Hi! If you’ve clicked on the “About” tab, you might have
some questions about who we are and what we’re up to. To begin with, we’re
Taylor and Minta—two openhearted kids who have been raised by lifelong best
friends (we call them Aunt Tamra and Aunt Ann respectively). You’ve found the
blog that represents some of our greatest passions and dreams for the world. So
without further ado, here’s to learning a bit more about our lives and our
vision for this project:
About the Team:
Name: Taylor Drake
About the Team:
Trail Name: Bob the Builder
Hometown: Maryville, TN
Age: 17
Strengths: taking selfies with mountains, sporting fashionable hiking socks
Weaknesses: navigation, silence
Why I'm Walking: to escape to now
Wazzup!? My name is Taylor, and I am a junior at Maryville High School. I run cross country and track and enjoy jamming to music in my car. My goal in life is to live in the presence of the present. The mountains, especially the Smokies, allow me to do this. Their massive bends and towering trees encompass me with a sense of purpose. By minimizing myself, I am capable of maximizing my opportunities. The 17 years of my existence are a millisecond compared the lifespan of the mountains that have felt the bare feet of my ancestors. However, in the fleeting and immeasurable supply of time we call life, I know I can make a difference in the world.
Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Romania and work with Missio Link International and their various ministries. It was there that God taught me, through the eyes of impoverished Gypsy children, that love has no language. Although these at-risk youth have an unfortunate past, MLI, through the power of Christ, is able to give them a hopeful future.
Name: Minta Ray
Trail Name: Blueberry
Hometown: Knoxville, TN
Age: 20
Strengths: dreaming up adventures, making friends with anyone (not excluding brick walls), wiping out while hiking
Weaknesses: resting, taking "no" for an answer, starting fires
Why I'm Walking: to practice being human
Hi! My name is Minta, and I'm a curly haired dreamer. I graduated from Christian Academy of Knoxville and am currently a sophomore at Vanderbilt University studying Medicine, Health, and Society. I hope to attend medical school and become a pediatrician who lives simply and serves deeply in Southern Appalachia or the developing world. On campus, I am involved in Nashville Navigators (campus ministry), spend extensive time working with kids in North Nashville at The Afterschool Program, volunteer at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, and also cherish opportunities to curl up in my dorm room on Friday night with my closest friends.
Did I mention that I also love the outdoors? My head might be in the books, but my heart lives and thrives in the stillness and enormity of the mountains. I have a heart chocked full of hope for humanity, but this comes with a dreadful tendency to spread myself thinly between all of my passions. Enter wilderness: the mountains serve as a refuge where I come to be still, meet with the Lord, and remember exactly what it is that makes me human. My parents took me to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park when I was just four days old...and the rest was history. I have been hiking and camping all my life, but have picked up extensive backpacking in the past 4-5 years. One of the defining experiences in my life thus far was a 420 mile, 5-week section hike on the Appalachian Trail from Massachusetts to Maine in Summer 2014. Thank you for joining me on this coming adventure!
About the Project:
LeConte27 was fittingly born while we were hiking in the middle of a July downpour. I (Minta) was working at Camp Wesley Woods and had recently been inspired by a minister in residence (MIR) at camp named Bob Hayes to attempt all 5 approach trails to Mt. LeConte in 24 hours (as he had done for his 65th birthday). Shouting over the crashing rain on the leaf canopy above and the forest floor below, I asked Taylor what he thought about joining me on this crazy adventure. He replied, "why don't we make it count?" I loved the idea and we simultaneously asked one another if we could pair the hike with an effort to mitigate human trafficking. With that...the dreaming started and the project was underway. Please refer to the FAQ tab and regularly updated HOME page for more details!
Hometown: Maryville, TN
Age: 17
Strengths: taking selfies with mountains, sporting fashionable hiking socks
Weaknesses: navigation, silence
Why I'm Walking: to escape to now
Wazzup!? My name is Taylor, and I am a junior at Maryville High School. I run cross country and track and enjoy jamming to music in my car. My goal in life is to live in the presence of the present. The mountains, especially the Smokies, allow me to do this. Their massive bends and towering trees encompass me with a sense of purpose. By minimizing myself, I am capable of maximizing my opportunities. The 17 years of my existence are a millisecond compared the lifespan of the mountains that have felt the bare feet of my ancestors. However, in the fleeting and immeasurable supply of time we call life, I know I can make a difference in the world.
Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Romania and work with Missio Link International and their various ministries. It was there that God taught me, through the eyes of impoverished Gypsy children, that love has no language. Although these at-risk youth have an unfortunate past, MLI, through the power of Christ, is able to give them a hopeful future.
Trail Name: Blueberry
Hometown: Knoxville, TN
Age: 20
Strengths: dreaming up adventures, making friends with anyone (not excluding brick walls), wiping out while hiking
Weaknesses: resting, taking "no" for an answer, starting fires
Why I'm Walking: to practice being human
Hi! My name is Minta, and I'm a curly haired dreamer. I graduated from Christian Academy of Knoxville and am currently a sophomore at Vanderbilt University studying Medicine, Health, and Society. I hope to attend medical school and become a pediatrician who lives simply and serves deeply in Southern Appalachia or the developing world. On campus, I am involved in Nashville Navigators (campus ministry), spend extensive time working with kids in North Nashville at The Afterschool Program, volunteer at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, and also cherish opportunities to curl up in my dorm room on Friday night with my closest friends.
Did I mention that I also love the outdoors? My head might be in the books, but my heart lives and thrives in the stillness and enormity of the mountains. I have a heart chocked full of hope for humanity, but this comes with a dreadful tendency to spread myself thinly between all of my passions. Enter wilderness: the mountains serve as a refuge where I come to be still, meet with the Lord, and remember exactly what it is that makes me human. My parents took me to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park when I was just four days old...and the rest was history. I have been hiking and camping all my life, but have picked up extensive backpacking in the past 4-5 years. One of the defining experiences in my life thus far was a 420 mile, 5-week section hike on the Appalachian Trail from Massachusetts to Maine in Summer 2014. Thank you for joining me on this coming adventure!
About the Project:
LeConte27 was fittingly born while we were hiking in the middle of a July downpour. I (Minta) was working at Camp Wesley Woods and had recently been inspired by a minister in residence (MIR) at camp named Bob Hayes to attempt all 5 approach trails to Mt. LeConte in 24 hours (as he had done for his 65th birthday). Shouting over the crashing rain on the leaf canopy above and the forest floor below, I asked Taylor what he thought about joining me on this crazy adventure. He replied, "why don't we make it count?" I loved the idea and we simultaneously asked one another if we could pair the hike with an effort to mitigate human trafficking. With that...the dreaming started and the project was underway. Please refer to the FAQ tab and regularly updated HOME page for more details!
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