Saturday, March 16, 2024

Gooch Creek Arch

Today we hiked to 78'x45' Gooch Creek Arch just out of Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness with the Chattanooga Hiking Club and TTA. It was a beautiful hiking day and we met more friends! It was a 10.5 mile hike with the crossing of Laurel branch twice.

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Thursday, March 14, 2024

Nashville

 


Melanie had an ARON conference in Nashville so plans were made and we headed to Middle Tennessee. Marjorie flew in Friday afternoon so we picked her up at the airport and headed to the big city. With time to kill, we started day one of many days walking the city. After getting a layout of the city we checked into our Condo and then started at the Yee Haw Brewing Company listening to live music. Then we met our cousin Faith at the Bar Louie to watch her perform. Melanie came in at midnight.

Saturday while Melanie was in conference we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman, and Broadway. The tour of the Ryman was really cool. Built as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the Mother Church then held the Grand Ole Opry. Craig shared memories of his Grandpa sitting here all day listening to the performers and eating Goo Goo Clusters. Afterwards, we met Faith where she was auditioning at Tootsies. They were impressed and hired her and her band! The talent in Nashville is impressive! ARON had a 75th anniversary party which we attended. Later we ended the day on Broadway.

Sunday we did the riverwalk with Marjorie and saw the Capital building and the other government buildings around the Hill. We met Melanie for a BBQ lunch, and then we took Marjorie to the airport. From there we went to Warner Park and hiked the 2.5 mile Warner Woods trail. Lots of wildflowers were blooming. Bloodroot was covering one whole hillside. We came back to meetup with Melanie and went to dinner with Faith.

Monday Lora and I explored the old churchs; the architecture is amazing; the old Union Station with it's impressive lobby, and government offices (the Courthouse is only 2 years old and there was no tour available. We took a tour of the Capital building  where hopefully business was being conducted, and Fort Nashborough. We had dinner at The Stillery which had awesome food! That night we went for a gathering of ARON at the Nashville Underground. Lot's of dancing.

Tuesday we met up with the Nashville Chapter TTA for breakfast. Then we headed over to the Parthenon to check it out. We met Melanie for lunch and to view the conference center. We met up with Faith at the TailGate Brewery Headquarters and then did dinner at Blanco Cocina & Cantina which was great food. Afterwards we walked and danced Broadway. 

Wednesday we got up at 4am and took Melanie to the airport. Then we headed over to Radnor Lake SP  to hike with the Nashville Chapter of TTA. We got there before the gate opened, still dark, took a nap, waited and watched lots of hikers show up but none of them were our group. Finally asked one hiker about the trailhead and she said we were at the wrong one. The other trailhead was just across the lake but you couldn't reach it from where we were, we had to drive 13 minutes away to the Visitor Center. We got there 3 minutes late but our friends were still in the parking lot. Wildflowers are blooming here also, lots of Toothwort, and some Dutchmans Breeches. We saw deer, turtles, eagles, cormorants, ducks, and turkeys. After their scheduled hike, we stayed and hiked the Lake Trail. 

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Thursday, March 7, 2024

Big Soddy Creek Gulf and CT


Today's hike started at Big Soddy Creek Gorge. When you cross the bridge we turned right and climbed the switchbacks to the Cumberland Trail and went North. We followed the Gorge to the end and climbed up to the top before turning around and back tracking. We saw wildflowers, lizzards, and water falls. 25' Lasley Falls and 17' Kai Falls.

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Saturday, March 2, 2024

Black Mountain TTA



We had 9 hikers to hike the Black Mountain section of the Cumberland Trail. We met at 8:30 am CT at the Black/Brady Mountain trailhead on Highway 68. We explored Windlass Cave and then a back country campsite with what would have been a nice view, but it was too foggy to see into Grassy Cove. It stayed cloudy all day and we weren't able to see much from the overlooks. We enjoyed an early lunch at the South Overlook.  We explored old homesteads and a spring house. After hiking the short loop at the top of Black Mountain we made our way back down to the trailhead on Highway 68. 


The hike distance totaled almost 9 miles and we finished in 5 hours. Hikers were: Jim Barritt, Jay Brain, Jean Breuer, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Sheila Miller, Thai Alan Ng, Sara Pollard and Jane Reyling. 

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Virgin Falls with Jennifer



Copied from Jennifer's post.

 What a great day yesterday with my sweet friends at Virgin Falls! Spring is right around the corner! We saw so many wildflowers either already blooming or just about to bloom! Just another day in awe of the beauty God has placed all around us!

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Friday, February 23, 2024

Prater Place

Today's hike at Prater Place. The wildflowers are starting to bloom.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Greenway Farm TTA


Fourteen hikers gathered at Greenway Farms for a delightful country walk surrounded by the city. Led by Ginny, we started by taking the shourt jaunt behind Bethel Bible Villaage before doubling back adn following the dirt path hugging the North Chickamauga Creek. Luckily, most of the mud from recent rains had dried. Back on the gravel/paved path, we enjoyed views of the creek, the lovely homes across the creek, and the old quarry from which limestone to build the Chickamauga Dam was quarried during the 1930's. A coupleof hills got our heartrate up. After the hike several hikers adjourned to Mike's Tavern for well-earned refreshments. 

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Saturday, February 17, 2024

Collin's Gulf


Today's hike was Collin's Gulf. We had gotten a little snow overnight. Great day to be out with just a few other hikers.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Piney Falls and Stinging Fork Falls


Lora and I did the Piney Falls and the Stinging Fork Falls hikes today.

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Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Foster Falls TTA


Joan led 18 hikers from Scenic City, Highland Rim, and Murfreesboro on the Foster Falls trail. Sunshine and blue sky and temps in the mid 60's got folks excited about being out on the trail. It was in the 30's starting out but the sun along the bluffline had people stripping down. Hiked out to the Small Wilds Campground where we had lunch, then back to the parking lot. 

Jennifer wanted to see Denny Cove so she and I went there and saw the overlook where there were climbers down below. Then on the the waterfall which was gorgeous today with a rainbow at the bottom. On the way back we took the climbers route along the bluff, picking our way carefully thru the rocks and behind the waterfall. Some of the trail is challenging to follow; we were watching for the blue blazes. But it was fun and so glad we hiked it. 

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