Savage Gulf 10 mile loop

Savage Day Loop
North Rim Trail
Mountain Oak Trail
Big Tree Loop
North Plateau Trail
Savage Day Loop
Total Loop: 10 Miles

Lora and I got to do a little hiking. We were going to do an overnighter at Hobb's Cabin, but the weathermen talked us out of it saying that it was going to rain all day Thursday. Once again they were wrong.

It was a snow hike and we were not alone as there were many backpackers out that were coming back from Hobb's and going to Hobb's Cabin. It's great to see people enjoying the outdoors and using the TN State Parks.

Pictures:

White Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful family gathering this year. My Brother, sisters, and their families gathered at Mom and Dads for Christmas. Grandma was already there and Aunt Linda, Rick and Austin joined in for the celebration.

The stocking were hung on the banister with care, in the hopes that Saint Nicholas would soon be there. There might have been a spotting of the scrooge, but the love of the family gathered together proved stronger.

There was lots of snow in the Tennessee mountains meaning sledding, snowmen, snow angels, and snowballs. There were snow hikes, eating, singing, dancing, and card playing. There might have been some eating done as there were pounds and pounds of food everywhere.

Lora and I were blessed with a few extra family gatherings as her Dad's family had one and then we got to celebrate Christmas with her family at her Mom's and Dads with her sister and nephew.

The time flew by fast and soon everyone was to depart, but the memories will stay true forever in our hearts.

Pictures:

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.

Pictures:

Father Son Hike 2010

Day One: 7.7
Deep Creek Trail to campsite 56 7.7miles
Day Two: 7.7
Deep Creek 0.5miles
Martins Gap 1.5
Sunkota Ridge 4.9
Thomas Divide 0.375
Newton Bald 0.5
Day Three: 12.75
Newton Bald 0.25
Mingus Creek 2.8
Deeplow Gap 6.1
Indian Creek 2.9
Deep Creek 0.7
Total: 28.15

This year we followed tradition with the hike planning. Plan A was cancelled due to bear activity, Plan B was cancelled the day before the trip due to bear activity, and Plan C was planned????? well made up right before the hike.

After the traditional pre hike breakfast, we headed to NC to the none bear closed side of the park. We hiked Deep Creek in to campsite 56. We got our group picture at the trailhead. After I turned the camera on and off a couple of times, I got our picture taken with the correct button.

We started right off with our deer sighting as we cleared the trailhead. Deep Creek was a series of ups and downs, which the river did not take, showing us the aerial view every so often. The colors were wonderful as was the temperature. We saw many other hikers out varying from overnighters to day hikers. We stopped for lunch and watched the mice play in the leaves.

When we got to camp there was a tent already set up. Shortly there after, a man came into camp with a fly rod and welcomed us to camp. Bill was a State Farm rep from Florida. He had stayed out the night before and was leaving in the morning. We enjoyed his company by the fire that night as the full moon put on it's presentation. No flashlights were needed tonight. No, there were no fish eaten either.

It is great to wake up to the sound of breaking branches. Bill had gotten up and started the fire. We liked this man. We had an enjoyable breakfast and then Dad put on his entertainment for us.

Dad went over to his hammock where he put on a special one legged dance that we had not seen before. Of course he followed up with a backflop and roll into the woods. Always wanting to learn from the master, we asked about his performance. He had stepped back and the tarp string went between his crock and foot and held on until the stake finally let loose. Luckily, no ones eye got put out as the tarp stake flew through the air and landed over by the trail. It took some time to find this allusive little stake.

After Dad regained his composer, he worked out all the muscles that were involved and then we walked down to the new bridge that the park service had put across Deep Creek. We are still wondering how they got this massive log into place. It was every foot of four foot in radius and at least seventy feet long. We didn't even find the stump where they had cut it down. Life's little mystery's.

From camp we decided to hike eight miles uphill and call it a day. We hiked to Newton's bauld where we found more interesting people to visit with at campsite 52. One man that had a campsite to himself, was the same man we saw passing our last camp. We remembered him from the twenty years in the woods by himself look and the matching shovel handles that used for walking sticks. The other campsite had numerous young men and a lady. So we made our little campsite on the other side of the bear bag hanger.

After dinner and a wonderful sunset, we joined the younger campers at their campfire. Most of them were from NC, and one couple was from MN. We had a nice visit as they finished their dinners and brought out the cough medicine. When one asked about a sample bottle another reached into his pocket where several sampler bottles fell out. He picked one up and handed it to his friend. Lightweight I recon.

After a restful night, we headed out to finish our hike. Mostly down hill, we made some good time. We lost alot of time on the uphill as we concord the Deeplow Gap trail. By the time we got to Indian Creek trail, we had finished nine of the proposed ten and a half miles. The only down fall was the sign reading three and half miles to go. Interesting math isn't it?

