Collins Gulf Falls

 

Saturday after Thanksgiving was a good day to go look at waterfalls. We drove out to Collins Gulf and hiked to Suter Falls and Horsepound Falls.

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TTA After Thanksgiving Hike

We had 22 hikers for the traditional after Thanksgiving Day hike at Old Stone Fort State Park in Manchester. We met at 9:00 am CT in front of the museum and started our hike along the beautiful Duck River. We hiked the Forks of the River Trail, Backbone and Moat Trails. We stopped along to see Blue Hole Falls, Big Falls and Step Falls. After the hike we had lunch in the picnic pavilion. After lunch we hiked the park's newest trail, the Chumbley Woods Trail along the Duck River. Beautiful day for a hike! Hikers were Roberta Adams, Joan Bentley, Tom Bentley, Jay Brain, Joe Campbell, Jeanne Conatser, Barbara Draude, Eleanor Gilchrist, Joe Gonzalez, Susan Gonzalez, Joan Hartvigsen, Tom Hartvigsen, Pete Jacobs, Rene Jacobs, David James, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Susan McLaughlin, LouAnn Partington, Sara Pollard, Judith Rusciolleli, and Pat Thomas.

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Polly Branch TTA

 

Deb led 12 hikers from Plateau, Upper Cumberland, and Soddy Daisy thru the woods, while 3 others left us to start at another trailhead. We got to the first junction which had NO trail signs, only red or blue trail markers. We chose red and kept going crossing two creeks, and following fields that had plowed areas. Not sure if it was fire breaks for controlled burns or feed plots for wildlife. We did make it to an overlook before we turned around to head back to the blue markers. Just a little way down the blue trail we found the signed intersection that told us all about Polly Branch Falls. It sure was pretty to see along with the cascades. We looked for Bee Branch overlook, but the trail ran into the overgrown area and we gave up the search, headed back to the junction where we split up. Some to the main parking lot, the others to the shuttle car the 3 other hikers left at the other parking area. 

It was a beautiful day in the woods. 

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Roaring Creek/Crystal

 

Crystal and I hadn't hiked together in a while. When she had a day off to play, we met up at Roaring Creek Trailhead in Graysville on this cold sunny morning. Hiking along the creek side, we were so into catching up that I missed the turn up the ridge. We had to backtrack to find the blazes. The leaves were crunchy and the sun was warm, by the time we got to the overlook we were stripping out of jackets. We had lunch at the rocky edge of the ridge overlooking Cranmore Cove. Water was flowing good in the creek and at Wildcat Hollow Falls. Beautiful day to spend with my sweet friend.  

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East Lakeshore Trail

 On the way to pick up Samantha and Kaylin, we stopped North of Vonore TN by the Tennessee River and hiked a section of the East Lakeshore Trail. First time we got to check this trail out. We did the Wildcat Point Section with the hike out to the overlook. It looks like quite the popular trail and is supposed to have over 30 miles of trail.

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Savage Gulf

Lora and I had a day to get some hiking in before it rains. We headed to Savage Gulf and hiked the South Rim trail and the Day Loop. It was a beautiful day of hiking.

TTA Big South Fork Campout

Joan put together a fantastic weekend camping and hiking at Big South Fork. We hiked all the trails at Pogue Creek State Natural Area. We also hiked to Angels Falls Overlook and Rock Creek Loop. Fabulous hiking, wonderful weather, and nights clear and star filled. TTA hikers included Craig, Lora, Joan, Ruth, Sara, Marietta, Dawn, Celia, Jane, Patty, and Chuck.

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Middle Creek / Gobblers Knob

Day One: 8.1 

Middle Creek Nature Trail 2.5

Saw Mill trailhead 0.9

Slave Falls Connector trail 1.1

Slave Falls trail 3.6

Day Two: 11.1

Twin Arch Loop 3.5

Charit Creek Lodge Connector 1.0

Hatfield Ridge Trail .9

Gobblers Knob trail 5.7

Day Three: 4.1

Gobblers Knob trail 1.5

Fork Ridge Road 0.7

Saw Mill trailhead 0.9

Middle Creek Nature Trail 1.0

It finally got cool enough for our first backpack of the season. We headed off to the Big South Fork. We drove down Divide Road and started at the Middle Creek trailhead. We started with the Middle Creek Nature Trail which is a beautiful trail with lots of Indian Rock Houses. Then we took the connector trail over to the Sawmill trailhead and continued to the Slave Falls Loop trail. We saw the falls, the Needle's Arch, and then made camp just short of Jake's Place. The temps dropped for the night and we had us a really nice campfire to enjoy the stars next to. We only heard one owl call.

Tuesday we got up and hiked by Jake's Place, the Twin Arches, and the Charit Creek Lodge. We visited with some people that stayed at the Lodge and then we visited with the owner. We took the Charit Creek Lodge Connector trail to the Hatfield Ridge Trail and then on to the Gobblers Knob trail. We hiked this trail to Middle Creek where we made camp for the night. We got a good fire going and listened to a few different owls. 

Wednesday we got up and finished the Gobblers Knob trail. We walk the Fork Ridge road back to the Sawmill trailhead and took the Middle Creek Nature trail back to the car. Another wonderful backpack.

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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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Blue Ridge Parkway

We all met up at Smokemont campground in the Smokies. Dad and Mom got there first but battled traffic all the way. Lora and I didn't get in any traffic but Steve and Kathy drove through Gatlinburg by mistake so they battled traffic all the way. Kathy put on a chili dinner for our first night together. We sat around the campfire visiting.

Sunday morning we got up and started on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We saw the elk before we got on the road. We stopped at a few different overlooks to take in the sights. We stopped at the Devils Courthouse and hiked to the top. We stopped at another overlook for lunch and then went to our campground at Mt. Pisgah. This is a really nice campground. Dad was having battery problems so I ran him to town. We had steak and veggies for dinner. Another enjoyable campfire.

Monday we went hiking. We drove down and saw Looking Glass Falls and then went out the forest service road to hike to Twin Falls. We didn't make it to the falls, but had a good hike anyways. We came back and had hamburgers for dinner followed by a campfire.

Tuesday we went hiking again. Mom and Kathy stayed at the campground. We hiked Looking Glass Mountain. A really nice hike with wonderful views from the top. Dad lost his apple off the Looking Glass Cliff face. Lora was talking with some young ladies from Alabama, comparing Southern accents. They won. After our hike we drove the forest service road and saw Slick Rock Falls, Log Hollow Falls, and another waterfall. We also found a hunting dog that followed us to the waterfall and back. Steve got the info off his collar and helped get it back with it's owner. We had chicken tonight followed by a campfire.

Wednesday we were back on the Parkway toting our campers. We stopped at Craggy Gardens for our lunch with a short hike up to an overlook. We pulled into the parking area at Craggy Pinnacle Summit when we heard a large bang. Dad's tire blew out on the camper. Come to find out, he hit the curb leaving the Gardens and pinched the sidewall. We were very blessed that a race car owner was in the parking lot and had all the tools we needed to get the tire changed. After that we climbed the Summit. We drove on to the Linville Falls Campground, and RV Park for the next two nights. We had a Mexican dinner followed by a campfire. The entertainment was the acorns falling from the trees. The trees were extremely tall and the acorns had plenty of speed when they hit. Loud noises as they bounced off the camper tops.

Thursday we drove to Little Switzerland for some shopping and exploring. We had lunch in town followed by an exciting trip led by Steve down some good old washed out roads. When we turned around and headed the right direction we found the Grassy Falls which were beautiful. We drove to Linville Falls which was another beautiful area to visit and then made a Walmart trip before heading back to camp. We had fish for dinner tonight followed by a campfire.

Friday we all loaded up the campers and headed down the Parkway. We stopped at Blowing Rock and did the shopping thing again. We ate lunch at the campers and then headed on down to our campground at Rocky Knob. We had a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey tonight followed by a campfire.

Saturday Steve and Kathy headed towards home as the rest of us finished the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had our lunch at Peaks of Otter, finished the parkway and drove the Skyline Drive up to Hwy 33 and camped at Swift Run Campground. When we got here we found that we had lost one set of our camper keys?? We cooked out Brats and skipped the fire. We were tired and wanted to get our showers in.

Sunday the fog settled onto the mountains so instead of doing a moutain drive we did the valley drive through the Shenandoah Valley. We stopped at the little towns of Stanley, Luray, Rileyville, Overall, Bentonville, and Front Royal. Mom got her shopping fix on. We headed back to the campground for dinner of spaghetti. Cold and damp evening spent relaxing in the campers.

Monday we got up and headed East on 33 to Mechanicsville to see my sister. We had a good visit with her and Jim. They took us to the battlefield for a little hike and then after dinner we got to see the play Hamilton.

Tuesday the ladies went shopping while the men got projects done and or rested. Jim and Lynelle took us over to the river downtown and then we went to check out Nate and Perry's house. We enjoyed visiting and dinner with them before heading back home.

Wednesday we got up, said our goodbyes and then headed West. We took back roads to see the rolling hills of Virginia. We stopped in Fort Chiswell and camped at the Pioneer Village RV Park for the night. Hurricane Zeta is supposed to come through tonight.

Zeta didn't get through until about 10:30 this morning. We packed up and headed out taking interstates the rest of the way home. We stopped at the TN boarder for lunch. The weather turned to sunny for us. We had a great time.

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