Primal Wilderness Rambling From Cumberland Trail

My father loves to explore. He works as an environmental consultant, bushwhacking through the woods in search of endangered plants. Plus, he doesn't stop after work hours. Even during our family’s beach vacations, he looks at coastal plain grasses with all the enthusiasm of a teenage boy peering at bikini babes.

I hiked with him last year on the existing segments of Tennessee’s still-unfinished Cumberland Trail. The CT runs North to South along Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. Don’t let the wor...