Sheltowee, Honey Creek, Gentlemen's Swimming Hole

Sheltowee 8.1
Honey Creek 3.4
Gentlemen's Swimming Hole 2.1

Heading out for an overnighter, we headed to the Big South Fork. We had not hiked the newest section of the Sheltowee trail which runs from Honey Creek to the O&W bridge. So we did! 5.2 miles.

The Sheltowee follows the West side of the Honey Creek Loop which is the easiest side with only one time that you have to crawl through the rocks. From there you go over the ridge and back down into the river valley. You get to see numerous rock houses and water falls. The horses, which I know that it is the ignorant riders that can't read the signs, have torn up the trail. Especially going down to the O&W bridge. The bridge has been improved since the last time we saw it.

From the bridge we headed back and set up camp on the ridge where the spring begins just before the Honey Creek Loop. We got to listen to the coyotes and owls for the night.

The next morning we did the other half of the 5.7 mile Honey Creek loop which is a challenge with a backpack. You have to climb, crawl, skirt, find, rock hop and go through on this section. It's all beautiful!

We drove up to the overlook after finishing the trail and ate lunch. With more time left in the day, we headed over to historic Rugby and hiked the 2.1 mile Gentlemen's Swimming Hole loop. This trail goes down to the Clear Fork where they have picnics and swimming. Then it goes along the river down to White Oak Creek where the creek and river meet. Then you climb back up the gorge and hike an old roadbed back to the trailhead. We did a little exploring on the roadbed. We found flagging in the woods that we thought would lead to an overlook. Stopped looking when the trail started dropping toward the creek.

Pictures:

Charit Creek

Charit Creek Trail 1.0 Miles
Hatfield Ridge Trail 6.8
Charit Creek Overlook 1.4
DAY ONE: 9.2
Station Camp Creek Trial 4.3
Charit Creek Trail 1.0
Black House Branch Trail 4.4
DAY TWO: 9.7
TOTAL MILES: 18.9

Back to Big South Fork for another weekend backpack.  To add a little excitement to our hike, we did some off trail adventures in search of natural arches found on our Tennessee Land Forms Link.

We started at the Charit Creek trailhead which has been moved since the book and map have been printed.  It is now 0.2 miles back up the road where they built a horse trailer parking lot and a hiker parking lot and gated the road.

You pass the Fork Ridge trailhead and the trail starts at the back of the old parking spot.  This trail is also now part of the Sheltowee Trace.  The trail drops down a ladder and follows the creek down to Charit Creek Lodge.  We left the trail and climbed back up to the rock bluff wall.  Near the end of the wall we found Bob's Arch which is 12' x 10'.  At the bottom is another opening that goes all the way through.  It was 1' x 6'.  We then hiked the trail down to the lodge.  Behind the lodge we picked up the Hatfield Ridge Loop trail and headed uphill.  On the map it is labeled as the Charit Creek Lodge Connector trail.  We left this trail in search of the 25' x 30' Hatfield Ridge arch which we did not find.  After further study, I feel we started too low on the hill side and even though we climbed up another level we should not have left the trail until you see the large rock formations at the top of the climb.

By now we had a pretty good work out in and decided to abandon our further searches for arches and just hike the trail.  We took the side trail to the Station Camp Creek (Charit Creek) overlook.  It had a wonderful view of the valley and an aerial view of Charit Creek Lodge.  We then headed back to the Hatfield Ridge trail and hiked down to the end of the ridge.

The trail circles around the end of the ridge with some views of the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River.    The trail now joins the John Muir trail and we made camp at an existing campsite on Station Camp Creek.  We had a warm campfire and saw the stars in between the clouds.  We got to hear an owl and I scared some large critter off when I went for more water after dark.

The next morning we got up and headed up stream on the Station Camp Creek trail.  They have made some changes and rerouted the trail / roadbed to avoid creek fording.  We were let down as we are always looking  forward to some old fashion foot washing.  We stopped at the Hatfield Cemetery and also at the pond that was dammed up by a beaver.  You could see some fresh cuttings as we removed one from the trail. When we got back to the lodge we took the Charit Creek trail back to the car.  We scared five deer on our climb out.

We swapped to day packs and hiked back to the Fork Ridge Trailhead and took it to the Black House Branch trail.  This follows the new Sheltowee Trace trail across to Jack's Ridge Loop trail.  We made a steep decent down to the creek crossings.  We crossed the Black House Branch three times and the Laurel Fork once before we started up the other side of the gorge.  This is also where the Laurel Fork Creek trail crosses.  On the way up there is a very large rock laying next to the trail and also a really impressive rock house to check out.   After we got to the Jack's Ridge Loop trail we turned around and hiked back to the car.  The creeks had not warmed up since the first trip across.

