Oregon 2011

Lora and I flew out to see the girls in Oregon. We had a great time. We did some snowmobiling and some short hikes in the woods. There was 70 inches of snow on the mountain.

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Cedars Of Lebanon

Hidden Springs Trail 5.0
Limestone Sinks Trail 0.5
Dixon Merrit Trail 0.5

Day two of the weekend. We hiked Cedars of Lebanon State Park. We started with the Hidden Springs Trail. The weather had warmed up enough that we were hiking in mud as everything had thawed out. This trail goes through limestone glades in the cedar forest. There are Limestone sinks, caves, and rocky outcrops. The Hidden Springs were down in a cave that you can hear running down through the opening. This is a very popular trail and we saw many people out hiking and running.

The Limestone Sinks Trail is actually attached to the Hidden Springs Trail. A spur does go out to the road, but there is no sign showing a trail head. It is pretty much the same as the rest of the terrain.

The Dixon Merrit Trail is hidden behind the nature center by Hermit Cave. Hermit cave was explained to us a fenced in enclosure. When we found it, it fit the description. There is a fence around a wooden fence around the opening of the cave. Pretty much a hole in the ground. The Trail is more of the same.

We had a good day of hiking.

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Long Hunter State Park

Couchville Lake Trail 2.0
Day Loop Trail 4.0
Volunteer Trail 5.5

Lora and I hiked at Long Hunter State Park today. We started out with the Couchville Lake Trail, which is a paved two mile trail around the Couchville lake. Every time I have been on this trail I have seen deer. The deer are not scared of people and usually just watch you go by. This is the first time I have hiked here that the lake was frozen over. Someone had actually drove some type of vehicle out on the ice. I'm not sure how that went as the tracks just stop out in the middle. This two mile trail passes by sinkholes, through hardwood forest, and crosses the lake on a 300 foot bridge.

After hiking the Couchville trail we headed over to the Day Loop and hiked it. The weather was warming up and the trail is beautiful. We stopped and had a snack on the bench overlooking the lake. When we got to the split where the Volunteer Trail comes in, we decided it was early enough that we could hike down towards the campground. We passed our first hiker on the way out towards the camp. We stopped along the lake shore and ate lunch. After lunch we hiked on to about two miles shy of the campground. Here we got to listen to a couple of Barred owls talking to each other. There were numerous different birds to see including some blue birds.

We turned and headed back. On the way out we past seven backpackers that were going to spend the night. We finished the Day Loop on the way out to the car.

This is a beautiful park to hike.

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Virgin Falls

Virgin Falls
I hiked with Marnel Cothran from Upper Cumberland TTA for her 100th hike at Virgin Falls. I met up with Pokey Pete and crew at Sparta for the drive to the parking area. Good thing, cause it got crowded. There were 21 hikers there to go with Marnell; plus other hikers including two firefighters from Cookville. It was a little cold and overcast but we warmed up as we got into the woods. One group hiked up to the overlook with Marnel and Lillian leading the way. The other group went ahead to the falls.

There was a lot of water coming over Laurel Falls; it was beautiful and so was Sheep Cave Falls, one group went up to the top, one group went on. We all met up when we got to Virgin Falls; alas no fire was burning in the fire pit. Several people said they had never seen this much water spilling over the falls. We had lunch and again broke into smaller groups to hike out.

When we got to Laurel Falls we took a different route along an old road bed and came out at the road leading to Welch’s Point and the party waiting for us to get there. The crew at Welches point had a warm fire built and hot water warming up for coffee and hot chocolate. Marnel brought brownies to share and others had brought along veggies and fruit and cheese and chips and dip….. One of the ladies was with Marnel for her very first hike to Virgin Falls.

We walked out to the Point for the view and it is spectacular. You had to brace against the howling wind and not get close to the edge (Steve this means you).

It was a great day for hiking and wonderful to celebrate with Marnel.

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