Eventures with Tom.

Just putting the finishing touches on one of the next Eventures. It will be an overnight hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail. This trip will cover the first 20 miles of the Appalachian Trail which starts in Georgia. Springer Mountain to Woody Gap.

If anyone ever wanted to hike the App Trail but didn’t want to do the planning or carry all the heavy weight, this will be the trip for them. Everything will be included for 1 price.

Here are the details of the this Eventure: This will be included

• Shuttle to & from Metro Atlanta
• Guided 6-10 mile hike on Day 1
• Camp set up: Includes tent, mattress, sleeping gear, chairs, coolers, etc
• Food: Catered dinner & catered breakfast w drinks
• Campfire roaring
• Guided 6-10 mile hike on day 2

Just bring your clothes and Eventures will handle everything else. This will be the first Eventure in our Hike Georgia series.

I am really enjoying planning the first few events and we are on track to start running events in June.

Our first Eventure will be to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Looks like we might have 3 spots available.

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) has a ~million acres of wilderness, with over 1,000 pristine lakes and streams, and over 1500 miles of canoe routes. 

It is considered by some as the most beautiful wilderness they have ever seen.  National Geographic named it one of 50 Destinations of a Lifetime.  In other words, a vacation you do not want to miss. *

*http://www.bwca.cc/

Greg Geodakyan has been a great friend to me since we met in 2003 and he’s turning 30 in late May. He knew he always wanted to do a Boundary Waters canoe trip and he asked me to put it together for him.

I am honored to have Greg’s 30^th birthday be Eventure #1.  Happy Birthday buddy!

My buddy Greg hiked for 2 months last year and created an informative blog on gear. He wrote this post near the end of his trip so he had a lot figured out. It lists what he finished his hike with and what he found to be useful for survival in the woods. OF COURSE, we all have our unique needs and wants and will learn our likes and dislikes along the way. However, this blog is a good starting point for getting someone ready for a multi-day hike.

http://ggeodakyan.blogspot.com/2010/06/gear.html

Check out Greg’s blog. Interesting perspective starting from his preparation, through his trials and adventures hiking the AT. http://ggeodakyan.blogspot.com/

With 95 miles of trails, the Cohutta Wilderness is a hiker’s dream come true. After heavy rains, both the Jacks and Conasauga rivers can become raging torrents, virtually impossible to cross safely. Those planning a hike to the Cohutta Wilderness should watch weather forecasts carefully. Use a walking stick or staff to help cross rivers, and if water is raging, do not even try. In bad weather a trip may get extended. Be prepared for this possibility with extra food. Make sure people know the route of the hike and expected time of return. Even in low water, plan on getting wet. For example, the Conasauga River Trail between Betty Gap and FS 17 has 38 river crossings. Hiking boots will quickly become soggy foot weights. Many experienced hikers on the Conasauga and Jacks River Trails wear old tennis shoes and simply resign themselves to having wet feet. Bring dry shoes for camp.

Our hiking trip takes us across the Conasauga River on our way to Panther Creek Water Falls.

More info about the Cohutta:

http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/mountains/blue_ridge/western/cohutta_wilderness.html

I had already planned a 3 day hiking trip with 2 good friends, Steven & Greg. It was set. 3 day hiking trip into the Cohutta Wilderness and it just happens to be the weekend I finish as a technology consultant. PERFECT!!!!!

After I finished my 3 month adventure on the Appalachian Trail, I had come to some new realizations for my life moving forward. It was now September 2001, and I decided not to go back to my old life as a technical recruiter working for someone else. I learned on my adventure that life is short and creating experiences for myself was what I thought made life fun and exciting. There was an entrepreneur inside me that I hadn’t let come out yet and although I was fearful, I decided I wanted to take control of my future. I took the leap of faith into entrepreneurship……this was my new adventure.

Long story, short. I knew I would need to start a business in something I had a passion for. I wanted to start an adventure company right then but the idea wasn’t mature enough and I didn’t have the business management experience to make it happen at that point. I ended up teaching myself about computers and technology and started Indigo Technologies in Jan 2004. With the help of some great business partners, we grew Indigo to approximately a $1 million a year business and sold it at the end of 2009.

Even during the Indigo years, I never stopped thinking about how I could channel my passion for adventure I had developed on the trail. One thing was certain; I wanted to box up the “sense of adventure” I experienced and be the person who helped people experience new adventures in their own life and provide a new form of entertainment for those people who are ready for something new. I knew when I sold Indigo a little over a year ago that it was only a matter of time before I was ready to turn my passion for adventure into my life’s next adventure.  The adventure entertainment seed that was planted in me in 2001 now had 9 years of nurturing and was ready to blossom.

My last day as a technology consultant is today, April 15^th, 2011. On April 16^th, the Eventures begin.

Where it all began:

Summer 2001, hiking the Appalachian Trail. I was approximately 45 days into a 3 month hike on The Appalachian Trail. I was walking from Ga. to Pa. on a self discovery adventure I had planned for myself and I finally hit my groove. My old corporate world self was now mostly replaced by my emerging true self, a self that was in harmony with its surroundings and that knew it was connected to something bigger. At this point in my adventure, I was so at peace that everything became clearer and the simplicity of life on the trail puts everything into its proper perspective.

It was 10am on a Tuesday and I had already walked 7-8 miles that morning. It was a perfectly sunny day & I had reached one of those mountaintops with a view that is 360 degrees and you can see the horizon in every direction, a spot you can only reach with some hard work and a sense of adventure. As I sat there contemplating the amazing adventure I was on, I realized that almost everyone else I knew was stuck in an office, at their job, or knee deep in whatever life responsibility they currently had to deal with. On that mountain top, I wanted to share the amazing feeling I had with everyone I knew because it was such a profound experience I was going through.

I ended up staying in that spot all day thinking about how most people will never get to experience the profound sense of adventure and excitement that I was going through. Most people are so busy with everyday life and responsibility that they could never let themselves get away for an extended period of time or wouldn’t take the time to plan a great adventure for themselves. It was that day that I knew I wanted to find a way to help people experience a real sense of adventure in their lives and make it easy for them to do so.

The seed of adventure entertainment was planted in my spirit that day.

To be continued….