Another good hike and workout.

Pictures:

Sawtooth / Dead Deer Arch / Rock Creek / Buffalo Arch

Sawtooth Overlook and back 7 miles
Dead Deer Arch
Rock Creek Loop 9 miles
Parker Mountain Trail 0.6
Buffalo Arch 0.5
Total Miles: 17.1

Off to Big South Fork we went with an adventure in mind.  We started off on the Map listed as Hicks Ridge Trail and Sawtooth Ridge Trail.  In the book it is listed as Laurel Fork of North White Oak Creek.  Anyways the trailhead is on Darrow Ridge Road and the sign says 3.5 miles to Sawtooth Overlook.  Just up the trail is a new trail "Darrow Ridge Horse Trail"  that goes 2.1 miles East to Hippy Cave.

Our trail is old road bed which passes a cool looking rock wall on the left.  The Wild Cat Den is at 0.6 miles, which is a large rock shelter which has opening in the roof making it a natural arch in formation.  From there you ford the Laurel Fork on pavers.  Even at 24 degrees outside, the calf deep creek felt cold.  The roadbed goes up the other side with a steady climb.  When you get to the top you will find the longest straight trail in the BSF.  We hung a right at the intersection with the Sawtooth Ridge Trail and headed out to the overlook. The trail to the left is supposed to go out to what Google shows as Montgomery Lane off 154.

The Sawtooth Canyon is totally different than any other in the BSF.  From the air it would look like a saw blade with the teeth facing each other from both sides of the canyon.  The Laurel fork works it way back and forth between the high rock walls of the canyon.  We walked one of the teeth out to the end.  It started snowing on us there and we had a couple of white outs as we were eating our lunch.  Then we followed our trail back to the car.  We did not find the trail listed on the map as Pond Ridge Trail.

Next we were going to drive down to Hippy Cave.  Just past the Sawtooth trailhead there is alot of roads built for land that was for sale.  Maybe a quarter mile down the road turned into a mud pit with a field on the side.  We stopped and walked around the mud pit and saw that the road continued along the side of the field  but you would need a tractor or a good four wheel drive to make it.  We saw a trail heading into the woods and followed it for a bit and it connects to the new trail Darrow Ridge Horse Trail.  So we called this adventure off.  All the other trails off Darrow Ridge Road must be for hiking in dry weather only.   Maybe mid summer.

Next on our agenda was Dead Deer Arch.  This is an unmarked arch with no path going to it.  A hunter found it while looking for a deer.  The deer fell in the crack that makes the arch.  We found it in the book.  We drove the 1.8 miles up Divide Road and pulled off to the left.  We found the two signs on the post for the Pickett State Forest and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and started our bush whacking for the 0.1 miles down into the gorge.  Lora found a rock wall on the right with an opening so we headed that way.  After we explored the area around the creek and did find a small waterfall, we decided that we were in the wrong area.

On the way in I thought I saw a large rock wall over the next hill so we went and followed the next draw back up towards the road.  Here we found the arch.  It has a 40 foot span and is higher than the advertised 18 feet high as you can tell from our pictures.  After exploring the area, we headed up the North end of the arch and in about fifty feet we were back on the road and came across a tree with the same signs.  So if your looking for this arch, it is between 1.7 and 1.8 from TN 154 and look in the woods for the drop off you can see about 50 feet into the woods.  Go in by the tree with the two signs.  This is before you get to Watson Branch Road.

Next on the agenda was 9 mile Rock Creek Loop.  We hiked it clockwise to get to a campsite with water within a mile.  There was a group of Boy Scouts camping across the street from the Southern trailhead.  We parked up the road at the main trailhead and walked the road back to the Southern trailhead.  There was about a half inch of snow on the ground when we started.

We dropped down into the gorge and to Rock Creek.  There was a campsite at the junction with the JMT so we made it ours.  We collected alot of wood for the 19 degrees it was going to get down to.  We had a peaceful evening with a clear sky, lots of stars, and a moon so bright we didn't need flashlights.

The next morning we continued our hike of Rock Creek.  We were looking for the intersection of Coffee trail from across the creek, but never saw it.  It was another plan that we were considering as a trail into the Rock Creek loop.  We also found out that the Sheltowee has been rerouted for anyone that has hiked it.  It used to end at Pickett State Park, but now it is following the JMT and crosses over to the Charit Creek Lodge and goes back to the JMT and on to Leatherwood Ford.

