. As our friend and Linville Gorge expert Bob Underwood says: “Risk makes the adventure come alive, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

We certainly felt alive in the new Honeycutt scar. A disaster fueled an excursion we will not soon forget.

Thomas Mabry – Honey Badger Images

Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages.