Fiery Gizzard

It has been a long time since we were on this trail. We hiked this trail on our first date twelve years ago but have been on it since. This time the bridge over the creek was out so we had to cross over on some logs. There were alot of people out on the trail today. It was a beautiful day for hiking.

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Fiery Gizzard TTA

Craig was backpacking on the AT and I had an extra vacation day to burn so I went hiking. Met the Plateau folks at the Fiery Gizzard Trailhead. Got on the trail around 10:30 EST.

The trailhead has been moved, there are signs that say area closed for restoration.  Kiosk is behind the picnic shelter and bathrooms. Another sign there says the CCC camp is now permanently closed. Too much trampling around the three campsites has made it into one big area and needs to rehab. You still get to walk past the 500 year old hemlock. The six of us had fun with all the rocks and I remembered to point out the arch at the top of the big climb to the trail junction. We didn’t go to Raven’s Point, we had enough miles to hike before dark without adding another mile. The  rerouted trail is beautiful and strenuous, but the waterfalls make it all worthwhile. On the woods walk the sun was setting and turning the horizon orange. We hiked into the last creek gorge and climbed up to the top of the ridge and got our headlamps out. Deb called the Ranger to ask them to not lock the gate on our cars at the other trailhead, that we were coming but still had a couple of miles to hike. We could hear Foster Falls but couldn’t see it in the dark. Louise gave the drivers a ride back to the other trailhead and then Deb drove back to pick up the other two hikers.

Beautiful hike for a day off during the week. 

Fiery Gizzard - Friends of the South Cumberland

The meet up group Friends of the South Cumberland scheduled a hike on a Friday so I signed up.Fiery Gizzard the destination. I got there early and the gate was still locked. The other hikers got there, except for our hike leader. We waited for a while, sent him a text and took off without him. It was chilly so we started out at a fast pace. My short legs were not up for it so I was sweep for most of the day. We stopped here and there to take pics and catch our breath (me). When we got to the rock hopping section I was telling them how I always miss a turn here cause I am always watching my feet and not the blazes. One guy said Oh well I guess that would be easy to do, and proceeded to do exactly that. I looked up in time to see the blaze to the right going down and pointed him in the right direction. 

I remembered to look for the arch as we got close to the top of the ridge. No one had seen it before.

We ate lunch at Raven's Point and then walked to Anderson Falls. Lots of steps down to see the 90 ft waterfall from the bottom.
We went down the Dog Hole Trail to finish the loop. I met some nice folks to hike with, and it was a great day.

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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.

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Fiery Gizzard

Soddy Daisy TTA members Lora Smith with guest Craig McBride, Casey Stryker with his sister Kristin on her first hike, enjoyed a joint hike with 6 members of the Murfreesboro TTA. We had blue skies and sunshine with chilly breezes while climbing Chimney Rocks and picking our way along the rocky trail. We stopped along the way at Sycamore Falls and at Black Canyon where Big and Little Fiery Gizzard Creeks junction. A couple of hikers decided to get their socks wet in one of the stream crossings. Nothing like ice cold water on your feet to get you moving in the morning. On the way up to Raven’s Point we found Raven’s Arch. After a hunger building workout climbing to the rim, we had lunch at Raven’s Point taking in the beautiful views into Gizzard Cove. After waking up the resting new hiker we started down the Dog Hole Trail which wanders thru the forest along the rim of Gizzard Cove. Beautiful views on this trail into the gorge. After a steep decent into the gorge we walked beside ice covered walls with huge icicles hanging over the trail. Back along the creek our minds were on the sugary treats at the Dutch Made Bakery in Tracy City. A quick phone call to the sweet lady at the bakery reassured us they were still open. Pecan Tastys, 7 Layer Delights, Fruit filled Turnovers, sweet breads—what a great way to end a perfect day spent hiking with friends, old and new.

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