The Rock Creek Loop is a beautiful trail covered with rock walls, the creek, a waterfall, and lots of green.  We had lots of icicles too this time of year.  The prettiest section is the rail bed out of the gorge with the waterfall and rock walls.  We passed four backpackers from Ohio along Rock Creek and one bicycle rider on the last section before the graveyard.

Now for the Buffalo Arch.  We drove back out to TN 154 and drove North past Pickett State Park.  We passed the trailhead for Coffee Trail which is a gated road, and headed into Kentucky to FR 562.  The first road to the right off FR 562 is the Parker Mountain trailhead.  You follow this trail 0.3 miles and the Buffalo Arch trail is a 0.25 mile spur trail  off to the right.  This is an amazing looking arch as it comes off the end of a rock wall.  It spans 82 feet and is higher than the advertised 19 foot clearance as you can see in our pictures.

So back to car as time runs out for this weekends adventures.  Life is Great!

Pictures:

Big South Fork Scenic Railway

Blue Heron Loop 6.6 miles
Yahoo Arch, Negro Creek, and Sheltowee Trace 10.9

Tornado, large hail, and server thunderstorm watch. Yep, that’s what they are calling for so its time to go hiking. We had already gotten tickets to ride the Big South Fork Scenic Railway and you can’t cancel them. We headed to Stearns, Kentucky for a train ride and hike. I took off an hour early from work to make the 11am train.

It’s an hour train ride to Blue Heron from Stearns. They slow down for some scenic areas and you go through a tunnel and through the historic town of Barthell. They had some short hikes and programs planned, but we decided to hike the Blue Heron Loop as a wild flower hike instead.

We ate at the snack bar and then hiked the loop. The Ranger wanted us to know that the hike was 6.6 miles and we had to catch the last train which left at 4:30. He made it sound like it might be hard to do. Anyway, we headed off. We hiked up through the Crack -in-The- Rock’s which is a rock formation that you actually hike through. Then we took the side trail to the Blue Haron Overlook. From there you hike to the Devils Jump Overlook. Somewhere in this area we got the thunder storm noise, but only a light rain for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Talk about a wildflower hike. We saw at least 15 different varieties including the lady’s slipper and all of them in abundance. We even had a turtle pose for a picture. When we got back we still had a half hour so we hiked over the coal tipple bridge and also caught the ranger talk which was pretty cool. She pulled out a guitar and went to singing an old folk lure about the Devils Jump. As it turns out, they were mining salt when they hit oil. Not knowing what is was, they decided to sell it for medical purposes because it tasted bad. They put it in a barrel and tried to raft it down the Cumberland River. At Devils Jump, which is a rapid, the raft crashed and the Cumberland got its first oil spill. This ordeal actually puts this as the first oil well in the America’s.

We enjoyed the train ride back in the rain. Our plans were to camp at Alum Ford. Because of the rain, we stopped at the restaurant in the train depot, Suzanne’s . Well, the owner took us for a tour of the dinner buffet and explained to us that everything was homemade by her. She was so proud of her food; we just had to eat there. It was well worth it as everything on the buffet was wonderful. We highly recommend this restaurant if you are in the area.

Well as we were sitting at the table, we recognized a lady there that had led one of the hikes. We asked her about how her hike went and after talking a bit she introduced herself to me and I recognized the name. She was one of my contacts for hiking the Sheltowee Trace and I have been sending her the trail condition reports as we have been going along. You never know where you might meet folks.

After dinner we drove up to Alum Ford. The rain had stopped and we put up the tent. More rain was supposed to come in, so we just walked down to the river to enjoy the evening. We got a wonderful show as the sun went down with all the different clouds and colors. We also got to watch as an otter swam playfully down the river in front of us. After dark we went back to the tent where we got to listen to three different owls talk for a long time. Sometime in the middle of the night, they decided to talk again and we woke to hear them.

The next morning we got up and enjoyed breakfast. As we were taking camp down, two fishermen stopped to talk to us as they were hiking up the trail a little ways to do some fishing.

We got on the Sheltowee and headed south along the Cumberland. The woods were full of wildflowers. We had a wild turkey fly up in front of us. We hiked down to Negro Creek and took Negro Creek trail back up to Yahoo Arch. We took the .5 mile spur trail to Markers Arch which is worth it. From Yahoo Arch we hiked the upper trail at Yahoo Falls, then went to the bottom and ate lunch. It was a beautiful day and the Yahoo Falls area had a lot of people on the trail.

After lunch we hiked down to the Sheltowee and took it back to Alum Ford. We would highly recommend these trails to anyone that is interested in wildflowers.

Pictures: