After Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving we headed over to my folks place. They took us to Dollywood where we spent the day taking in some wonderful shows. This is a Christmas must for anyone that can make it there during the season.

The next day we got up, ate breakfast, rearranged the furniture, and went hiking. Lora, who is always making sure I look good, forgot our hiking shoes so we hiked in our Sunday best. She had takin them to the truck, laid them down on a bail of straw and put everything else in the truck.

We hiked from Abrams creek campground up Cooper road and back. After successfully crossing the many water crossings on the way up the trail, Dad showed us how to cross them the manly way on the way back. Yea, it was wet, but he crossed it. Not to be outshown by my Dad, I got both feet wet on the last crossing.

It's always a great time with my parents.

Pictures:

Fiery Gizzard Trail

Day One:
Fiery Gizzard Trail 8.1
Day Two:
Fiery Gizzard Trail 4.4
Grundy Forest Day Loop 1.3
Grundy Lakes State Park 1.3

Lora and I decided to do an overnight hike at the South Cumberland Recreation Area. I had not hiked the Fiery Gizzard trail from Foster Falls to Raven Point. I did not think that I had been to Foster Falls until I saw it. I had done some repelling here about ten years ago with the volunteers.

I wanted to impress Lora right off. We made it about ten steps going down to the bottom of the falls, when I twisted my ankle and went to my knees. That hurt! I picked up what was left of my pride and we continued on.

At the bottom of the falls we took the Climbers Loop along the bluff wall. This is a mile long wall that is well known across the states as a place for wall climbers. They were hanging everywhere and the wall was covered in chalk where they had climbed before. It is amazing where these guys go, even upside down.

We climbed back to the top and enjoyed a couple of different overlooks as we continued our hike. This is a pretty easy section of hike other than the drop into Laurel Gorge and back out.

We stopped at the Anderson Falls which is an 80 foot drop water fall with a set of wood steps to the bottom. Right at two hundred of those steps our muscles counted on the way back up. This is the last water before Raven Point campground where we stayed the night.

Raven point campground has six sites and is located on private property which we found out means you cannot have a campfire here. It worked out as the weather was beautiful and we even left the rain fly off the tent so we could enjoy the stars and full moon.

All the sites except two were taken up by the Boy Scouts. We did hike out to see the sunset from Raven Point and get our hearts racing everytime a Boy Scout went out by the edge of the drop off.

The next morning we hiked the hard part of the trail from Raven point to the Grundy Forest Picnic Shelter. While going down into the Gulf, Lora decided to show me an Outcast short cut. As we were trying to get back up to the trail, she did a little dance with a twist on the side of the drop off, where I grabbed her by the pack before she did the final dismount. She was quite impressive to watch, but I didn't want to see the end.

We decided to include the day loop at the end of the trail since neither of us had hiked it before. There are a couple of more water falls on this section of the trail.

On our drive back through Tracy City we had to stop by the Dutch Made Bakery for a celebration. Well, they just happen to be serving a lunch buffet at the time and well you know.....

After waddling out of the Dutch Made Bakery, we decided that we should walk off a little of that food. We drove to Grundy Lakes State Park and hiked around the lakes. We were impressed by all the Coke Ovens there and there is a lot of history. Once again to impress Lora, I hung a toe on a tree stump and pretty much just fell on her. Luckily she held me up so I didn't hit the ground.

Pictures:

TTA Hike

The TTA Annual Meeting was held at Pickwick Landing State Park and was hosted by the Memphis and Jackson chapters. I had never hiked in this area of Tennessee so I decided to check it out. Craig and I drove to Eagleville on Friday where Marco treated us to a nice evening with a fire and cough medicine.

I got up REALLY early to start the drive to Pickwick. Got to Pickwick around 6:30 and registered. Found lots of hiking friends to say Hi to then found the breakfast line with all the hikers fueling up for their hikes.

My hike for the day was at Cane Creek Nature Preserve. 31 of us loaded into cars and had a caravan heading to Tuscumbia, Alabama. This property is privately owned by a lovely couple, the Lacefields, who welcome hikers, free of charge, to come see the beauty of the area. There are overlooks, waterfalls, rock walls, so much to see and enjoy. 413 acres and about 11 miles of trails with camping areas. They will provide a map that you’ll need to return to them when you come off the trails. Thanks to our hike leader Sara Hakim for a great hike.

The rain started after we got back to the Inn at Pickwick .After a good meal, we headed into the TTA Conference room for a final look at the silent auction items to see if we had been outbid. Then came the awards ceremony, and chapter reports, and the big auction. Some very cool items were up for bid; I scored with a big box full of nuts and dried fruit and chocolate covered stuff, good for lots of hikes!

Sunday morning dawned clear and pretty. Great day for a hike at Big Hill Pond. Eleven of us loaded up and headed west behind hike leader Wayne Simpson. Big Hill Pond is a really pretty park. Starting at the boat ramp we hiked the trail following the lake, Board Walk Trail and the trail to the Tower. There was a good view from the tower, worth the climb. We ate lunch there and then followed the Tuscumbia Trail to the junction leading back to the lake. Got into some areas that could have used a few logs or maybe another boardwalk. It was a great day and a great hike.

Off the trail, got a text from Craig from 2 hours ago saying the Outcasts had arrived and were starting out on the trail. Yep, there’s Marco’s truck with the Outcasts sticker on it.
Time for the drive home. Pretty drive back to Pikeville; got to see all the farmland I had missed in the dark Saturday morning. It was dark by the time I hit the ‘Boro, then 2 more hours driving. It was a great weekend and well worth the drive to West Tennessee to get to see everybody and make new friends. Thanks to Memphis and Jackson chapters for a well planned Annual Meeting. It was a lot of fun.

Cumberland Trail-Grassy Cove Segment

Day One:6.5
Brady Mountain 6.5 miles
Day Two: 8.45
Brady Mountain 1.25
Road Hike 0.7
Black Mountain 3.8
Black Mountain Loop 1.7
Outcast Shortcut 1
Total:14.95

Lora and I headed out to hike the Grassy Cove Segment of the Cumberland trail. This section includes Brady Mountain and Black Mountain.

Once again with the Cumberland trail area, you need to visit the website and print off the map and trail description. They assume you know the roads in this area or they are for local people only. They don't put street signs up.

After a little confusion we made it to the top of Black Mountain to leave a car. After that we drove to the Jewett Road trailhead to begin our hike. By the way, Jewett road is gravel back hill driving.

The trail is pretty well marked and clear. It has some good climbs that build character. The first overlook you come to is the Donnelly overlook. It's a smaller rock overlook that you can see Bear Den Mountain from. Lost overlook is more impressive and you can see Grassy Cove down below. None of the overlooks are marked and you really have to be looking for them.

Next, when the four wheeler trail heads off to your left and the trail goes straight, follow the four wheeler trail and look off the side of the mountain and you will see the plane wreckage. It's a very steep climb down the side if you want to take pictures.

Brady Mountain arch is a small arch on top of a bolder. We were not impressed, but the rocks around them are interesting to look at. The Brady Bluff Overlook is on another unmarked trail and this is a great overlook. You can see the Smoky Mountains, the Nuclear plant on the Tennessee River to the south and the twin stacks to the north. We ate our lunch and spent some quality time here.

From Brady Bluff Overlook we started hiking down the mountain. We had four big gobblers walk in front of us strutting their stuff. We found us a place to spend the night and then watched the sun set over the Cumberland Mountains.

The next morning we hiked the other mile and a quarter down to the road and then hiked the .7 miles from one trailhead to the other. We stopped at a house and knocked on the door to see if we could borrow some water from the tap. With no answer we started filling our water bladders. Of course then someone comes to the door wanting to know what we are doing. They didn't mind, so we finished and headed down the road.

From the road to Windless Cave is pretty clear hiking along an old road bed. The only thing that throws you off is the Cumberland trail signs. They point in the wrong direction on two different intersections.

We entered Windless Cave and explored back about thirty yards. After that we started the steep climb up Black Mountain. We saw our first hikers when we got to the designated campsite. When we got to the rock bluff we saw some people repelling and then when we climbed the stairs we started to see lots of people on the loop trail.

We hiked to the Southern Overlook and had lunch. From there we hiked to the Spring House and Remnants of old homes for some pictures. We hiked to the car, dropped our packs, and then hiked what we thought was the loop. When we came back to the stairs we realised that we ended up in the wrong spot. We climbed the stairs and took the northern loop. The Northern overlook is not as impressive as there are a lot of trees in the view. Then we hiked back to the Remnants of the old homes and found why we missed the trailhead. It's not marked and it's overgrown.

We did have beautiful weather and enjoyed the hike.

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