Many people go fly fishing in hopes of landing a trophy trout or an elusive wild species. We choose the perfect fly and cast the line in the picturesque bubbly run, and sometimes there is success on the other end. However, we often leave the rivers we wade into with much more than fish.

In the fall of 2022, cohosts of the Storied Outdoors Podcast, Brad Hill and Bryan Gill, along with friends of the show, Hugh Cheek and Blake Walters, trekked to the north Georgia mountains for a weekend getaway on the Noontootla Creek.

The Storied Outdoors is a podcast that is somewhere between Lewis and Tolkien and Lewis and Clark. Brad and Bryan seek to find clarity in the stories they tell and the adventures that shape them. Between interviews with guests and personal essays read aloud by Brad, they do just that. This weekend was one of those adventures they hoped would bring clarity.

It was more than just a getaway—it was a chance to reflect and refuel in order to return to their families as better men. The group camped in tents and cooked over the open fire. The early November air was cool but not cold. The gentle rains falling from the towering pines above was charming and added a restful ambiance to the gently flowing creek that meandered through the canopy of rhododendron hugging the Appalachian hillside.

The Noontootla, Cherokee for “the land of shining waters,” was more than generous, and as the sun broke through the clouds reflecting on the waters, these men drew reflections of their own. While there was fishing and plenty of catching, this group left with so much more than fish.

Thanks to the hard work of Incolr Film company for pouring themselves into this project and hanging out with us in the rain.