Well we hiked Indian Creek to the Loop Trail. After a break we started the uphill climb up the Loop Trail. After a few minutes, Dad stops and we saw a light come on. We shouldn't be hiking up hill, he says. But, we always hike uphill. NO...wrong way. Back to Indian Creek and hike through to Deep Creek. Another traditional extra.

After a two hour trip home we did the traditional pizza and beer with the comparison of our hiking trip and the ladies shopping trip.

Pictures:

Wedding Hike

Lora and I decided to get married. As usual you pick out the date and then work like hell to get everything else to fall into place. The easy thing was to get rings. Ya right. We knew what we wanted, but finding them was another ordeal. After a lot of internet searching and some internet searching, I finally found a place to do what we wanted…..but not on our schedule. With a little finagling we got them to do a rush order.

So I called the ranger station at Big South Fork. I need to know how close I could get the official to the Angel Falls Overlook by car. He told me that you could get within 500 feet of the overlook down a road. He said that it gets a little rough towards the end. Cool, we could work with that. Now what else is there??????? Oh ya, the official.

Well how hard is it to find someone that would hike to the top of a mountain to marry a wonderful couple? We called, we searched, and we went off recommendations. We had people that knew people of friends of people who referred us to people. Still no luck. Finally, Lora got a connection and I called the Scott County Trustee, Jimmy Byrd, and he said yes. I said ya right. We still had a week to spare.

All is going well. Jimmy agreed to meet us at the Brandy Creek Campground at 11:00 and he would drive us up to the overlook. He would leave us there and we would hike back the next day.

Saturday, I got off work and headed to Crossville where I was going to meet Lora. I called Jimmy and he said that he would be leaving in a few minutes to meet us. That seemed kinda early and a little light went on. “Are you on Eastern time?” Why ya. OK, I can still pull this off. I picked up a little speed and we made it there about fifteen minutes after 11:00. On the way into the park, I also remembered that we needed a backcountry permit. So a little bit later, we finally started down the road.

Running off that fine memory of mine, I promptly had him turn on the wrong road and drive it to the end. After pulling the map out of my pack, we regrouped and headed down the right road. I did that just to build up Jimmy’s confidence as I led him off into nowhere USA.

Right as we hit the end of the gravel road there was a trailhead kiosk. That’s it. It’s got to be where we hike in from. I looked at the trail signs and yep this is where we belong. We grab our packs and Jimmy and his wife found a pen to sign all the official paperwork. Off we go.

Boy oh boy this is a long 500 feet. After seeing the doubt in everyone’s face, I hiked ahead to see how much further we had to go. After another 500 feet I decided to check out the flat area next to the trail. It was the road bed. A two rut road. So we left the ladies standing on the road and we went back for the truck. When we got to the truck we noticed the two rut road was going the wrong direction. So we decided to go back, get the ladies and hike a little further.

Jimmy locked the doors on his truck this time and off we went. After hiking about halfway back to the ladies, I noticed a red vehicle parked up next to the trail. I pointed it out to Jimmy and he said “Yes, that’s my truck.” The trail had made a large loop and crossed right next to where the truck was parked. After a little laughter, we went to the truck. I promptly reached through the open windows and unlocked the doors. With some more laughter we headed down the two rut road. We no sooner cleared the first hill, when we came up to the ladies standing there. More laughter.

After we loaded up the ladies we got down the road until we came to a major mud hole. Jimmy made the call that that was as far as we were going. We unloaded and started our second hike to the overlook. After another 500 feet, I hiked ahead and saw we had a ways to go. I came back and said that Jimmy could marry us right here in the woods. No, Jimmy had his hiking legs on now and he said that it couldn’t be much further and let’s get hiking. To the overlook we went. We actually got married on the Fall Branch Gorge Overlook which we came to first.

We preformed the ceremony as Jimmy’s wife took pictures. Afterwards we hiked back to the truck and backed down the road until we found a place to turn around. We grabbed our packs and said our goodbyes. The Byrds’ headed home with a new wedding story to tell and Lora and sat down and ate lunch. Jimmy and his wife were wonderful people and we really enjoyed our time with them. We are very grateful that they put up with us and performed our marriage.

After lunch we hiked back to the overlook and then continued on the Grand Loop Trail. As dinner time came on we found an old road bed to set up camp on. Lora, with her on time thinking, reminded me that we have to cut a cake. Since we didn’t have one, we took pictures as we cut our candy bar. We had a wonderful evening talking about our exciting day next to the campfire looking at the wonderful stars overhead.

The next day we hiked to the Fall Branch trail and took the John Litton Farm Loop trail back to Bandy Creek campground. We drove from there down to Leatherwood Ford and had a picnic lunch on the Ford Bridge.

While we ate, we had a couple of lightweight backpackers go by. They were heading to the Angel Falls Overlook for the night. When they walked by we looked at their backpacks. On the back of the guys pack, he had a case of Gatorade attached and a full size Colman lantern. The lady had a bundle of stuff hanging off her pack, but you could see both ends of the full bag of Kingsford charcoal. WOW…. They have a lot to learn.

Pictures:

Meigs Creek Trail

Meigs Creek Trail....3.5 Miles
Meigs Mountain Trail...1.9 Miles
Curry Mountain Trail.3.3 Miles
Little River Road....2.0 Miles
Total................10.7 Miles

Lora and I headed to East Tennessee. Mom and Dad were working at the Townsend Fall Festival. We met up with them and Granny, Linda, and Rick at the Festival.

The next morning Lora and I headed out to hike Meigs Creek. It was a beautiful day for hiking as we enjoyed the creek and water falls. We stopped at a beautiful cascade to take some pictures. As we climbed down to the bottom, I pointed up to a wild turkey that was flying over the falls. I turned around to see Lora's expression and as usual she was looking down in the water for crawl fish. Oh well.

We stopped for a food break when we got up to Lumber Ridge Trail. As we ate we looked at the map and decided to extend our hike a little. We hiked up Meigs Mountain Trail past campsite 19 and on to Curry Mountain Trail. This whole area is a beautiful place to hike. We got a lot of wild flowers, color changes, grape vines, and mountain views. We even got to skate on acorns as this year there is an amazing amount of them on the trail.

If you ever hike down the side of the Little River Road, just be very careful as there is a lot more traffic than there is shoulder.

Pictures:

New River Segment- Cumberland Trail

Day One....Cove Lake to Montgomery Fork campsite 6.6 Miles
Day Two....Montgomery Fork to Norma Road 10.6 Miles
Total Miles...17.2

Lora and I hiked the New River segment of the Cumberland trail this weekend. After I got off shift I met Lora and we headed to Cove Lake state park. The trail sign still reads Smokey Mountain segment, but they have officially changed it to New River segment.

You definitely want to go to the Cumberland trail website and print off the trail description and maps for this hike.

After you hike under I-75 and cross over Cove Creek and the railroad, you will climb 1900 feet in the next 4 miles. You might stop a time or two to catch your breath. This is also the highest point on the Cumberland trail when you cross the 3,000 foot elevation mark. At the power lines the trail is grown over and continues to be as you hike around the crest of the ridge. At the top is supposed to be a wonderful overlook which is obviously not marked or on the trail as we never did see it.

From the top you follow a old grown over jeep trail down the other side and when you get to the Mine #10 road you find a warning sign for blasting in the area. Kinda makes you wonder. The trail on the other side of the road is grown over so it is hard to see. You hike down, sometimes steeply as Lora slid into a fall on the way, to the Montgomery Creek campsite. This campsite is located off the trail, but is on the creek and has a good water source.

With the heat, it felt good to get wet in the creek. We ate dinner, got a fire going, and enjoyed the evening.

The next morning we hiked on. The Montgomery Fork and Spring Branch bridges do not exist anymore. The pylons are still there, with nothing on them. After crossing Greens Branch bridge you start another climb up McCory ridge and Anderson Mountain that will build character. Here, Lora showed me again how you can fall if not careful as the path was removed by a root ball of a fallen tree.

When you get to the Lower Field East Perimeter life gets rough. The field is overgrown about chest high and you have to bushwhack your way through with no signs of a trail to follow. After that you will cross a gravel road, which you really need to follow until you get to the gate as the trail continues through overgrown fields. When you get to the gate you bushwhack your way to the woods and it is a battle all the way to the top of Anderson Mountain. Not much sign of a trail all the way to the top. Just look for blazes when you can find them. When you get to the top you will be wondering through grass fields around knee high with the Cumberland trail signs on eight foot high posts. There is still some pretty views of the Cumberland mountains from the top.

On the way down you will follow a grown over road and cut off into the woods. From there you go down to a gravel road which you follow until the crossroad with a sign and with an arrow. The trail is overgrown at this point and you will not see the blazes from the road. Just bushwhack as they are there. Follow the arrow. This will take you to the unkept section of the trail. Yes, more character as you try to find your way from blaze to blaze for the next two miles.

Over all the trail that is in bad condition is a little over 4 miles from the first field to the decent of Anderson mountain at the gravel ATV road. After you get by the large boulder in the middle of the trail go left and there is a little evidence of a trail into the woods. From there you can hike down to Norma road where you want to get ahold of Miss Linda Ward as she will give you a ride back to the park. She is a very nice lady that runs a hunting camp from her house.

Pictures: